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  • C64 VICModem. 300 baud, manual dial. :)

    • That was my first one as well.

      My first PC modem was the US Robotics Sportster 14400 FAX Modem. A cool feature was that you could flip a couple of bits and it would do 19200. USR reportedly grumbled about that breaking the warranty and using it against its design limits, but it worked great.

  • First was a Novation CAT 110/300 baud with acoustic coupler. Later I got a Practical Peripherals 1200, then a Zoom Telephonics 2400/9600. Then I bought a US Robotics Courier HST, it cost a ridiculous amount at the time. A few years later was working and I mailed it and an actual check to USR and they swapped it for a Courier vEverything (with the 20Mhz DSP). I still have that modem and a newer vEverything I salvaged. 

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  • I don't know the model, but my first modem was 2400 baud

    Downloading anything took forever but it was still a magical experience to me!

    I couldn't figure out how to silence the modem sounds either (if it was even possible) so every time I wanted to use the computer when someone in the house was sleeping I had to pray the connection sounds wouldn't wake anyone up!

    • ATL0 or ATM0 should have silenced it. Unfortunately I had to use the Internet to look that up. :)

      • saving this for when time travel is invented so I can go back and tell my younger self, my mother would appreciate it!

  • Hayes 2400 baud external modem with the red leds. Technically it was my dad's but I had procomm plus on a floppy and would sneak over and use it while he was at work.

  • I was late to the internet party, and got a pre-owned 33.6k. I don't remember the brand, but I still have it stashed somewhere, just for the nostalgia. Had it in my desk drawer to muffle the sound a bit. I figured out later I could turn that off. But I needed the sound to hear if I got a successful connection. Since my mother was sceptical about the phone line being blocked, I was not allowed to use a modem at home initially. So I used it in the night, to avoid detection. I had planned to just use it for essential surfing and patch downloads for games. But the addiction was too severe. After one month had passed, I figured out the phone bill would not go unnoticed, so I had to confess. So we agreed that I could use it after ten in the evening, and I would pay the usage part of the phone bill. I think it was close to $100 a month usually. And that was even if I had free fast internet where I studied... I never have paid so much for internet after that.

    It was probably rocket fuel for a really bad sleeping habit (or complete lack of sleep), but I would not trade those years of late night chatting, surfing, mud and usenet for anything.

    Later before I moved out, I got a 56k internal modem. But it was so unstable at max speed, I just ran it at 33.6k.

  • It was a Radio Shack 300 baud modem. A little googling seems to indicate is would likely have been a Tandy DCM-3 “Direct Connect” (as opposed to acoustic coupler) modem.

    It was in-line between the wall and a phone so you would pick up the phone, dial the number, head the modem tone, press a red button on the top of the modem and hang up the phone.

  • 14.4k. Then 28.8k. Then 56k. Then T1 from my local computer group, and finally cable... fiber is coming this year.

    I'm going to serve 2600.network over fiber. Somehow I wound up at the beginning.

  • 14.4k that was more consistent as 9600. Packard Bell ISA modem.

    Later I went 33.6 and went off to college with a 56k external modem that was supported by FreeBSD.

    I think I used to be able to tell the different speeds by the handshake sound.

  • Mine was a 300/1200 baud modem which if memory serves correctly ran mostly @ 300.

  • The TelePort Gold II came in at a speedy 14.4 Kbps. It came with my Macintosh Performa.

  • I wish I could remember but I know we were quite late adopters so it would have been reasonably fast. My family first got a modem because my brother was stuck at home with a long term illness so he was tutored remotely over telnet for a while.

  • Unsure, some sort of 14.4kbps PCI modem that was very outdated when I started using it in my youth. We had broadband, but it was only for one machine and I was only allowed to use some random free ISP (NetZero maybe?) to keep my time on the internet limited or something.

  • Don't remember any other details about the modem other than the speed (56k). Also, that it was significantly cheaper to dial-up during the night. I guess that could be the reason why I grew up as a night owl. 😅

  • My first own modem was a US Robotics Sportster Winmodem 28.8Kbps. It did have fax capabilities. But the first modem I used I think it was a Accura modem.

  • 2400 on a 386SX IIRC, I was late to the game. I started connecting when I moved to Coherent OS from DOS. I used kermit to dial into work. Work would then call back so I would avoid any charges:)

    They had USENET on a SUNOS plus I could download source for items I wanted.

  • My first was 28.8 Hayes but was limited to 9800 cause of Telxon audiocopler. I also had a USR PCMCIA card that was 56k(? My memory is slipping cause of long covid) and somehow that was able to connect faster through Telxon audiocopler.

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