Linux OS which supports dial-up

Vicktoria

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Hello everyone...I've missed you all. I've been looking for another machine to create my Linux machine. Still looking for a machine to put linux on. Then I thought I best have an OS which supports dial-up or it is useless to me. So Dear Gurus what say ye...I'm looking at a refurbished lenovo or dell. I've been working this for a couple of years I think, and hope to succeed soon. Thanks. All guidance on OS for dial-up and recommended machines welcomed.
 


Huh... I believe pretty much any OS should support it. This link is a bit old (but not that old) and should still be valid, though it will initially require some form of connectivity:


It used to be possible to find routers that would dial up for you and then provide networking - meaning the connectivity was handled by the router. I haven't seen one of those in at least a decade, but they're likely still out there.
 
KGIII Thanks so much for the feedback. I tried to install Duel install Windows & Mint on my old Fujitsu. That didn't work...machine died. An old dell didn't work either. I'm hoping a newer refurbished will function properly and it sounds like most Linux OS should work with wvdialer. So great. I need to select a machine and then try some OS. Used Ubuntu many years ago, actually still on my tower. Thanks for guidance. I'll get a machine and try it out.
 
I tried to install Duel install Windows & Mint on my old Fujitsu. That didn't work...machine died. An old dell didn't work either
Dell do not usually cause problems ..unless it is 32 bit and your trying to load 64 bit, if ou want the dell checked out for compatibility post the the full model name and number and i will take a look

Bwiz
 
I'm hoping a newer refurbished will function properly and it sounds like most Linux OS should work with wvdialer.

Yeah, you should be fine. I think some of the smaller distros, the light ones, actually support dialup out of the box. However, you can use a more robust distro just fine once you've set it up to use dialup as the connection. Any basic MODEM should still be covered in the kernel drivers, I can't imagine you'd need to compile your own kernel or anything.

And, a modern refurb is great. I've bought some for testing and for just a few hundred bucks you can get a sweet computer with everything you need, including a decent enough monitor, new keyboard, and mouse. With just a few hundred bucks, you're easily in the 8 GB of RAM and an SSD range. They're often gently used computers from various businesses and they've got plenty of life left - in my experience.
 
Also, you must be more remote than even I am! I had to pay for the phone company to put in a repeater/switch and new lines, but I have DSL - barely. My neighbors chipped in some, which helped. It was pretty expensive but so worth it. Even cellular wouldn't be a realistic solution and satellite had horrible lag and horrible limitations.
 
If you live in Australia I've got some very bad news for you...Dial-up no longer exists and hasn't for years.
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Who in their right mind would want Dial-up, especially these days if it was still available...56kbps compaired to 100mbps.
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I can download Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.2 which is 2.2GB in minutes...If I had Dial-up it would take about 4 weeks but I doubt you could download a File that big anyway.
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If you live in Australia I've got some very bad news for you..

Nope, rural Virginia. Broadband unavailable.

The OP has been with us about 18 months and explored dialup solutions previously, Helpers might be best served to acquaint themselves with previous Threads, so that you don't provide advice already provided, nor conflict with that advice.

This is her first Thread in 12 months.

@Vicktoria , G'day - you might do well to let the Helpers know more about the specs of the machine you might purchase, and provide links to the threads in which efforts have been made using names and version numbers of Linux distros tried previously.

Cheers and good luck

Wizard
 
Using dial-up would be unusable now days anyways because it would take forever to load a web-page because of the low speeds and how much and big today's websites are, even back then loading crappy web-pages it was already extremely slow with dial-up.
 
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Helpers might be best served to acquaint themselves with previous Threads, so that you don't provide advice already provided, nor conflict with that advice.

The OP used to go to a friend's house to get access to high-speed internet.

Wiz
 
Hello All, excuse my lack of clear communication. Yes, I fell in a hole for the last year or so. I was trying to get my old laptops working yet the hardware was dis-functional, so that I've been trying to find another machine. Intending to select a refurbished machine I thought I should make sure that dial-up was available in all of the distros as well as making sure I acquire a machine that will have no conflicts with Linux. I understand that some machines support Linux better than others. Doing research that was recommended by the forum last year, it seems that some Lenovo and Dell machines support Linux well. As I am in an area that does not support satellite or FIOS, dial-up is my only internet option. So now that I have some idea what direction to move in, I can acquire a machine that will support Linux and dial-up. Then if I need assistance I can check in for guidance, and will give specs on machine I acquire. The forum has educated me in many of the requirements. Mostly I just missed connection with the knowledge and the community, and intending to achieve Linux in the near future, as I'm visiting hispeed, I wanted to get clear about potential machines and dial-up abilities. I appreciate this support as always, thank you.
 
Lenovo can throw up some problems, [model dependent] I am coming to you tonight from my aprox 10 yr old dell insperon 1545 it dose everything i need and is rock solid , I have a selection of drives I can put in one has Mint 20, one has MX19, another has MintDebian and i still have a debian 32 bit drive which will go in if needed [I usually keep it for testing/rescuing problem computers]

Bwiz
 
Lenovo can throw up some problems
My previous game laptop was a Lenovo Legion and that ran Linux without any trouble, I know someone who who also ran Linux on a Lenovo Thinkpad. So in my experience you should be good when either going for Lenovo, HP or Dell. My current work laptop is a HP Zbook and my current netbook is a Dell Latitude E7450-7358 and they both run Linux with any problems as well. I have run Linux on other brand laptops as well but the ones I just mentioned are from recent or current experience.
 
Yeah, you should be fine. I think some of the smaller distros, the light ones, actually support dialup out of the box. However, you can use a more robust distro just fine once you've set it up to use dialup as the connection. Any basic MODEM should still be covered in the kernel drivers, I can't imagine you'd need to compile your own kernel or anything.

And, a modern refurb is great. I've bought some for testing and for just a few hundred bucks you can get a sweet computer with everything you need, including a decent enough monitor, new keyboard, and mouse. With just a few hundred bucks, you're easily in the 8 GB of RAM and an SSD range. They're often gently used computers from various businesses and they've got plenty of life left - in my experience.
KGIII Thank you so much for the guidance on the refurb being a wise way to go. It took me a while to get to consider something other than new. Looks like I'm looking in the right direction...8GB, SSD, that helps. Then I can use my current external modem with wvdial and get things working. I can always go borrow a friends hispeed to download programs. I liked playing with Mint 18 and Ubuntu, and will probably go for something more robust.
 
Lenovo can throw up some problems, [model dependent] I am coming to you tonight from my aprox 10 yr old dell insperon 1545 it dose everything i need and is rock solid , I have a selection of drives I can put in one has Mint 20, one has MX19, another has MintDebian and i still have a debian 32 bit drive which will go in if needed [I usually keep it for testing/rescuing problem computers]

Bwiz
Thanks Brickwizard...I was looking at Lenovo Thinkpad & Ideapad and Dell Latitude and some other. Your input may lead me toward Dell. Good to include Inspiron as well. For some reason I shy away from celeron processors and chrome books, which may not be relevant as an 'issue' at all. Thank you all so much. I'm so excited to finally get connected with a functionish Linux laptop.
 
Linux Mint 18 had its End of Life in April 2021....no more security updates, or app updates either etc

Linux Mint 20.2 is the current....supported until 2025
 
Linux Mint 18 had its End of Life in April 2021....no more security updates, or app updates either etc

Linux Mint 20.2 is the current....supported until 2025
Hey Condobloke, good to hear from you again. I got lost for a year or so. Ok I hear it is Mint 20 as the mint distro. I'll be looking at distros that will support dial-up. Right now I'm looking at a Refurbished Dell Latitude E6440, i5-4300M 2.6GHz, 8GB Ram, 256GB SSD, so I can finally get a Linux lap top up and running. Hopefully I will not require much assistance.
 
The links below are from this topic:

It is not exactly the help you are after but it may fill in a few blanks for you.


https://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Modem-HOWTO-2.html



 

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