From 40c1ccfeddd1d56ef976323cac70fc0852b04d1b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Stefan Koelle Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2026 23:55:19 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] Rewrite BBS page around dhansel's WifiModem and DarkForce! BBS --- retro/atari-networking-bbs/index.njk | 53 +++++++++------------------- retro/index.njk | 4 +-- 2 files changed, 19 insertions(+), 38 deletions(-) diff --git a/retro/atari-networking-bbs/index.njk b/retro/atari-networking-bbs/index.njk index 066210e..e0860ef 100644 --- a/retro/atari-networking-bbs/index.njk +++ b/retro/atari-networking-bbs/index.njk @@ -1,52 +1,33 @@ --- -title: "Getting a 40-Year-Old Computer Online: Atari ST Networking and BBS Access" +title: "Dialing Into BBSs with a Wi-Fi Modem on the Atari ST" section: "retro" tags: "retro" -description: "Connecting an Atari ST to the modern internet and to dial-up-era bulletin board systems, warts and all." +description: "Using dhansel's WifiModem on the Atari Mega ST 4 'Low' to dial into telnet bulletin board systems with terminal software, no real phone line required." layout: base.njk parent: "/retro/" --- -

Getting a 40-Year-Old Computer Online: Atari ST Networking and BBS Access

+

Dialing Into BBSs with a Wi-Fi Modem on the Atari ST

-

The Atari ST predates the consumer internet entirely, yet a surprising amount of retrofitted networking hardware exists to get one talking to a modern network, or to a bulletin board system straight out of the dial-up era.

+

My Mega ST 4 "Low" uses a ready-built Wi-Fi modem based on dhansel's WifiModem firmware, an ESP8266 module that connects a serial port to Wi-Fi. With it, the machine can dial into telnet-based bulletin board systems using its own terminal software, recreating the dial-up BBS experience without a real phone line.

-

The Toolbox

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The WifiModem

+

dhansel's WifiModem is firmware for the ESP8266 that makes a serial port talk to Wi-Fi. It does this in two ways, and they're mutually exclusive:

+

For dialing out to BBSs, the modem emulation mode is the relevant one. The module understands Hayes-style commands like ATDT followed by a hostname or IP address, and can even limit the line speed via the S37 register for an authentic slow-modem feel. Since the ESP8266 only has RX/TX pins, there are no hardware control lines, but the module handles the "+++" escape sequence to return to command mode during a call.

-

Why connect a 40-year-old computer to the internet

+

Dialing the DarkForce! BBS

+

To put it to the test, I dialed into the DarkForce! BBS, an Atari-centric system that has been running since the early 90s on a Mega ST4 with BBS Express! ST software. It's a fitting target for an Atari ST, since it's a fellow Atari machine at heart. With the terminal software on the Mega ST sending ATDT to the Wi-Fi modem, the connection to darkforce-bbs.dyndns.org over Telnet worked, and the ANSI login screen, message boards and file sections of a real BBS came up on the original hardware, no phone line involved.

+ +

Why do it

The obvious question is "why bother?", the Atari ST was never designed -for the internet, and the experience of using it online is objectively -worse than any modern device. But that's not the point. The real -satisfaction comes from making old hardware do things it was never -designed to do, understanding the networking stack at a level that modern -abstractions hide, and experiencing the dial-up era's BBS culture on -original hardware.

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The BBS experience

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Bulletin board systems from the dial-up era are still running today, -maintained by enthusiasts who keep the old software alive. Connecting to -one from an original Atari ST, via a Wi-Fi modem emulation, is a -genuinely nostalgic experience. The ANSI art login screens, the message -boards, the file sections, the door games, it's all exactly as it was -in the early 1990s. The main difference: instead of tying up a phone -line, the connection goes over Wi-Fi to a BBS that's accessible from -anywhere in the world.

- -

Lessons learned

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The biggest lesson: networking on retro hardware is 90% patience and -10% actual configuration. The STinG stack is well-documented but -fragile, wrong TCP/IP settings silently break connections without -useful error messages. The ESP32 Wi-Fi modules are cheap and flexible -but require careful firmware selection for the specific use case. And -terminal emulation is a rabbit hole of character sets, escape sequences, -and display quirks that haven't been relevant for decades but still -matter when connecting to a BBS that renders ANSI art.

+for networking, and a modern device does all this far more easily. But +that's not the point. There's real satisfaction in making old hardware do +things it was never meant to do, and in experiencing the dial-up era's BBS +culture on original hardware, over Wi-Fi instead of a phone line.

If you're chasing BBS nostalgia on real hardware: budget far more patience for the networking layer than for the actual computer. The 1980s hardware is the easy part; convincing 2020s Wi-Fi and modern BBS ANSI dialects to cooperate is the real challenge.

diff --git a/retro/index.njk b/retro/index.njk index e7502cf..92b020a 100644 --- a/retro/index.njk +++ b/retro/index.njk @@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ sections: - title: "📺 Monitor Compatibility" summary: "The 15kHz problem explained, and which modern monitor panels actually cooperate with Atari colour modes." href: "/retro/atari-monitor-compatibility/" - - title: "🔌 Networking & BBS" - summary: "Getting an Atari ST online via STinG and Wi-Fi modem hardware, and dialing into classic bulletin board systems." + - title: "🔌 Wi-Fi Modem & BBS" + summary: "Dialing into telnet bulletin board systems from the Mega ST 4 'Low' using dhansel's WifiModem and terminal software." href: "/retro/atari-networking-bbs/" - title: "🌀 Storm ST & Cloudy ST" summary: "Adding 8 MB Alt-RAM and flashable TOS to the Mega ST, switching between EmuTOS and TOS 1.04."