Is it possible to get the internet on my computer at home without a subscription

[Mike Henderson]

I used to be a big fan of AT&T (Paradyne) modems, particularly those with optically coupled line interfaces (OCLI). They were incredibly bullet proof.

I was an engineering manager at ATT Paradyne when we developed that optical interface. Unfortunately, it was more expensive than the transformer coupled interface so it never went anywhere. One of the analog engineers was the champion of that design but I don't remember his name. That was a long time ago.

Mike

[Dan Hintz]

Just a nit pick. A baud is not the same as bits per second. A baud is a symbol and in higher speed modems carries many bits. Additionally, the baud rate of a modern telephone line modem is equal to the bandwidth required on the line (for QAM). In the analog domain, about the maximum bandwidth is from maybe 300 Hz to 3400Hz - and usually it's less. So the maximum baud rate on a telephone line is generally less than 3000 baud.

I don't remember all the baud rates of higher speed modems, but many middle speed modems had a baud rate of 2400 baud. So for a modem that ran 4800 bits per second, each baud carried two bits. For a 9600 bits per second, each baud carried four bits. Very low speed modems, such as 300 bps, carried one bit per baud and that's where it started with people misusing the term "baud".

True enough, and as you can see from my post, even I still misuse it. The old modems were 56kbps, not 56kbaud... and truthfully, they were limited to 48kbps due to the phone line limitations (for those that might still have a box, they would put a little asterisk next to the 56k title and explain in really small print elsewhere on the box).

[Myk Rian]

38.8 was always my most reliable connection speed.

[Mike Henderson]

True enough, and as you can see from my post, even I still misuse it. The old modems were 65kbps, not 56kbaud... and truthfully, they were limited to 48kbps due to the phone line limitations (for those that might still have a box, they would put a little asterisk next to the 56k title and explain in really small print elsewhere on the box).

In the US, that was due to the power limits on the line (your signal had to be at -12dBm or less, if I recall properly). I used to get 52Kbps on my modem at home - but never 56kbps.

Europe did not have as stringent power limits and the modems worked at 56kbps there.

Mike