Run a Raspberry Pi as an old-school dial-up ISP for retro computers.
The goal of this repository is to create the simplest possible dial-up emulation setup, not to create a full ISP-like setup with a PBX and multiple phone lines. Just one retro computer 'dialing up' to the Internet through a Raspberry Pi.
For a more elaborate setup, check out Doge Microsystems Dial-up pool instructions.
I'm using the following hardware (pictured above):
- Raspberry Pi 3, 4, or 5 (or equivalent) ($35)
- StarTech.com 56K USB Dial-up Modem ($45)
- Viking DLE-200B Two-Way Line Simulator ($120)
There are other hardware configurations you can use for a Pi-based dial-up ISP, and other ways to emulate phone lines for a little less money, but these devices can be purchased new and work reliably.
On the DLE-200B, to increase the data transfer speed to the maximum of 28.8K, switch the 3rd dip switch position to 'ON' (up). The other three can remain 'OFF' (down). This switch reduces audio attenuation and can give more stable data connections.
Alternatively, the DLE-300 Advanced Line Simulator may handle higher data rates, up to 33.6. To get 56K speeds, you need a more elaborate setup.
Plug the 56K USB Dial-up modem into the Pi, and plug a phone line from it into either of the DLE-200B's phone jacks. Then plug a phone line from the other DLE-200B phone jack into your old computer's modem.
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This project uses Ansible (pip install ansible).
To get started:
- Copy
example.hosts.ymltohosts.yml(change the hostname or IP to match your Pi). - Copy
example.config.ymltoconfig.ymland modify any settings to your liking. - Install Ansible dependencies:
ansible-galaxy install geerlingguy.security.
To set up the Pi as a local ISP, run the Ansible playbook.
ansible-playbook main.yml
If you have the modem hooked up, the Pi should immediately be ready to answer a call (by default, after one ring).
These instructions were written for an iBook running Mac OS 9. Dialup instructions vary widely depending on OS and era!
Create a new Remote Access / Modem Dial-up profile, and put in any phone number you like (e.g. 1 or 314, or even a full phone number).
The default username and password are dial and dialpi.
Make sure your TCP/IP settings are set to PPP (so it uses the modem connection), and Connect using the Remote Access application.
You should hear the modem dialing the number, and then a modem handshake. After a little more time while the modem quietly authenticates, your old computer should be connected.
Note: Internet security is your responsibility. I wouldn't leave an old computer connected to the Internet for long periods of time, especially if you go browsing random websites!
Some setups will not run stably at higher speeds, even 33.6 kbps; if you are having connection stability issues, try forcing a lower max modem speed by adjusting the mgetty_modem_max_speed variable.
If you ever wanted to hear the various 'sounds of dialup', this is about the best overview I've seen, with modem handshakes from 300 bps up to 56K.
By default, this project also installs Macproxy Classic, an HTTP proxy which allows many modern websites to be browsed on vintage browsers, by stripping elements that fail to load on old browsers.
You can disable this with the configuration setting macproxy_classic_enable, but if it's enabled, all you need to do to use it—assuming you've dialed into the Pi already—is enter the correct proxy settings on your old browser.
Here's the correct setting for Internet Explorer 5.0 on an old Mac:
By default, the Pi ISP's services are accessible at the IP address 192.168.32.1 (this, as well as the remote device's assigned IP, is configured in the ppp-options file, and is currently not configurable through this project's config.yml).
Set the HTTP proxy to 192.168.32.1, and update the port to 5001, and web traffic should go through the proxy now.
There are some websites that run fine without the proxy (e.g. FrogFind and Macintosh Garden), you can add them to the bypass list.
Macproxy Classic also includes a Wayback Machine extension, that lets you set a date, and browse the internet as if it were that day, courtesy of Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
To enable it, browse to web.archive.org, and click 'Enable'. Then set a date, and start browsing the web. To get back to 'the real Internet', go to web.archive.org again, and click 'disable'.
When 'dialing' the Pi, observe the mgetty logs:
sudo journalctl -fu mgetty
If you're browsing on a retro computer, a few websites you can access to see if your connection is working include:
- http://68k.news/ - "Headlines from the Future"
- http://frogfind.com/ - Web search for ancient browsers
To see live traffic on the PPP connection, install nload and watch:
sudo apt install nload
nload ppp0
Assuming, for some reason, you can't hang up the modem connection from your old computer, here's how to forcibly 'hang up' the modem:
sudo kill `cat /var/run/ppp0.pid`
sudo systemctl restart mgetty
This project relies heavily on the research and guidance of other projects:
GPLv3
This project was created in 2026 by Jeff Geerling.
