Serving TCPIP network over PPP via integrated modem

[applesos]

I've been dealing with the conundrum of getting my SE and 68k PowerBooks onto my LAN in a limited capacity, largely because I have gotten everything where I want it configuration-wise and need something stupid to do so I don't get bored. I have been looking at hardware but have completely ignored the G4 tower under my desk, which has a perfectly good modem port.

I am curious if anybody here has bothered to use a modem-to-modem connection as a bridge, and what their experiences were. If it's not absolutely terrible to set up I'll give it a shot and will try to document my work.

 

[Reasons.]

No direct experience, but some potentially useful links I dug up in the course of a (similar, stalled) project:

• Matti157's "Setup a Low-Cost Home Dialup Connection Without a Real Telephone Line"
• Cathode Ray Dude's "Dialup in the Age of Broadband"
• Cathode Ray Dude's "Setting Up a Dial-Up Server in 2020"
• Cathode Ray Dude's "Basics of PPP"
• Doge Microsystem's "Dial-Up Pool"

Many of these are a bit too complicated for what you want to do and rely on using a software PBX and VoIP to emulate an entire phone network, but for a simple point-to-point connection you can use an ATA (analog telephone adapter) like the Linksys SPA2102 to let two modems dial each other through the ATA. You can get more ports with something like a SPA8000 if that's appealing. The second CRD article also mentions that you can use the ATX3 command to do what you're trying to do without an intermediary device, but not sure if that's actually documented anywhere.

 

[Realitystorm]

You can hack a modem to modem connection with a phone cable and 9v battery

I looked at this years ago and decided that a serial to serial connection, or USB to serial connection would be way easier.