Connecting To Dial Up Modem Through Iphone

[Truman42]

I just posted this on the whirlpool forums but there seems to be a lot of tech heads on here so was hoping someone might be able to help out.

The company I work for hires out variable message signs which can be changed by dialling in from a computer to each boards sim card and sending the message. I used to be able to use my old Nokia 6120 to do this and my laptop would dial in through the Nokias modem software and connect to the boards.

However I now have an Iphone 4 and cant seem to find anyway to do this?

Does anyone know of a way I can setup my iphone on my laptop as a modem and then allow the software to choose this to connect directly to these boards?

 

[MarkBastard]

Yes, it's called Tethering. If you google 'Tethering iphone' you should find the info you're after.

However it's wrong to call it dial up.

 

[MarkBastard]

Actually on re-reading I'm not sure it's the same thing. Do you actually need to emulate dial up networking due to the legacy equipment you're connecting to?

 

[loikar]

I just posted this on the whirlpool forums but there seems to be a lot of tech heads on here so was hoping someone might be able to help out.

The company I work for hires out variable message signs which can be changed by dialling in from a computer to each boards sim card and sending the message. I used to be able to use my old Nokia 6120 to do this and my laptop would dial in through the Nokias modem software and connect to the boards.

However I now have an Iphone 4 and cant seem to find anyway to do this?

Does anyone know of a way I can setup my iphone on my laptop as a modem and then allow the software to choose this to connect directly to these boards?

1st of all, im not an iPhone user... so

Check your bluetooth software, sometimes you can use that to connect and dial-up to a network.
if not, look for an app called 'PDANet' and that should do it for you.
you'll need it installed on your PC and your phone.

Also, tell your IT team at work to get out of the ******* 80's and at least use VPN to connect to your work network.

BF

EDIT: http://tylermilner.com/?p=94

 

[RdeVjun]

Yeah, that's what I was wondering M^B, sounds like Truman needs legacy dialup (i.e. DUN). That's still very common in telemetry despite the advent of IP data and so forth, however it did underline its usefulness as back up comms earlier this year when the big Telco SNAFUed IP gateways throughout the country in an 'upgrade'. :angry:
However, I'm not that au fait with iAnything I'm afraid, googling hasn't been very helpful so sorry, can't really help.

 

[gravey]

As Beerfingers points out PDANet will allow you to use your iPhone as a dial-up modem - http://tylermilner.com/?p=94

 

[Truman42]

Just to clear things up I need to use my Iphone as a dial up modem to dial into these boards directly and send a message to each one.
I already use personal hotspot to connect my laptop to my Iphone to use its data connection when Im out, but that wont work in this case.

Our company does have VPN and I can connect to our Citrix server via VPN, but these boards are setup differently and can only be connected to by dialling in direct using the software the manafacturer provided.

We have newer boards than can be changed via an internet connection and website log in, but these ones cant.

Ive already read that tyler.net link, unfortunately you have to jailbreak your iphone to use it and PDAnet.

Looks like Im going to have to come in here Friday night to change them.

In the past I've used my laptops internal modem connected to my house phone line, but I only have a VOIP phone connection through mynetfone now and for some reason I couldn't get it to work, when I tried.

I think it has something to do with the delay from dialling to the actual call connecting which can take awhile, or the lack of dial tone i get with VOIP.

Thanks anyway

 

[Mayor of Mildura]

Good news Truman. I have come across the new i-modem app. Here is a pic of my setup.

 

[komodo]

is it worth getting a cheap prepaid sim to stick in your old phone to do it. Save you going back into the office

 

[komodo]

There are people on whirlpool.net that do use dial up modems over VoIP so maybe you need to put some extra pauses or get something to emulate a dial tone or something (though I dont think dial up modems have the smarts to detect a dial tone any way they are pretty crude devices)

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Also, tell your IT team at work to get out of the ******* 80's and at least use VPN to connect to your work network.

BF

EDIT: http://tylermilner.com/?p=94

Pull your head out of your ass...

There are so many systems that still use PSTN dial in modems....

How else do you connects to an IP network that has gone down and you cant connect via TCP/IP

Good old analog dial-up modems still have their place, and are still specified in large networks

 

[RdeVjun]

Pull your head out of your ass...

There are so many systems that still use PSTN dial in modems....

How else do you connects to an IP network that has gone down and you cant connect via TCP/IP

Good old analog dial-up modems still have their place, and are still specified in large networks

A big +1! As related above, PSTN saved our arse big time when T's routine router 'upgrade' pulled the plug on all of our IP traffic for over a month (reached as far as a ministerial), plus many other water agencies across the country (mckenry would know, his firm was affected too). I'm not talking a handful of stations either, just our network is >500 sites, around half have PSTN as secondary comms. We'll be keeping it for the time being thank you very much.

 

[edschache]

If it's something your company does a bit of it'd be sweet to be able to do it straight from the phone I imagine. Could be a fun reverse engineering project for someone but I think iPhone (and possibly Windows phone) would have restrictions that prevent you from doing it nicely but Android would allow you to work some magic on the road. Used to have a little app to do a similar thing to the ready messages of the printers in our office just for shits and giggles.

 

[Truman42]

is it worth getting a cheap prepaid sim to stick in your old phone to do it. Save you going back into the office

I dont have the old phone anymore. They took it back when they gave me the Iphone. And trying to convince them I need an old phone for this is like trying to get blood from a stone. I was thinking of just buying a cheap prepaid with my company credit card but then need to explain why.
They just wouldnt get it. They would rather pay me a call out on Friday night to go in than justify why I spent a lousy $60 on a cheapo phone with prepaid sim. Thats big companies for you.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Unfortunatly, dial-up modems ( and fax machines ) just dont work properly thru the mobile network

Due to the packet structer that GSM/3G use it is unsuitable for modem/fax use

If you dont know why, then I am NOT going to give you a tutorial as to why it wont work....

If you are an old school tech, you wont need to ask, if you are an IT guru, you best be getting some education about how communication systems REALLY work

 

[Truman42]

Unfortunatly, dial-up modems ( and fax machines ) just dont work properly thru the mobile network

Due to the packet structer that GSM/3G use it is unsuitable for modem/fax use

If you dont know why, then I am NOT going to give you a tutorial as to why it wont work....

If you are an old school tech, you wont need to ask, if you are an IT guru, you best be getting some education about how communication systems REALLY work

But my Nokia 6120 used to work fine as a modem dialling in to these boards directly using the Nokia software suite which installed the modem software on my laptop. Just cant do it on my Iphone.

 

[komodo]

I kid you not a week ago I just through a 6120c out - wasnt even worth enough for me to send it to mazuma mobile.
try this might get it for a steal by the sounds of things - concidering you only want it for data...
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/nokia-6120-/250...=item3a6dd3b64f

 

[MarkBastard]

What if you had a server sitting in the office with a dial up modem attached, and you could SSH into that server and then initiate a connection to which ever device you wanted to? I'm assuming it's all done via terminal.

Then you just need an ssh client on your iphone, of which there is no doubt many.

 

[loikar]

Pull your head out of your ass...

There are so many systems that still use PSTN dial in modems....

How else do you connects to an IP network that has gone down and you cant connect via TCP/IP

Good old analog dial-up modems still have their place, and are still specified in large networks

Nice Rant, you're in IT, Well Done.

I don't know what systems you deal with, but in a world of connectivity almost anywhere, dial-up is redundant.

Using an analogue modem as failover for a primary connection is ok. Similarly to using a floppy drive if your machine wont boot to run diagnostics.
If your routers don't have failover nodes in place and your external connectivity has failed, sure, connect directly to the box to resolve the issue.
But the need to do that is due to poorly planned infrastructure. you should be able to connect to your failover node and hit the ILO or similar to help diagnose or bounce the box

using dial-up as a primary connection (which is what the OP is doing) is archaic and should be superseded by better technology where possible.

BF

 

[komodo]

Man banks still use dial up for EFT transactions. It works.

I actually think mark is on the money using SSH/RDP and dailing out from a work computer with a modem attached.