The Sinclair QL Forum

Hi,
To simplify this, your 'wifimodem' isn't a modem in a traditional sense. it is a 'computer' that is connecting to the internet, this computer passes it's data via serial. I will call this computer B. the QL is computer A. in a traditional modem setup, computer B would be miles away and the speed negotiated by the modem. in this case all that needs to happen is computer A needs to talk to computer B at the same baud rate. If the modem automatically uses 300 Baud, then so must the terminal be set to 300 Baud. if the 'wifimodem' has it's speed changed it will be it's baud rate between computer A and B. thus when it changes, the terminal must also be changed to reflect the same speed. In the case of a QL without HERMES. I would not set the baud above 1200 as it will most likely get errors. Mine did, but mileage may vary. I would also highly suggest using serxH if the modem supports it. you will find that the 'hardware' handshaking (I use that term loosely) is required mainly for Xmodem transfers. Just to sum up, what you have is two computers connected via serial, the modem is actually on the other side of the serial link.

I've tried several Wifi BBS using serial Arduino monitor.

And did see sites that refuse speeds below 9600

So maybe that is a problem?

I'm pretty sure it's a firmware issue as others have had this same problem. I connected briefly at both 300 and 9600.
I have Hermes, a reliable cable made specifically for the QL. And I assume that QL Terminal is pretty battle hardened.

So firmware. Or me. Actually, quite possibly me

Anyway, when I update the firmware I'll report back on any progress.

Thanks to everyone for helping out. As ever, this is a great community. <3

jobdone wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 6:18 am Hi,
To simplify this, ... snip

Thanks, all good info I have indeed tried ser2H, but was not sure which was better so went back to ser2I. I'll try with that when the firmware is updated to see whether it makes any difference.

Interestingly, I noted your firmware is for the 8266. The firmware I use is for the 8266 too, so in theory I could load it except I may have a different pinout for the flow control pins. when I get a few mins, I'll load up that firmware and give it a go. I'm just using one of these https://subethasoftware.com/2018/02/28/ ... -firmware/ . The esp8266 dev board I purchased from Ali and the max232 board too. I added an extra couple of wires through the max232 board as it didn't have flow (set for a 3 wire) and the max232 still have a spare i/o pair.

Hi,

What flow control settins are you using?

Hi,
I finally got around to testing the firmware on my modem, it does indeed work , but without flow control (I guess they used different pins). I didn't get any issues connecting at 300 or 1200 to the BBS I connected to, I guess the suggestion above about certain BBS's having some limitations is most likely. I also saw the lockup on floppy.museum (even with my original firmware).

Hi

Finally got the Simulant WiFi modem setup on the Q68.
I configured the modem to connect at 9600 Baud.

I used BAUD 9600 to set the serial port speed the same as the modem.

Loaded up QTPI and dialled a couple of Internet BBSs: Retrocampus, Retrobbs all seemed to work okay.

I downloaded a BBS list from Retrobbs with modem.

I will try with QLTerm, this maybe more up to date.

The Simulant modem is based on the ESP8255 with Zimodem software.