StolenWindows
kiwifarms.net
- Registrado
- 1 de Ago, 2025
You could create a private WAN that uses say, fax printers w/ phoneset for nodes/modems that's, say, fax-based. Also, if it's FAX-BASED then that means it's analog (POTS), so you can use the phone printer as a makeshift acoustic coupler / dumb modem. Now you can phreak your way to a private WAN using an 1960s-80s style 300bps acoustic coupler using soundwaves. Will need GNUNet + GNU radio. You can distribute text messages and metadata, but nothing heavy (like hosting an IRC client over fax).
I know the reason many industries (finance, healthcare, government) still require fax for legal documents is because a direct circuit-switched path is harder to intercept casually than a packet-switched VoIP call. POTS is still preferred for fax because it provides the stable, analog, circuit-switched channel that fax protocols were designed for. VoIP can carry fax only with special handling (T.38, G.711 passthrough), but that adds complexity and still isn’t as reliable. POTS lines have their own power (48V DC from the exchange), so faxes can still work in a blackout. However I do know you'll be leaving behind vulnerable information (like phone number), but it's an easy route to offline communication.
If you can bypass the fax protocol and access the modem side directly, you could dial into that number from a PC with a modem (hardware or software-defined), establish a data session (V.34, V.32bis, etc.) instead of a fax session and run PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) over it, which gives you an IP address. That PPP link could connect to a gateway that has internet access so now your fax line is acting like a dial-up ISP. This works because unlike VoIP, a circuit-switched analog phone line gives you a reliable audio channel. Any device with a phone number that can answer calls and pass tones can act as a modem server. That’s exactly what AOL, Compuserve, and universities did in the 1990s — banks of modems answered phone numbers and granted IP via PPP.
However many modern fax printers don’t expose the raw modem, only the fax protocol. You’d likely need firmware mods, or you’d just add an external modem on the same line. Even the fastest fax/modems top out around 33.6 kbps (V.34). Real-world speeds might be 2–14 kbps. Text-based stuff works, but web browsing will feel like 1995. Only one person at a time could “dial in.” No multi-user support unless you add more lines/modems. Also, you’re paying per phone call unless it’s a flat-rate local number you're connected to. You’d need to configure the fax-printer-hosting device as a PPP server (Linux can do this with mgetty + pppd).
By default, anyone who knows the number could dial in. You’d want auth via PPP (username/password) or even you could make it cookie-accessible only so that the only way somebody can access your network is via manual request to receive those cookies. Since fax machines often auto-answer, without auth it could become an open door.
When uplink is down, it’s just a private WAN (LAN over phone). When uplink is up, it’s an “emergency ISP” — albeit a very slow one.
So a fax line with a phone number could serve as a rudimentary ISP. If you can make the printer’s modem answer in data mode instead of fax mode, then run PPP over that call, you’d essentially be recreating a dial-up ISP from scratch. It would be slow, single-user, and hacky, but totally possible — and robust in a blackout if POTS still has line power. It'll be good enough for GNUNet or IRC client.
I know the reason many industries (finance, healthcare, government) still require fax for legal documents is because a direct circuit-switched path is harder to intercept casually than a packet-switched VoIP call. POTS is still preferred for fax because it provides the stable, analog, circuit-switched channel that fax protocols were designed for. VoIP can carry fax only with special handling (T.38, G.711 passthrough), but that adds complexity and still isn’t as reliable. POTS lines have their own power (48V DC from the exchange), so faxes can still work in a blackout. However I do know you'll be leaving behind vulnerable information (like phone number), but it's an easy route to offline communication.
If you can bypass the fax protocol and access the modem side directly, you could dial into that number from a PC with a modem (hardware or software-defined), establish a data session (V.34, V.32bis, etc.) instead of a fax session and run PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) over it, which gives you an IP address. That PPP link could connect to a gateway that has internet access so now your fax line is acting like a dial-up ISP. This works because unlike VoIP, a circuit-switched analog phone line gives you a reliable audio channel. Any device with a phone number that can answer calls and pass tones can act as a modem server. That’s exactly what AOL, Compuserve, and universities did in the 1990s — banks of modems answered phone numbers and granted IP via PPP.
However many modern fax printers don’t expose the raw modem, only the fax protocol. You’d likely need firmware mods, or you’d just add an external modem on the same line. Even the fastest fax/modems top out around 33.6 kbps (V.34). Real-world speeds might be 2–14 kbps. Text-based stuff works, but web browsing will feel like 1995. Only one person at a time could “dial in.” No multi-user support unless you add more lines/modems. Also, you’re paying per phone call unless it’s a flat-rate local number you're connected to. You’d need to configure the fax-printer-hosting device as a PPP server (Linux can do this with mgetty + pppd).
By default, anyone who knows the number could dial in. You’d want auth via PPP (username/password) or even you could make it cookie-accessible only so that the only way somebody can access your network is via manual request to receive those cookies. Since fax machines often auto-answer, without auth it could become an open door.
When uplink is down, it’s just a private WAN (LAN over phone). When uplink is up, it’s an “emergency ISP” — albeit a very slow one.
So a fax line with a phone number could serve as a rudimentary ISP. If you can make the printer’s modem answer in data mode instead of fax mode, then run PPP over that call, you’d essentially be recreating a dial-up ISP from scratch. It would be slow, single-user, and hacky, but totally possible — and robust in a blackout if POTS still has line power. It'll be good enough for GNUNet or IRC client.
