Chris said:
A 5 page fax took 8:11 using the standard Win XP fax printer. That's common
for the rare occasions I need to send one.
My computer is a Dell Dimension 4600 with onboard BCM v.92 56k modem.
Driver version 3.5.25.0, dated 8/27/2003. Is there anything I can do to
speed up the connection? Maybe startup strings?
Does it matter if the fax phone line is also a DSL line? If so, does it
matter if the fax line is or is not behind a DSL filter?
Thanks in advance.
If I recall correctly, notwithstanding that the max possible *data* rate
of a modem may be 56K, a fax connection starts at 14,400 and negotiates
downward from there, depending on line conditions and the capability of
the receiving fax device. Also, I believe that the Broadcom modems are
"soft modems," meaning that your computer is providing the proscessing
power needed to send the fax. These two observations suggest a few
troubleshooting steps. You'll need a cooperative person who will let
you send a bunch of faxes to their machine.
1. Ensure that you have the most up-to-date driver for the modem.
2. Stop all other applications running on your computer (try sending
your test fax by printing from notepad or wordpad instead of MS Word).
3. Unplug *everything else* in the house that is connected to your
phone line. That includes your DSL connection and other phones in the
house. Connect the fax modem directly to the phone line (without a
filter). Disconnect anything you have plugged into the "phone out" jack
of your modem (if it has one).
5. Send a test fax to a fax machine that you *know" can receive and/or
send faxes at high speed. Don't forget that the speed of any modem
connection, whether regular data or fax, is limited to the max speed of
the slowest of the two modems.
If your test fax is still slow, that suggests that either your modem is
not performing properly or your home telephone wires are noisy or
otherwise less than optimum. If the latter, I'd be surprised if you
haven't also noticed poor DSL performance.
If the test fax is fast, then start adding things back one at a time,
sending a test fax after each step. I'd start by inserting the filter
between the modem and the wall jack (but don't connect your DSL line
yet), because it seems to me that the most likely problem is a defective
filter. Then reconnect other phones in the house. Then connect your DSL
line. Finally, start doing other things on your computer at the same
time you're sending the fax. When you see the fax speed drop, you'll
have pinpointed the cause.
