Sending a fax

[Joy]

Trying for the first time to send a fax, using the "built in" fax in
WindowsXP. Got all the way to the send part, and it said No Dial Tone.
We recently got dsl, and the modem is hard wired to my husband's computer
and then we have a Wireless router to send the signal to my computer. I
thought perhaps that was why No Dial Tone. So then I tried using my
husband's new Lexmark All-In-One and its fax capability. This time it
"found" the modem, but nevertheless when it finally got to the sending
phase, it also said No Dial Tone.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Trying for the first time to send a fax, using the "built in" fax in
WindowsXP. Got all the way to the send part, and it said No Dial Tone.

And that's a big clue that you aren't using a fax modem connected to a phone
line.

We recently got dsl, and the modem is hard wired to my husband's computer

You cannot fax with a DSL modem.

You need a fax-modem, which connects to an analog phone line, just like a
regular phone. This also needs to use a DSL filter.

Many systems now do not have fax-modems, and it's getting harder to find
them.

and then we have a Wireless router to send the signal to my computer. I
thought perhaps that was why No Dial Tone.

The network connection isn't relevant to faxing, since you need a fax-modem
on a phone line.

So then I tried using my husband's new Lexmark All-In-One and its fax
capability.

Is that one connected to a phone line?

This time it "found" the modem, but nevertheless when it finally got to
the sending phase, it also said No Dial Tone.

Pick up the handset on the Lexmark and listen for the dial tone. If it
doesn't have one, it may not be connected to a phone line with a filter.

HTH
-pk

 

[Joy]

Back when I had dial up, I had installed some fax software (WinFax) in my
computer, and I could send faxes then as long as I took the computer offline
thus freeing up the phone line. Was the "regular" modem thus the fax modem
you are talking about?

As for our current setup on my husband's computer, the phone jack has the
dual phone jack that AT&T send us, with half (filtered) for the phone, and
the other half for the dsl modem. Don't know if that answers your question
or not. BTW, there is no handset on the Lexmark.

 

[Jonathan Harker]

Back when I had dial up, I had installed some fax software (WinFax) in my
computer, and I could send faxes then as long as I took the computer offline
thus freeing up the phone line. Was the "regular" modem thus the fax modem
you are talking about?

As for our current setup on my husband's computer, the phone jack has the
dual phone jack that AT&T send us, with half (filtered) for the phone, and
the other half for the dsl modem. Don't know if that answers your question
or not. BTW, there is no handset on the Lexmark.

Get one of those connectors that split the phone connector so that two
lines can be connected through it. Phone to one side, computer to
other.

They can be found practically anywhere phone cords, etc. are sold.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Back when I had dial up, I had installed some fax software (WinFax) in my
computer, and I could send faxes then as long as I took the computer offline
thus freeing up the phone line. Was the "regular" modem thus the fax modem
you are talking about?

No, "regular" modems were just that, and didn't have fax capabilities.
Fax modems are different, in that they have that additional capability.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


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~ Denis Diderot

 

[Lem]

Back when I had dial up, I had installed some fax software (WinFax) in my
computer, and I could send faxes then as long as I took the computer offline
thus freeing up the phone line. Was the "regular" modem thus the fax modem
you are talking about?

You probably had a "data/fax modem." Although in the earliest days of
dial-up internet, data-only modems were the norm, these combination
devices soon became popular. Both data modems and fax modems send their
signals over a regular telephone connection, which is why you had to
stop using the data part of the modem (take the computer off line) in
order to use the fax part of the modem (send a fax) and is also why you
couldn't make or receive telephone calls while you were online or
sending a fax. People who use fax machines a lot often get a second
telephone line just for the fax machine.

As for our current setup on my husband's computer, the phone jack has the
dual phone jack that AT&T send us, with half (filtered) for the phone, and
the other half for the dsl modem. Don't know if that answers your question
or not. BTW, there is no handset on the Lexmark.

Although DSL modems connect to the same physical wire as your telephone,
a DSL modem is very different from a data or fax modem. Faxes can't be
sent using a DSL modem. If you have a fax modem built into your
computer, you could connect it to the jack on the "dual phone jack" into
which your phone normally connects. In that case, you would be able to
send a fax using the built-in Win XP fax service *if* the Win XP fax
service decided it liked your particular modem. This software is
notoriously picky about the hardware it will work with.

If your new Lexmark All-In-One has fax capability, that means that it
has a fax modem built into it. This is completely separate from your
computer. In order to use the AIO to send a fax, you will have to
connect it to the same jack where your telephone now connects (as in the
above example) or to a second telephone line. Windows XP Fax can't use
your AIO to send a fax. Whether you can send a fax from your computer
using the AIO (as compared to sending a fax directly from the AIO using
its front panel controls) depends on the software supplied with the device.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[Addison Steele]

No, "regular" modems were just that, and didn't have fax capabilities.
Fax modems are different, in that they have that additional capability.

How many years has it been since "regular" modems were sold? I
believe modems have had faxing capability for at least 10 years now.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Back when I had dial up, I had installed some fax software (WinFax) in my
computer, and I could send faxes then as long as I took the computer
offline thus freeing up the phone line. Was the "regular" modem thus the
fax modem you are talking about?

Yes, and the fax call was a different call from the dial-up. You have to
hang up one call to make the other.

It's rarer now for this to be the case, but not all modems have fax
capabilities.

As for our current setup on my husband's computer, the phone jack has the
dual phone jack that AT&T send us, with half (filtered) for the phone, and
the other half for the dsl modem. Don't know if that answers your
question

Yes. Your system must have a fax-modem, and it must be plugged into the
same part of the line that your phone is. There needs to be a filter.

You configure the fax software to talk to the fax modem, not the DSL, and
when it goes off hook to send a fax you should hear a dialtone if you have
the speaker set to on. Having the speaker on is annoying during regular
use, but very helpful while setting up.

or not. BTW, there is no handset on the Lexmark.

Often these - and all modems - have two jacks, one for incoming phone line
and one for a phone (or handset). Attach a regular phone to that 2nd jack
and pick up the handset. If there's no dialtone, the modem or multifunction
isn't connected to the phone line, and you won't be able to fax.

Message-waiting dialtone beeps can also cause a no-dialtone message.

HTH
-pk

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Trying for the first time to send a fax, using the "built in" fax in
WindowsXP. Got all the way to the send part, and it said No Dial Tone.
We recently got dsl, and the modem is hard wired to my husband's computer
and then we have a Wireless router to send the signal to my computer. I
thought perhaps that was why No Dial Tone. So then I tried using my
husband's new Lexmark All-In-One and its fax capability. This time it
"found" the modem, but nevertheless when it finally got to the sending
phase, it also said No Dial Tone.

You are apparently trying to send a fax over the DSL line. That's not
possible. The fax modem needs to be connected to a dial-up line.

 

[Joy]

Thank you one and all. I may need someone (locally) to show me if/how I can
hook up a phone line to my old (in the computer) modem in order to send a
fax (and, I assume, bypass the dsl modem temporarily). But there's no
rush, I don't send faxes very often; just had this one that needed to go out
this week, and we took it to our bank to send it! Thanks again.

 

[Danny Krychek]

Thank you one and all. I may need someone (locally) to show me if/how I can
hook up a phone line to my old (in the computer) modem in order to send a
fax (and, I assume, bypass the dsl modem temporarily).

There SHOULD be a connector on your computer for a standard phone
line. If there isn't, then your computer doesn't have a modem (hard
to imagine).

You only need to plug a standard flat phone cord into that, and then
into an adapter on the DSL filter that will allow you to share that
connection with the stand alone fax machine.

The adapter is pictured here (2-way/3-way).

http://www.harriscomm.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2226

Buy one locally for about a dollar.

 

[Joy]

Yes, I have one (or more) of those (2-way), but I don't have a stand alone
fax machine; I was trying to use the fax capability in Windows XP.

 

[M.I.5¾]

There SHOULD be a connector on your computer for a standard phone
line. If there isn't, then your computer doesn't have a modem (hard
to imagine).

Not hard at all. While most laptops still have a modem, few desktops do
these days.

 

[Joy]

My computer is a laptop (connected to a docking station most of the time).

 

[ANONYMOUS]

You need to get a doubler that allows you to connect a fax/modem cable as
well as DSL cable. This then allows you to send faxes as well as use
internet via your dsl line! Your DSL modem must have come with a doubler.

hth