Broadband fax?

[Keygrip]

Hmmm.

I have a telephone cable coming through the wall - two copper pairs. One for telephone (voice), one for fax.

The telephone one has a small "sip" device (which I understand what it *does, but I don't understand the device itself). It routes all my calls, local and long distance, over the broadband internet connection via "skype like" software from www.internetcalls.com (http://www.internetcalls.com)

Works perfectly, doesn't cost me a penny - but I *do* need the copper pair - for various reasons - and, therefore pay the dreadful AT&T phone company for the rental of their copper.

I also pay rental (*heavily*) for the other copper pair that just runs the fax machine. This is not good.

I'd like to buy (ebay?) an equivalent device to connect my fax machine directly to the broadband connection and squeak my faxes down that line - then I can stop paying AT&T (spit) for the second copper pair.

I *really* do not want to lose the first copper pair, and I *really* do not want to keep the second pair - but *do* want to keep the standard fax machine system of put in paper, dial number, watch it feed through and assume it has arrived at the other end.

I'm not yet ready to either "send from pc" nor scan into pc (from same multifunction device) and have the document sent as an attachment, or whatever.

Any ideas? Most fax transmissions, btw, are Florida to UK CAA.

[Keef]

I have one pair of copper wires coming into the house. They do telephone, broadband, and fax. I just send faxes on the normal voice line, using WinFax Pro on the PC. If they aren't generated on the PC, I scan them in via Paint Shop Pro.

On the one occasion in about three years that I need to receive a fax, I tell the PC that it's a fax machine, and it answers the phone and does the fax bit.

I believe there are "Internet Fax" providers, who will receive the fax on your behalf and send it to your PC. You then print it off as a JPEG.

[Keygrip]

Thanks for the effort Keef - but I'm trying to completely avoid the PC - just piggy back on its broadband connection.

It's partly for technophobe reasons. Wife will not consider learning scan/fax/pc operations - but will happily stick a pile of papers in the top of the fax and watch them go.

Just have to remind her the difference between the fax/copier and the shredder. :eek:

[Keef]

If you're only SENDING faxes, then just connect it to the regular telephone line. Remember not to make calls while you're faxing. If the "sip router" screws up the fax, connect it upstream of that.

The problem arises when you want to receive a fax. Then, you have to decide how you separate phone calls from incoming faxes.

[The Flying Pram]

There's no reason why the fax can't be on your first line - you can get fax machines with built in answering machines, or separate answering machines which can detect an incoming fax call. With this arrangement the line can still handle your broadband connection, and manual or automatic fax reception and answering of voice calls.

[Parapunter]

Agree with pram should be relatively straightforward to set up.

I appreciate you wish to stay away rom the pc Keygrip, but I can't resist: you know windoze comes with a fax service? I use it exclusvely at work in lieu of a fax machine & find it just fine, incoming & outgoing, no problems at all. In xp, you have to enable it via control panel, add/remove programs & then it's in the add/remove windows features.

[BOAC]

I'm pretty sure, kg, that you will need an adsl capable fax machine which I think is available (at a price) since I think the whole machine fax system needs an ordinary voice line to work, but I think it will probably be cheaper to keep the extra line! I work as Keef with 'winfaxpro' with no problems on an ordinary dial-up modem. I am away from the desktop at the moment but I recall there ?may be? some add-on in Winfax to do with b/band which I have not explored, but I do not have the programme here to check. I don't think even the VOIP lot have got there yet, although I guess it is only time.

http://www.btofaq.net/articles/misc/internet2fax.html seems to agree.

ATB

[The Flying Pram]

I'm not familiar with your "sip" device, but assuming that it only routes outgoing calls via skype then it presumably has a port or socket into which your ordinary phone is plugged. This should still feed incoming and outgoing voice and fax calls. If you are happy with answering incoming calls then leave the fax machine on "manual" and just press "start" if you hear the tone. If you want fully automatic operation you need a fax and answering machine designed for this arrangement, or a combined phone/fax.

The principle is that the fax listens across the line and only connects if it hears the tone when an incoming call is answered. Otherwise the call is passed to the answering machine or phone as appropriate. To make this work with separate units the fax has to be first in the sequence, and then the answering machine and any phones connected to its output port. The answering machine also needs to be set to answer before the fax, but most of them have a selectable number of rings in the setup menu.

This would achieve what you are trying to do, on one line. Then only downside is having to inform your friends of a change in fax number.

Regards.

[Genghis the Engineer]

An alternative approach - my ISP (plusnet) gives me a fax number which converts an incoming fax to a .tif file then Emails it to me about 2 minutes later - all part of the package.

Sending can then just be done from the PC through the phone line.

And no need to give house room to a fax machine.

G