Customer Service DOES respond

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 5:19 pm Post subject:

apparently his problem is receiving, not sending.
also, I was under the impression that a fax line is set up to not need the changes made by dialing *99. it should be set up for that by default (again, my impression)

Posts: 220 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Aug 19, 2003 Posts: 220

John:

I think the *99 and the backwards DSL filter, etc., have pretty much been eliminated by the newer routers and firmware.

Yes, this is a receiving issue from the sounds of things. The low voltage sounds like a possible first step. I'm wondering if there's a setting for monitoring incoming calls that's somehow disabled or needs adjusted. Don't know anything about a Lexmark fax.

Laurel

Posts: 31 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Dec 14, 2004 Posts: 31

funny, one of the tech guys this week still recommended using *99

not sure what setting would have to be turned on- i have the rnger on, have it set to pick up after one ring,...

Posts: 220 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Aug 19, 2003 Posts: 220

Does the fax have a phone out jack on the back? If you plug a phone into that jack, assuming it has one, does the PHONE ring when a call comes in, even if the fax machine doesn't?

Just to be sure we're all clear on what you've got going on:

1. Can send faxes without problems?
2. Can place voice calls now without problems?
3. Can receive voice calls?

Do you still have the POTS line? If you plug the fax machine into it, assuming you have it, does it work on the POTS line?

*99, to my understanding, just slows down the transmission speed. I'll still occasionally stick it into a dial sequence if I get a failed fax. But it doesn't affect INCOMING, as far as I know. I could be wrong, though.

Posts: 15 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jan 21, 2005 Posts: 15

Yep, dumb question.

FYI - i have a new linksys, and excelent bandwidth and QOS. But if I don't dial *99, it fails after maybe 3-5 seconds.

Posts: 31 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Dec 14, 2004 Posts: 31

can answer the phone if it is plugged into a fax machine. can place a voice call. can't send or receive a fax. no pots line to check

my voice line has always been fine. it is just an issue on the fax line

Posts: 220 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Aug 19, 2003 Posts: 220

It's really odd the fax machine doesn't even RING if the phone connected to it will. That's one that's got me stumped unless it's a voltage issue, as I think John or Dan mentioned. Oh, if you do answer with the phone connected to the fax machine, do you have the ability to initiate the fax by pressing 123 or some other set of numbers? If so, will the fax machine "wake up" then?

(Also, is there anybody you've encountered on the forum here who is using the same machine successfully? If they're willing to let you give Support their name, then Support can look at their setup and see what, if anything, is different from yours.)

In the mean time, to try outgoing faxes:

1. Did you lower the baud in the machine to 9600?
(the HPG85 doesn't make this easy to do, but Vonage Support gave me the "backdoor" instructions to do it.)
2. Does *99 make any difference?
3. Have you tried a DSL line filter -- forwards, backwards, whatever?
4. What error message does the fax machine throw when your outgoing fax fails?
5. Do you ever actually connect in an outgoing fax and begin transmission?

When you say the voice line has always been fine, I guess I was confused because I thought you said voice calls were failing except 15% of the time and you downgraded to a fax line because of it. (I didn't really follow that well and maybe I'm messing up the details.)

If you have a friend with a different fax they could drag over and let you try it on your line, it would be interesting to see if the symptoms are duplicated on a different machine.

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 5:53 pm Post subject:

according to jscott from http://www.vonage-forum.com/ftopic904.html:
"*99 temporarily disables Bandwidth Saver as well as temporarily changes the packetization from the default of 20 to 10 as well as codec G.711"
so yes it would be necessary, at least to make those specific settings change. if your fax works without *99 then it's a moot point anyway. I know mine does. (lexmark X125) what/where have you read that new routers or firmware have anything to do with faxing?

Posts: 220 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Aug 19, 2003 Posts: 220

John:

I thought when I got the Linksys and they were doing tweaking on my fax that they told me I shouldn't/wouldn't need to use *99 anymore. Perhaps I misunderstood what he meant by that -- and maybe it had to do with a setting change he made on his end rather than the firmware upgrade itself. I know we took the DSL filter off then and it's still off, even with the wireless jack.

I don't use *99, and the machine rarely fails -- but maybe it's a coincidence or, again, they've done something on the Vonage end to make it unncessary. I didn't always have to add it to my dial strings, even with the moto or cisco. I just threw it in when I had problems -- sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't.

I honestly don't know what specific changes they have made in the past to my line for the fax to work -- and sometimes one person would undo what the person before them did if I was still experiencing problems. But the last time I had a problem, the guy went in and made some changes and I promptly faxed him a 20-page document without a hiccup. It's been very stable since, so whatever he did, it was the ticket for me.

Laurel

Posts: 8 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 09, 2005 Posts: 8

dconnor: This thread was started discussing Vonage support. Anything other than that should have been a new thread.