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Sending a fax through Obi202?

Started by UserAsdf, July 02, 2012, 01:08:44 AM

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QBZappy

#20
Quote from: UserAsdf on July 05, 2012, 01:44:41 PM
Windows 7 Fax & Scan won't allow me to change the fax or port speed of my usb faxmodem, but I'm not sure if that's relevant when fax negotiation never even occurs due to the answering fax tones being silenced by the Obi202.

This is for WinXP: (For Win7 see pc44 one post above this one)

This might be an important detail. Fax modems by default usually are set to go at the max speed of 115200 bd. To change the baud speed of the fax modem, you need to go to Control Panel, Administrative tools, Computer management, device management, look for the modem, look under properties, and look for a tab where the baud speed can be modified. There is the possibility that the speed can not be changed. Different manufactures allow modification of the com port and baud rate, others don't. You might get lucky. Have a look.


pc44
Son of a gun, I see you type faster than me  :D
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

UserAsdf

Hello. Unfortunately, the port speed setting is greyed out and won't allow me to change it.

I'm really appreciating everyone's help btw, in case I haven't mentioned it yet. :)

QBZappy

UserAsdf,
Even greyed out, can you see what the baud speed is set at? If so what is it set at?
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

QBZappy

Another way to do it. Probably same result. What is the model name/number of the fax modem?

Changing the Modem Speed (Windows 7)

http://www.acs.nmu.edu/faq/index.php?action=artikel&cat=4&id=120&artlang=en
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

Ostracus

Quote from: UserAsdf on July 05, 2012, 01:44:41 PM

I did confirm the calls were going over Callcentric both via the Obi202 call status page and by calling my own fax number hosted by Callcentric. (Doing the latter results in voicemail prompts)



Callcentric, did you go to the "DID forwarding" tab and set the line to "Fax"?

QBZappy

Ostracus,

Quote from: Ostracus on July 05, 2012, 03:00:04 PM
Callcentric, did you go to the "DID forwarding" tab and set the line to "Fax"?

If this works UserAsdf owes you a beer.
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

UserAsdf

The port speed is forced at 115200. The faxmodem is a USR Model 5637.

The instructions at nmu.edu appear to be for pre-configured dialup networks, or "dial up networking" as Windows calls it. I can't seem to find any of those windows on my system since I haven't used dialup since the late 90s. ;D

My DID is set to Fax in Callcentric and has been for a long time. :)

I've also confirmed fax reception to that DID a few days ago by sending a fax from faxzero.com.


UserAsdf

Obihai responded to my ticket with a solution!

Quote from: Obihai Support
Please make sure that you disabled "SIP ALG" setting in your router.

It turns out "SIP ALG" was causing my problems. Once I disabled this on my router, I was able to send a fax ... from my voip.ms line!

I haven't tried sending via Callcentric (again) yet, but that's okay since I primarily use my voip.ms line for outgoing anyway. ;D

If anyone else runs across this problem and is using TomatoUSB firmware, the "SIP ALG" setting is in Advanced -> Conntrack/Netfilter -> Tracking / NAT Helpers -> SIP

Thanks everyone for all your help! :)

pc44

Yay Obihai !!!  Nice work. :)

This is terrific news... and yet another reminder to the rest of us... to continue to disable/stop/kill/terminate SIP ALG! >:(

Glad to hear this!
pc44

UserAsdf

I just tried sending a fax via Callcentric and it was necessary to change the priority of the G711 codecs.

With G711u I still had the same problem I described where fax tones were being silenced.
With G711a everything appears to work fine.

Summary:
voip.ms appears to work fine with G711u. Callcentric needs G711a for faxing.

Just more notes for anyone searching this thread at some point in the future. :)

QBZappy

UserAsdf,

While you're at it, how about the T38 codec?
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

pc44

Quote from: QBZappy on July 05, 2012, 05:06:21 PMWhile you're at it, how about the T38 codec?

Indeed!!  I can't wait to get my setup up and running.  UserAsdf, if you decide to test out the T.38 at all and are successful, please keep us informed! :)

Thanks,
pc44

UserAsdf

I haven't had a chance to try disabling all the codecs again to try and force T.38 yet. When the gf stops yelling at me for "playing with phone stuff all the time" I'll give it another try since I'm also curious myself. (I'll try to sneak this in later tonight 8))

I can say that I haven't seen T.38 show up on the call status page so far, and I've checked it religiously during testing up to this point.

UserAsdf

I just tried to dial a fax number with all codecs disabled except T.38 via Callcentric. I received this error message from my Obi202:

"The number you dialed was rejected by the service provider. Reason is 415."

I think I remember reading somewhere the codec should automatically switch to T.38 during a call in progress if fax is detected? Meaning the call begins as G711 or even G729, then later switches to T.38 if both ends are happy? I could be wrong. ???

Felix

As I am reading this thread... baffles me why would one want to go through all this pain to send a fax through the fax machine, rather than use an online faxing service...
http://www.faxcompare.com/

Ostracus

Quote from: Felix on July 06, 2012, 10:46:33 AM
As I am reading this thread... baffles me why would one want to go through all this pain to send a fax through the fax machine, rather than use an online faxing service...
http://www.faxcompare.com/

Probably because all the hardware's paid for and the incoming DID can be free.

UserAsdf

A few reasons. I'm sure everyone has their own.


  • I only send a few faxes a year, but when I need to send it I don't want to drive 40 minutes to someplace to send them.
  • I don't need to pay $8+/mo for something I use only a few times a year.
  • It's nice not having to upload images or pdfs of my financial or personal info to some fax service.

I used Vonage for 8+ years and everything just worked - including fax. Excellent voip service, just too expensive in light of other options.

Now that I've figured out how things need to be setup with Callcentric and voip.ms via the Obi202, I won't need to play with those again. Hopefully. ;D

I'm faxing just fine using G711a (Callcentric) and G711u (voip.ms) now. I wouldn't mind seeing T.38 show up on my call status page though. :D

virgillette

I was having a terrible time trying to fax through the Obi202 using GV. I disabled the SIP ALG in my router and was still no go. I was having the same problem where the tones would cut off before the handshake really got started. My solution was to use the extension on the fax machine to dial the number and to change my Brother MFC receive setting to fax/telephone. After dialing the number and hearing the beginning handshake, I hit send and the fax goes through with no problem. On the receive, the MFC answers and waits a second to see if the call is a fax or voice. This gives it enough time to hear the handshake and receive correctly. Yea!

caguerra

#38
I am having the same issue with Obi202.  It replaced an Obi100, which my faxing worked flawlessly via my Brother AIO, now I experience the same, where the responding party sends out its initial handshake tones, and then the audio gets cut-off while my fax keeps emitting the hello tones.  Never did anything with codecs or settings on the Obi100 it just plain worked via GV and lowering speed setting on the AIO.

I can't believe that the cheaper Obi100 seems to be less problematic than the Obi 202, this is now my second issue with this 'business' class model.  I used to be an Obi evangelist and have installed several overseas, but now not getting a good vibe...

EDIT:  Got it to successfully send to my Efax number as a test via GV after 2nd dial attempt, by disabling the T38Enable setting on the Obi202, that is unchecking the checkbox.  One less issue to contend with and confidence rebuilding... ;D

dial.tone

How about a plain-language tutorial for us newbies?  I experienced the same thing with my 202/GV setup: specifically, the call disconnects almost immediately after the fax machine emits its tone and the fax doesn't get sent.  I'd like to take advantage of all the knowledge in these posts, but it is over my head.  How would one go about "disabling the SIP ALG in my router" and/or "disabling the T38Enable setting on the Obi202?"  And how would one specify the use of G711a as opposed to G711u -- or has that requirement been OBEd by the latest discoveries?  Thanks.