Fax and No Dial Tone

[Michael_Reeder]

I have an OBi202.  While fax is not officially supported it sometimes works with error correction turned off and at the slowest possible speed.  However -- I can't even get that far because my fax machine (HP OfficeJet Pro 8500) does not seem to be getting dial tone at all.

Both SP1 and SP2 are set-up for the same Google Voice account.  Both phone ports are working fine with my phone handset (which gets dial tone loud and clear).  I have tried the phone cord I use to connect my fax machine to the OBi202 with my handset instead and the handset works -- so the problem is not a faulty wire.

The problem would seem to be either the fax machine itself or some arcane setting in the OBi202 perhaps?

There is, unfortunately, no way for me to hook the fax machine up to a regular POTS line to test if it would work that way.

QUESTION:  Does anyone know if there are different settings in the OBi202 that could result in the same port offering dial tone to a handset but not to a fax machine??

Thanks,
Michael

[Shale]

I am confident there is no such setting.

You could try monitoring the voltage across the phone line. You will see that the voltage is not dropping down to 12 volts or so as it would when you plug in a phone and lift the handset.

To aid probing, note that the outer pair of phone 1 jack (like RJ-14 diagram) are in parallel with the inner pair of phone 2.

[Michael_Reeder]

Thanks Shale.

I may be a bit below this technical level and lack voltage testing equipment.

No OBi202 setting involved -- Okay -- that  is good to know.

Would a shorter telephone cord between the OBi202 and the fax machine perhaps help keep voltages at the right level?


Thanks,
Michael

[Rick]

I suspect it's more related to the connections at the 8500.  And since you can't hook it up to a regular POTS line, that tells me you don't know if it's worked successfully on one before, hence my guess that it's a setup issue on the 8500.  

It has two ports - LINE and EXT.  Make sure the phone cord from the wall is in the LINE port.  The EXT port is for the phone line that goes to a phone so that you can share the line.  

If that's ok, then check to make sure you are set on TONE, not PULSE to dial.

If both those are ok, you can monitor the dialing by connecting a phone to the EXT port to see whether it gets the dial tone and then tries to dial, and if in doing so the dial tone goes away but for some reason the number doesn't get dialed correctly.  

If you are still having issues, use the Fax Setup guide and make sure you follow the steps.  There is a Fax Test in there as well.  You should have this guide since I'm assuming you got this printer new.  http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01696942.pdf

[Michael_Reeder]

Thank you Rick.  It will be a few days before I can get back to the office and test this scenario.  I appreciate the leads and will test this out shortly.

-- Michael

[Lavarock7]

Many HP Fax machines/printers have a specific line cord to go t othe wall (or the Obi in this case). I believe they are 2 wire cords using just the inside pair.

This article is for a specific machine, but much of the info may be helpful.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c02891758

[Michael_Reeder]

Lavarock7 -- I did not know this!  Definitely checking my phone cord at office tomorrow.

[Lavarock7]

After re-reading your description, you may only need to move the fax machine to Phone2.

The port on the Obi fro Phone 1 contains both phone 1 and phone 2 wires. Phone 1 is the inner pair that the fax wants to see and the outer wires are for phone 2 (which would be used if a phone had both lines in one cable).

The Obi then has just phone 2 on the Phoen 2 port using just the inner pair.

All these connectors have the labeled line on the inner pair, but phone 1 jack also includes phone 2 on the outer pair for phones that can use it. HP may use that other pair for some other use.

[Michael_Reeder]

Lavarock7 -- That is all it was.  I needed a 2-line phone cord.  Simple as that!

I happen to have the 2-line cord on phone 1, but it is now working.  Sounds like a 4-line cord could have worked on phone 2.

Thanks,
Michael

[Michael_Reeder]

For the benefit of anyone else playing with HP fax/scanner/printers...

My Epson fax machine at home worked with a 4-line cord -- the 2-line cord seems important for HP machines.

My HP machine works much better with error correction TURNED ON.  Many information sources on trying to utilizing a regular fax machine for VoIP setups suggest turning error correction off.  This resulted in an unfortunate situation in which the HP fax machine would go through the whole process of sending the whole fax, tell me the fax was successfully sent, and it would NOT be received on the other end!

I am of course transmitting at the slowest speed allowed in the fax machine set-up.

Thanks,
Michael

[Michael_Reeder]

Another newbie "no duh!" moment -- but I thought it pretty cool that I could send a fax and at the same time make a phone call -- both on the same Google Voice phone number.  Ah, yes, that part in the OBi202 instructions about being able to support at least 2 connections...

...I just figured 2 connections needed 2 different phone numbers.  Not so.

-- Michael

[RFord]

GV have 2-channels.  So you can be on an existing GV call and be able to place an outgoing call on your OBiON App on your cell phone, using the same GV DID.  Depending on your SIP provider, they DID can have more than 2 channels, which allows multiple incoming/outgoing on the same DID.  I think the OBi ATA can only carry 4 simultaneous calls, irrespective of the number of Channels the DID is capable of.

Another newbie "no duh!" moment -- but I thought it pretty cool that I could send a fax and at the same time make a phone call -- both on the same Google Voice phone number.  Ah, yes, that part in the OBi202 instructions about being able to support at least 2 connections...

...I just figured 2 connections needed 2 different phone numbers.  Not so.

-- Michael

[Michael_Reeder]

Thanks for clarification.