fax modem vs modem

[Rick Stevens]

On Thu, 2006-01-26 at 17:47 -0600, Fred Grant wrote:
> Is there really any difference between a fax modem and a plain old modem
> (besides price)?

Yes.  A "plain old modem" can't do group 2 or 3 FAX operations.  A
FAX modem will act as a normal modem AND can act as your FAX machine.
If it receives a call, it checks the carrier tone.  If it appears to
be a FAX, it'll trigger your FAX software and receive the FAX.  If it's
a regular data call, it'll launch the login sequence on your machine.

Since I have a scanner, printer and a FAX modem, I combine them via
Linux into an "all-in-one" thing like HP sells.  Incoming FAXes come in
and are spooled up on the machine for me to look at.  If I want the FAX,
I print it out.  I don't waste paper on junk FAXes (and I get a ton of
those).

If I want to send a FAX (not that common, but on occasion I do), I scan
it in and use efix to convert the file to FAX format.  I then use efax
to send it out via the modem.  Yes, sending faxes is a bit harder than
using an all-in-one or FAX machine, but just barely.

If I dial into my machine (almost NEVER since I'm on cable modem), I can
do that as well.

I prefer using the separate boxes for several reasons:

	1. I already had them (and I'm cheap!)

	2. Often the "all-in-one" scanners aren't as good (lower
	resolution) as a real scanner.

	2. The "all-in-one" boxes often require special drivers that
	the makers simply won't provide to us open-source guys, so you
	have to roll your own or wait for linux-printing.org to come up
	with one.

Do what you wish.  See "man mgetty" for details about the incoming call
handling if you wish to follow in my well-trodden footsteps.

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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-     Is that a buffer overflow or are you just happy to see me?     -
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