Brand of faxes for ATAs

b_ferguson · ‎04-22-2008

Does anyone have a list of fax machines that work correctly with ATAs. I know that ATAs aren't the best solution but I have a customer looking for a multifunction device, (fax, copier). They currently have Brother Super G3 which only work about 75% of the time. Any help on brand name and model numbers would be greatly appreciated.

mcreilly · ‎04-22-2008

We haven't noticed much difference between brands of fax machine on ATA186s - but your problem may be down to the "Super G3" performance of the Brother machines. We hit issues with Canon "Super G3" machines - short faxes (two or three pages) were OK, longer ones start to drop chunks of information or hang up apparently randomly. The solution that worked for us was to set up the fax machines (individually) to limit rate negotiation to 9600, i.e. not allowing 14400 connections. Since I did that - no trouble at all. With the same change I've also had good luck with Xerox multifunction devices. The "Super G3" faxes do seem to work fine (without the limitation) on the VG224s, just not on the ATA186s.

s5rch · ‎04-22-2008

Can you elaborate on the sentence below (in other words would you configure the switch port to limit the rate of negotiation? If not where would it be defined?

"We hit issues with Canon "Super G3" machines - short faxes (two or three pages) were OK, longer ones start to drop chunks of information or hang up apparently randomly. The solution that worked for us was to set up the fax machines (individually) to limit rate negotiation to 9600, i.e. not allowing 14400 connections."

mcreilly · ‎04-22-2008

Sorry if I wasn't too clear there... I'm not talking about configuring the switch port or anything else on the Cisco side, but rather the setup options on the fax machine itself. On the Canon one I have here there's a "Menu" button next to the LCD display that gives access to the setup menus and the option is buried a few levels deep in there. The fax machine's user manual (or manufacturer's web site) would need to be consulted to find out where exactly to make this change on your devices. You're looking to change the maximum speed that the machine will negotiate when making or receiving a call to 9600. (Faxes negotiate at the start of a call just like old fashioned modems, through an ATA they'll often agree on 14400 which actually seems to be too fast for the ATA, but 9600 seems to work just fine).