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Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.apps
Subject: summary : flexfax (& other Unix fax s/w) and faxmodem
Message-ID: <CJI5Cr.2wM@latcs1.lat.oz.au>
From: wongm@ipc6.lat.oz.au (M.C. Wong)
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 1994 05:46:02 GMT
Sender: news@latcs1.lat.oz.au (news)
Organization: Comp Sci, La Trobe Uni, Australia
Lines: 99
Hi,
Sometime ago, I posted a question regarding flexfax on FreeBSD, and
here are the replies I got back, hope they are useful to some of you
guys :
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1) Is fax receipt satisfactory as is on a fax machine ? I mean in
terms of the image quality, clarity, resolution etc.
- Yes, of course
2) Can anyone recommend some reliable 9600bps or higher faxmodem to be used
with flexfax and other Windows 3.1 and DOS based fax softwares ?
- ZyXEL U-1496E under MsWindows & 386bsd, from a happy user
3) Apart from flexfax, are there any types of fax s/w available for FreeBSD ?
- NetFax 3.2.1, FlexFax is more powerful,
- mgetty+sendfax
4) Basically, I will like to have 3 things connected to my PC, ie :
i) faxmodem - takes cares of fax and data connection,
- FlexFax can recognize the type of input call (fax or data). Moreover,
you may use 'mgetty' to solve this problem.
ii) voice - for normal phone conversation
- On the same site I got mgetty there was a program called vgetty that
was supposed to handle voice as well, but I have not had a chance
to look at it. Try ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de, look in /tmp if it
is still there anyway!
5) I wonder if there exists such products that can deal with such combination
so that I can share the same phone line.
- flexfax + ZyXEL modem would handle data, voice, and fax.
6) I am going to buy a faxmodem (replacing my old 2400bps modem) soon,
and I will like to have an un-interrupted sharing of phone line
faxmodem and voice-phone , such that if someone ring up during my
faxmodem connection is on, some kind of software is able to detect
it and temporary cut off the faxmodem connection, and redirect the
ringing to phone. And also, while the faxmodem is in use, I will
like to have an un-interrupted line in case if someone pick up the
phone, in which case the faxmodem software is supposed to be able to
cut off the faxmodem connection temporary, and after the phone is
back on hook, the faxmodem connection is resumed automatically. And
finally, needless to say, I need the faxmodem s/w that is
intelligent to distinguish between incoming/outgoing fax or just
data so that apprpriate programs can be invoked, I mean I will like
to hav all those s/w bundled in one, instead of say use kermit for
dialing out, and use flexfax for faxing out , etc!
Finally, I will be grateful, if someone can suggest some >= 9600bps
faxmodem for me that achieve above description, and also, where can
I get more info on faxmodem besides the FAQ ? I am trying to get
these info, and I am going to summarize what I get to comp.os.386bsd
group, as I am using FreeBSD!
- I read your letter to the UseNet data communication conference. Your
questions about FAX hardware/software are very interesting.
Unfortunately, there is currently no way to do what you are
describing. I assume that you are talking about CALL WAITING service
from the telephone company, which will alert you of another incoming
call while you are in a conversation. In a data mode, the CALL WAITING
"click" will simply cause a momentary loss of carrier signal, which
may be recoverable without loss of data, but cannot be detected as
any special function by the modem. In FAX modes, the loss of carrier
will cause the current FAX page to be terminated prematurely, and
may disturb the protocol preventing further page transmissions.
In other words, this is a very difficult problem with current
telephone technology. I don't think you will find any modem hardware
or software that can solve this today.
- I don't belive they make such a model. You might just want to get call
waiting where if someone calls you loose the connection. You can
probably get software with your modem for free. No software or modems
support the above to my knowledge. Some modems come with communications
software too, but not all.
Some good models are Intel 144/144i or 144/144e (external), USR
Sportster, Practical Peripherals , and Zoom is ok. These all run from
about $130 - $190 and are all 14.4K. I recommend the 14.4K over the
9600 mainly because 2400 is fastly becoming obselete and the higher
speed you get now the less you'll have to buy in the future. Plus for
$30 more it's 50% more speed.
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- wongm@latcs1.lat.oz.au (M.C Wong)
--
- wongm@latcs1.lat.oz.au