Basic Fax Troubleshooting Tips

This page is part of the Network and QoS guides.

Fax Troubleshooting Tips

Cisco ATA

Hardware

Top View

Before starting, ensure that the power light, world globe, and phone icons are lit up.

If there is something plugged into the second telephone port, then phone two will be lit.  

Rear View

From left to right

• Phone 1: Fax Machine
• Phone 2: Credit Card Machine (if applicable)
• Local Network Printer
• Internet Network
• Power

Here is a guide to the lights:

Item	Description
Power LED	Steady green: System booted up successfully and is ready for use. Slow flashing green: System is booting up. Fast flashing green three times, then repeats: System failed to boot up. Off: Power is off.
Network LED	Flashing green: Data transmission or reception is in progress through the WAN port. Off: No link.
Phone 1 LED Phone 2 LED	Steady green: On hook. Slow flashing green: Off hook. Fast flashing green three times, then repeats: The analog device failed to register. Off: The port is not configured.

Grandstream HT-8xx

Hardware

Top View

Before starting, ensure that the power light, phone, world globe, and network icons are lit up.

If there is something plugged into the second telephone port, then phone two will be lit.  

Rear View

From left to right: power, first blue port is a network passthrough port for an external device, second blue port with the globe connects to the internet.

Plug the fax machine into the phone one  port.

FAX ATA Troubleshooting

The first troubleshooting step with the fax ATAs is to try rebooting the ATA by unplugging the from the DC 12V port and waiting for about a minute.

After a minute plug back in the ATA and power cycle your fax machine while you are waiting for that to reconnect. After all lights are back on turn on the fax machine and phone icon number should light up. Now try faxing again.

On the fax machine make sure that:

• ECM (Error Correction Mode) is turned off. Please consult your user’s manual.
• Set the Baud rate to 9600 on the Cisco an 14,400 on the Grandstream, no higher.
• Especially for Brother fax machines you will need to set it to basic/voip settings. If your fax machine has this setting, select it.
• Turn off distinctive ring if equipped.

You can also check another document called: Basic Fax Machine Settings for VoIP

If you have any questions about this process, or if you need further assistance, please reach out to our Support Team by dialing HELP(4357) on your desk phone, calling (972) 924-6488, or submitting a ticket.