Phone

Fax Troubleshooting

If you are having troubles with your fax machine sending or receiving faxes here are some things you can try:

Make sure your fax machine is connected to the phone line

There is a phone cord that connects the fax machine to a phone jack in the house and this is how it sends data to other fax machines.

It is possible the cord has come loose or completely unplugged. It seems simple, but this tip solves most communication error issues.

Check for dial tone

Even if the machine is plugged into a phone jack, you may not be receiving dial tone.

You can test this by lifting the handset from the fax machine if equipped, or plugging a known working phone into the phone jack your fax machine is plugged into.

If you are not getting dialtone, follow the troubleshooting steps in the “No Dialtone” section on this site to try to re-establish dialtone.

Check for interference

It is possible that other devices are interfering with the sending or receiving of your faxes.

Common culprits are splitters, power bars, bad DSL filters, and bad phone devices.

Try unplugging or bypassing these devices in the house one at a time to see if the problem clears.