Apple USB Modem - Slow fax speed

Any ideas on why small documents take a very long time to send via fax using Apple USB Modem. I've tried sending a 35 kb pdf document using the built in fax (Print, PDF, Fax PDF) and using Pagesender fax software. Each method takes 2:30 to 3 minutes to send one single page.
I also have a Brother Printer/Fax machine (MFC-5840) and can send the document to the printer's fax and have the document faxed in 20 to 30 seconds.
Any ideas on why it takes so long using the Apple USB Modem?
(Printing to the Brother printer/fax is fine for single documents but I would like to be able to take advantage of sending multiple documents that pagesender/USB Modem would allow)

Vic,
I'm not sure if this is part of your problem, but there have been some less than laudatory user experiences with the Apple USB modem. Apparently, USB modem connections are less than optimal for Macs, whether the connection is high speed internet or dial-up (for fax). You can do a search around here for particular problems with the USB modems.
By the way, do you use the USB modem and dial-up for your other web activities or do you otherwise use broadband?
Regards,
Steve M.
Here's one thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1811003&#1811003
Message was edited by: Steve M.

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Please help: Problem sending fax to one recipient using Apple USB Modem

Hello,
I'm using an Apple USB Modem to send an receive faxes on my PowerMac G5. This is working great to the most recipients, but not one with a Philips fax machine.
The problem is, that everybody can send faxes to him - except of me
I'm using a software called Pagesender for this, I e-mailed the support and he told me, that the my fax is timing out and some of his customers have made positive reports of Zoom and Best Data Modems in cases where the Apple Modems have encountered line noise.
Also the Tiger fax solution doesn't work ... The odd things are, that I could send faxes using a stationary fax machine and don't have problems to send faxes to others ...
Is there really no solution for this.
Best regards
René

Hello,
I'm using an Apple USB Modem to send an receive faxes on my PowerMac G5. This is working great to the most recipients, but not one with a Philips fax machine.
The problem is, that everybody can send faxes to him - except of me
I'm using a software called Pagesender for this, I e-mailed the support and he told me, that the my fax is timing out and some of his customers have made positive reports of Zoom and Best Data Modems in cases where the Apple Modems have encountered line noise.
Also the Tiger fax solution doesn't work ... The odd things are, that I could send faxes using a stationary fax machine and don't have problems to send faxes to others ...
Is there really no solution for this.
Best regards
René

Faxes won't send through Apple USB modem

I'm trying to use PageSender to send faxes via my Apple USB external modem. Every time I try to send a fax, I get an error message that says my modem is in use. The tech people say that my external modem is supposed to show up in the Printer Setup Utility and in the Print and Fax preferences, but it doesn't appear either place. They're puzzled. Before I installed PageSender, I was trying to send a fax using the OS X built-in fax capability, but I kept getting a message about a software error and the faxes would be put on a 5-minute hold for sending later, when the same thing would occur again. Anybody got an idea about what's happening? Are there updated drivers or anything else to update?

I too am trying to use pagesender. I can fax from the server, but not from client imacs. Using apple usb modem as well. The faxes won't go over to pagesender- just hangs in the printer que on the client computer. All computers can see one another on the wired network and a DIR-130 router. We share a network printer with no problems.
Pagesender support has been helpful, but they don't offer live support. If anyone knows an apple consultant who can walk me through the process on the phone I would be interested.
Thanks

Cable Modem Faxing w/Apple USB Modem

After looking at the info in this forum it is my understanding that the Apple USB Modem has the capability to send & receive faxes if I hook it up to the back of my computer (Power Mac G5) to the USB port and connect that to my phone line, even though I am using a cable modem. In essence it's a separate little external modem device. Is that correct? Thanks for any enlightenment on this subject.

Sru,
I don't remember the specific steps I took, but mine is working fine now under 10.4.3. At the very least, I would recommend hooking up the modem directly to your system's USP port, and not through a hub (including the keyboard hub). This seems to be the main problem I was having.
If you're having specific problems, please post your details and perhaps I'll (or someone) be able to help point you in the right direction.
-Mark

Cannot send faxes w/ Apple USB modem, can you offer some help please?

Hi,
I am using the Apple USB modem connected to my brand new MacBook and so far could not send any faxes. The modem is working because I was able to receive 1 fax (which I sent to myself from my Nokia 9300i).
The monitor tells me that: dialing... ok, connecting...ok, sending... and then it fails.
On the other side (my Nokia 9300i) the fax is starting to come in but shortly thereafter it stops.
I tried Apple Fax (embbedded in the OS) and also PageSender v.4 with the same results.
Anyone of you can offer any suggestion/help as to why this is happening?
Thanks

I have always believed that the answer to this is yes, however, I have never had occasion to test it. In the past when we all used dialup it was either/or, because you couldn't fax with the same modem you were using to connect to an ISP at the same time. But since you are configuring internet through one network and faxing through another, it should work. Maybe someone actually doing it will wade in here.
Of course, there are a lot of efax services out there now that let you send and receive faxes through the internet.

Problem on sending fax with Apple USB modem

Hello everyone,
I use my macmini to manage faxes to help my father's business, as fax is one of the most important mean of communication to our clients. While I can only receive fax from outside to my mac, but I cannot send fax from my mac through "Send PDF" option, it just stop working, and "Waiting for modem to become available" without using my telephone-line. It is weird when I plug it into my macbook that it works.
Look forward to your advice. Thank you,
Victor Tang
Message was edited by: victan7300

I am having problems sending and receiving faxes, too, and have been working with AppleCare level 2. They are off for a couple of days, and the solution is nowhere in sight. They did capture information from my system as I tried to fax, and sent it to engineering. They have determined that I am not getting a dial tone.
When I connect my phone to the jack, I do get a dial tone and can talk on the phone (which I do frequently). I have been provided with two additional new Apple USB modems to try to see if that would fix the problem. It did not make any difference which of the three modems I use, I cannot send or receive faxes. Yesterday, I booted up my old iMac (OS X 10.4.11 with a collapsing hard drive, but an internal modem). I attached this computer to the same phone jack and was able to freely send faxes - every single try.
I downloaded and set up the application PageSender just to see if it was the fax software (I have been trying to just use what came with my MacBook Pro). Using the Apple USB external modem (as I have had to do with this computer and operating system), I could not send any faxes - could not get a dial tone, according to PageSender.
I, therefore, believe that the problem is with the external modem and/or the extensions that operate the external modem.
I did try what you have suggested above - the substitution of the IOSerialFamily.kext:
I partitioned my harddrive into two partitions HD and HD_2. I loaded OS X 10.5.5 (from my CD) onto the second partition. I then copied the IOSerialFamily.kext on my thumb drive (from OS X 10.5.5 the version was 92). Then I upgraded to 10.5.6, and copied the ioSerialFamily.kext on my thumb drive - this time with 10.5.6 the version was 93. I went back to my first partition where I have 10.5.7 (version 94) and tried to transfer version 93 IOSerialFamily.kext to the extensions. As soon as I tried to mount the Apple USB modem I received the following message:
"System extension cannot be used
The system extension”/system/Library/Estensions/IOSerialFamily.kext/contents/PlugIns/Motor olaSM56KUSB.kext was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it or contact the product’s vendor for an update."
At that point I tried to exchange the version 93 with the one that I removed - version 94, but I continued to get the same message. I decided to reinstall 10.5.7 again hoping that this would solve the message problem. No such luck! I did now have version 94, but the same error message. At this point, I tried a permissions repair. This solved the error problem... but I was still not able to send or receive faxes, because the fax programs could detect not dial tone.
Because I have never sent or received faxes with this computer - only my iBook (10.4.11), I decided to go back to the second partition on my computer and see if I could send a fax from the macBook Pro with 10.5.6. The results are sporadic. I had to try several times, and occasionally I would get a dial tone and could send the fax, but more often, I could not. There was no difference in any of the 2 modems I tried (by now I had returned 1 to the Apple Store), or whether I used the front USB port or the rear USB port. The sending of a fax with MacBook Pro and 10.5.6 was not consistent or reliable and I could only occasionally get a dial tone... with 10.5.7 I can never get a dial tone.
According to my AppleCare representative the engineers are "on this". But I see that the original post was in November, which was prior to 10.5.7; I purchased my MacBook Pro with 10.5.5 in December, so imagine that this problem has been around through several upgrades of 10.5.
This is unbelievably frustrating! Has anyone been able to easily send and receive faxes with 10.5.5?
Chris (hopefully you are still around), did you get any error messages when you exchanged your 10.5.6 IOSerialFamily.kext for the 10.5.7 IOSerialFamily.kext - especially when you mounted- or tried to attach the external modem? If so, how did you handle that?
Sorry that this has been such a long post. I have tried to provide as much information as I could in the hopes of finding a solution. Any ideas???
THANKS!

Faxing with Apple USB Modem (external) - Can you do it?

I bought the new iMac G5 with built in iSight BUT no built in Modem. Apple offers a USB Modem and it says you can fax BUT one of the posts said they could NOT fax. Has anyone successfully sent and received faxes using the Apple USB Modem preferably from a new iMac?

The following appeared in yesterday's MacInTouch.com column:
Chuck Counselman sent a follow-up to his Nov. 16 note about faxing with Apple's new USB external modem:
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Via the data-modem menu in the OS menu bar, I chose "Connect," and was pleased to hear and see the familiar sounds and sights of a dial-up connection. I surfed the web for a couple of minutes just to test the connection; it was fine.
In System Preferences > Print & Fax, under the "Faxing" tab I had already entered my fax number and a "Save to" folder name. Now I clicked the "Set Up Fax Modem" button. A day earlier, clicking this button had gotten me an empty "Fax List" window. Now it got me a "Fax List" window containing one entry with the name "External Modem."
And now the Apple USB Modem answered calls, received faxes, and saved them in the folder I'd designated. Now I could send faxes, too, following the instructions in the OS Help.
I returned to my original Location, where my Network connection was via Airport, not via the USB modem. Now, in the data-modem menu in the OS Menu Bar, the "Connect" command was grayed out (as expected). However, the USB modem continued to function for faxing.

Ext Apple USB Modem - can't send out a fax!?!?

Hello all,
I'm having trouble sending a fax using the Apple USB modem. FYI, I did create an IP printer with the address of 127.0.0.1 and chose Generic PostScript Printer as the "print using" setting.
Specifically, I'm trying to fax a document I scanned into IPhoto. I was figuring I could click to print the doc and then switch to the IP Printer (FAX) and was then expecting a prompt for an outgoing fax number - never got the prompt.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Welcome to the discussions.
Mail 1.3.11 is the correct version for system 10.3.
I think the port in your error message refers to the SMTP server port. This setting is in the preferences for Mail. Choose Accounts, Select the account having trouble, and choose Account Information and then Server Settings. Write down the server port, so you can reset it in case changing it doesn't help. If it is not 465, try that. If 465 doesn't work, contact your mail service provider as to the correct setting -- my understanding is that they could choose something different, although most will use 465. Make sure the rest of the information in the SMTP server settings is correct.
You can upgrade to 10.4 if you wish -- there are pros and cons in doing so.
Frank

Apple USB Modem Fax Setup

I have succesfully setup my iMac G5 Isight with the Apple USB external modem for fax send and receive in OS X Tiger 10.4.3.
Wake on Ring during sleep mode works perfectly as well.
Remove the Entry for the Apple Internal Modem in the Fax List.
Utilities Folder - Printer Setup
View - Show Fax List
Click on the Internal Modem Fax Printer and press Delete Key (on keyboard) to remove.
To add the Apple USB modem as a Fax device.
Printer Setup Utility (Utilities Folder)
Click ADD
Click More Printers (while holding down the Option Key)
Advanced
In Device Select Fax Printer (fax)
For the Device URI type:
fax://dev/cu.usbmodem
Under "Printer Model" select "Other". Now for the fun part. You must select the "fax.ppd" which is located at:
(harddrive) -> System -> Library -> Frameworks -> ApplicationServices.frameworks -> Versions -> A -> Frameworks -> PrintCore.frameworks -> Versions -> A -> Resources -> English.lproj
Select fax.ppd
Or if your language is not English, select the appropriate .lproj folder.
Click "Add". You should now be able to see it in the "Fax List" (View -> Show Fax List). Close the Printer Setup program. Go back to the "System Preferences" and in the Print & Fax, select the "Receive faxes on this computer".
Reboot. The fax should now be working.
To verify this you can look at the"Activity Monitor" (Applications -> Utilities) and look at the "Administrator Processes" and you should see an item called "Efax". If this is there, you should be all set.
<Phew> Are you glad it's an easy "one click" process..
John Halk
Melbourne Australia

Remove the Entry for the Apple Internal Modem in the
Fax List.
Utilities Folder - Printer Setup
View - Show Fax List
Click on the Internal Modem Fax Printer and press
Delete Key (on keyboard) to remove.
To add the Apple USB modem as a Fax device.
Printer Setup Utility (Utilities Folder)
Click ADD
Click More Printers (while holding down the Option
Key)
Advanced
In Device Select Fax Printer (fax)
For the Device URI type:
fax://dev/cu.usbmodem
Under "Printer Model" select "Other". Now for the fun
part. You must select the "fax.ppd" which is located
(harddrive) -> System -> Library -> Frameworks ->
ApplicationServices.frameworks -> Versions -> A ->
Frameworks -> PrintCore.frameworks -> Versions -> A
-> Resources -> English.lproj
Select fax.ppd
Or if your language is not English, select the
appropriate .lproj folder.
Click "Add". You should now be able to see it in the
"Fax List" (View -> Show Fax List). Close the Printer
Setup program. Go back to the "System Preferences"
and in the Print & Fax, select the "Receive faxes on
this computer".
Reboot. The fax should now be working.
Had the same problem. Thanks for the information. Helped heaps.
Given the "trek" to fax.ppd through the System Library, DIA ought to hire you to find BinLaden!

Apple USB Modem - Fax

Which software can be used to fax with the Apple USB Modem (£35)?

The (appropriate) Mac operating system has a built-in capability to send/receive faxes. See, for example, the web pages here, here and here.
Jan

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Thanks

Thanks for responding.
I am trying to set up receiving faxes for incorporation into medical records. I have purchased an Apple USB modem but have not been able to figure out how to configure the modem to answer the phone (or to show up in fax/print set-up window).
I have a cable modem that is connected to a router for internet connectivity. The rest of the work stations (all iMacs) share our office software via the built-in ethernet configured in Network of System Preferences. Also within preferences, external modem is "configured, but not connected". When I try to use the configure option, I am prompted for information that I don't have or need for connecting to the internet. Clicking the Modem button displays the type of modem and other general info. Applying these settings leaves the modem "configured, but not connected". Under printer-fax set-up, I have everything filled in but when I choose the Set Up Fax Modem button, nothing shows up under Fax List. I have the very same phone line connected to the modem that was connected to my fax machine (and switching it back allows the fax machine to work).
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Apple USB modem question

Hi all
I passed along my old G4 500 computer to my niece and bought an apple USB modem for her as well since all they can get is dial-up at the moment. She is getting very poor speeds..18kbps..consistently though..They also have a PC in their house and get 35-45 consistently..both 56k dial-up modems..
Is there anything that could be holding the apple modem back..every little bit helps when you are that slow:)
thanks

Hello Loni:
As I understand it, the new USB modem that was released with the newest iMac G5 is there because the newest iMac does not have an integral internal modem. All Macs up to that point do have a built-in modem (I have a first generation G5 with a built in modem).
If my answer missed the point, let me know.
Barry

Apple USB modem no longer works with Mountain Lion

Now that I've upgraded my iMac to Mountain Lion my Apple USB modem no longer works. Does anyone know of a software fix or have I just lost my faxing ability with this item and have to buy something else?

That's a very sad situation as the Official statement link above (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3152) states that the modem cannot be used with any Windows. So Apple thinks that people investing in the ability to Fax and relying in Apple's good product only deserves to throw out their modems (because now it is useless on any platform)...

Apple USB Modem 56K

Hello Friends
Now 2 days ago the update of Snow Leopard 10.6.3 released, but once again WITHOUT a 64-bit drivers for the original Apple USB 56K Modem. Can anyone say whether there's what is planned? I have often professionally faxes by modem to send and receive.
With the 32-bit mode of the 10.6.3 is the USB modem without any problems. But since I mainly use the 64 bit mode, which is effective, it would be nice here can also send faxes using the USB modem.
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Thanks Info for this.
Fritz122

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Apple USB modem disconnects after a few hours??

I bought an imac G5 -- it came without a modem. (After a false start), we bought the Apple USB modem. Now we want to upgrade the operating system, either with Safari or with "Software Update". It tells us we need Mac OS X Update to 10.4.3, and it is 97.0 MB.
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it's a 3.5 hour round trip to the closest Mac store.
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Apple USB Modem - Slow fax speed

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