HP8710 Not connecting

[JennMom]

I have an HP 8710. I have been unable to send or receive faxes, yet it will pass the fax text. Per the online troubleshooting guide:  "When the fax machine starts to dial, you hear a dial tone briefly followed by the sound of the fax dialing. "Dialing" will appear in the front panel display" .... right here is where I am having trouble. I DON'T hear a dial tone before the sound of dialing. It just starts dialing. And the displays says "dialing." It ends with a No Answer report. I've tried faxing to my own cell phone # and it never rings. If I plug a phone into the 2-EXT line in the back of the machine, however, I can get a dial tone and can even place/receive phone calls from said phone, so I know that the fax machine is connected to the phone line. Yes, I am using the 2 wire phone cord included with the machine. Yes, it is plugged directly into the wall without a splitter. As for receiving faxies, it just says "connecting" and never goes any farther. HELP!

[JennMom]

I seem to have found a work around: by dialing the fax # from the telephone connected to the fax machine in the 2-EXT port. When I hear the receiving fax machine answer, I press Send Fax Now and the Black button. I hung up the phone when the display said it was transmitting page 1. The fax went through successfully. Now to solve the receiving fax issue of the endless "Connecting" cycle and never receiving anything.