using wireless printer fax via cordless phone

[upstateny]

Hi folks -- Having done away with a land line here at home I cannot use the fax part of my networked wireless printer  (HP Officejet Pro 8900 A910). Does anyone know of some gadget I can use to allow my printer -- specifically, the fax -- to get a dial tone via the cordless phones we use throughout the house -- in effect, to become one more extension? (That system is a Panasonic 5-extension system that's about two years old). The alternative is to use internet faxing, such as popfax, which is fine if I'm not sending anything I want to keep halfway secure (not claiming here that any fax IS completely secure, particulary these days!).

It would certainly be nice to be able to connect the A910's fax again via our cordless phones...

Thanks!

[Rich1]

Hi upstateny,

I'd like to help.  I need to clarify a couple of issues so I completely understand your situation.  Can you answer some questions?

1. In the beginning of your post, you said that you did away with land lines.  At the end of the post, you mentioned cordless phones.  Are the cordless phones cell phones or are they cordless phones that operate using a base that is plugged into a wall jack with a telephone cord?  If it is the latter, it is a land line and you can connect the fax machine.  I can help with that.
2. Is it possible that your printer is an HP Officejet Pro 8500A instead of an 8900?  If so, Is the Model # for the printer A910 a, g, or n ?

Thanks for the additional explanation.  It will help me determine a solution for your needs.

[upstateny]

Huge thanks for responding --

The cordless phones are not cell phones, but indoor household cordless phones -- a five-station panasonic system. Until earlier this year we had land line service; the cell phones plugged into a land-line wall outlet, and the printer-fax (upstairs, and away from the cell phone base) plugged into a wall jack on that same land line.

Now, in place of the land lines, we have a little AT&T box that turns whatever is plugged into it into a cell phone -- that's what the household cordless phones are plugged into now. 

I guess what I am really asking is whether there is any attachment or whatever that might turn the fax (i.e., the printer's phone connection) into another item connected to that AT&T box -- ? The AT&T box needs to stay downstairs so that the base unit for the cordless system can plug into it; the printer has to stay upstairs because there's no room for it anywhere else. Maybe something that has one transceiver plugged into the printer, and a second one plugged into the back of the AT&T box? Who knows --

As for the printer itself -- it is, as you'd guessed, an "8500 A910"; I could not find any model number indicating a, g, or n (the serial number begins with "C", but I'm guessing that's not it) --

Again, serious thanks -- the situation is one of life's smaller problems, after all, but...

Cheers --

mj 

[Rich1]

You might talk to ATT.  Some digital phone systems can tap into an existing phone line through a wall jack and activate all wall jacks in the house.  If you could do that, you should be able to leave everything where it is.  You could plug the printer back into the wall jack. 

Faxing was designed for analog phone systems.  Faxing with a digital phone system (that's what it sounds like you now have) can create challenges.  It may not work sometimes.  There are some steps you can take to improve the odds of success.  The first step is be able to have the printer plugged into a phone jack that produces a dial tone.  Let me know what you learn from ATT. 

I'm glad to help.

[Jsig]

Rich,

I have a land line with cordless phones and would like to hook a fax machine up without a wall jack.  It sounded like from your earlier post that it is possible to accomplish this.  Can you give me the details?

[Stanboater]

did you ever get your fax machine to work using the wireless phone system. I have the same problem. Mine is a Verizon wireless system with only a phone pluged into it, no wall jacks involved.

Stanboater

[upstateny]

I haven't figured out a work-around yet -- in any event,  a later posting suggests that faxing with a digital phone system might be problematical. That's what we've got now -- I think of it as my old land line, as it uses the same handsets etc., but now it's working through the local cellular network rather than plugged into the wall. So far I have not found an inability to send and receive faxes to be a major problem -- when I really need a fax machine there is still one I can use at my office. But after this year, when I go into retirement, I might find it a little inconvenient. The main concern is sending what ought to be secure docs as *.pdf email attachments -- that would probably be a dubious practice -- ?

[Thatscreenname]

The cellphone network does not support faxing. If you are using an AT&T or Verizon (or any other cell service) box to plug in cordless phones or your house phone wiring you will not be able to get faxes to work.

While you might be able to connect a fax machine to a cordless phone via the phone's headphone jack, I suspect that won't work very well, given that modern cordless phones use a digital signal, even if the cordless phone is connected to a traditional land phone line.

Most VoIP services don't work very well with faxes either.

An alternative is to use a secure email system like Cisco's Registered Envelope Service. It's web based - recipients get an email, which requires them to register with Cisco (very easy to do as it's just email address and pick a password). Messages are then viewed via a web browser using an encrypted connection. Many banks, clinics and universities offer access to Cisco's RES service. As far as I can tell, you can't just set it up on your own, but once set up, some organizations let you use it for any purpose.

There is also a variety of other encrypted email systems, such as those described here:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-secure-encrypted-email-providers-online/

Good luck.

- Winston