joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL 1 edit |
joepwpb
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 8:09 am
[Connectivity] Change of IP AddressI have had the same IP address for as long as I can remember 76.102.219.XX until most recently it went to 50.150.254.XXX. I suspect, and only suspect, that this change has caused a failure to send a FAX which I have been doing for more than 8 years. I'm even more convinced that "something" changed at Comcast because my neighbor is faced with the same issue and she using a different VOIP provider and different equipment. She also has had send FAX capabilities for several years.
My questions are, is this suspicion accurate and is there anything I can do about it?
Thanks
Joe P |
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[Connectivity] Re: Change of IP AddressUnless you have business service with a fixed IP, your address can and WILL change for any reason at any time. With IPv4 addresses in short supply, ISP's constantly shuffle what they own around as needed. |
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johnfc join:2002-11-23 Gaithersburg, MD |
to joepwpb
So just reconfigure so the fax works as before. It is just an IP address change. |
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joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL |
joepwpb
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 9:39 am
What do you mean by reconfigure? To the best of my knowledge a FAX machine has no configuration as it relates to an IP address.
Joe P |
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Jim721 join:2014-07-31 Belleville, MI |
Jim721
Member
2014-Aug-23 9:47 am
What he means is just set it up again like its new. It should grab the new ip and work fine. |
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joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL |
joepwpb
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 9:52 am
The FAX machine does not grab any IP address because it does not require an IP address. It only requires a phone line.
Joe P |
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ropeguru Premium Member join:2001-01-25 Mechanicsville, VA |
to johnfc
It would probably be more of an issue that with the address change, he has a different route that his data takes. That is probably what is causing the issue. |
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camperjust visiting this planet Premium Member join:2010-03-21 Bethel, CT |
to joepwpb
said by joepwpb:The FAX machine does not grab any IP address because it does not require an IP address. It only requires a phone line.   Do you have V(oice)oIP? Does your phone still work, inbound and outbound calls? You said you can't send a FAX. Can you receive a FAX? |
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joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL |
joepwpb
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 11:19 am
Yes, as previously stated, I have VOIP, for the past 8 years, and the service is without issue. It seems that the issue arose around the same time as the IP address change.
Joe P |
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camperjust visiting this planet Premium Member join:2010-03-21 Bethel, CT |
camper
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 11:28 am
Is Comcast your VoIP provider? Or a third-party?
What is the make/model of the FAX? |
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joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL |
joepwpb
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 11:32 am
There are three VOIP providers, Vonage, Basic Talk and @Home and there are three different machines: 2 AIO HP's and one Brother stand alone. The one common denominator is Comcast Internet Service.
Joe P |
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camperjust visiting this planet Premium Member join:2010-03-21 Bethel, CT |
camper
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 11:41 am
said by joepwpb: The one common denominator is Comcast Internet Service.   The other common denominator is FAX over a VoIP service. |
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camper |
to joepwpb
  This (i.e., T.38) is why I think the VoIP should be viewed as a possible cause of your issue. FAX over VoIP is not as simple as FAX over POTS. FAX over VoIP has more moving parts that can come undone.... |
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joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL |
to camper
said by camper:The other common denominator is FAX over a VoIP service. Of course, but not after 8 years of very stable faxing for me and 4 years for my neighbor. Joe P |
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camperjust visiting this planet Premium Member join:2010-03-21 Bethel, CT |
camper
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 11:54 am
  Chances are good that there is a FAX T.38 gateway somewhere inside your VoIP interface. I'm thinking that the T.38 gateway may have become confused by the IP change. But since I have a FAX machine on POTS and not on VoIP, I cannot offer anything more than that guess at this point..... |
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joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL |
joepwpb
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 12:13 pm
Thanks Camper...
I am not leaning towards VOIP as the issue because we are looking at 3 different people, 3 different VOIP providers and three different machines and all of a sudden nobody can Fax anymore. (I tried the Brother standalone machine at all three locations)
Joe P |
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mackey Premium Member join:2007-08-20 |
mackey
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 12:21 pm
I'd run some line tests and see what the jitter is with the routing for those new IPs.
/M |
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NetFixerFrom My Cold Dead Hands Premium Member join:2004-06-24 The Boro Netgear CM500 Pace 5268AC TRENDnet TEW-829DRU
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to joepwpb
Generally, the only time that Comcast changes a dynamic IP address used by a customer is if they make local infrastructure changes (or if the customer changes their equipment). The Comcast changes may be such things as adding or removing nodes from a CMTS (and that may mean that you were moved to a different CMTS), or adding/moving IP address ranges because more IP addresses were needed somewhere. Different IP addresses are sometimes also assigned during the periods when infrastructure maintenance is being performed (and your old IP address may or may not be restored when the maintenance is done if the maintenance period is relatively brief). In any case, at the very least you are probably being routed differently, and you may also be on different hardware than before the IP address change. Either condition can easily effect faxing over a VoIP connection that is designed for voice, and where faxing is at best a YMMV experience (even if you are using one of Vonage's dedicated so called fax lines). I don't know what kind of modems, routers, and switches you and your neighbor use, but the only thing you can do on your own network * is to use routers and switches that support priority based QoS (and most cable gateways do not do this, so if you have a cable gateway instead of a standard cable modem, at least get it put into bridge mode if you can, and use a router that can support priority based QoS). I had the same problem when I migrated to Comcast from AT&T, and the culprit was the SMCD3G cable gateway that I was initially forced to use (although I was eventually able to get rid of it). My solution is described here: » Update on solution for using Vonage for VoIP faxing and also in: » Review of Comcast Business by NetFixer and » Review of Vonage by NetFixer* In addition to the network solutions I mentioned above, I have also found that configuring the fax machines or fax modems to use a maximum baud rate of 9600 may also help with fax reliability over VoIP connections that are not really designed for fax transmission. Putting a DSL filter between the ATA's FXS port and the fax device's telco interface may also help (the filter reduces the bandwidth of the fax signal somewhat, but not enough that you would notice any lose of resolution in the resulting fax image). FWIW, I have always done both when faxing over a VoIP connection. |
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joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL |
joepwpb
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 1:41 pm
Thanks Netfixer that was a wealth of information !!
First the baud rate. I used the standalone Brother fax to test at all 3 locations and I used different baud rates to no avail. To the best of my knowledge the AIO HP printers do not have an adjustment for baud rate but will check.
The filter. I assume you referring to a DSL filter which I have left over from a DSl service and the line from the ATA goes into the DSL side of the filter. I'll try that next.
I am using a Zoom 5341J with a Netgear WNR2000 router which has been in place for a few years.
I'll post the results of the next tests.
Joe P |
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NetFixerFrom My Cold Dead Hands Premium Member join:2004-06-24 The Boro Netgear CM500 Pace 5268AC TRENDnet TEW-829DRU
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NetFixer
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 3:14 pm
Re: Change of IP Addresssaid by joepwpb:The filter. I assume you referring to a DSL filter which I have left over from a DSl service and the line from the ATA goes into the DSL side of the filter. I'll try that next. Yes, that is the type of filter I was talking about. You can see the small beige colored DSL filter boxes that I use behind my Vonage D-Link VTA-VR ATAs on the second shelf from the bottom on my DIY comm rack:
said by joepwpb:I am using a Zoom 5341J with a Netgear WNR2000 router which has been in place for a few years. The user guide I found on the Netgear support site indicates that the WNR2000 does support priority based QoS (although that manual was for the WNR2000v5, so I am not sure if that feature is present in older hardware versions). If you have not already done so (and if your WNR2000 supports it), my suggestion is to assign the MAC and/or IP address(es) of your VoIP ATA box(es) the highest priority (and make sure that no other device or service has been assigned the highest priority). Another thing you can try is to clone the MAC address of another device in your possession into the WNR2000's WAN (and then reboot both the router and the cable modem). That should force Comcast to issue you a different IP address, and if your current problem is caused by routing associated with your current IP address, that might alleviate the problem. EDIT: Sorry to keep adding things to this reply, but I just remembered another thing. If you are the Vonage user, adjust the bandwidth used by your Vonage adapter to the highest setting (as shown below) if you are not using a dedicated Vonage fax line. Newer Vonage adapters are supposed to automatically detect a fax transmission, but my experience is that does not always seem to work.
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joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL |
joepwpb
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 3:49 pm
[Connectivity] Re: Change of IP AddressThanks again NetFixer... I configured the Netgear QOS for Lan Port 1 (to the ATA) with high priority. I then used the filter you see here on the HP AIO and the Brother standalone, set the baud to 9600 and turned off ECM but it did not work. Joe P |
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NetFixerFrom My Cold Dead Hands Premium Member join:2004-06-24 The Boro Netgear CM500 Pace 5268AC TRENDnet TEW-829DRU
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NetFixer
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 4:01 pm
Re: Change of IP Addresssaid by joepwpb:I configured the Netgear QOS for Lan Port 1 (to the ATA) with high priority. I then used the filter you see here on the HP AIO and the Brother standalone, set the baud to 9600 and turned off ECM but it did not work. Then about the only thing left that you can do is to try cloning a different MAC address into the router's WAN (which will only help if your problem is caused by IP address related routing), and making sure that your ATA is using the highest quality codec (see the last two paragraphs I added to my previous reply). Unfortunately, sometimes the condition of the ISP's connection is such that faxing over a standard VoIP connection using a voice codec is just not possible (and it does not take very much deterioration for that condition to occur). For about a year after I first migrated to Comcast, I was forced to rely on an Internet fax service for my faxing needs (and at that time I had numerous clients who insisted on using faxes for work order and call completion reports, so I had to have a reliable fax service). |
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joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL |
joepwpb
Premium Member
2014-Aug-23 4:10 pm
Thanks again !!
Fortunately I have had a flawless incoming Fax to Email Service for many years so all I ever needed was the outgoing. Like you I have Clients who insist on faxing but I try to avoid returning the fax.
I will try to clone the MAC address of my laptop to the Netgear Router and see what that does.
Joe P |
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joepwpb |
to NetFixer
said by NetFixer:Then about the only thing left that you can do is to try cloning a different MAC address into the router's WAN I didn't get to do that yet but I did check my neighbors IP address tonight and it has NOT changed. Interesting... Hopefully tomorrow I can get to their house and try the DSL filter and various baud rates. Joe P |
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NetFixerFrom My Cold Dead Hands Premium Member join:2004-06-24 The Boro Netgear CM500 Pace 5268AC TRENDnet TEW-829DRU
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NetFixer
Premium Member
2014-Aug-24 9:41 pm
said by joepwpb:said by NetFixer:Then about the only thing left that you can do is to try cloning a different MAC address into the router's WAN I didn't get to do that yet but I did check my neighbors IP address tonight and it has NOT changed. Interesting... Or perhaps it had temporarily changed, but has now changed back to the older value? I have had that happen a number of times during Comcast maintenance cycles. |
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joepwpb Premium Member join:2000-12-15 West Palm Beach, FL |
joepwpb
Premium Member
2014-Aug-29 2:35 pm
I finally got to performing some tests at that other location I spoke of previously. I set Qos in the Router, turned ECM off, and inserted the filter directly into the machines. I then tested at all available speeds from the HP AIO and the Brother standalone machine but nothing worked.
So, no doubt it is NOT the change of IP but something, beyond my scope, with the Comcast service. It looks like it is the "end of the line" for faxing!!
Joe P |
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