# Faxing over Internet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2007, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faxing-over-internet/401939 "2007-04-28T07:13:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faxing-over-internet/401939/1 "2007-04-28T07:13:40Z")
Can you guys recommend any programs that would let me fax from my computer? For this, let assume that I wouldn’t make more than 100 faxes a month inbound and outbound combined. Any preferences? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faxing-over-internet/401939/2 "2007-04-28T07:25:43Z")
I’ve looked into this a little, as I occasionally need to send 50+ page faxes from work, and my understanding is that you simply can’t send to a fax machine over broadband; it must be done over a telephone line. If you have dial-up, you’re set, or if you have a multi-function printer with fax capability, you can send the document straight to the MFP which will do the job of faxing it out. If you have dial-up, you might try [MightyFax](http://www.rkssoftware.com/mightyfax/overview.html). I can’t make any claims as to its reliability, as I haven’t used it, but it’s the first link that popped up on a Google search for “fax software”. 😛 If you have an MFP, it should have custom software that will allow you to send faxes to it. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faxing-over-internet/401939/3 "2007-04-28T07:35:41Z")
Which begs the follow-up question: why CAN’T I fax something from my computer? How is it in the business world, with so many things that require faxing, that someone hasn’t written a software program for this yet? I can call someone from my computer, why not fax? There has got to be a better way than printing out my resume and going down to the local UPS store to have it faxed. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faxing-over-internet/401939/4 "2007-04-28T07:43:19Z")
Got me. There may be some technical explanation buried somewhere online, but I’m about to hit bed and don’t have the time or mental power for a scavenger hunt. I did find this snippet on an [FAQ page](http://www.snappysoftware.com/faq.htm) for another fax program: > [@](#): > > DSL and Cable modems are not fax capable. They do not contain the circuitry necessary for communicating with fax machines. You will still need your regular fax modem to send and receive faxes. Taking them at their word, it sounds like the problem is hardware, not software, so I don’t think a program _can_ be written to bypass the issue. ---
**Author:** ![DustyButt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc348/32.png) [@DustyButt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DustyButt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faxing-over-internet/401939/5 "2007-04-28T08:04:07Z")
Couldn’t you just scan it and save it as a pdf??? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faxing-over-internet/401939/6 "2007-04-28T08:46:48Z")
[QUOTE=DustyButt] Couldn’t you just scan it and save it as a pdf??? [/QUOTE] :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faxing-over-internet/401939/7 "2007-04-28T09:37:08Z")
Yeah, I had a great fax program before getting DSL. In order to make it work after DSL I had to disconnect the computer from the DSL modem, hook it up to the old modem and send it, and it got to be just easier to use the fax machine. Wonder why they couldn’t work that out? But now I have something called eFax messenger, which sometimes works, although there is some kind of cost associated with it. (Obviously, I don’t use it much. I think I get a certain number of free faxes, which I don’t exceed.) Can receive them, too, but they have to go to a different phone number. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faxing-over-internet/401939/8 "2007-04-28T12:45:16Z")
Since you’re asking for recommendations, I’ll move this over to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faxing-over-internet/401939/9 "2007-04-28T12:50:20Z")
I used [efax.com](http://www.efax.com) for a while, and my mom has just started using it for her business. It was reliable (though I didn’t use if for the quantities you’re talking about), and more importantly, when I wanted to cancel, they responded promptly and closed out my account without trying to sell me on anything. That made me feel much more comfortable suggesting them to other folks.