My current problem might be related to the following historical problem, and will follow the explanation of it below:
We have a Pentium IV pc that is connected to a Brother multi-function printer/fax/copier. A while back, there was a power surge during a storm that seemed to take out the modem on the pc, and I was asked to correct it. Running the diagnostics, I found the modem to be ok, but it would not connect. I traced the data lines from the modem into the mfc unit, then from there into the wall’s phone jack. I bypassed the mfc’s fax feature and ran the phone cord directly from the modem into the wall. This fixed the internet connection, and it works to this day. Also, the mfc will print documents through its parallel or USB connection just fine– just no faxing.
Current Problem needing advice or an answer to enlighten me:
Whenever the modem line is connected to the wall jack, we are getting an intermittent white noise and/or garbled dial tone that is combined with white noise, and our phone has trouble ringing in. When this happens, we’ll get a sort of “spurty” ring. When we pick up the phone, the connection fails. If we unplug the modem line the problem is resolved. Also,
when the modem line is plugged in, we still have pretty good dial-up internet response from the 56K modem.
As far as I know, the modem cord is still not running into the Brother MFC unit. However, I did notice a slight difference when I changed the MFC mode to manual faxing. It was a fix of sorts, but did not last.
Any ideas on how to correct this problem?
Added: We did connect a telephone to the wall jack and it worked fine.
-Earl P. Dean
