Faxing from FreepPBX Distortion Issue

Commercial Modules
1

I setup a FreePBX 12 server with the Fax Pro module and am able to receive faxes perfectly. However, when I send outbound faxes they appear to be distorted vertically and the resolution, according to CLI, is low. Anybody have experience with something like this? I believe I setup T. 38 correctly, but don’t know how to verify it. I used the SIP settings page in FreePBX to do this along with installing and setting up Digium’s fax for Asterisk. My VOIP trunk provider is PhonePower if it makes any difference.

2

You don’t need Fax for Asterisk. The distro includes a spandsp. an open source FAX module.

3

Pls try to send a bigger pdf file with a better resolution and let me know.

4

It verified that T.38 is being used via “fax show stats”. The resolution though is still incredibly low no matter what resolution pdf I submit. Here is an example line from the CLI:

[2014-10-31 14:51:54] VERBOSE[8315] res_fax_digium.c: -- Channel 'Local/18553301239@from-internal-00001279;1' FAX session '8' is complete, result: 'SUCCESS' (FAX_SUCCESS), error: 'NO_ERROR', pages: 1, resolution: '204x196', transfer rate: '9600', remoteSID: 'FAXTRAN18'
5

The resolution is fine, we have hundreds a day that send/recv at that resolution without issue. We do not use T.38 so I’m not versed in that specific protocol nor can I comment on it specifically. Here’s my response based on analog faxing experience (and I’m NOT a pro)…
With analog faxing, we do see better transfer rates. Any way you can test with an independent fax machine/service? The fact that is has a rate makes me question whether it’s going T.38 or not (sending an email doesn’t have a “rate”, why should sending a fax electronically have one?) In a nutshell, all faxing options we have tried have always worked, just not reliably (ie. it failed…not messed up the image, just flat out failed). Control your environment as much as possible. Send/recv from a known good location and go from there. The issues you describe do not sound like anything I’ve seen as a result of Asterisk or FreePBX.
Welcome to faxing. If you have hair, prepare to lose it. If you don’t have hair, you will need something else to pull out due to frustration. If you have an alternate means of sending/recving…USE IT!