There are different ways in which we can send and receive fax.

I have been wondering if it was possible to send and receive fax with a computer using a phone line. Using a fax machine is not bad at all but if you don’t have one, it is so much more convenient just to buy an external fax modem so that you can send and receive fax through the computer.

In this article, I’m going to discuss what I think is the best way to send and receive fax without a fax machine. We can send fax using a fax machine, an internet fax service or a fax modem.

Using a fax machine is how people usually send fax. I like fax machines, they are neat, the look kind of like a copy machine, some of them come with a copier and a scanner included. I’m guessing you know what I’m talking about.

Another way to send fax is to use an internet fax service. There are a number of these available on the internet like efax, etc.

And last but not least, internal and external fax modems. Internal ones being those that need to be installed inside the computer.

Lately I was looking for a way to send and receive fax without having a fax machine. After thinking a bit, it hit me. External fax modems! The reason I didn’t take into consideration internet fax services is because they usually charge a fee and internal fax modems are not easy to install, so… External fax modems it is.

I have no doubt that using a fax machine is the very best way to send and receive fax, but in the case an alternative is needed, which external fax modem would do the trick?

Among others, Encore, Importer520, StarTech and TRENDnet are some of the makers that have very inexpensive external fax modems.

These external fax modems are very easy to install and they are as small as those long phone wire connectors. As long as you have a phone line you can connect them to the phone jack and right into the USB port of your computer and you are good to go.

The installation process for these devices are very easy, some of them are plug and play, others come with disks with very simple installation instructions.

So here it is, an easy and affordable way to send and receive fax using a computer, using external fax modems.