Setting up Faxing w/ cable modem

You can't FAX with a cable modem. If you have a new iMac, you'll need to purchase a USB modem and hook your phone line to it.

Hi MacGeniuses! I have a new iMac 2GHz Intel 2 Duo. I have a cable modem for TV/inet/phone and an Airport Extreme Base Station. How do I set up faxing capabilities? Do I have to get a USB modem? Will I have to reconfigure my entire system? (Airport X, 2 iBooks, iMac Intel, iMac G3, HP All-in-One Printer)

Please advise the best way to set this up with the least amount of cables and peripherals. I have tried (PDF) faxing and the system can't locate a "fax machine" although it can find the printer.

Thanks!

You need to have a fax modem (the cable modem doesn't have this capability), and you need a telephone jack that the fax modem phone wire can plug into. Faxing is a plain old telephone technology - analog - so you need a telephone jack that any old phone can plug into and dial from.

Does your Cable modem have a jack that any old phone works through?

The cable modem has a poer cord, cable input coaxial cable and what looks like a phone cord with larger "plugs" between the modem and the Airport Extreme Base Station. There's what looks like a regular phone jack on the back of my iMac; I believe it's an ethernet port. Also, it's supposed to have built in Airport Extreme, so can I ditch the Airport Extreme Base Station and clean up my desk?

I have a separate fax machine--I just want to get rid of it.