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Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

ch — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 21:15:32 GMT

Hi,

Does DV require you to enable Wifi on the SH2? I know the adapter and phone that BT are selling seem to be wifi devices, but if you hook a DECT phone directly to the SH2, will it insist on Wifi being enabled?

Thanks

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

jac_95 — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 21:39:12 GMT

Digital Voice adapters and handsets use DECT to connect to the Smart Hub 2 and not WiFi

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

ch — Sun, 24 Oct 2021 07:31:32 GMT

Perfect, thanks!

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

Abraxis — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 11:12:05 GMT

That's interesting, as I've been onto BT about the hub not being configured yet for DV (seems I've got to wait until I get a letter of the date).

I received the ADV phone and adaptor, but the Hub telephone part is greyed out, so can't pair. I contacted BT to see if they can sort the switchover sooner, but I've got to wait. However, she mentioned to me while on the phone that my WiFi is switched off. I said yes, I don't want it on. She said I would have to enable it for the ADV phone to work. I told her I believed it uses a DECT base station system in the hub to connect to DECT phones and not WiFi used for the internet wireless signal. She told me no and that I needed to switch it on for it to work?

So not sure what is going on as this would seem to conflict with what you have just said above.

I hate the Smart Hub 2 or any BT Hub for that matter, so have been using my own routers for the last 3 years with our FTTP direct to the house. In order to have digital voice I realised I needed to use the Smart Hub 2, so have now set the Smart Hub up to relay internet traffic to my own router via port forwarding and this handles all the DHCP addressing and connects to the other router in the house via LAN.

It all works swimmingly. I only want the Wifi on my own routers, so have the WiFi, Firewall, Smart Setup and DHCP all switched off on the Smart Hub 2. I really want to avoid having another 2 WiFi channels in the house because of interference as that would mean 6 WiFi channels.

Can somebody in the know please confirm that I don't need Smart Hub 2 Wifi for the Digital Voice to connect / operate please, thanks.

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

imjolly — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 11:19:48 GMT

you don't need the wifi active on the SH2 for DV to work - uses dect as you already posted

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

Abraxis — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 11:22:20 GMT

Ok, thanks for the confirmation, it seems they need to tighten up on their staff training on 150 then.

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 11:36:51 GMT

@Abraxiswrote:
Ok, thanks for the confirmation, it seems they need to tighten up on their staff training on 150 then.

I don't know how these people are trained but it's been clear for many years that for a significant number of them, it simply doesn't work.

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

Abraxis — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 12:03:28 GMT

The BT lady was quite 'matter of fact' about it, so rather than go into anything I left it at that and have had it confirmed here. It's a bit annoying though as this is very misleading, especially for the less technically minded that may take it as gospel coming from BT itself.

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

imjolly — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 12:11:46 GMT

this lack of knowledge has been raised with forum mods already but taking time to get all CS staff trained in the ins and outs of DV

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

hoh3163 — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 18:44:40 GMT

Hi Abraxis,

Just want to check with you about the set-up. I am basically in a similar situation as you are, using my own managed wifi network to cover the whole house.

In your setup, do you use the Essential Digital Home Phone provided by BT? Can they still connect to smart hub 2 despite both wifi channels on the smart hub 2 being turned off?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Best regards,

Horace

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

licquorice — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 18:47:15 GMT

As explained countless times Digital Voice DOES NOT USE WIFI.

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

hoh3163 — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 18:51:06 GMT

Thanks.👍🏻

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

Abraxis — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 12:11:48 GMT

Hi Horace

Rather than being rude and patronising like some who should know better....

Yes, basically the Smart Hub 2 has it's own DECT base unit built-in if you like, so the BT Essentials or Advanced Digital handset will connect directly to the Smart Hub after pairing without using the Hub's WiFi.

So I have the WiFi turned OFF in the BT Smart Hub along (with other configuration changes) and just use the Smart Hub to pass all the incoming internet traffic to my router directly. So in effect, the Smart Hub is used for Digital Voice and nothing more than passing the internet traffic to my router.

1) So I have a large DECT amplified phone that is itself a base station and this has a separate remote handset as part of the kit. This amplified phone is plugged into the Smart Hub 2 via the old generic BT phone cord.

2) Secondly, I have an Advanced BT Digital Handset that is paired directly to the BT Smart Hub.

3) Thirdly, I have a Panasonic DECT Base unit, that has 4 remote handsets. I use a BT Digital Voice Adapter that the Panasonic base station plugs into and the adapter is paired to the BT Smart Hub.

So as you can see I have phones well covered in the house!

One observation I will make - If I answer a call on the Amplified Phone, I don't get caller ID on the display and I cannot transfer calls internally to the other handsets. It's not an issue for me as the BT Digital Handset and the Panasonic phones all display caller ID perfectly. I only have the amplified unit for a family member who is heard of hearing.

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

licquorice — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 13:14:50 GMT

@Abraxis wrote:

Rather than being rude and patronising like some who should know better....

I sometimes wonder why I bothered to take the time and trouble to write a FAQ when nobody reads it

Re: Digital Voice - do you have to have wifi enabled on the SH2?

Bob1001 — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 13:27:44 GMT

@hoh3163As stated by many people many times, DV phones use DECT to connect to the hub so the don't/cannot use WiFi. BT's DECT is slightly non standard but it is NOT WiFi.