This topic

Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

MissMoppett — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 12:59:49 GMT

We've been switched to Digital Voice for two weeks. Yesterday the phone was "engaged" for some hours. Googling this revealed many have the same problem and nearly everyone said it was adapter software glitch. However rang BT (150) and engineer tested our line and said "no it's because you have an upload speed of only 11 mps, should be 17 contract minimum." Download is around 65 most of the time. Engineer is calling here Friday, so who is likely to be correct?

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

licquorice — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 13:25:01 GMT

He was talking complete and utter nonsense!!!! Digital Voice only requires Kb/s of bandwidth not several Mb/s

Do you get the same problem if the phone is plugged directly into the hub rather than an adapter?

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

MissMoppett — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 14:46:20 GMT

Oh, well he was a BT responder: is he in the wrong job? Yes engaged in every phone and extension.

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

licquorice — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 15:18:23 GMT

How are your extensions wired back to the hub?

Disconnect everything except a single phone plugged into the hub and check if the problem still exists.

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

MissMoppett — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 15:30:01 GMT

Wired back? The usual way: is there any other? At present it is OK. Has been "engaged" at different times of the day for more than an hour on last two days.

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

iniltous — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 15:38:28 GMT

As stated absolute nonsense, the upload speed is irrelevant, personally I’ve never heard of a common issue regarding this supposed problem with DV adapters , and it’s seems unlikely, IP telephony isn’t like PSTN where the line can be artificially made busy by faults or leaving a handset ‘off the hook’ , what’s more if it were , it wouldn’t be constant busy tone presented to callers , incoming calls would go to the included answer service , but if you have asked for the optional DV adapters , don’t use them they are not necessary, simply plug your existing phone directly into the hub and see if this cures the problem.

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

licquorice — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 15:41:54 GMT

@MissMoppettwrote:
Wired back? The usual way: is there any other? At present it is OK. Has been "engaged" at different times of the day for more than an hour on last two days.

No idea what you mean by 'the usual way'.

Once moved to Digital voice any extension sockets need to be wired back to the green socket at the rear of the hub. I suspect your internal wiring setup is to blame for your problems.

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

MissMoppett — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 15:50:12 GMT

As it happens the two extensions are now "engaged" but not the main house phone which is plugged in to the router. Everything worked fine - and simple - before DV came along. Is this progress?

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

licquorice — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 15:54:48 GMT

I have no idea what that means, how can individual phones be engaged.

You need to get somebody in to sort out your wiring. If you are plugging phones into existing wiring they won't work with Digital Voice unless that wiring is isolated from the incoming line and wired back to the green socket on the hub.

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

MissMoppett — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 15:57:23 GMT

We tried ringing ourselves and it rang on the extension, but on replacing the phone and lifting up receiver we're now engaged. What a pathetic situation. There must be thousands of homes/offices in the same boat. Didn't BT think of this before adopting this new avenue?

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

licquorice — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 16:02:00 GMT

Read my posts.

Also have a read of https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/Digital-Voice-FAQs/td-p/2207485

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

imjolly — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 18:20:42 GMT

You can re-configure your existing extions so they work on digital voice. Just takes a small effort

https://community.bt.com/t5/Archive-Staging/Correct-way-to-enable-all-BT-sockets-after-Digital-Voice/m-p/2164646/highlight/true#M76966

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

iniltous — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 18:21:26 GMT

This is entirely your own problem, and in no way a DV ‘fault’ , you could plug your phone directly into the router it will work properly,

if you have somehow cobbled together your wired extension sockets to be connected to the router and it’s been done incorrectly that’s your issue to solve , if you don’t have wired extensions but you have requested DV adapters and where you have them located is out of range of the hub ( this would be exactly the same as regular cordless DECT phones being too far away from their basestation ) , they obviously won’t work .

If you need existing extension telephones around your property to work , and a cordless DECT phone (or DV adapter which is just a DECT adapter) won’t work because of distance, then you need to wire the extension sockets correctly to the BT Hub ( and disconnect them from the main socket on the wall ) if this is beyond your DIY skills, then you would need to employ someone to do it for you , extension phones are not BT or Openreach’s responsibility but yours

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

MissMoppett — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 18:57:50 GMT

Not enamoured of your rude reply. The system worked absolutely fine till DV came along so why should we be penalised - financially as well as time wise - if BT suddenly forces a new system on us with little or no explanation of possible problems? All the green lights are on, therefore must be within range of the router. The extensions (to my office and bedroom) were not "cobbled together" but wired in by an ex BT engineer who runs his own business installing phone systems. A BT engineer is scheduled to call tomorrow so hopefully he will not be "talking complete and utter nonsense" as you said at the start.

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

licquorice — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 19:19:15 GMT

It WAS total utter nonsense he told you. Digital Voice will work with a speed of far less than 1Mb/s.

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 19:39:38 GMT

@MissMoppett

You've talked about wired extensions, DV adapters & green lights. None of this really makes sense. Have you employed someone to rewire extensions since being migrated to DV? Or are you still using the old wiring, which won't work. But then you say these phones ring.

You really need to explain exactly what phones you have & how they're connected, & to what.

But going off what you've said, I wonder if the "engaged" tone is actually the alert tone to a voicemail message on 1571?

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

MissMoppett — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 20:30:14 GMT

We've changed nothing since DV was imposed on us, apart from having to buy another adapter for one of the extensions. The green lights are always on as far as I've noticed so presumably are both within range of the router. That is NOT a problem. In the last two days people have failed to connect with us - "always engaged" - sometimes for some hours at a time. The extensions were not "cobbled together" as your previous "expert" implied, but were installed by an ex BT engineer and worked perfectly for many years. Since DV descended on us I rang 150 two days ago and a BT chap did a speed check, of which I was quite capable of doing, and told me that the problems were because the upload speed was below the "contract speed" of I think 17mps (I regularly get a bit less than 12). Broadband is not within my expertise so I had to accept his conclusion and a BT engineer is visiting here tomorrow. Seeking more info I Googled the problem and the overwhelming conclusion within the BT Community Forum here was that there was a long standing glitch in BT's adapters. Who am I to question that: I'm only the customer who pays all the bills? Your man called it utter nonsense. So perhaps we shall get another opinion tomorrow?

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

licquorice — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 20:44:40 GMT

Unless your wiring has been re-arranged since you were converted to Digital Voice it will not work correctly. It doesn't matter how it was done previously.

Why on earth do you still believe the total nonsense you were told regarding speed required for Digital Voice.

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

MissMoppett — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 20:55:40 GMT

I don't believe anything anymore: my expertise lies in marketing not digital upload speeds. Each to their own.

Re: Line often engaged: BT say it's due to slow upload speed?

licquorice — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 20:58:55 GMT

Yet you refuse to believe my and others expertise

If you are not going to listen, why post on the forum?