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No broadband since digital voice switch

Nodigitalvoice — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 22:29:10 GMT

An engineer came to my elderly parents house today to do the digital voice switchover. He said the internet would not be affected and that he’d tested the line. Since he’s left the broadband won’t work (yes, we’ve tried both restarting a resetting the hub). That also means the phone doesn’t work either. I’m furious that they’ve just been left with no phone and internet access when everything was fine before. BT were pretty useless when I called, just telling me to restart router and to wait until midnight to see if it’s fixed.

Did anyone else have broadband issues after the switch over.

It’s infuriating that they’ve turned up and caused a problem when there was none before. They’re vulnerable customers and they basically been cut off from communications.

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

Peter_W — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 08:40:48 GMT

Good morning @Nodigitalvoice.

Welcome to the Community, and thanks for taking the time to reach out to us about this.

We can possibly look into getting this one escalated, but before we do, there's just a quick thing I'd like to check.

Since the engineer came out, do you know if they switched the connection over to Full Fibre (FTTP) as part of this?

I'd be surprised if the engineer didn't make sure everything was installed correctly, but on Full Fibre their Hub will be connected to an Openreach branded modem on the wall rather than the traditional BT socket.

Both this and the Hub need a separate power connection, so if it's unplugged and no lights are showing, nothing with their connection will work.

You can find more details on this here:

Full Fibre (Fibre to the Home): Check your wiring and set-up | BT Help

Peter

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

Nodigitalvoice — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:00:24 GMT

They are already on full fibre. All the engineer did was plug the phone into the router and then make a call for things to be switched over.
I’ve made two calls to BT which have got me nowhere. They have said OpenReach will get back within a day or two. I want it looked into today. I’m so angry that they can just come and spend five minutes messing everything up and then so no urgency in sorting it out. These are elderly, vulnerable customers. My mum couldn’t even find a number to call anyone on, and then when we did find a number it was impossible to speak to a human - they kept sending bot texts. I had to take over to help out and try and find some support. What are people without a relative/friend there to help them supposed to do?

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

WSH — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:14:11 GMT

Seems strange if it just involved moving the phone plug from the wall socket to the back of the hub. There’s not anything to break.

So, if they are already on Full Fibre, I take it they have a small box on the wall with lights on it, (an ONT or Optical Network Terminal). I’m just trying to establish if you really mean Full Fibre or Part Fibre.

If they do have an ONT, is the cable from it to the hub plugged into the WAN port/yellow port number 4 on the hub?

When you go into the hub manager (on 192.168.1.254) is Full Fibre Mode set to “on”?

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

Peter_W — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:14:47 GMT

Thanks, @Nodigitalvoice .

I'm keen to see what more we can do to help with this one, so I've sent you over a private message to request some more details.

Just as one other thing to be aware of too, if you haven't already I would definitely recommend making sure your parents have been registered as vulnerable, as listed in our guide here.

Peter

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

Nodigitalvoice — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:18:02 GMT

There’s no lights on the socket. I’ve tried to attach a picture.
Full fibre is switch on on the hub manager.

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

Nodigitalvoice — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:26:28 GMT

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

WSH — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:37:17 GMT

That's Part Fibre (FTTC), not Full Fibre (FTTP), so ignore my two suggestions.

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

Nodigitalvoice — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:47:27 GMT

Full fibre is switched on in the hub manager. Is that the issue?

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

WSH — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 10:18:12 GMT

Shouldn't matter whether it's on or off with Part Fibre. *

Again, it shouldn't make any difference in this situation but if you have a suitable cable you could try connecting the phone socket on the wall to the grey DSL port on the back of the hub. (The grey DSL port is the one it's already using). The filter at the top of the wall socket was really just to filter the old voice. If it's faulty, using the telephone port should work.

Edit: *Although, if you have the PC connected to port 4 it wouldn't do any harm to try it on another port.

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

iniltous — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 10:13:59 GMT

Can you confirm if they were already on FTTP (full fibre) or not , it seems unlikely to have been FTTP already , because only very early FTTP adopters had FTTP only for broadband and a separate copper pair just for telephony and these were converted years ago to get them off copper .

If this were simply a migration to DV , (so they are still on a copper pair ) and it was because the customer deemed vulnerable , so something most people do themselves, that is move the phone cord from the wall socket to the socket on the router , was done by an Openreach ( not BT ) engineer, although the telephone service may be disrupted there is no reason at all why broadband would be affected , but as the Moderator suggested , if a conversation to FTTP was also taking place then clearly broadband also needs to move from copper to fibre and then telephone from PSTN to DV over FTTP , this has much more potential for going wrong , but until what was actually done , giving any useful advice is impossible

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

Nodigitalvoice — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 10:17:02 GMT

There was no conversation about changing broadband. The appointment was just to show them what to do re: plugging the phone in to router etc as they are classed as vulnerable. Supposedly to make things easier for them but all it’s done is caused stress, upset and confusion.
We text the engineer when he had gone as had his mobile and he just said to give it a bit of time as router needs to update - and BT mentioned something about waiting until midnight for order to go live. But that was all yesterday and it’s still not working today. I knew something wasn’t right yesterday but BT were fobbing us off with “give it some time, reset the router” etc. If an engineer has left things not working they should be obligated to send someone back the same/next day to sort it out.

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

WSH — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 10:26:55 GMT

The switch over to Digital Voice (DV) can take up to midnight, (and then the hub will display the phone number when the change has gone through). Obviously, in this case something else is wrong. I'd respond Peter_W's private message pronto if I were you.

(Openreach are very keen to do the move to Full Fibre at the same time as the move to DV, even though DV works fine over Part Fibre. I'm wondering if there has been a screw-up in the paperwork and they have turned off the copper thinking you now have Full Fibre?)

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

Nodigitalvoice — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 10:33:24 GMT

Thanks for your reply. There has clearly been a screw up somewhere and it’s infuriating trying to get BT to take prompt action.

@Peter_W - is there a way to check this suggestion about the copper wire being mistakenly turned off? I have already spoken to the tech team twice and they have not been any help.

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

iniltous — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:06:48 GMT

TBH , that’s the point being made , if this were just the tech moving the phone cord from the socket on the wall to the socket on the existing router or newly provided router , there is no change to the broadband (unless a new router was provided in which case any wireless devices need the new WiFi name and password ) clearly the voice service is affected, but you say the broadband is also no longer working …as there is no reason this visit and what was done by the tech would affect broadband, any ‘leave it until midnight’ is referring to telephone only , if the broadband is not working I’d suggest it’s something as innocuous as the power lead or DSL lead has been disturbed by plugging in the phone cord and just needs reseating or something as simple as that , have you asked if the router is powered up and if it is have the connections been checked , what colour is the router light ?

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

Nodigitalvoice — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 10:50:46 GMT

The router is working just not connecting to internet. It is either flashing pink or sometimes flashing orange. I am in the house with them. I have checked all the obvious things - wires etc. This is why it is so infuriating- there is clearly something weirder wrong, or something we’re missing, or some mistake that has been made. I just want BT to look into it as a matter of urgency. Open reach shouldn’t be allowed to leave things not working (as a result of their actions) and not be obligated to come back to fix the problem as soon as possible. It’s causing great distress to my elderly mother and I’ve had to take time off work to try and help sort it out.
I’ve attached photo of router - does all look ok

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

iniltous — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:16:39 GMT

TBH , as you were not there at the time , it’s conceivable that the broadband was working , the advice to give it until midnight for the phone to migrate to DV , and it’s a coincidence that a fault has occurred so soon after visit ( the tech that did the visit had no reason to enter the external network or even the internal wiring inside the home so difficult to see how the two things are linked)
I’d agree that , given the broadband is off and you have presumably checked what is easily checked , the power , the DSL connection lead , and filter ( if a filter is used ) that a return visit is needed , but that will be via the normal faults channel.

Did the tech change the master socket to one with an inbuilt DSL filter ?, if not then I doubt the tech that visited had anything to do with the current situation, if the socket were changed , it may be something to do with that (so potentially disassembling it and reassembling may rectify the issue )

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

Nodigitalvoice — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:17:55 GMT

Why have you assumed I was not there at the time? I was there. And I was working, and I asked the engineer specifically if the internet would be affected and he said no. Cue 5 minutes after he left and I realised internet is down. We spoke to BT yesterday afternoon and ran through various checks.
It absolutely coincides with the engineer visit.

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

iniltous — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:40:57 GMT

…the tech doesn’t physically do anything apart from moving the phone cord so Id suggest ruling out physical intervention by the tech , so are you suggesting that some BT employee (not The Openreach tech was tasked with progressing the migration to DV once the OR tech books off the ‘customer connected to the router ‘ job , that can be regarded in effect a button press to invoke a system change PSTN to DV , but I doubt someone within BT is presented with an option of , 1 , switch phone number to DV , and 2 switch broadband off , and picks the wrong one , but that’s not how these things are progressed , it’s an automated system, OR say cord moved, change over , automatic system moves phone number onto existing broadband service

As far as two things unrelated happening at the same time , so the loss of service coincides with the visit , that’s what a coincidence is , I can’t say it wasn’t the tech , or some BT incompetence, just that there is no reason why it would be (short if the master socket being changed ) the tech didn’t need to touch anything important and the automation to move to DV doesn’t change the broadband connection just adds something to it .
I agree it needs to be fixed , but in some respects no more or less urgent than someone who line went off who didn’t have a visit ,
Can I ask what you think has happened if you don’t think it just a coincidence ?

Re: No broadband since digital voice switch

licquorice — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 13:00:38 GMT

Ok, this a long shot, I wonder if the socket is incorectly wired.

Before the move to DV were the phone and router plugged into the lower socket via a filter rather than phone in lower socket and router in upper socket? If so, restore the filter to the lower socket and connet the router to it. Its extremely unlikely to be the cause but there is a small possibility.

At no point have you confirmed the technician demonstrated a working system before leaving, did he/she?