This topic

Router in secondary socket for digital voice

vik9876 — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 09:02:15 GMT

My mother lives alone with dementia and doesn't have mental capacity, so I manage her BT account. At some point BT will presumably contact me about the switchover to digital voice. My mum has a BT Smart Hub router and broadband connection. She doesn't use the Internet, WiFi, or a mobile phone.

The Smart Hub is in a bedroom plugged into the master socket. The landline phone is plugged into another socket in the kitchen which is the one where the phone cable enters the house, presumably a secondary socket. The rooms are far apart and I don't want to move the telephone, so for digital voice I want to move the router to the kitchen to be near the telephone. Will it be OK to plug the router into the secondary socket in the kitchen? Or if not, can I get the sockets rewired so that the one in the kitchen becomes the master socket?

Re: Router in secondary socket for digital voice

imjolly — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 09:28:19 GMT

the simplest way is probably to leave things as they are and ask BT for a free digital voice adapter that plugs into main power socket in kitchen and pairs with the BT hub in bedroom and you connect phone to the adapter in kitchen

Re: Router in secondary socket for digital voice

iniltous — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 10:07:55 GMT

If the phone cable enters the house in or near the kitchen it’s unlikely that the master socket is in the bedroom and the extension is where the cable from outside enters the property, master sockets are different to extension sockets , both should not be master sockets , at the genuine master , removing the consumer panel should cut off the extension socket .
If your relative doesn’t use broadband why was it ever provided, that seems unnecessarily expensive, but as stated you could simply leave as it is , get a DV adapter supplied when migrated to DV and then connect the phone in the kitchen to the DV adapter that then connects via DECT to the router , or you could try moving the router into the kitchen socket and connecting the phone directly , if it doesn’t work then obviously move it back ….it may be of no consequence but if the master socket is in the kitchen , your broadband performance may even improve with the router being in the master socket in the kitchen and not an extension (especially if the extension is then disconnected) but if the broadband isn’t actually used , then it’s irrelevant anyway.

Re: Router in secondary socket for digital voice

vik9876 — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 10:10:43 GMT

Thanks. The socket in the bedroom is new and says "Master socket" on the front and has the router plugged into it, so I think it is the master socket. My own house is the same: the master socket is the second socket after the point where cable enters the house.

What's the distance range of the DV adapter? My mother lives alone and has no other way to communicate, other than her telephone, so it's essential that it's a reliable connection. Also if there's a power cut, the DV adapter will stop working won't it? That's why I want to plug the telephone directly into the router and provide battery backup.

Re: Router in secondary socket for digital voice

iniltous — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 10:15:57 GMT

In which case it seems odd that the cable from outside comes in near the kitchen , runs all the way to a bedroom to the master socket and then an extension cable presumably runs back adjacent to the first cable , in exact same way to the kitchen to run an extension socket that’s an extra cable that was provided at some point , but if that’s how it is , fine ….as stated this is sub optimal for broadband performance (it can affect speed ) but as you are not using broadband for anything other than the telephone it’s probably going to work , as said , try the router in the kitchen , you can always return it to the bedroom.

Re: Router in secondary socket for digital voice

vik9876 — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 10:30:20 GMT

Ok I'll try that thank-you.

Am I right that the DV adapter doesn't work if there's a power cut?

Re: Router in secondary socket for digital voice

imjolly — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 11:09:13 GMT

as the adapter is plugged into a power socket then no it will not work in a power cut

Re: Router in secondary socket for digital voice

iniltous — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 11:17:33 GMT

The DV adapter is mains powered, it basically converts a corded phone into a DECT phone , so in a power outage it won’t work , much like a DECT basestation won’t work rendering battery powered DECT cordless phones no use in a power cut .
If you are concerned that power outages require you to obtain a BBU to power the router in the event of a power cut then a corded phone wired to the hub socket is preferable, but TBH , I often do wonder why bother , the FTTC ‘cabinet’ batteries probably will only offer 1hr before the cabinet is off the air , and the cabinet likely to be very local to the property and be affected by the same power outage affecting the home , in which case the home BBU is a little pointless after 1 hour , a fully charged mobile a better bet as the mobile network more likely to be unaffected as it’s likely to be further away from the houses affected by the power outage .