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Will Digital Voice work on my set-up?

guineapig — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 11:27:47 GMT

I have an old set-up. I have an extension socket coming from my master socket. [The master socket has nothing connected directly to it as it is not near an electricity supply and is in an inconvenient position].

This first extension socket has an ADSL filter that connects my corded phone [BT Converse 2200 - fairly old, approx 2009] and my BT Smart Hub 1. From this extension socket a further extension socket runs upstairs with an even older corded phone.

When I move to digital voice and get a Smart Hub 2:

1) Will I need an extender, as I am not using the master socket, or be able to plug directly into the new hub?

2) If I need an extender will I need the ADSL filter as well as it is an older corded phone?

3) Will the upstairs phone need another extender and ADSL filter and work with a very old corded phone? I have read that some second phones do work making calls out but there is no incoming call ringtone. Will this be the case here?

I woud be very grateful for any advice please, but in plain, non-technical language!!

Thank you.

Re: Will Digital Voive work on my set-up?

jac_95 — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 11:15:02 GMT

Hi guineapig,

Thanks for the post and welcome to the Community.

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Re: Will Digital Voice work on my set-up?

chrisjp — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 11:57:09 GMT

My setup was the same as yours before I was migrated to DV. My modem/router was plugged into an extension socket, and I had three corded phones plugged in - one to this extension socket and another 2 into further extension sockets.
When I got the new SH2 I kept it in the same place as my old router, and plugged my corded phone into the green socket on the back of the SH2. This worked just fine.
Then what to do about the other two phones? I got two digital voice adapters (one free, the other £20) and plugged them into electrical mains outlets near where the old phones were, and then plugged the old phones into these. These also work just fine, but the only wrinkle was I needed to keep the old filters between adapter and phone to make the old phones ring.

Re: Will Digital Voice work on my set-up?

guineapig — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 12:29:40 GMT

Thank you so much.

I assumed that my first extension socket would also need the filter as it wasn't the primary socket. Good to know upstairs will work with the splitter.

All I have to find out now is if my corded phones will work. One is pre-2000! If it works now I hope it will carry on.

Re: Will Digital Voice work on my set-up?

chrisjp — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 14:18:32 GMT

Once you've gone to DV the filters are not required for their original function - which was to separate the broadband signal from the analogue phone signal which came to your house over the same copper wire.
Once you've gone to DV, both internet and phone goes over the broadband. So you don't need the filter to plug your SH2 connecting cable into the wall socket but, since this cable has an RJ11 plug on it, the filter acts as a convenient converter to the standard BT socket plug. You could dispense with the filter ( as I have done) if you buy a cable with an RJ11 plug on one end and a BT plug on the other.
For the phones plugged into the DV adapters, some phones apparently ring with incoming calls just fine without a filter, but others do not. The filter doesn't need to do any "filtering" but it apparently adds some sort of capacitor that makes the phones ring. It's a shame BT didn't include this in their DV adapters.

Re: Will Digital Voice work on my set-up?

guineapig — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 14:25:43 GMT

Thanks. I'll ask for 2 extenders when BT contact me about converting and see if things work first. If not, I'll add the filter and then get the new cable. Can't really do more now until switch-over but, at least, I think I can put my mind at rest.

Thank you for all your help.