Digital Voice Adapters

[mi1]

I agree. All the literature says is that you will have to unplug your phones from their sockets. Naively I thought that somehow new technology would somehow allow  all our phones to run off one adapter.

They say you can have one for free, but they don't say you will almost certainly need more than one - at a cost of £14.98 each....and we didn't even ask for DV in the first place.

Or we could buy a set of four handsets with one main base, I suppose, for £100+

Conned, at least a little, I think 

[imjolly]

This post and there are others explain how to continue using existing phone sockets with existing phones

https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/Digital-Voice-Change-over/m-p/2166365#M7709...

[Oldeafnweary]

Hi mi1,

From what I understand from the helpfully-meant exchanges on this community (which - unhelpfully - often tend to use unexplained acronyms when replying to 'beginners' questions) you CAN indeed run your existing phones off one adapter, or even off the Smart Hub 2 (SH2). 

Once you have been switched to BT Digital Voice,  simply connect either the green socket on the SH2 - or the socket on the adapter - to your old analog master socket with the double-ended cable illustrated in the conversation to which imjolly helpfully provides a link. If your 'old' (copper) master socket is distant from the new (fibre) SH2 you may need to buy a long double-ended cable or run your DV adapter off a mains power extension lead taking it close to the old master socket so it can be connected with a short double-ended cable. 

You may - or may not - need to disconnect the incoming copper (analog) wires from the backplate of your old copper analog master socket. I understand they terminate at connectors A and B, depending on your master socket. Mine is a marked 'BT Openreach Mk3'. I've asked for confirmation of this from the community but have yet to receive a reply.

I plan to buy a (£80+) battery back up (which will power our new SH2 and DV handset (when it arrives) for one hour after the power goes off.
I also plan to switch one of our EE mobile phones to a network which gives a signal inside our home. In our case O2, which means switching from a very inexpensive pay as you go SIM with Virgin (EE) to a SIM-only contract with O2. So we will not be without outside communication an hour after the power goes off.

I'm hoping that the improved clarity of Digital Voice, plus the volume control on the digital handset and the speakerphone facilities may allow me to further refine our current system and dispense with at least one amplified analog phone.  Currently amplification of the conversation in our existing phones in the analog system results distorts speech. (I ordered a free handset rather than an adapter because our SH2 is very close to our analog master socket. I plan to plug the  green phone socket on the new SH2 directly into the old master socket as I explained above). 

I hope that helps. If any of the 'Distinguished Sages' see faults in this approach, or can provide an answer to the query about disconnecting the copper wires from the backplate of the existing master socket, I'd be very grateful to hear from you.

[licquorice · Accepted solution]

Yes, the incoming cable terminates on the A & B terminals, it should be easy to identify the incoming cable in any case.

[Oldeafnweary]

Thanks to you both for highlighting these less expensive options than the contract I mentioned.
My point was badly made. It is that shifting networks (and retaining the same number) will incur additional cost because - as far as I'm aware and you may know different (?) - it will involve a contract of one form or another or a mandatory 'regular top-up, with lost credit'.

(My wife's mobile currently has a Virgin SIM card and she has no monthly payment or regular top-up requirement. She has had it for many years and pays as she goes, topping up (£25) roughly once every 18 months. )

[licquorice]

I have a contract phone at £7.50/m but my wife has a PAYG phone. It has no contract of any form and she last topped it up months (if not years) ago.

[Oldeafnweary]

Thanks licquorice , it sounds like we - especially our wives - are in a similar situation.

The issue is 'Could your wife change networks and retain that PAYG/non-contract, low cost facility'?

I have done lots of Googling and those deals no longer seen to be available. So changing my wife's network will mean losing the cheap, genuine PAYG option and involve either a contract or a mandatory top-up with lost credit.

Unless you know different? 

(To remind you of the background, either my wife or I will have to change network because neither of us get any signal at home. We are both on EE. In a power cut, when our landline switched to Digital Voice we'd be cut off from the outside world (albeit after an hour with battery back-up. We are both in our 70s)   

[licquorice]

@Oldeafnweary  I've sent you a PM

[Oldeafnweary]

Thank you very much, Licquorice. Greatly appreciated.

[Bobsherunkle]

I just tried to order a free adapter, using the voucher code given by email. Couldn't find the product. Phoned BT, and the third person who spoke to me (they were all very helpful) told me BT Shop had temporarily removed the item from the list of products because it was out of stock.

Well done my former employer. The adapter or the digital phone is a must have for the switchover, but rather than flag the item as out of stock they just removed it, leaving me (and probably many others) searching fruitlessly.

All I can do is look from time to time to see when it becomes available again.