Smart Hub 2 - DECT extenders

[RobbieMac]

---

@yorkley wrote:

Still waiting for a reply from BT Tech support.

Do they really exist?

You would not believe they have customers out there.

---

Hi @yorkley 

Thank you for your post and welcome back.

I am very sorry for the time it's taking to get you an answer to your question.  Let me chase it for you now and I will post back when I have received a response.

Thanks,

Robbie

[HovelintheHills]

Yes. I've had to use the DV adaptor and move the old DECT BS (with old DECT phone) sto a room no one uses simply to get coverage to the other side of the house (long, multiple floors, thick walls). Smarthub2 DECT range is no where near as good as a standard DECT phone basestation. ..and no, ordinary DECT repeaters don't work with DV/Smarthub2. For me, DV is like going back to the dark ages..and it doesn't work when there's a power outage either. I've had to spend several hundred pounds to get a UPS to keep the Smarthub on (BT nil stock).

[HovelintheHills]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I had FTTH routed to my office at one end of the house 2 years before DV was rolled out. Endless earache from my wife on the rubbish DECT range issue.

[yorkley]

Hi

Thanks for the reply.

You could use a DV apadtor and fit that centrally.  You could then connect your old DECT to that adaptor.

But - in the event of a power outage you would loose it.

Whilst you purchased a UPS it also depends on the battery life at the local cabinet.  No doubt it would be around 4 hours.

Mobile masts are also the same so after 4 hours expect an area black out.

If the north of england was IP today I do not know how they would contact the emergency services.

Customer is king - I don't think so.  Even the consumer watchdog OFCOM don't care.

I wouldn't mind but I actually paid for the fibre network out of my taxes!

[licquorice]

@yorkley  You keep mentioning the battery life in the cabinet. FTTP does not come from the cabinet, it comes from a head end exchange which will have a diesel generator standby power plant, so it is irrelevant. Battery life of the cabinet is only relevant to those on FTTC.

[yorkley]

That is true at present but for those now on Digital Voice and by 2025 there will be no BT exchanges as we have today on the telephone network.

The whole network will be IP and BT anticipate closing around 3000 exchanges.

This is why you have to now power all the kit.

The cabinet will be the furthest your circuit will go - be it copper or fibre.  It will effectively be a concentrator or a giant router.   This will have battery backup but without further information it will be around 4 hours.

Your normal standard telephone will have to be removed from the NTE and plugged into the back of the latest Hub 2.  Mine has already arrived.  But as I am FTTP they will soon disconnect my copper and transfer the line to IP.  BT will not supply me with a UPS, so I will have no service during a power outage.

Even those on copper only and no broadband will have a hub installed and their landline phone will be connected to that.

BT have aready said there will be 9 IP switches in the UK and these will handle the traffic.

So - no batteries or generators or even local exchanges.

My local Mobile mast only has a battery backup of around 4 hours but it will keel over after a couple of hours.

So - for any power outage over 4 hours it looks like a satellite phone will have to be used assuming that the battery doesn't go flat!

[licquorice]

---

@yorkley wrote:

That is true at present but for those now on Digital Voice and by 2025 there will be no BT exchanges as we have today on the telephone network.

I used the term 'Exchanges' loosely. There will still be fibre MSANs

The whole network will be IP and BT anticipate closing around 3000 exchanges.

You still need a physical layer to carry the IP, that will be fibre which will need power at the head end.

This is why you have to now power all the kit.

Yes, but it is not dependent on powering cabinets

The cabinet will be the furthest your circuit will go - be it copper or fibre.  It will effectively be a concentrator or a giant router.   This will have battery backup but without further information it will be around 4 hours.

Incorrect, FTTP will never go to the cabinet

Your normal standard telephone will have to be removed from the NTE and plugged into the back of the latest Hub 2.  Mine has already arrived.  But as I am FTTP they will soon disconnect my copper and transfer the line to IP.  BT will not supply me with a UPS, so I will have no service during a power outage.

Even those on copper only and no broadband will have a hub installed and their landline phone will be connected to that.

BT have aready said there will be 9 IP switches in the UK and these will handle the traffic.

There is a whole lot more to a network than 9 IP switches

So - no batteries or generators or even local exchanges.

There will be at fibre MSANs

My local Mobile mast only has a battery backup of around 4 hours but it will keel over after a couple of hours.

So - for any power outage over 4 hours it looks like a satellite phone will have to be used assuming that the battery doesn't go flat!

---

[yorkley]

OK

So - is it true that BT is to close over 3000 exchanges and vacate the builidngs.

Will the MSAN's, all have generator backup.

Will those still supported by the local cabinet have battery backup of over 4 hours.

I am assuming that most of the MSAN's will be placed in smaller buildings - will these have generators?

But - no matter what - with an outage of over 1 hour 99% of those affected will have no telephone service.

They may still have mobile service but in a rural area that will be under 4 hours - if you have a signal.

[licquorice]

Copper MSANs will close, no idea of actual numbers.

Can't say for certain, but all but the very smallest buildings have generators and as such I suspect most if not all fibre MSANs will have generators.

The future of cabinets will be limited as FTTP takes over from FTTC.

I very much suspect that the vast majority of customers currently use cordless phones rather than hard wired phones, so no change.

[Keith_Beddoe]

Its more likely the smaller exchanges that would close, as they only have a small amount of PSTN switch equipment, and possibly a rack of ASDL DSLAMs. They would not have any SDH, and so would not be part of the 21cn.

Remember, optical fibre goes a very long way, so only major exchange buildings are needed as transmission hubs.

There are thousands of small rural exchanges, located in prime property areas, so you can guess what will happen to them 😉

Getting a bit off topic now.