Alternative Handsets

[sjd201]

Can anyone recommend alternative handsets to the BT options?  They are so poor.  I work from home and mobile signal is awful.  WiFi calling super unreliable so use landline all the time.  Calls drop all the time as hand sets just cut off and reboot.  Any call over an hour and the battery dies.  

Looked at alternatives that are easily compatible but its not obvious what would works and what would not.  Any advice appreciated

Thanks

[licquorice]

Do you mean standalone cordless handset that is compatible with Digital Voice or a cordless system comprising base station and handsets?

If the latter, all will be compatible with both analogue and DV as the base station simply plugs into either the master socket or the hub.

I have always used Panasonic cordless systems.

[sjd201]

Looking for a desk phone for my office and a couple of portable handsets for around the house.  Looked at Panasonic but wasn't sure whether they would be compatible with digital voice.  I like the fact the BT handsets just connect directly to your hub but that's the only positive thing I can say about them.

[licquorice]

In theory, any DECT handset can be registered to the hub but as the BT DECT system is proprietary, you will lose some of the functionality of the dedicated BT handsets.

The desk phone can simply be plugged into the hub.

[sjd201]

Ok, back to square one.  Hub is near the main socket which is nowhere near my office.  I am amazed no one else offers handsets or desktop options with wifi or the ability to connect using LAN cable directly to the hub like teh BT handsets

Thanks for your input

Simon

[iniltous]

Few points to note , the DV phones don’t connect to the hub with ‘WiFi’ they are just regular DECT cordless phones , the same type of phones that have been around for decades , there is nothing special about BT ‘DV’ phones apart from they may have a few ‘short cut’ keys to access some specific DV functions , but essentially any modern corded phone is compatible with DV , as are other DECT cordless phones , obviously a corded phone needs to be directly connected to the hub , not with  a LAN cable but an ordinary ‘phone’ cable or wired extension cabling .

If the DECT connection between where your hub is placed ( the hub is also a DECT basestation ) and the remote cordless handset is causing unreliable connectivity, provide hard wiring between the hub phone socket and an ordinary extension phone socket in location of a corded phone handset , ( basically use  a corded rather than cordless phone )  , search voice reinjection to get an idea of how existing wiring is modified so that phone extension sockets can be used with Digital Voice , or provide a new connection between the hub (ordinary phone extension wiring ) from the hub to your ‘office’ .

[sjd201]

Live in a new build house so no traditional phone sockets.  Doesn't seem to be a traditional  phone socket on the terminal  where Broadband line comes into the house so whatever I buy needs to connect to the router and work off the network.  I am amazed that Dect seems to be my only option  but router is hidden in a cupboard out the way so I am assuming connection issues will remain?  Every room has LAN point so hard wired to the network is not an issue.  A suitable solution does seem to be proving difficult based on the response I have had

[licquorice]

The phone socket is at the rear of the hub.

Simple solution: Buy a DECT cordless system with base station, plug the base station into the phone socket at the rear of the hub. Order a free DV adapter from BT, this is simply a portable phone socket that just requires power. Plug it into a convenient socket near your desk and plug a standard analogue corded phone into it.

[sjd201]

Ok, I will give that a go.  Thanks for your patience

[iniltous]

It’s common on new builds for the developers to put the ONT location in somewhere like an under stairs cupboard or some other out of the way location , and if you also put the router in the same location as the ONT , it’s not ideal as far as connecting wirelessly or with a wired phone / Ethernet device to the router from other rooms within the property, it can be a poor location for the router as modern houses often have foiled backed plasterboard that adversely affect wireless signals.

Developers to get around this often provide Ethernet sockets in various rooms , linked back to the location of the ONT , basically a patch panel arrangement from the cupboard with the ONT to various other locations, like behind the TV or in a bedroom etc , so the router can be located in a different room to the ONT , often improving the WiFi /DECT coverage/reception around the home

….if this the case with you , plug the ONT via an Ethernet cable into one of the patch panel Ethernet sockets in the cupboard, and connect the router to the other paired Ethernet socket in that room that , relocating the router may significantly improve the routers ‘reach’ both WiFi and DECT .

If you have this  all you need is an extra Ethernet cable .

FWIW , often these Ethernet and phone extension sockets were ‘extras’ , and although they were fitted , unless the client paid , they were never connected, so you may have sockets that don’t actually work , also developers often had both Ethernet and regular telephone outlets on the same panel and they are very similar and difficult to tell apart