BT Digital Voice: UPS and Other Questions

[Paul608085]

@gg30340 

"If you are going to get a telephone extension cable there is no need to cut off any ends.

Plug one end into the Smarthub's phone port and plug your Dect base station into the other end. Your Dect phone and the cordless phones that are paired with it will work in exactly the same way as they do now."

As I mentioned before, the master phone socket and SH2 are in the lounge, the DECT base station phone is in the hall on an extension socket- that is how we want to keep it. The existing extension wiring goes through a wall dividing lounge and hall. The alarm system's dialler plugs in to another extension socket that feeds off of the one in the hall.

If I only use an extension cable with moulded connectors, then that is a big hole to drill though the wall for no real reason - so I won't be doing that!

The extension cable I have bought from Screwfix cost me £2.89 for a 5 metre one. I have cut off the socket and found that I can solder tin the conductors easily. Once I have got my meter out and identified which conductors are which, then I will remove my extension wiring from the master socket's faceplate, solder the two cables together, and use heat-shrink sleeving on each conductor and the outer sheath. If I then connect the new cable's plug in to the existing master socket's front telephone port, then my phones should work again? Then all I have to do on "Digital Voice Changeover Day" is unplug the new extension cable from the master phone socket and plug it in to the back of the SH2?

I think that should work - unless anyone can see a flaw in my plan?

[gg30340]

I was under the impression that you were just going to run the "new" extension cable to the base station, not punch it through walls.

If you want to do as you have stated fair enough but you could just get a free adaptor from BT and plug it into that and it should work.

As per the links I posted.

Does my current phone need to be next to the Smart Hub 2?

If you plug your phone into a telephone socket that's not near to your Smart Hub 2, that's ok. You can either use an adapter to connect them, or get a Digital Voice home phone and remotely connect it to your smart hub.

You can order either an adapter or a Digital Voice home phone free from bt.com/DVequipment. Or text the word ADAPTER or HANDSET to 61998.

[JB2016]

@Paul608085 

Some observations about Smart Hub 2 power requirements and ringing output:  https://bt-digital-voice.blogspot.com

and DECT compatibility (or not):  https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/Can-t-register-Panasonic-DECT-handset-with-...     (Message No 4 of the thread)

[Paul608085]

@gg30340 

"I was under the impression that you were just going to run the "new" extension cable to the base station, not punch it through walls.

If you want to do as you have stated fair enough but you could just get a free adaptor from BT and plug it into that and it should work."

The existing extension cable already goes through the, (brick), wall between lounge and hall. That cable only needed a small hole for standard 2 pair telephone cable, it would require a much larger hole to get a BT431A plug through. Using the method that I am proposing, (keeping the existing wiring and extending it to the SH2), I don't need to drill any new holes in walls.

From what I can see, the "free adapters" are DECT to wired phone converters, (mains powered)? If that is the case, then that would also be an issue because there is only a single power socket in the hall that the existing cordless phone base/telephone uses. Adding a multi output mains block would stick out too much and likely to get knocked by people walking past etc.

Looking at the link you posted for DV equipment, it looks as if I can ask for a free"Advanced" handset. Can these be used alongside the phone socket on the SH2, or is it one or the other only?

[Bob1001]

@Paul608085  If I understand correctly what you are doing, before changeover it will not work as you have disconnected your customer side wiring from the Openreach side. After changeover it will work so long as you have allowed room for your new cable, now only connected to your sockets, will plug into the phone socket on  the SH2 BUT the socket in the master socket will not work.

[Paul608085]

@Bob1001 

"If I understand correctly what you are doing, before changeover it will not work as you have disconnected your customer side wiring from the Openreach side. After changeover it will work so long as you have allowed room for your new cable, now only connected to your sockets, will plug into the phone socket on the SH2 BUT the socket in the master socket will not work."

What I am proposing to do in the next few days, (well before DV changeover), is the following:

1.) Remove the faceplate from the existing master socket 5C and disconnect the 2 pair solid core cable on the back of it that runs around the lounge wall and through another wall to the first extension socket in the hall, (where the telephone/cordless base plugs in), and on to the second extension socket where the alarm dialler plugs in. Gently pull this cable out from the back of the master socket so that it is completely free.

2.) Solder the 2 or 3 bare wires from the extension cable that I bought today to the appropriate wires on the now loose cable that goes to the hall. Insulate and protect with heat shrink sleeving.

3.) Put back the master socket faceplate on to the backplate as it was before. This should restore broadband, but not telephone.

4.) Put the BT431A plug of the cable that I bought today, (now connected to the original cable going out to the hall), in to the telephone socket on the faceplate of the master socket 5C. This should restore the telephone.

5.) On DV Changeover Day, unplug the BT431A plug from the master socket and plug it in to the back of the SmartHub2.

I don't see why this will not work, and maintain telephone service before and after DV Day?

[Bob1001]

@Paul608085 

This was the bit I was missing, and a critical bit.

"Put back the master socket faceplate on to the backplate as it was before. This should restore broadband, but not telephone."

That was what I was trying to do except being lazy I was just going to unplug the customer side socket on changeover and leave it hanging about with the new lead plugged into the now hanging socket, unfortunately it did not work as BT had miswired the socket and the connected extension so I could not separate the line side from the house side.

[gg30340]

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@Paul608085 wrote:

Looking at the link you posted for DV equipment, it looks as if I can ask for a free"Advanced" handset. Can these be used alongside the phone socket on the SH2, or is it one or the other only?

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The free "Advanced" handset works along side any phone that is plugged into the hub. That is what I have done. I have my base station plugged into the hub, a wireless paired phone upstairs in a bedroom and the BT "Advance" phone which connects wirelessly to the hub, in the hall way.

[Paul608085]

I have now rearranged my extension wiring as per steps 1 to 4 in my post #26 above. The phone and cordless still work OK - as expected.

Just waiting for DV Changeover Day now and I should just need to unplug the cable from the front of the master phone socket and plug it in to the back of the SmartHub2.

Just one final question, that hopefully someone who has been through the migration to DV without actually requesting it - ie were told it was happening, without being given a choice:

I was sent the email by BT advising that Digital Voice migration was happening on Tuesday 15th March. It says that I will receive further emails and a postcard "soon" - but no indication of what they mean by "soon".

When can I reasonably expect DV Changeover to be? (ie a week, a month or 6 months etc).

How much notice to BT tend to give for things like this? I can imagine that with this being a significant change for some people, they would want to let people know well in advance so that they can prepare?

I am still considering what to do about a UPS, but thanks to those that have provided links to more info about this - I'm slowly reading through it!

[Bob1001]

@Paul608085  I only had 2 days notice by text & email, just saying how good it was but giving no real information.