Digital Voice Land Line with own router

[massimog]

Just trying this, I don't think I will get anywhere...

Nearly 2 years ago I switched to full fibre. Little I knew about the Digital Voice new phone they offered... down the line I bitterly discovered that I could only use the phone if connected to the BY Hub! Because I have my own Asus AIMesh network and happy with it, I have not had any land line anymore in the last 22 months! Thank you BT for charging me for nothing.  

I would argue that BT is acting unlawfully by forcing people to have a land line that only works with its own equipment. It's like to say that I get the electricity form EON (just as example) and they tell me that I must use their own light bulbs, their fridges and so on.... it wouldn't be acceptable, would it? Well BT is doing the same thing here, but it seems they get away with bulling people this way.  

My question here: I am now nearly at the end of my contract. Surely I cannot renew the same contract since I am paid for something I cannot use. They did send the upgrade/renewal proposal, but I can see there is not even an email to write to so I could discuss this, There is no point in calling them because I would talk to people who have no clue about these sort of issues. That's the way I was mis-sold this current contract in the first place, because they gave me the wrong information by omitting the digital voice was not an ordinary phone.    

Has anything changed about this issue? Does BT offer a full fibre with NO land line that actually cost less? 

I am going to inquire the same with Virgin, even if is going to be another battle to get the right information. Maybe they do the same thing with the land line: you can only use with their own router?  

[licquorice]

BT have offered broadband without landline for a number of years.

You won't save a fortune however, the cost of the landline is only £3/m to £5/m

[chrisjp]

You can indeed get BT broadband without a DV landline service, but it only reduces the monthly charge by around £3.00

[iniltous]

Your example analogy of a energy supplier in my opinion isn’t a good one , a more accurate analogy would be a pay TV supplier like Sky , that requires you to use their equipment to watch .

As already stated , there is no compulsion to take BT DV telephony, it’s optional, if you chose to take it then using the equipment supplied  is necessary, many use their own router connected to the BT router , that way the customer can still use their own router and have use of  BTDV , if this is unacceptable the simple solution is not to take BTDV ,  as stated , standalone BT broadband has been available for several years , so when you last renewed that option was available to you , what’s more BT offer the option , in many cases , to drop BT telephony completely instead of migrating to DV ( for those still on PSTN ).

DV is an ordinary phone service in that no specific telephone instrument is required , any modern phone will work fine when connected to the SH2 router ,  BTDV specific handsets have single button access to various DV features ,  those features are still accessible on other handsets , just not as integrated as the DV handset , ( several button presses may be needed instead of a specific button on the DV handset .) 
As far as what Virgin can offer and any restrictions their service may have , this forum isn’t the appropriate place to ask ……you need to ask them , or if they have a similar customer forum , ask there .

[massimog]

Thanks for the reply. I am not an expert, but I understand that using the BT Hub for the phone together with my Asus I'd end up with double NATting the system which would affect my setting especially the VPN I use via the router to connect to Italy occasionally. When I got this "upgrade" to full fibre I was told that the land line was now called "digital voice" and the normal copper line was going to be made redundant, which eventually did happen for what I understand (but I might be wrong). I live in Harrow, Greater London. I was never told I had a choice to keep my copper line active. After few months when I discovered all this I called BT and I was told that the copper line was no longer active and copper was started to be removed in my area. I was advised to get a paid for VoIP subscription somewhere I could use via my Asus modem. 

My analogy might be poor, but I still think BT is wrong in doing this. Not just for the fact customers cannot use the equipment they like but also for the fact that this new VoIP line doesn't work in case of power cuts, and is also affecting people with alarm systems that used to run via the traditional copper line network, including those health-personal alarm pendant for the vulnerable/elderly people.  

[iniltous]

I never said you had a choice to keep your copper line going , but that  you had a choice to take a phone service with your broadband or not take a phone service with your broadband , in other words, standalone broadband…..there is no choice if you want BT to supply you a phone service, that now VTDV , but no one is obliged to use BT for anything .

You are now switching your argument to telephony won’t work in a power outage , well that’s not true , you can use a BBU battery back up / UPS uninterruptible power supply , to keep the router powered , someone with an unreliable power supply needs to bring the  issue to the DNO’s attention, it  is the power company’s problem , not BT’s .

There are a few minor irritations with a router connected to the SH2 as a workaround, but as stated numerous times , if it’s not acceptable, don’t take BTDV telephony , it’s not compulsory

Alarm companies have been aware of  need to upgrade alarms that rely on PSTN for years , anyone using an alarm that still needs a PSTN connection should get a better alarm provider 

[Crimliar]

Ofcom and parliamentary investigations have been conducted into BT and its digital voice rollout. As I understand, BT avoided sanctions because it offers plans without a voice component and does not block individuals from using standard VOIP/SIP plans from third parties. *At least one investigation is ongoing related to emergency calls.