Duplexing analogue phones on digital voice service

[JayKayGee]

Hello, is it possible please to duplex (non dect) analogue phones on my digital voice service, such that an incoming call on one handset can be picked up on the second handset?

I have an SH2 and  FTTC. My analogue phones (one new, a BT model and one older manufactured in 2008) are plugged into the hub and a DV adapter respectively.  The new one plugged into the hub doesn’t start to ring until 3 rings after the older one plugged into the adapter (I’m told this is because they are different models.)  Whichever  handset is used to answer a call, picking up the other handset results in a dialling tone.

I’ve looked into the ‘multi call’ feature of the digital voice service on the assumption that if I disable this I can use both handsets to receive a call, but it appears to relate to digital handsets only (has to be disabled on them) so has nowt to do with my problem.

I’ve seen it may be possible to reinstate my old telephone extension wiring (which allowed analogue handsets to take over or join the call when lifted) but I’d rather avoid fiddling with the wiring (and I’m confused about the extension box setup). But is this or dect handsets the only way to get hanset  duplexing back please? (Does duplexing between digital handsets work?).

Thank you.

[jac_95]

Hi JayKayGee,

Thanks for the post and welcome to the Community.

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[imjolly]

you might find this older post helpful   https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-phone-including-Digital/Multi-call-option-Digital-Voice/td-p/231470...

[JayKayGee]

Thanks. I had a look at the FAQs, tried various searches through the forum topics and did a good bit of reading before posting, but didn’t identify the thread you pointed to. I’ll study it now in the hope it provides an answer.

So far on a quick read I think I have gained an understanding of why an extension box next to the master socket is needed to reinstate the original extension sockets to working order (for FTTC) and this is becoming a possibility to get the function I want back.

I thought I’d managed to switch off multi call on dv but I need to revisit this. Interesting that the other poster identified it as a contributory issue, as I did.

Thanks again

[licquorice]

It is not multi call causing the problem. See messages 19 and 20 in the linked thread.

The green hub socket and dva adapters appear not have connectivity between them.

[JayKayGee]

Thank you for your observation that the green socket on the SH2 and the BT implementation of DECT (viz the adapters) appear to have no connectivity. This is my conclusion also after trying different options. I guess the BT dect implementation works uniformly across BT digital handsets and their phone adapters, but the socket is a separate (physical?) input.

What this means in practice is that for a 3 handset setup to have duplex I should go for (1) a dect set  with three handsets and the base station plugged into the SH2; (2) three digital handsets which would allow transfer between them using the functionality they provide; or (3) hook my old extension sockets up to the SH2 as described in other threads. Cost is a factor in the first two options so I am  trying to sort out the existing wiring hookup. Mixing methods (bt-dect and SH2 green socket) will never give me full duplexing.

I’ve tried linking the SH2 green socket to the wall (master)  phone socket with a ‘straight through’ male to male plug cable and got my analogue phones to ring when plugged into the old extension sockets. However I didn’t get duplex between two handsets and there was a lot of line noise. So should I be using a ‘crossover’ male to male cable please?

Also, this was without disconnecting anything in the master socket. As the three wires serving the phone port in the master socket already appear to be isolated from the wiring relating to broadband,  I don’t understand why its necessary to disconnect them and ‘move’ them to a new old style extension socket box. (The three phone wires in the master socket are red, blue and grey crimped into terminals labelled  2, 3 and 5 respectively and afaik have no functionality now except to serve my extension cabling.) Sorry if I’m being thick but if I do have to move them I’ve got to work out how as they are not sheathed and not very long.

Final stupid question; can I use a phone socket doubler on the master socket (or the new extension socket if needed) and plug in both an analogue phone and the SH2 (via a male to male cable) and still get my full duplexing please? Or does the analogue phone have to be plugged in ‘downstream’ of the SH2 connection into to my extension socket wiring?

Thanks very much for any help you are able to give on these questions, I really appreciate contributors giving up their time and probably having to repeat themselves to help people like me, and frankly I am not as sharp as I was in the days of dial up internet and uudecoding of downloads (yes I am that old). 

[rbz5416]

The simplest way to isolate the wiring is to remove the faceplate from the master socket. You will then need to use a micro filter to connect the SH2 to the test socket for internet. This should work & you can then decide whether you want to tidy up by installing a second socket just for phones. If the extension wiring runs along the skirting you can disconnect it & place the socket a little distance away from the current master to give you more room to play with. But if it's buried in the wall you'll need to extend it somehow.

[JayKayGee]

Thank you. The wiring to the master socket is a black cable running on the outside of the house and passes through the wall straight into the back of the master socket. Its taken from the old master phone socket (pre broadband) in the hall and moves the connection to a different room. Interestingly I found when I took the faceplate off the master socket, my broadband connection went off. This wasn’t what I expected as the cable linking the hub to the faceplate stayed in place and the front data socket it plugs  into has a cover behind it, so no broadband wiring was disturbed. I guess the faceplate connects to the broadband wiring in the back of the master socket via the plug and socket affair behind the faceplate. Which is why I think the telephone wires are already isolated ……

Think I need to try a crossover male to male cable.  I’ve seen hints that a direct SH2 green socket connection to the master socket mucks up the broadband signal and this worries me, but I guess I just have to try it.

Thanks again!

[rbz5416]

Please read what I wrote.

[JayKayGee]

Thanks. I  need to go back to the shed to find a microfilter. (Haven’t had to use one since the master socket was installed maybe 15 years ago). I’ll report back once I’ve tried what you wrote.