701 Views
Message 1 of 46

Fibre to home and Digital Voice

Hi All.

Situation:

I am being offered (threatened with :0) ) full fibre (FTTP) to my house by BT and hence digital voice (DV); we're currently copper wires POTS and VDSL and using my own (Draytek 2766VAC) modem (thats because the original BT Homehub [HH] was flaky and did not have the facilities I needed). This Draytek has VOIP and 2 x phone connections - based on SIP.

Despite talking to BT representatives (well done BT for at least providing this) at a local gathering I am still unsure what tech configuration will support our need for home phone and internet communications. NB The BT tech guys at this gathering did not say that BT / Openreach use a their own DV protocol / signalling..

Questions:

1) I am reading that BT / Openreach DV is based on a proprietary standard and only works with the BT Homehub. Can anyone confirm this, pls?

2) If 1) is correct and it is a proprietary standard, anyone know why Openreach / BT would choose to implement this over SIP etc? Can there possibly be any technical justification, or is it down to commercial stance?

If the statement in 1) is confirmed as correct, then my Draytek VOIP router is unusable for the phone and I must take the new BT HH to provide DV to our PSTN / POTS type  phone, and internet at its LAN / WAN ports. More mains power to drive the new HH, right? - BT thereby forcing higher costs on us.

3) Has anyone got compensation for the extra mains power required for the new HH which would appear to be forced on me? :0)

4) If the statement in 1) is confirmed as correct, I would need to connect my Draytek router using its WAN port from the new BT HH to get internet comms. Correct?

Depending on costs (I will explore with BT / EE shortly) my options seem to be to continue with copper wires / VDSL + DV using a new BT HH (until 2027), or go to FTTP with GPON ONT and a new BT HH. See diags - if I got something wrong, pls advise.

Thnaks for reading!

Current_VDSL_POTS_Cu.JPGNEW1_VDSL_DV_Cu.JPGNEW2_FTTP_DV_Glass.JPG

0 Ratings
Reply
45 REPLIES 45
697 Views
Message 2 of 46

Re: Fibre to home and Digital Voice

0 Ratings
Reply
687 Views
Message 3 of 46

Re: Fibre to home and Digital Voice

@straightwave 

You have to use the BT Smart hub 2 as the first connection to your broadband service,  if you want to keep a phone service, unless you are using a third party VOIP provider, as that would not be affected.

BT use a secure SIP connection based on their own authentication. This is to ensure that the origin and the presentation number of the call is guaranteed. Its not possible to implement that using a different router.

The optical modem does not provide the phone connection, as shown on your diagram. Its the BT Smart Hub 2 that does that, with a socket on the back.

smart hub 2.jpg

 

677 Views
Message 4 of 46

Re: Fibre to home and Digital Voice

In addition to the above information, if you do a search in the forum you will find numerous posts how to set up your network using the Smarthub2 as the first device and thereafter how to connect your own router to be able to use that in your network.

The mains power needed is to power the Smarthub 2 annually is negligible and no you will not be compensated. It is up to you to decide if you want to use the BT Digital Voice service which is not compulsory or source your own VOIP service

0 Ratings
Reply
675 Views
Message 5 of 46

Re: Fibre to home and Digital Voice

Ok thanks for that. Forgive me to persist on this so within the SIP standard (IETF) why cannot BT reveal the authentication parameters? the world routinely uses public / private key encryption to transport data with integrity, confidentiality, availability etc. Is this not technically possible? The downsides of this is more DC power (for the HH2) and more cost to me forced by BT? thanks..
0 Ratings
Reply
665 Views
Message 6 of 46

Re: Fibre to home and Digital Voice

BT would never provide that information, as it would undermine the integrity of the phone network.

Even the BT Business Cloud Voice service only allows BT supplied VOIP phones which have the settings hard coded within.

If you want to use your existing router with its ATA ports, you would have to use a third party VOIP provider, which is not going to be as secure.

 

 

0 Ratings
Reply
647 Views
Message 7 of 46

Re: Fibre to home and Digital Voice

Thanks this diagram is very helpful. I may choose to keep copper wires or I may go full fibre - depends on my discussion with BT sales and monthly cost once I have sorted the tech concepts. I will want to keep my Draytek kit as the home data source (ethernet + WiFi) so how best to connect the Draytek - presumably using its WAN port, for case 1) copper wires to home or case 2) FTTP? - in this case 2, do I connect the Draytek to the "modem 4 ports", or to the HH2? Thanks in advance..
0 Ratings
Reply
643 Views
Message 8 of 46

Re: Fibre to home and Digital Voice

I’m not quite sure what your issue is , if you would prefer to use a traditional VoIP supplier and not the BT proprietary VoIP service ( DV) then port your number to a traditional provider, that way your BT broadband becomes a standalone broadband product which is cheaper , the saving obviously depends on what calls package you currently take, you can then use your own router if that’s your preference ……BTDV isn’t compulsory, if you don’t like the way it’s implemented or the equipment required to use it , that’s fine , you don’t have to subscribe to it .

640 Views
Message 9 of 46

Re: Fibre to home and Digital Voice

@straightwave 

If you renew or regrade your service, you will have to go on BT Digital Voice, as its no longer possible to keep a PSTN connection, as the service is ending.

You can opt for broadband only, and use another VOIP service.

 

0 Ratings
Reply
629 Views
Message 10 of 46

Re: Fibre to home and Digital Voice

Exactly, simply keep your existing setup as broadband only and use a third party VoIP provider for voice.