Free supply and installation of a Smart Hub 2

[POTS]

I am assisting somebody who has been told they need to switch to DigitalVoice.

Presently they have a BT landline and use a wired tone dial phone. They also have a broadband only account with Virgin Media.

They wish for things to change as little as possible and not to have to contract for any new or additional services.

Am I correct in saying that they can request that BT supply and install, for free, a Smart Hub 2 and that this can coexist with the Virgin Media hub that they already have?

Will the wired tone dial phone continue to operate, with the existing telephone number, but through the new Smart Hub, and will the charging be the same as before?

[licquorice]

As the broadband is with Virgin Media, they effectively are simply a telephony only customer of BT the broadband is irrelevant.

There is more than one way BT can supply DV to telephony only customers. It can either be by providing an ATA at the exchange which will effectively have no impact at the customer's end of a low bandwidth broadband service and a Smart Hub2  provided at the customer's premises. If the latter, the phone simply needs to be moved from the current phone socket to a phone socket at the rear of the hub.

BT will supply whatever is required to provide service.

[iniltous]

As stated , you can request nothing unless they are interested in taking broadband from BT , if not , eventually they will be contacted (by Jan 2027 ) and the existing telephone service will be changed, it may be via a free broadband service, so they would get a ‘free’ router to connect the existing telephone instrument to , but more likely is a Pre Digital Phone Line digital which requires no changes at the customer end , the work needed is done entirely within the exchange , with either option,  broadband provided for free or a PDPL nothing contractual changes , same price , same phone number , same telephone instrument.

FWIW , this person will currently be paying circa £30 a month more than necessary , changing to  using only BT for both services or  Virgin for both is clearly the obvious thing to do , using Virgin for broadband and BT for telephony is really a huge  waste of money.

[POTS]

That is very useful I was not aware that an Analogue Telephone Adapter could be fitted in the exchange. That would certainly be the closest solution to what presently exists.

Regarding using a BT Smart Hub can you confirm that it can definitely co-exist with the Virgin router? My concern is that both provide wireless access and that, since they would be in close proximity, their wireless signals might clash.

Perhaps if the BT Smart Hub is only being used to provide access for analogue phones its WiFi features are disabled?

Moving the phone from the present master socket to the back of the Smart Hub might be an issue, I'll cover that in the reply to the other post.

[POTS]

I agree that it would be cheaper to take both the broadband and the phone connection from a single supplier.

However I believe that the existing BT master socket may be some distance from the existing Virgin router, I need to confirm that, and running cables is not an option.

That appears to rule out using Virgin as a sole supplier as I have found no way to get a connection between the area of the master socket and the router using either wireless or powerline carrier.

That leaves BT as a possibility since they write "However, if you want your phone to be in a different room to your hub, you can use a Digital Home Phone Adapter to place it wherever you want in your home. Any phone of any age will work with your Digital Home Phone service, either connected to your hub or an adapter, if it is a tone-dialling phone".

That still leaves some questions in my mind though. I am unsure if the Virgin router is connected using fibre or coaxial cable. BT do offer fibre in the postcode area so if a switch is made to BT to supply broadband as well as the phone does that mean that a new fibre cable will need to be run into the property?

[licquorice]

The Virgin connection is totally irrelevant, any connection by Openreach will be entirely separate. BT do not utilise Virgin infrastructure.

If the BT hub is required, WiFi can be turned off if needed or channels changed to avoid clashes.

If unable to plug phone in the hub, a DV adapter is simply a portable phone socket that can be powered by any mains socket and connects to the hub via DECT.

[iniltous]

It’s not clear what you are asking , if the solution to keeping a standalone BT ‘landline’ is to supply broadband ‘for free’ , its WiFi capability is irrelevant, you connect a wired phone to its phone port or use a DECT phone , neither is ‘WiFi’ .

In the unlikely scenario that you get BT broadband just to maintain BT Telephony , as far as having two wireless router devices ,I had (for a while ) Virgin broadband and BT broadband simultaneously, the routers maybe 5m apart without any issue , keeping some distance between them is common sense .

Not sure how , given you don’t have a SH2 and in all likelihood won’t get one , it can be an issue as far as the existing master socket , but DV adapters are available that effectively convert corded phones into DECT wireless phones , so the handset can be remote from the router anyway , but as stated , it’s very unlikely that the solution offered will be via a free broadband service , but a pre digital phone line , and that means nothing at all changes within the home .

If a decision is made to join BT for broadband and telephone, and FTTP is now available then the existing copper pair infrastructure and internal sockets etc all become redundant.

[POTS]

As I now understand it BT could choose to provide service to a telephone only customer by either using an ATA or by supplying a Smart Hub. If BT chose to supply a Hub then the hub would have WiFi and I was concerned it might clash with the WiFi on the Virgin hub. However you say had both hubs working together so that is possibly not a problem.

[licquorice]

Did you actually read my reply?

[POTS]

Yes 'licquorice' I was replying to the post from
'iniltous'.