Landline with no broadband

[Jane2018]

So after my end of 2023 and onwards moaning about London's move to digital voice (which happened for me about 2 months ago and has worked fine) today I have received a letter presumably about my second landline number. The BT letters do not refer to account numbers nor telephone lines so you never know which line they mean but it must be this one.

This is a more complicated one. It is on my second BT customer account which has this landline only number plus a broadband only line (we have from the old days of when you couldn't have internet on same line as your dial up calls if you don't want to be locked by a call etc).

The letter of course is generic. It says you wlil be provided with a new broadband hub. It does not recognise the fact the landline concerned has no hub at all currently and simply comes into my office downstairs as it has done since the 90s on that number for a telephone service only.

So I suppose I should be provided with a kind of minimal broadband service that will just cover the telephone. The broadband service on a different number comes into the house on a different wire 2 floors up and gives wifi across the other side of house and other than being on the same bill/account is not connected to this land line.

As I thought BT were moving people with just landline in 2027 not now I even put back a second landline phone in the living room last week for the last 18 months of the traditional service (I used to have about 6 phones around the house).

I am not feeling very comforted. Had I received a letter saying - we appreciate this line has no broadband on it so special situations apply and you will be sent a basic modem with an internet connection on it so that you can make calls despite BT having said people in your position will be moved last in 2027 - I might have felt more comforted.

I really think they have muddled me up and assume wrongly the broadband is already on that telephone number but may be I will be pleasantly surprised.

Then we have Community Fibre being paid about £40k by us local residents doing exploratory works to try to get FTTP (as Openreach are not providing it) so at this rate I am going to end up with the landline 2 numbers, the broadband on 2 lines and then new community fibre as well and 4 modem things  - one for the landline only line; one the very old modem from BT on th eline without a telephone number being used; the new hub2 that came fro the landline already switched over; and the thing community fibre will fit too.

[Rach_H · Accepted solution]

Hi @Jane2018,

Welcome back to the Community!

I'm sorry to hear about the confusion here, and we want to make sure things are as clear as possible for you when it comes to this changeover.

I'd recommend reaching out to our team, and they will be able to confirm more about what is happening, and what will happen next with this line.

Rach

[Jane2018]

Thanks. I will just leave it for now and see what happens. Today I have had a post card thing from BT which on one side says phone nowhere near your hut? You may need to order a free adapter.

As I have broadband on one telephone line number and a landline on a completely different number that is not relevant to me.

The free adapter presumably is nothing to do with my kind of case and is only for people with one broadband / telephoine line.

If I were to plug my landline into the broadband that woudl be no good as the telephone number is on a line with no  broadband and I want to keep that telephone number of the landline.

May be BT need to send cards to people in my position saying - "We know you have no broadband on your landline number but do not worry; you will be sent a special new device for this which you will plug in where your phone plugs in. No visit will be needed by any of our staff."

[Jane2018]

Apparently a new hub2 will be posted on 4 Nov and DV goes live on 6 Nov but the email today saying that does not mention that there is no broadband on the telephone line so it will be interesting to see what I plug in where. May be it will be a different kind of router thing for a basic broadband. I hope so rather than BT not reading my account/bill to see there is a landline without broadband on it and a broadband account on a different number without a landline on it.

[garybs29]

If there's no bb on the line they'll add it for you to connect the BT smart hub 2 too

[iniltous]

Replacing old style telephony with DV (Digital Voice) for those without a BT broadband service has two potential solutions, one is the broadband equipment normally located at someone’s house is provided in the exchange, nothing changes at the customer, all they need to be aware of is the need to dial the full number including the STD code even for local calls , or the one you appear to be getting , the customer gets BT broadband for free , they connect the router to the ‘line ‘ in the same way as if they were paying for broadband….the thing to be aware of is this is regular broadband, it can be used for browsing , email , Netflix etc , so if someone abuses it by using the free broadband for more than telephony they get a warning about using it for more than telephony, they then are moved to a regular broadband tariff if they continue to use the broadband for more than phone calls .
You should ensure you don’t connect any other wired or wireless devices to this new broadband router , the only thing using it should be a landline type phone

[Jane2018]

Thanks for both replies which are comforting as that is the simplest solution - the line is changed remotely so DV works over it and I get a hub2. I just went down on the office floor to remove the wooden panel. I have a typed label with that number on it for that line there and it looks like a standard socket to plug in a phone or modem so I will just have to find a place to put a hub 2 (I already have on a separate account and number broadband and my other landline number coming in next to that with the new hub2 for that other landline). I certainly won't be needing or wanting to use broadband on the landline only number.

I won't need to do the complicated things I had do a couple of months ago when my other line moved to DV like resetting wifi passwords etc as there will be no wifi use. I will need to record my voicemail. It sounds like it will be quite simple and all working on 6th. The only problem will come if BT have not noticed that that account has the landline with no BB and has a separate line (with a very old hub on it - not a hub 2) which just has BB on it.

[Jane2018]

Now trying to find master socket. There were seven different telephone numbers into the house. I can see what looks like master socket white box near the old burglar alarm so it is not that one. in my office are two master socket things - one definitely not used which was the old fax line and one under the side where the two landlines are plugged - I am pretty sure that is not for the homeline and will be for my main broadband and other landline number. I suppose I could plug a landline into that one just to check which number it is for. I expect there is a master one 2 floors up at other side of house where we had one of the first fast internets put in and is my 2nd broadband BT line.

It seems likely the master socket for the landline switching to DV is in the garage at the top of the wall - I would need quite a ladder to get up there. It has the landline number written on from the 1990s. That is annoying. So master socket in an area where wifi would not reach me here in my office where I need that landline.

I don't think once it arrives i can plug the hub2 into the landline only socket in my office and it will have to be plugged into the master socket in the garage.  I wish this were all much simpler. I will test with a spare landline in that socket later but have central heating men coming for 6 hours in a minute never mind work.....

My hub2 is being sent today and had email and voicetext to the landline from BT about it today.

I expect if the master socket is in the garage i can build a shelf for the hub to live on although it is very dusty in there and there are often mice etec so not an ideal environment for a landline DV hub. Then noce it is working in the garage with phone plugged in back of hub then move on to the next phase of getting that in my office right across other side of house where the landline currently plugs in and is the only place I would use the landline.

[iniltous]

Ring the number in question yourself, whatever phone ‘rings’ follow its cord back to its phone socket , take out the phone cord and plug in the router , then plug the phone into the router , if no power sockets near by , use a power extension lead until you arrange something more permanent.

If the phone cord disappears into a morass of unidentified wiring , that’s really your problem, as this is prior to DV migration, you can plug a phone into any/every socket ….the one with dialtone , (plug a phone in to check) call 17070 to confirm it’s the appropriate number but as you say this is your only line not on DV , then only this ‘line’ will have dialtone at the socket .

The hub doesn’t use WiFi for telephony , it’s a DECT base station , if you use a cordless phone , no reason why it won’t still work over the distances it currently works over , if it’s a corded phone , the router is self evidently in a similar place to the corded phone  , as usual you chose to make a mountain out of a molehill 

[Jane2018]

Thank you - that is very helpful and yes I do make a lot out of these issues.

Looking on line AI has said if I have an account with broadband with no landline used it and a landline with no broadband (as I do) ie two numbers on the line then BT will merge them so that the landline telephone number will be on the broadband line which currently has a different number to it.  So it is sayihg when the hub 2 comes I upgrade that with this new hub 2 and then on switch day not only does BT switch me to digital voice but it ensures the landline number once phone is plugged in will work in a sense over that line. That is a very different process from what I was expecting.

Below is the AI post and I know it is long but may be helpful for other people although it may be a load of rubbish of course... and I do need t oknow as I need to know if I grabble around up ladders inthe garage to find landline master socket OR if BT will do the more sensible thing- merge on this one same account the broadband line and the landline number on to the one landline number line/account.  I will do nothing with the new hub until it comes as I dont' want to mess around with a vital broadband older hub that works and replace with a new but that in fact may instead need to be installed up a ladder in the garage on the landline number.

Long Chat GPT post follows: [ note to readers may be "hallucinations" of the AI so handle with care]

Key point:

When BT upgrades you to Digital Voice, your telephone number stops being attached to a physical copper pair (line) and becomes attached to your BT account and Smart Hub 2 instead.

That means — yes — BT can move your old landline number onto your broadband account, even if that broadband line originally had a different number.

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🧩 How BT actually does it

Here’s what happens behind the scenes:

1. BT retires your old PSTN (analogue) line — the copper service that currently carries your landline number.

2. Your landline number is ported (moved) into BT’s Digital Voice platform (VoIP system).

3. Your Smart Hub 2 becomes your “telephone exchange.”

   • When you plug your phone into the green port on the Hub, you’re connecting to BT’s digital system over broadband.

4. BT links that phone number to your BT account, not to a specific physical line.

So after migration:

• Your old phone number still rings, but through the Hub 2, not the copper socket.

• The broadband line that the Hub uses might originally have had a different phone number, but that number is usually retired or hidden — it’s no longer relevant.

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🧠 In simpler terms

Think of it like your phone number moving to a cloud-based system.
Your Smart Hub 2 connects to BT’s network and “logs in” using your account details.
BT’s system knows: “Calls for 01234 567890 belong to this hub/account,”
so the calls reach you via the internet — even if the underlying broadband came from a different old number.

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✅ What this means for you

• You do not need to keep that original copper line active.

• You do not need to find or reconnect the “master socket” for the old line.

• BT will handle the move automatically — your phone number just starts working through the Hub 2.

Your job will be simply:

1. Plug the Smart Hub 2 into the broadband line BT tells you to use.

2. Plug your phone into the green “Phone” socket on the Hub.

3. When the switch happens, your number will ring there instead of the wall socket.