using bt phones with a 3rd party router

[akamewamey]

hi, we just got full fiber 500 and i just found out you cant put the bt smart hub 2 on bridge mode. would i be able to plug the phones into my 3rd party tp link wifi 6e router? 

 these are the phones we are getting, theyre voip phones but not the alexa version, please help thank you

[licquorice]

You don't plug them in anywhere, they are DECT handsets which only work with the Smart Hub 2.

If you want DV, you need to use the SH2 as the first device connected to line.

Even if the SH2 had a bridge mode, it wouldn't help as it wouldn't have access to the IP layer in bridge mode.

[akamewamey]

so i have to get rid of my tp link and go back to wifi 5 smart hub if i want to keep the house phones?

[licquorice]

No, you can still use your TP link in access point mode connected to the SH2

[Programify]

I'm not sure if this will help anyone, but I was forced to select a 3rd party router after BT failed to provide on-site and remote technical support to resolve a serious failure on their newest Business Smart Hub 3. It kept power-cycling at random intervals.

So I bought a DrayTek Vigor 2962 router. It took me 2 days of messing around to get that working with my 5 static IPs serving up web pages from my server to the Internet. So I was prepared for a long battle to get the BT issued W60B VoIP kit to work on the DrayTek router.

With a little help from my ChatGPT friend I got BT DECT handsets (via the W60B base station) running perfectly on my 3rd party router. With just three port redirections and strict binding I got it up and running... I hope this diagram makes sense (its part of our in-house documentation).

[Keith_Beddoe]

@Programify 

Welcome to the BT Residential Customers forum

As you are a business user, please could you post on the BT Business forum at http://business.forums.bt.com/

Residential Digital Voice is totally different.

Thanks

[Programify]

I signed in with my business credentials and assumed that would be okay.

Do I have to create another 'community' account on the business forum site?

[Keith_Beddoe]

Yes, you need to create a user account on the BT Business Forum.

[TNT555]

Yea the BT residential system VOIP digital voice system is considerably more difficult and right next to impossible to setup on after market equipment. not impossible but you really need to know your stuff and even then you'll need a BT Smart Hub 2 to feed some info back into your router to make the VOIP kit work which is well beyond most people.

It's really not worth it and I'd advise going through the nightmare of porting your number to another specialist VOIP provider rather than trying to use any other VOIP equipment with a BT residential line.  Seriously this is the easier way if you dislike the smart hub.

The Closest you can get to bridge mode with a BT smart hub 2 on IPv4 is to setup your router as the DMZ forwarding everything possible to your router basically a double nat which usually works fine. Make sure the BT Smarthub 2 network  and your routers networks are using different subnets like 192.168.0.0 and 192.168.1.0 with a 255.255.255.0  or /24 subnet mask.

[TimCurtis]

@TNT555 

That's essentially what I've done. The SH2 handles DV only with everything forwarded to my Asus router. Works perfectly well.