Hi all, any help much appreciated.
Renewed Fibre 2 and all deals available to me included Digital Voice (DV). I discussed concerns re: my atypical network with the sales rep - inc. explaining my set up - was assured BT'd had made sure everything "would work" and I could contact Tech Support if any issues were encountered.
My original setup was a Draytek modem, a Bitdefender Box 2 for enhanced network security and Linksys Mesh Wifi group made up of 4 "nodes". The "Box 2" acted as the router, assigning IPs, but with WIFI disabled and was in bridge mode linked to the master Linksys node which had WIFI enabled (obvs).
I raised with BT that if I had to have a Smart Hub 2 (SH2) for DV to work there could be issues with double NATing with the existing equipment. "It should be fine, as long as the SH2 is the first device connected to the phone line" was the response.
I still was uncertain so did some research on this forum and in another post someone pointed out that the residential version of Smart Hub 2 can't be put into bridge mode but the Business version of SH 2 can. As such, this could exist on the network but operate purely as a modem. A solution, I thought! I could keep all my existing equipment 😄 So I bought a new Business SH2 (BSH2) off eBay and waited for the big day (today!).
After a bit of fiddling, I tested the BSH2, put it into bridge mode and it happily works will all my existing equipment BUT it all went wrong when I tried to set up DV. Apparently, this requires the SH2 to show a solid blue light and connect via WPS, which means the SH2 must have both WIFI and IP allocation enabled.
I can't do this as it would i) cause double NATing and ii) create a duplicated WIFI network. Bottom line, I have to get rid of my existing equipment to use BT only (which is patently why they have designed it this way) 😡
Spoke to BT Tech Support - they said there's no workaround for this and they "are often left to clear up the sales teams messes". Was also advised there was now no way I could revert to having a normal voice line and so, in effect, I would lose my landline number despite raising concerns about this when I made the order.
Was passed backed to Sales and was asked to call back in 2 days when the order is formally completed to see if my line could be re-instated and discuss what I'd be charged moving forward.
Does anyone have any crazy ideas how / if I can re-configure the BSH2 to coexist with my other equipment AND get DV to work?
Thanks for reading this far (!) and for any help you can offer!
