load balancing 2 lines

[npalmers]

Hi,

I need the help from the hive brain.

i currently have 2 ADSL lines coming into the house a residential line and a business line. We have just renewed them with BT and been forced down the digital voice route.

I currently have each line coming into a drytech box and then into a tp-link load balancer and out into the mesh. This has taken ages to spread out across the farm to cover camera's, TV's etc.

i was just forwarding the digital voice to our mobile but we now find ourselves really needing a landline due to medical needs and the mobile coverage up here is dreadful, so we are stuck.

Can I replace one dryteck box with a home hub and stick that into the load balancer, so I can get the digital voice hanging off the back or do I need to redesign everything.

Or bite the bullet and get a starlink system?

Thanks in advance

[countrypaul]

When you say "drytech" do you mean "Draytech" and if so which box (model number) is it?

The likely answer to using a BT SH2 instead of a Draytech is yes but without more details it is very difficult to have any degree of certainty.

You say you need a landline for medical needs, is that just so you can call out reliably, or to support some other equipment?

There are a number of VOIP companies that could provide a phone service over broadband, but BT Digital voice is only on residential lines for business lines there is normally a different solution, If you need the option to call even if the residential line is down then BT Digital Voice may not be the best solution.

[npalmers]

hi, thanks for the reply.

Yes its Draytech, (hadn't noticed the typo) they are the Vigor 130's.

I know there EOL, but , their rock solid. 

Right now we need to be able to receive and make calls to the medical team due to a combination of bad signal due to location and then our old farmhouse.

We are in a scenario where we need to guarantee we can make a call if we need to and so far a 3 weeks in is far from the case.

Would BT reinstate the landline? My hunch is get a 3rd party voip service ?

again thanks for any help

[imjolly]

once you have moved to DV there is no going back to analogue

[Keith_Beddoe]

@npalmers 

Analogue PSTN lines are no longer available.

See https://landlinesgo.digital/

Your separate business line would be moved to Cloud Voice, which uses IP phones plugged into the LAN.

[Paul608085]

@npalmers 

What mobile network are you on?

Have you checked to see if your network and phone are compatible with WiFi Calling?

WiFi Calling is where your calls, both incoming and outgoing, are routed over your broadband connection, (actually any WiFi connection, including public ones). You use your existing mobile phone and the same number is used.

I'm on EE mobile: their coverage is very good across my local city, but poor inside my house - so I use WiFi Calling at home.

In theory, there is also a seamless handover between mobile and WiFi during a call. I say "in theory" because I don't think that I have ever tested it - not knowingly anyway!

[npalmers]

hi yes we have wifi calling, and  my wife is on EE.

Im on vodafone and have no problems, my wife, who needs the connectivity, struggles.

Im going to look at a VOIP provider and maybe a signal booster too

[Paul608085]

@npalmers 

What issues is your wife experiencing with WiFi Calling on EE?

What make/model of WiFi mesh system do you have?

I also use a mesh WiFi system at home, (BT Whole Home WiFi), and had problems with WiFi Calling for a long time, that neither EE nor BT Product Support had heard of before and were unable to resolve.

After a lot of experimenting I was able to sort out my issue - maybe I can offer some help with yours?

[countrypaul]

Do you and your wife have the same mobile phones? I ask because my old phone gets very poor signals but a newer phone does much better,  I changed carrier a while ago and that improved things slightly, but nothing like as much. as changing phones. It may also  be that we are closer to a 4g mast than a 3g one.

If they are different phones might be worth swapping the sims over and see if the good reception stays with the phone or sim.