Land Line Switch Over

[Brain_Dead]

I've had broadand from the times of NTL.  I chose to have the telephone and broadband package.  I got the engineer to install the telephone point in my front room and the broadband connection at a back room of the house.  As such the guy dug up my lawn, laid the cable, bolted a junction box to the front of my property then ran a line from that box along the front of my house, along the whole side, along the back at height then down the wall and drilled a hole through the wall for the broadband point.  I only wanted to use an ethernet cable to hard wife my computer to the hub. As such I don't have (or need) a network card on my computer.

I'm hard of hearing.  I've installed a BT4600 phone to the socket in the front room and have a slave in the bedroom.

Virgin are saying that my phone needs to be connected to the (Number 3) hub. The hub sits on my computer table in the back room.  If I were watching TV, snoozing in the chair in the front room I'd be unable to hear the phone ring.

Thinking ahead, I've ordered an additional slave BT4600 from Amazon today, thinking that I'd be able to move the main phone with answering machine etc socket (charging base??) next to the hub and computer and use the slave in the front room where the phone/charging base was.

Reading bits and pieces on Google it's suggesting that some DECT phones will NOT work with the new Virgin switchover.  I'm also concerned if with having the charging base connected to the hub by way of adaptor the three phones might NOT talk to each other.

Could someone please advise me if the phones will work in this instance?  I phoned Virgin, they said they would send an engineer to survey the place and one thing might be to have (yet) another wire running around the outside of the house next to the broadband cable and supposedly drill  holes in both the front and back wall.

I'm beginning to think I'd be better off getting BT to reinstigate the phone line which goes to hallway, with a splitter, hub and install a network card in my computer. Openreach have recently wired the road for fibre optic.  I spoke to the engineer he said that they had "done" the wiring to their post and if someone in the street wanted their services they would replace the wire from the house to the post (my old wire is still in situ). Having said that BT customer service was dreadful, but that was back in 2004.

I said to the Virgin assistant this morning that there always seems to be something or other with Virgin.  I take out an 18 month contract, "x" number of months later they contact me, saying there's a price increase, always something or other to worry about at a time in life when I just need some some normality.

[Ayisha_B]

Hi @Brain_Dead 👋,

Welcome back to our Community Forums and thanks for your post. 

The best arrangement for the 21CV connection is with a cordless phone system. Plug the base station into the hub then use as many satellite cordless phones as required.

If your home phone isn’t next to your Hub, and you need cabling to be extended to your phone line, we can arrange a technician to come out and do that. 

In regards to the price increase, the introduction of inflation-linked price changes, which comes into effect in April 2024 when RPI is projected to be lower than it is today, will give customers clarity and certainty about what to expect from their bills while fuelling the investment required to meet growing demand for our services.

[goslow · Accepted solution]

Your plan to use the extra cordless phone should work OK.

Plug the cordless base into the VM hub, after the switchover, and use the cordless satellite phones where required. The BT 4600 base will register up to 6 cordless handsets.

Alternatively, or in addition, VM can modify your existing phone wiring to use the phone sockets in conjunction with the hub.

VM should be able to fit a new socket next to the hub and run a phone cable outside following the route of the coax cable for the hub. The phone cable can then be linked in the omnibox at the front to the phone sockets inside. This rewiring work should be free of charge as part of the switchover.

[Ayisha_B]

Thanks for adding to this goslow.

@Brain_Dead If you are happy for me to book a tech visit to modify the wiring, then do respond to my PM 📩 and we can take it from there. 

Cheers

[Brain_Dead]

All sorted. An engineer (Lee from Wigan - Good Guy IMO) called yesterday; he switched me over straight away. The original email from Virgin said the switchover would take place on 25 Jan 24, so I was quite surprised that he could do it straightaway. As Goslow has written above, I've moved the base next to the Virginmedia Hub and installed a slave BT4600 in the front room. There was no need to add an additional wire which would run around the house. Thanks

[Matthew_ML]

Hey Brain_Dead, thank you for reaching out and letting us know this glad to hear the advice has helped. Cheers