Extension phone cable

[MrsT3]

I have just changed from BT to Virgin Package however my BT extension is no longer working. I called Virgin and they want £99 to come out and take a look. I think I just need a new cable which will work from my old BT box. Can anyone suggest a suitable cable please?

[goslow · Accepted solution]

The business of phone extensions not working after converting to a 21CV connection is regularly mentioned on here.

VM's help pages say that they will reconnect them for you via a technician installation but whether that happens or not does seem to be a lottery. If you had a technician installation and it didn't happen then, you could ask VM to complete that work as part of the original installation (depending on when exactly you were installed).

The £99 fee is the standard charge for a VM tech to modify wiring. Their default method seems to be to connect the hub via an adapter lead back into the extension sockets but this is a bit of a 'kludge' method IMO. Alternatively you could just get your own phone extension cable and just plug that into the hub to wherever you needed it but that would involve you having a trailing lead from the hub.

On the 21CV phone connection via the hub, the simplest method is to use cordless phones. Plug the cordless base station into the hub and use as many cordless extensions as required. The cost for a reasonable cordless phone set would be in the same region as the £99 charge from VM to modify the extension wiring.

Wait for the VM forum team to respond on here and see if they can do anything to help. They normally reply within a few days.

[Molly_G]

Hi @MrsT3,

Welcome to the forums and many thanks for your post.

The advice given by our agents and Goslow is correct, we would charge a £99 call-out fee to modify wiring in such cases as this.

I appreciate this is possibly not the news you wish to hear, however, if you would like to go ahead and get this visit booked please let us know and we can arrange this for you.

Kind regards,

[goslow]

@Molly_G

So, what is the official VM line on new 21CV connections and reconnecting to existing telephone extension sockets? I read/post on here regularly and I haven't a clue what a consistent and reliable answer would be.

Without knowing the specifics of the OP's situation (which I am aware could affect things), she is a new customer from BT and was expecting to use her existing phone sockets/equipment in conjunction with 21CV. Is that a flat no? Is she expected to pay a further £99 to VM to use her existing phone(s)/sockets or to have to buy cordless versions?

What about existing customers who are migrated by VM to 21CV from POTS? Can they expect to have existing sockets re-enabled?

The link below clearly states extensions will be reconnected

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/home-phone/virginphone#whatishappening

“Will I have to change my home phone/landline handset?

No, you can keep using it. The new fibre phone line is designed to work with the same phones as our current Virgin Phone service.”

and

“I have several phones connected to extensions – will these work?

Yep, when our technician pops around to install your new Hub (if you need one) they’ll make sure all your phones work too. Please make sure you respond to our calls to schedule a technician visit.”

What circumstances is this referring to? 21CV migration or a new installation or both?

There have certainly been some past cases when forum staff have arranged for revisits to enable phone extension sockets but again this is not consistent. This issue crops up again and again on the forum so some clarity on VM's policy (if there is actually one) would be useful for future queries about this.

@MrsT3

As you can see, the answer to your situation is not at all clear IMHO. If you are forced into spending an extra £99 to join VM and have your phones working where you want them, then I'd suggest that the cordless phone route would probably be the better of the options with less disruption and more future flexibility in how you use the cordless extensions and where they can be placed. You also won't be giving a further £99 to VM and, if you do switch provider again, you should be able to reuse the cordless phones still without rewiring any sockets again.

[Molly_G]

Hey both,

Apologies for any confusion here and thanks goslow for raising this I appreciate there is not clear literature accessible about this.
If you've been installed with the phone line connection to the hub, we've installed a working phone line.

Any extension with us, unless you have it on your package, would be a separate entity, and therefore cost £99 call out to do so.

Kind regards,

[goslow]

Thanks for clarifying on this case. If that is the case generally and universally, then the info in the link above should be urgently amended/updated because it is currently very misleading/incorrect/and is actually untrue.

Also worth noting for anyone thinking of moving to VM, that they may also have to factor in a further £99+ as part of the moving process if they either want to get their phone extensions reconnected or be compelled to buy a set of cordless phones to use around the house. Will have to scrutinise the current VM offerings to see if that is mentioned anywhere in the small print!!

Sorry it doesn't help the OP any, but at least it is clear for any future queries.

[MrsT3]

@goslow

Thank you for being so helpful. Looks like I have a couple of options. One is to buy a cable and contact it to the hub although this might cause a further issue. The other is buy a set of cordless phones or pay VM £99 (this I am not willing to do)

Thank you!

[goslow]

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@MrsT3 wrote:

@goslow

Thank you for being so helpful. Looks like I have a couple of options. One is to buy a cable and contact it to the hub although this might cause a further issue. The other is buy a set of cordless phones or pay VM £99 (this I am not willing to do)

Thank you!

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Also see if you can find any reliable and reputable local installers to connect an extension socket for you. They might be a bit cheaper than VM depending on what the job involves. It is quite often possible to find local freelance telecoms technicians who would do this. Local electricians may also be able to do the work but check on their actual abilities and experience in telephone work before engaging any of them.

If your own tech/DIY skills are up to it, or you have any friends/family members with the necessary tech/DIY abilities, I did write an outline of what to do here

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Tech-Chatter/would-it-be-possible-to-connect-the-old-nynex-line...

to connect extensions to a VM hub. Make of it what you will and use at your own risk.

Unless there is a pressing reason to get the extension sockets reconnected, I'd still recommend using a cordless phone setup which is the easiest and most flexible arrangement and simplest to set up.