Virgin Media Community

[KateLondon]

Apologies if this has already been answered elsewhere (couldn't find it...)

I need to have landlines around my home - I can't use a mobile and I may need to call for help so need to be in striking distance of a landline handset.

VM have sent me 4 adapters and apparently will phone/email to arrange actual switchover.  They have confirmed one phone will be plugged into the hub instead of the wall socket, and insist the remaining 3 will work provided I install an adapter between the handsets and the existing/current wall sockets.  As these 3 will no longer be on the same circuit as the hub, I cannot see how that will work?

Has anyone managed to have multiple handsets around the home that all work without having to have 4 cables draped around - i.e. does what I am told, that the other three just plug into the existing wall sockets with the adaptors, actually defy logic and work?

[Graham_A]

If your current setup is a master socket with extensions wired into it then under the new VM phone setup the existing master socket will need to be connected to the phone port on the Hub.  VM should be able to book a technician visit to install the necessary wiring for you.

The adaptors supplied by VM will not fit into existing telephone extension wall sockets yet alone work.

Have you considered getting a DTEC cordless home phone system?  This would allow you to carry a handset with you anywhere in the house to make or receive landline calls.  These  will work with the new VM phone setup if correctly installed.

[KateLondon]

Thanks but the hub is wired to the computer (upstairs in study) and the master socket is downstairs in the dining room.

I did not think the adaptors plugged into the existing sockets would work but VM said they would and made no reference to needing wiring.  The route from the study to the dining room would mean cables all over the place - under carpets, along the edges of the stairs, round door frames preventing doors closing - the rooms are just not near each other. Also from when they wired in the hub their focus is on speed of job not tidy wiring out of eyesight.

It isn't practical to carry a cordless phone about the house - in the same way no-one really carried around "mobile" phones in the early 1980s - they're too large and it would be bound to be put down somewhere and then inaccessible in an emergency.  I also find there buttons too small: I have large-button handsets for my landline so I can see what I am doing.

I did read (whilst trying to find if someone else had this issue) on this board that the switchover can be delayed until 2025?  Which would at least give VM a chance to catch technology up with what is actually needed by some people?

Is everyone (ie all suppliers) going to VOIP because I'm assuming in some parts of the country this won't happen - there are areas VM doesn't cover and in some of those areas there isn't a reliable mobile signal, so I am assuming those places will have another provider who will stick to traditional landlines?

[DJ_Shadow1966]

Hello

All providers will going to a digital telephone system, Openreach who provide the BT network and all of the other providers excluding Virginmedia are now in the process of doing this change. This is Nationwide as per Ofcom https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre/2021/upgrading-landlines-to-digital-technology

Regards Mike

[jem101]

@KateLondon indeed the traditional landline system is being completely discontinued by 2025 (at least that’s the current plan) and I believe that as of next month NO telephony provider can install new analogue (telephone line) connections, they all now have to be done, piggy-backed onto an internet connection. It won’t be possible to keep the existing setup even if your provider wasn’t able to meet the deadline as the entire infrastructure is being retired so there won’t be anything to connect to!

As per what you were told by VM (don’t tell me it was the offshore call centre, wasn’t it?), this was naturally a load of old tosh, either you have a single phone connected directly to the hub, OR, the hub has to wired to the existing master socket and all of your extensions hang off of that. There's just is no alternative to having new cables run linking the two.

It also begs the question of what happens in a power cut or VM outage? You would lose the phone line entirely, now OFCOM have mandated that ‘vulnerable customers’ are entitled to a free device referred to as an ‘emergency back-up line’ or EBUL, which VM will fit if required. Despite it’s name it is based on a mobile signal and when it detects that the mai connection has gone down, it enable you to make emergency calls via a wired phone connected to it over the mobile network. It is powered by a rechargable battery and keep going for an hour or so. Now what happens if you happen to live where there is absolutely no mobile signal is a bit vague. It seems that OFCOM regard such situations as being so rare as to not need to be considered.

[Carley_S]

Hi KateLondon

Welcome to the community. 

Looks like our members and VIP's have been able to answer your query. Please let us know if you are having any further issues or have any questions at all. We'll be here to help on the community forums if needed :). 
 

[jpeg1]

@KateLondon

You don't need to carry a cordless phone around the house, as you suggested.   What many people are using is a DECT arrangement where a base station is plugged into the Hub, and remote sets are located in other rooms, as few or as many as you need. Any of the phones, master or remote, can be picked up the start or answer a call. 

There are many makes of DECT phones. Here's just one brand.  https://shop.bt.com/category/electronics,telephony,telephones/11206-45260000

[KateLondon]

Thanks everyone, yes, VM told me it would all just "be fine" and clearly it won't.  I will ask them for the special reserve phone for days like today (they didn't actually offer this), when the internet and tv went down, I could ring them for help on 150 although the guy kept telling me I could get service updates on their website, and no amount of my pointing out the internet was down so no I can't, would stop him making this "helpful" suggestion - but at least I could phone to report a fault.  If I need new handsets and can have them left about the house without wires everywhere, as long as they have large enough buttons so I can see them, that's all to the good.  I think under the Equalities Act 2010 they do have to make reasonable provisions so that their services can actually be used, and I can be reasonable too.  What I can't magic is the ability to use a touchscreen or manage on one landline that I might not be able to get to in an emergency, and I'm sure this isn't the only household where that's an issue.

[Travis_M]

Hi @KateLondon

Thanks for posting on our community forum

I do apologise for the inconvenience, we would need our customers to adapt to the new changes whether that means purchasing wireless handsets etc. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. 

Regards

[KateLondon]

Just wanted to thank everyone again for their help.  It's obvious *now*, but wasn't (and only is because of your help): what I need to do is buy 4 new handsets that are both wireless and cordless and then I will plug the lead phone into the hub with the adapter supplied by VM.  I need to buy these as a set so that they "know" about each other.  No-one at VM had said I needed new handsets (because none of mine are wireless) and nor did they explain that wireless and cordless sound like the same thing in English but are not the same thing in technology!  And no-one at VM had said they would/should supply me with an emergency phone for the (frequent) instances where their cabinet overheats and all the services stop working.

I only understand all this because of your help, so I'm really appreciative, and a lot less stressed out about the whole changeover thing.