Phone Fibre Switchover

[Slamdunky]

I was due to change my telephone over to fibre today but like many others my telephone base station is downstairs (beside the BT line) whilst my hub is upstairs in my office.
Although I have a second phone in my office it is important that the base station stays in the living room so we can see ansaphone messages that may have been left when we are out.

I’m not sure what to do about this and would appreciate advice.

Thanks.

[Zach_R]

Hi @Slamdunky,

Thank you for your post and welcome to our community forums. We're here to help.

I'm so sorry to hear that there's an issue with the install set up ahead of the landline service switchover. Is there any way that the base station of the landline and the router can be positioned near one another, or is that not possible?

Thanks,
 

[Slamdunky]

Sorry but that’s not possible. The hub serves my computer and a second V6 box upstairs.

[goslow]

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@Slamdunky wrote:

Sorry but that’s not possible. The hub serves my computer and a second V6 box upstairs.

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Most cordless phones allow full control of the system from a remote handset (inc. listening to messages, viewing missed calls etc.) so you don't necessarily need to be next to the base station to do those things. If this is so on your system you would switch the base station downstairs with the cordless phone upstairs and plug the base station into the hub. This would involve no wiring modifications. Alternatively ...

Ask VM (via the VM forum team on here, when they reply to this topic) to modify your home phone wiring so you can use your existing landline extension sockets via the phone connection from the VM hub.

VM should offer to do this free of charge for you as part of the switchover process.

Make sure they make modifications to your phone wiring so you can keep each piece of equipment in the same place (rather than the offer which sometimes crops up on here to move the hub to a different location)

Refer here

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/landline/switchover

Do I need to book a technician visit?

You’ll need to book a free technician visit if...

• You rely on your landline for accessibility needs or don’t have a mobile to make an emergency call – we’ll provide you with an Emergency Back Up Line so you’re always able to call emergency services.
• You’ve got connected devices such as a burglar alarm linked to a control centre, use a telecare device, or have other phones connected to extension sockets. You’ll need to contact your provider and let them know about the switch if you have any of these to make sure they’re compatible with a fibre service.

The Hub and your home phone can’t be placed near each other.

[Zach_R]

Hi @Slamdunky,

Thanks for expanding and clarifying. I'm going to send you a private message in a few moments so that we can take a closer look at things. Please respond to this when you can and we'll go from there.

Thanks,
 

[Slamdunky]

Thanks Goslow.

I appreciate that my remote handset can provide access to ansaphone messages BUT it’s the base station that has the flashing red light to let you know that a message is waiting.

I have taken the easiest solution, swapped my base station with remote handset and connected the base station to the hub. All seems to be working fine but I know that I will no longer be able to provide a fast response to ansaphone messages. C’est la vie!

[brookbonder]

If you need to keep your telephone base station downstairs while having the fibre connection upstairs in your office, then you can look into installing a WiFi extender. This will allow you to extend the reach of your WiFi signal from the hub in your office so that your base station can access it from downstairs. You may also want to consider using an ethernet cable to directly connect your base station to your hub for a more reliable connection.

[goslow]

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@Slamdunky wrote:

Thanks Goslow.

I appreciate that my remote handset can provide access to ansaphone messages BUT it’s the base station that has the flashing red light to let you know that a message is waiting.

I have taken the easiest solution, swapped my base station with remote handset and connected the base station to the hub. All seems to be working fine but I know that I will no longer be able to provide a fast response to ansaphone messages. C’est la vie!

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What make/model of cordless phone are you using?

Many have a 'message waiting' option which should show on all handsets (either as an on-screen icon, flashing light, beeping sound etc.) although it may be an option which needs to be turned on.

[goslow]

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@brookbonder wrote:

If you need to keep your telephone base station downstairs while having the fibre connection upstairs in your office, then you can look into installing a WiFi extender. This will allow you to extend the reach of your WiFi signal from the hub in your office so that your base station can access it from downstairs. You may also want to consider using an ethernet cable to directly connect your base station to your hub for a more reliable connection.

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VM doesn't have any wireless options to link a remote cordless phone to the hub AFAIK. They would be on different frequencies.

BT does a 'digital voice adapter' to go with its Smart Hub which connects on the cordless phone frequency range to provide a remote phone socket wirelessly. Don't think VM offers anything similar.

[Slamdunky]

It’s a Panasonic.