Plug Phone into Tivo ? Additional home hub ?

[Dalek]

Hi

It's simply not going to be possible for me to plug my current phone into my virgin supplied router/home hub due to the locations of both. I do however have your rebranded tivo, is there a an option to plug my phone into that instead ? Or can you provide an additional home hub that i can cable up alongside the tivo and run the phone from that ?

Whats my options ?

[Tudor]

You cannot plu the phone in anywhere else other than a VM hub. VM should arrange a technician to cable up your present phone to the hub. I think it’s mentioned in the details about the changeover.  

[Gareth_L]

Hello Dalek

Thanks for your first post and welcome to our Community. 

Sorry to hear you are not able to keep the phone where it is

Sadly there is no option to plug the phone into your TiVo box. 

It does need to be the actual Hub.

I can arrange for an engineer to rewire the socket up so set up can stay as it is.

If you don't mind, I will need to send you a private message to pass security. 
If you can check your envelope at the  top right of your screen that would be great. 
Regards     
Gareth_L
 

[Dalek]

Replied, no i'm not going to be having lots of wires run all over my house. If you can provide something else, like another hub that can sit beside the tivo that i can plug my phone into i could live with that although even that's not exactly ideal.

Can't believe when this was in the planning stages that nobody came up with the fact that people simply couldn't have the phone next to the router, or want to have loads of wires ran all over the house, that's not acceptable either. What would be acceptable would be a wireless connection between the hub and phone, even if it was some sort of network over the mains or something like that. Or being able to plug the phone into the tivo, or another device that can be installed in a more suitable location, like another hub or dumb device thats only for the phone.

[VMUser1812]

Then I’m afraid you are at a deadlock, having an additional hub simply isn’t possible as it’s just not the way the system works, neither is there any way of connecting the phone to a TiVo, or a wireless solution on over the mains wiring - I’m afraid that simply isn’t the way that the hardware or technology works!

However considering that the existing socket is wired in some way to the Omnibox on the front wall, as it the hub, it may be possible for them to run a phone cable from the hub, through the existing hole in the wall alongside the coax cable and slice it into the current phone cable in the Omnibox. That will eliminate extra cables run through your house, but does involve them sending a tech who can ‘think outside the box’ and do it this way!

[Tudor]

You don’t need lots of additional wire. All you need is a cable from the VM hub to the eternal omnibox using the same route as the incoming coax. This wire is then joined to the internal phone wires in the omnibox, after the phone wires from the street box are cut.

[Dalek]

It would be a long run from an upstairs bedroom cupboard to the living room on the ground floor at the other end of the house.

There isn’t going to be an easy fix, how much will I save on my package deal loosing the phone line? Or is there a way to have my number diverted via a web portal to my mobile?

I know it’s not Virgin who is behind this change, but it’s an unwanted change for most people. No power or no broadband = no phone (luckily I have a mobile phone but most older people don’t) waiting on the 1st news story of how someone died because they couldn’t call the emergency services or realise that the pull cord system older people have no longer works, burgled because the alarm can no longer dial out etc etc

[nodrogd]

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@Dalek wrote:

It would be a long run from an upstairs bedroom cupboard to the living room on the ground floor at the other end of the house.

You could consider DECT portable handsets. The base unit plugs into the hub, with up to 3 additional wireless handsets.

There isn’t going to be an easy fix, how much will I save on my package deal loosing the phone line? Or is there a way to have my number diverted via a web portal to my mobile?

You won't save anything, as you will lose a heap of bundle discounts that will result in your other services going up in price. Apart from digital transmission your landline still uses a conventional telephone exchange at the other end until the full switchover takes place in 2025. So clever things like using web portals, which will only come with the new technology, cannot be used until after 2025.

I know it’s not Virgin who is behind this change, but it’s an unwanted change for most people. No power or no broadband = no phone (luckily I have a mobile phone but most older people don’t) waiting on the 1st news story of how someone died because they couldn’t call the emergency services or realise that the pull cord system older people have no longer works, burgled because the alarm can no longer dial out etc etc

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Virgin offers an EBUL that uses the mobile phone system during outages. Also when Virgin moves to XGS-PON fibre services there will be backup UPS units in the street network hubs that will make services more robust.