Wait.. the telephony ports on the superhub 4 work??

[AllenSmith]

Since I have actual landline connection points in my house I never tried the ports on the back of the hub..can I use them as well as the ones in the house??

[Andrew-G]

Phone socket on the hub won't work unless you've been notified that VM are transferring you to the VOIP telephone service, and at that point your household telephone sockets will stop working unless the connections are modified and linked back to the hub, which might be easy, but often has a range on inconveniences, depending on the number of sockets and the layout of hub and phone cables in the property.

The transition to VOIP connections is a cross-industry thing and is also happening with Openreach so we're being dragged down this route whether we like it or not.  If you're an industry person you'll think is a great leap forward, as a customer you may think "I didn't ask for this!  Which fool came up with this stupid idea of a telephone system that doesn't work when the power is off, and beggars up my existing phone sockets?"  And the answer to that question is the fools at Ofcom.  Also, for the minority who currently turn the hub off overnight in the interests of the environment, then when the VOIP transition happens it will mean they won't be able to use the phone when the hub is off.

[Serena_C]

Hi @AllenSmith

Thank you for your post regarding the landline ports on the back of the SuperHub 4. Have you received a letter from us yet stating that we are transferring you to the VOIP telephone service? If so, following this transfer then you will use the ports on the Hub for your telephone line - not the socket. Until you have been switched over, you will not be able to use the ports on the back of the Hub and should continue to use your phone socket for the time being.

For more information on the Switchover, please visit: https://www.virginmedia.com/help/home-phone/virginphone/switchover

Kind regards,

Serena

[AllenSmith]

No I haven’t and I wouldn’t welcome that as I have two phone sockets already where I need them. The hub is in a completely different room. If I could have used it as an extra point to put a phone in the office I would have but not at the expense of the phone in the bedroom and the livingroom.

hopefully they won’t be forcing that on us

[Serena_C]

Thanks for getting back to me Allen.

Just to confirm, the VOIP transition will be affecting all customers. The switchover is being rolled out cross-country and all phone ports are gradually being switched over to the Hub. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.

Best wishes,

Serena

[goslow]

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@AllenSmith wrote:

No I haven’t and I wouldn’t welcome that as I have two phone sockets already where I need them. The hub is in a completely different room. If I could have used it as an extra point to put a phone in the office I would have but not at the expense of the phone in the bedroom and the livingroom.

hopefully they won’t be forcing that on us

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As/when/if you receive your notification of the switchover, you need to get VM to modify your extension wiring to link to the hub as part of the switchover process. Read the info below on extension sockets and where hub and phone sockets are in different rooms

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

In past topics on here VM had often thrown up resistance to doing this (despite the above saying they will). Fortunately, in more recent topics, VM seem to have been more accommodating and have realised that many customers will still need to use extension sockets after switchover to connect to their new part-time phone line!

Also note well @Andrew-G's point about (non-)functionality during a power outage. For those with other items connected to the line such as burglar alarms, health monitors, care monitors etc. the switchover throws up some further complications (and possible expense) to get these modified to the new arrangement.

Everyone, with all providers, will end up using this arrangement so it is indeed being forced on you! The alternative (which I shall be doing at switchover) will be to ditch the landline entirely and just use mobile only.