Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
Having paused the change over to 'digital voice' (landline over the internet), because of issues including you don't get a phone signal if the mains power goes off, BT have started it again (from what i can gather, without addressing any of the issues)
Mum-tat has had initial letter saying it's coming at some unspecified point soon, and is quite concerned about it all.
She currently has broadband, but it's over the existing copper telephone line.
The main difficulty I can see is getting the main socket, mains power and computer anywhere near each other. Like most older houses, the main phone socket is in the downstairs hallway, and there isn't a mains power socket near it. At the moment, this has a landline handset plugged in to it - it's not used that often, but does have the advantage that it works if the mains power goes off (so maybe there isn't really a need for a handset there after the change.)
She had an additional telephone socket put in on the upstairs landing some years ago (I can't remember if this was done by BT or someone independent), at the moment, this has a (telephone) wire run to the room that's 'home office' - this is split via an ADSL filter to a cordless phone (base unit) and a BT home hub, which in turn is connected to her PC.
There is a second cordless phone (not connected to a phone socket, presume it picks up signal from the base unit upstairs - this is a level of tech I've not got in to) in the living room downstairs.
Changing to a different provider is not an option (and would probably be even more hassle than dealing with this) and nor is giving up having a landline phone. Internet connection is pretty much an essential, it's mum-tat's main link with the outside world, and she does most of her shopping online now.
My understanding is that there isn't an opt-out from this.
I didn't have any issues with the change over when it happened here - I was already on fibre broadband so I just had to make a few changes to what was plugged in to where and it was all quite painless.
The difficulty is getting mains power, hub and computer close to each other.
Am I right in thinking BT will only change over the main socket in the hall to become the 'main socket' and the current modem / hub thing will have to be located there? I can see a way of getting mains power there, which will involve an extension lead which is going to be faintly untidy but will work in the short term.
Mum-tat's PC has wi-fi capability, so would have to talk to the hub via wi-fi, which is better than nothing, but not going to be as good as having it plugged in to the hub.
Longer term, I think it would be possible to get an independent engineer (I realise that work on telecoms wiring inside the house doesn't have to be done by BT any more) to do something so that the socket upstairs becomes the 'main socket' then just run an ethernet (instead of telephone) wire from that to where the modem is now, plug main phone and computer in to the hub, and everything will be fine.
My inclination is -
1 - contact BT and ask what they are actually going to do - will they only convert the downstairs socket or will they do the upstairs one?
2 - assuming they say they won't make the upstairs socket the 'main socket' then need to find an independent engineer who will do the necessary, and see whether there's anything they can do before BT do their thing or whether we are going to need a temporary solution once the switch-over happens.
Can anyone shed any more light on this? Or spot any flaws in my understanding / idea?
Mum-tat has had initial letter saying it's coming at some unspecified point soon, and is quite concerned about it all.
She currently has broadband, but it's over the existing copper telephone line.
The main difficulty I can see is getting the main socket, mains power and computer anywhere near each other. Like most older houses, the main phone socket is in the downstairs hallway, and there isn't a mains power socket near it. At the moment, this has a landline handset plugged in to it - it's not used that often, but does have the advantage that it works if the mains power goes off (so maybe there isn't really a need for a handset there after the change.)
She had an additional telephone socket put in on the upstairs landing some years ago (I can't remember if this was done by BT or someone independent), at the moment, this has a (telephone) wire run to the room that's 'home office' - this is split via an ADSL filter to a cordless phone (base unit) and a BT home hub, which in turn is connected to her PC.
There is a second cordless phone (not connected to a phone socket, presume it picks up signal from the base unit upstairs - this is a level of tech I've not got in to) in the living room downstairs.
Changing to a different provider is not an option (and would probably be even more hassle than dealing with this) and nor is giving up having a landline phone. Internet connection is pretty much an essential, it's mum-tat's main link with the outside world, and she does most of her shopping online now.
My understanding is that there isn't an opt-out from this.
I didn't have any issues with the change over when it happened here - I was already on fibre broadband so I just had to make a few changes to what was plugged in to where and it was all quite painless.
The difficulty is getting mains power, hub and computer close to each other.
Am I right in thinking BT will only change over the main socket in the hall to become the 'main socket' and the current modem / hub thing will have to be located there? I can see a way of getting mains power there, which will involve an extension lead which is going to be faintly untidy but will work in the short term.
Mum-tat's PC has wi-fi capability, so would have to talk to the hub via wi-fi, which is better than nothing, but not going to be as good as having it plugged in to the hub.
Longer term, I think it would be possible to get an independent engineer (I realise that work on telecoms wiring inside the house doesn't have to be done by BT any more) to do something so that the socket upstairs becomes the 'main socket' then just run an ethernet (instead of telephone) wire from that to where the modem is now, plug main phone and computer in to the hub, and everything will be fine.
My inclination is -
1 - contact BT and ask what they are actually going to do - will they only convert the downstairs socket or will they do the upstairs one?
2 - assuming they say they won't make the upstairs socket the 'main socket' then need to find an independent engineer who will do the necessary, and see whether there's anything they can do before BT do their thing or whether we are going to need a temporary solution once the switch-over happens.
Can anyone shed any more light on this? Or spot any flaws in my understanding / idea?
) aren't off talking on their mobile all the time.
