topic Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use in Digital Home Phone

Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

FrankNicklin — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 17:33:57 GMT

I have a friend who has been upgraded to EE FTTP. His home phone is connected to his router in the house, but he has an office in the garden connected back to the house via Ethernet, but has lost access to the office phone as obviously the copper service is no longer supported. The phone is on the same number, is there anyway to get the office phone connected to DV. I am going to upgrade the switch/AP in his office but need to have an idea if it possible to get his phone working perhaps with another analog to digital converter.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

XRaySpeX — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 18:39:30 GMT

Yes, as long as there's mains power there he can use a digital voice adapter (DVA) plugged into the mains which connects by WiFi to the router. If he wasn't given 1 by EE he could request 1 from CS.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

JimM11 — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 18:48:59 GMT

@XRaySpeX Are you sure, DVA only connect's to the EE Router/BT Router on the DECT side, has nothing to do with wifi/ ethernet in any format.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

Mustrum — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 19:03:15 GMT

@FrankNicklin you could simply disconnect the extension wiring from the old Openreach master socket, fit a phone plug to it and plug into the phone socket on the router.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

XRaySpeX — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 19:06:02 GMT

@JimM11 : No, I'm not entirely sure but you connect the DVA to the router by pressing the WPS button on each. So I'm assuming that the digital signals (VoIP) are carried by the WiFi (in much the same way as they are carried by the BB & the router to the router's phone socket) but even if not but pure DECT the principle's the same on their usage. They are just another IP Protocol

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

JimM11 — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 19:14:38 GMT

@XRaySpeX The WPS button is multi function for DECT operation and for wifi operation, the VOIP is not carried over the wifi signal in any format, it's on its own carrier DECT frequency range, so if the DVA is not near enough and unless you can boost the DECT frequency then its not going anywhere. EE is not giving away any of it's voip info to anyone.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

JimM11 — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 20:00:58 GMT

@FrankNicklin The change from Copper to Fibre is unfortunate, and the loss of the signal to landline is one of the side issue's, you just need to take a look see what was done to get the landline signal out to the remote office, ie was it from the house socket wiring, or did someone drop a pair from the original ethernet connection outwards, and redirect to a extension socket. You wont no all of this until you take a look, so carry on with the switch/ap upgrade, if you only get 100Mb/s on the connected cable between both then you will know wiring has been dropped to allow phone operation. As @XRaySpeX has pointed out, you can try the DVA and pair it to the hub, it's all about how far that signal will reach, so the distance from remote office to the router all comes into play. If you find extension cable was run for the landline, then @Mustrum solution will be the quickest and easiest, i personally would just try a double phone adapter plugged into the EE router, straight BT/BT connector from that back into the master socket Telephone connection, and see if it manages to drive the signal out to the Remote office.

With the DVA let it be known that with certain call services, that the keypad operation ie push 1 to connect to, push 2 to connect etc does not always work, dial 150 to EE to test if using the DVA then option 1/2 to see if it operates it is reported that the phone connected to the back of the router always works for the tone connection.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

FrankNicklin — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 16:26:05 GMT

Sorry for the late late reply but I only got to the clients site recently.

So installed his new Draytek AP903. His office is connected to the house via ethernet some 40 feet away. Service is FTTC not FTTP.

As far as I can tell the original copper phone line also went to his office (Phone wall socket there) and I think was split off the line to the house probably as a wired extension. This goes in to a bedroom upstairs where the cable from the pole enters the house and then the cable is routed downstairs to where the EE Router sits in his hallway. His phone home phone is plugged in to the EE router and of course the Office phone no longer works. The phone feed to the office comes back out of the house on the second floor, down the external wall and underground to his office.

I'm stuck for options. The customer has the EE supplied DVA adapter but I don't have the option of running the telephone extension off it because I cannot get to where the line is split in the bedroom, and if I could I would have to wire a BT plug on the end to plug in to the DVA and it would have to be close enough to the EE router to be able to connect.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

JimM11 — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 07:23:05 GMT

@FrankNicklin The master socket next to where the router is does it have the rj11 for his fttc connection and also a phone socket to the right of that, if so then a double plug connection flying lead to the back off the router, and a BT cable male/male connected from the socket back to the double connection, home phone also plugged into the double, should extend the phone signal back out to the office.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

FrankNicklin — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 09:30:32 GMT

Thanks for your response.

It appears that perhaps an electrician has routed the telephone cable to a position in the hallway for the client.

On the wall is similar to a dual Ethernet socket, but one side is the telephone jack that plugs in to the router, and the other socket is an ethernet port that the router plugs in to to push network out to his office.

Your suggestion of the double adapter in the back of the router was the way I was going with this, but the office phone connection is not located near the router, its somewhere else in the house which I could not find, even though I could see where the pole wires entered the house. The client has had work done since the lines were originally installed and I've got a feeling the connection has been hidden/lost in the work, making it virtually impossible to trace the wiring back to where they split the service between the buildings.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

XRaySpeX — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 09:54:37 GMT

@FrankNicklin wrote:

the office phone connection is not located near the router, its somewhere else in the house which I could not find

Sorry, I don't get this. If there's phone in the office it must be (have been) plugged into a nearby phone socket. You continue with that &, as I understand it, do @JimM11 jiggery-pokery with the double plug connecter at the router end. That will inject the phone signal into the existing wiring & thence to the office.

Photos of both ends would be helpful.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

FrankNicklin — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 10:20:10 GMT

The Office has a phone socket and an ADSL filter still connected. The Office phone is connected to that. The phone cable then went back to the house and must have been split at the master socket somewhere else in the house which I could not find and the owner could not tell me where it was, thats the problem. This is partly guesswork on my park as I cannot trace all the wiring.

Wiring as I see it.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

XRaySpeX — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 10:42:30 GMT

Thanks, but I find it hard to read. Can you compress the rooms & the lines & so make writing bigger.

Can we see actual photos of the wall socket with Ethernet & phone sockets & of the socket in office? I think what you are calling Ethernet isn't.

What is the office router? I thought the router was in the top room or hall.

I think what you are calling a "Master" is just a junction box which fulfils no purpose other than to join wires together.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

FrankNicklin — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 11:04:53 GMT

It is definitely ethernet cable, I provided the cable when it was installed. Its exterior grade running un an underground conduit. I did not wire it up though, this was done by the electricians on site. I have stripped back the conduit running from the hallway floor to the socket and it contains a single phone cable, which I'm guessing comes from the master (somewhere), there is no secondary cable from this socket to the office, so it must come from the master. The conduit also has the ethernet cable that runs between the house and the office. The office end of the ethernet connects to a Draytek AP903 for the office Wifi and network distribution.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

XRaySpeX — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 11:06:32 GMT

OK, I'm lost! I'll leave it there.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

JimM11 — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 12:20:37 GMT

@FrankNicklin Main cable coming into the property will terminate on the Master socket if you can find it on terminals AB, then depending on the type off master socket there is both Extension wiring on 2,3,5 and also the ability to extend the RJ11 for the fttc signal which is on a separate connection, both of which are on the Master BT socket. Best if you can locate or take pictures of what you have, sound's like with the VDSL/Ethernet combined socket someone has figured this out and wired to suit but for sure you will not have access to the extension wiring by the look off your diagram.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

FrankNicklin — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 09:37:09 GMT

Got the client to hunt down the connections. So incoming goes to a small DP then back out to his office. White cable from the DP goes down to the hallway socket. So it is not a master socket at all, but is a BT box. There are no other extension sockets in the house.

Incoming Connections

Phone socket below is fed by the white cable shown in the picture above.

Hallway socket

Ethernet port is the cable that connects the router to the office. There are no other extensions on the line.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

JimM11 — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 11:05:31 GMT

@FrankNicklin With the way you describe the wiring, you could try a ADSL filter on both the telephone socket and the office socket then connect the router to a dual as before, if not you are going to have to see if they have run a cable to the hall socket that has more than one pair of cables which it should have but that depends on what was done on the original installation at that specific time. There is a specific socket that OR have to prevent re-injection to the line but you sure would need the extra cores and wiring changes to suit. The way you describe the system then the office point would be live for the router also if on the main 2 cores coming into the property... Pictures require to be approved.

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

FrankNicklin — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 11:11:17 GMT

@Jim11 Thank for your reply. Both sockets do have an ADSL filter as they have always had, but sadly no luck at the office end.

I think the client is going to have to get BT to rewire the connection accordingly for the new service. I don't think there is anything I can do or suggest beyond this now.

Sorry, don't understand you comment about "Pictures require to be approved".

Re: Customer upgraded to FTTP with EE but has remote office phone he cannot use

JimM11 — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 13:39:55 GMT

@FrankNicklin When you post a picture it is checked and cleared before anyone else can view, you see it but no one else does, the wiring is not conducive for sending voice signal back over to the office with the way that it is currently cabled, so you are right someone needs to come rewire back out, hopefully there is some spare cores in the cable to do so, you only need one pair up at the junction box back from the main socket in the hall....