topic Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router. in Broadband & Landline

Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Afd — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 10:08:24 GMT

Hi, I’m currently with EE with FTTC, and a have ordered EE Full fibre. I had problems with WiFi in the past, it struggled to cover whole house and had a mixture of powerline and WiFi extenders to try and solve issues. This had mixed result and I ended up getting an Asus DSL-AX82U as it seemed like the only router that would work with a ASDL, have WiFi 6 and be mesh compatible. I was prepared to buy extra mesh units but discovered the router covered whole house.

I understandably want to use my existing router as I know it works and have been told by EE that it will, but now having doubts and have a few questions -

has anyone used the telephone adapters with third party routers?

Can you use more than 1 of the adapters? I have a corded phone in addition to cordless.

I saw EE offered WiFi phones, do I have to buy these from EE or are there generic ones available?

Ive read that phone service is now VOIP how does that get configured? Does is happen on router, or on handsets?

If I have to go with EE router, is there a link to where I can buy Mesh extenders?

Sorry for all the questions folks 🙂

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

JimM11 — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 10:47:33 GMT

@Afd The third party router has no ability to do landline DV in ANY format. The EE/BT has to be up front and primary router. The EE/BT router will be plugged into your new FF FTTP ONT module that will be installed as part of the upgrade, phone port in back of the router, DVA attaches on the DECT frequency paired to the EE router, total of 5 devices allowed phones/adapters as digital devices, phones can be found on Amazon if you do not wish to get from EE/BT shop.

Everything is ON the Router, phones and DVA are dumb devices, why would you want mesh extenders, hook up the Asus router to the EE with a RJ45 Ethernet cable. Extenders from EE £10/month on a 24 month contract.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Mustrum — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 11:48:44 GMT

@Afd Hi and welcome to the forum, as it happens I have the same router, so am keen to see how you get on. Not least as I will be in similar circumstances, later in the year.

As @JimM11 says, for DV (and TV) the EE router needs to be connected to the ONT, but you could connect the WAN port of the Asus to a Lan port on the EE Router. However this is not ideal if anyone in the property is a gamer as it will introduce double NAT.

An alternative you may wish to consider is using an independent VOIP supplier for your telephony needs. They can be a long more flexible and feature rich than the EE DV service. It also means you can use the router of your choice to connect to the ONT.

HTH

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

JimM11 — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 13:14:32 GMT

@Mustrum Double NAT works fine, Asus XT8's that way present, only oops in all of the time, wireless wi-fi printing, with the printer connected on the EE Side of the router setup, everything else been ok so far...

Think your DSL router can wan output and switch over from the DSL in the setup.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

JimM11 — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 13:23:59 GMT

@Afd Be careful when you look at phones with regard to using EE if you go that way, they are dect based ((NOT Wi-Fi )) do not work on the Wi-Fi frequency in any WAY/SHAPE/FORMAT, the EE range is not voip style phones, those are different.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

XRaySpeX — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 18:00:48 GMT

Who is your landline provider? If it's not EE, you can continue using it unchanged.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Afd — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 13:31:44 GMT

Thanks for all the replies.

Sounds like I won’t be using my Asus router after all, I should have known better about believing what I hear.
@JimM11 I’ve been sent 2 adapters but think I might upgrade to a Digital Voice phone. I’d rather just use 1 router so hopefully the EE one will be comparable to the Asus. If I need to get Mesh extenders would it not make sense to buy outright rather than pay £120 a year?

@Mustrum I’ll look into other suppliers for VOIP, out install date has been put back so I have time to research. I’d want to keep number though, that might not be possible.

@XRaySpeX I’m currently with EE unfortunately.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Timbo45 — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 15:16:05 GMT

@Afd

There's no real issue using your Asus modem/router and using the EE hub. It's fairly straightforward setting up the 2 to work in unison with the EE hub handling only Digital Voice and the Asus handling everything else within your house. I did it with my Asus DSL-AC68U and the BT SH2 recently.

I doubt that the EE hub is anywhere near comparable to the Asus.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

JimM11 — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 16:30:10 GMT

@Afd You need to read again and @Timbo45 nailed the Asus for you, if you think that the ISP router will ever be as good as an Asus router you just need to think back to before you got it, the move to fibre is the really bad part with the landline AS it has to follow and ONTO the digital side now and with most if not all ISP's they implement there system, EE/BT force it on to there routers and no choice either go with it or TAKE the landline to another VOIP provider, timing of that is critical if doing so at the start as not to lose the number, or port it to EE, give it some time then move it to a voip service later.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Afd — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 16:44:39 GMT

So better option might be fibre with EE and a separate VOIP service? Does that mean I don’t need an EE router? It’s been years since I got original EE router, thought they might have improved in that time?

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

JimM11 — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 16:53:47 GMT

@Afd Go do your research for voip, if router can get a phone connected, and that router supports voip, then can be straight forward, if not the VOIP service supply an adapter to connect to the router, plug the phone in and setup / go.

If you do not care about the landline number that is what number you have now, drop the landline and sort it out later, it's all about cost and what each other does/offers etc. ITS ALL about keeping the number that you have if you want too...

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Afd — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 14:16:54 GMT

Thanks for replies. I’ve had a look at some VoIP services, looks like I can port number and use existing router. Anyone got any recommendations for a VoIP service?

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Mustrum — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 14:32:44 GMT

@Afd you need to time your port carefully. If you do it before your new service is live it will cause your FTTC to be cancelled.

Ideally you want to do it at least a day or two after your FTTC service has been transferred. If you have moved it to DV it can take a day or two to start working, you will then been on a 30 day rolling contract for the voice element. If you have not transferred the number you have 30 days where the number is kept in quarantine for 30 days before it is no longer available to port.

I have seen people reccoment A&A ISP or VOIPFONE, but not used them myself.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Afd — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 15:25:16 GMT

Spent a while looking into VoIP services, there's nothing that inspires me with confidence out there. I think I might stick with EE for phone and put up with 2 routers.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

JimM11 — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:03:51 GMT

@Afd That's what i would do, if you do not like it later on, then arrange to move you landline over to a voip service provider, you are only tied to the 30 day period, so timing becomes way less critical, and you are up running on FF with DV. Just got to hope that the number goes ok on the initial switch, and DV is NOT instant, may take a day or two to all settle and bed in.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Profile closed — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:08:02 GMT

If it’s just the Wi-Fi output that’s a concern, why not use the Asus just as a wireless access point? (Basically, use the EE hub for the fibre then connect the ASUS LAN to LAN with the hub and turn everything in the ASUS off except the Wi-Fi).

Alternatively, you could try this:

It’s based on BT’s Smart Hub 2 but the technique is generic and should work with the EE.

The SH2 needs to be directly connected to the phone socket/ONT for digital voice. I did mine this way:

Smart Hub 2 (SH2) router settings:

Turn IPv4 DHCP off. (The addresses here are best set as static addresses but you can use dynamic addressing if you really want).

Set IPv6 DHCP to ‘Stateless’.

Set the router itself to a static IP of 192.168.1.254 and a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 or /24. (These settings are its defaults, so you may not need to change anything).

Set the DMZ host to 192.168.1.2 (This helps with double NAT problems or at least it takes care of the port forwarding on the SH2. There is still address translation happening, however, so you may still have problems with multiplayer games, UPnP etc. In fact, you only really need this if you have incoming external connections to a server etc. Personally, I’ve never found double NAT to be an issue and I don’t use the DMZ setting. If you do use it, note that this setting allows a lot of traffic to effectively bypass the SH2 firewall, so you are relying on your own router’s firewall for security, just as if it was directly connected to the internet).

Turn off the Wi-Fi in favour of your own router. (This may also be a good security move if you do enable the DMZ host. I would still expect Wi-Fi traffic on the SH2 to go through its firewall but I can’t be sure how they’ve set it up internally).

Connect the DSL port to the phone socket on the wall or the WAN port, (port 4), to the ONT, whichever is applicable. If the latter, don’t forget to also enable FTTP Mode on the SH2. (Again, this is usually on by default).

The DV phone/extension then plugs into the green phone socket on the SH2.

Own router settings:

Turn the IPv4 DHCP on. Set the range to 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.200 (Note the 0 in the third position, making this a separate network to the SH2. This is deliberate, not a typo. You can use another number if you want but not 1).

Set IPv6 to DHCPv6 Client.

Set the router itself is on a static IP of 192.168.0.1 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 or /24, (if using static addresses. If dynamic, set it to get an address automatically).

Enable the (E)WAN port and set it to a fixed IP of 192.168.1.2 (This makes your router’s WAN port part of the SH2 network).

Set the gateway to 192.168.1.254 (Again, pointing to the SH2).

And also set DNS to 192.168.1.254, (or whatever you usually use).

The EWAN socket on your own router, (probably no.4), then connects to a LAN port on the SH2. (NB. This will not work if you use the DSL port on your own router).

Lastly, any static addresses on devices in your own network will also need to match the network address of 192.168.0.x If you’ve used the range I suggested above, that means the x will need to be 201 or above, of course.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

JimM11 — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:12:11 GMT

@Profile closed Why waste and completely cripple an Asus router by putting it into an AP!

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Profile closed — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:18:11 GMT

Well, if he already has one and so doesn't need to buy it and if it's the only Wi-Fi signal powerful enough for him, why not? It would be more of a waste to take it out of service in favour of the EE hub.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Afd — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 21:45:28 GMT

Finally got Fibre installed a couple of weeks ago. Have been using the EE router and it seems to cover the whole house without issue so far. Went for the EE phone service, and got EE Home Phone Plus phones. They work mostly ok too. Funny that a mobile contact can offer unlimited calls and texts for a tenner but a landline costs £18 for calls only.

Re: Changing to full fibre, with landline. Want to use existing ASUS router.

Mustrum — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 21:53:34 GMT

Great news, tnaks @Afd for cming back and letting us know how things have gone.