BT 4600 On Some Incoming Calls Randomly Cuts the Caller Off

[Viffergb1]

We have Call Guardian enabled on our BT 4600 handsets and have programmed callers we wish to come straight through in the phone's directory, and thus avoid the Call Guardian screening.

Whilst most calls are answered successfully either by one press of the green answer button or a double press to answer and enable the loudspeaker, some incoming calls are cut off the instant we press the green answer button!!

We were switched to a digital landline when we changed over recently to EE broadband and therefore connected the phones base station directly into the router.

There is one caller, our son, whose incoming calls are currently being consistently cut off.  He is calling from his mobile.

Has anyone experienced this issue, and if so, found a solution to the problem?

The phone's base station is situated fairly close to the EE Router and I haven't yet tried using the supplied 'Home Phone Adapter' in order to try situating the phone's base station in a different room, as I've read somewhere that if the base station is close to random interference in the 2.4GHz spectrum, this can cause issues.

Just want to see if the problem is just with the phone itself, or just the router or a combination of the two.  I personally don't think it's a phone problem, but unfortunately we weren't using the 4600 phones when we had an analogue line before the switch to digital.

TIA

[Christopher_G]

Hi @Viffergb1 

Welcome to the community.

I'm not 100% sure on what could be causing this. Could you try these steps and see if it works any better?:

• Power off router fully (wait 5 minutes)
• Power off BT 4600 base
• Turn router back on and wait until broadband and phone light are fully active
• Then power the BT base back on

Thanks

Chris

[Viffergb1]

Hi Chris, and thanks for your reply.

I had already tried what you have suggested a couple of weeks ago, but I still experience the problem.  I have just read on the BT Community site to try temporarily disabling 5GHz Wifi on the router and then connect the phone's base to the router and this should force the phone to use 2.4GHz whereas it might be trying to connect to the 5GHz channel. Mind you, I'm not sure if the 4600 phones support 5GHz operation as they are relatively old technology...but I may be clutching at straws!

I'll have another go at your suggestion and see what happens and maybe try the suggestion about temporarily disabling 5GHz as well. If all that fails, I'll try using the supplied phone adapter and move the phone away from the router.

Thanks,
Graham

[Viffergb1]

I would add that I purchased the BT 4600 phones in August 2025 to replace a pair of BT 8500 purchased in January 2015.  The reason being that a fault had developed on one of the 8500s where the internal speaker was not working, but the external speaker still did.  I also remember that the 8500s would also randomly cut off an incoming call when answering, so it seemed a good time to purchase some replacement handsets, and I went for the 4600s on 'Which?' magazine's recommendation.  Another reason why I don't think it's a problem with the phones, but something to do with the changeover to digital voice!

Graham

[Rach_H]

Have you spoken with our team about the problems you've been having @Viffergb1?

Rach

[Viffergb1]

Do you mean have I called them?  If so, no, I haven't.  What number should I try? Confess I tend to steer clear of making calls to CS departments as it tends to take ages before I get to talk to someone!

Graham

[XRaySpeX]

The phone isn't using the 2.4 GHz WiFi band. It's connected to router by wire,

Try calling EE CS on the Freephone no.(Opt 1) in my sig. Alternatively text PHONE to 66033 for a call-back.

[Leanne_T]

Hi @Viffergb1 

Thanks for coming back to us. 

Our Contact Us To Request Technical Support for Broadband and Landline page has details on how you can get in touch including a text option if this is something you would prefer. 

Let us know how you get on 🙂

Leanne. 

[Viffergb1]

Spoke to a very pleasant and helpful lady by the name of Helen in Customer Support earlier today.

She spent a good deal of time checking everything over and in fact commented on how well our system (network) was working given the large number of items we have connected to it 😊

After a thorough checking from her end she could find no problems with the digital voice operation.  Everything was working as expected, and I also commented on our call - made from our BT 4600 handset - being clear and crisp, with no dropouts.

Helen did mention that she thought she had seen something written down about Digital Voice and Call Guardian not working too well together.

Things were left that I would have our son try a few test calls to us with Call Guardian DISABLED and see if that sorted the problem, and / or try connecting our phone's Base Station into the supplied 'Home Phone Adapter' which we haven't used yet.

I have just done a Google Search "Is Digital Voice having problems with phones that have Call Guardian enabled" and it came back with the following....

AI Overview

Yes, many users have reported problems using landline phones with 

Call Guardian (or similar Call Blocking/Screening features) after switching to BT Digital Voice. These issues often stem from how the new VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) system handles incoming calls compared to the traditional analogue network. 

Here is a breakdown of the problems and potential solutions based on user experiences:

Common Problems

• Call Screening Failure: The Call Guardian feature may not intercept calls, allowing unwanted calls to ring through, or it may not recognize callers in your directory.
• Instant Cut-offs: Incoming calls might be cut off immediately upon answering when using the Call Guardian feature.
• Double Ringing/Confusion: The phone may ring once (or more) before Call Guardian takes over, causing confusion.
• Broken Call Blocking: Previously blocked numbers might start getting through again. 

Causes

• Caller ID Issues: Digital Voice requires consistent Caller ID (also known as Caller Display) to work with Call Guardian. If Caller ID is not properly enabled on your account during the switchover, Call Guardian cannot identify or filter numbers.
• VoIP Interpretation: The Digital Voice adapter (plugged into the router) may not perfectly emulate the old analog signal (PSTN) that Call Guardian relies on.
• Dual Ringing Conflict: If you are using a new Digital Voice handset alongside an old Call Guardian phone, they may conflict. 

Solutions and Tips

1. Enable Caller Display: Contact your service provider (e.g., BT) to ensure Caller Display is active on your account, as it is often disabled during the transfer to Digital Voice.
2. Toggle Call Guardian: Turn the Call Guardian feature off and then back on again to reset it.
3. Adjust Ring Settings: Set your Call Guardian phone to wait a few more rings before intercepting, allowing the system to properly handle the call.
4. Use ADSL Filter: Some users have reported success by plugging an ADSL filter into the Digital Voice adapter and then plugging the phone into the filter.
5. Use New Handsets: If you are using an old, plugged-in phone, consider switching to the new BT Advanced Digital Home Phones, which are designed to work with the system. 

If you are experiencing these issues, it is recommended to check your My BT account to ensure all calling features are active and contact support if necessary.

So I guess it seems a combination of using a phone with Call Guardian on a Digital Voice connection may not be a good one!

I'll have a go at the suggestions above sometime soon and monitor results.

Graham

[Peter_W]

Thanks for the update here, Graham!

Fingers crossed this should prove useful, but please keep us posted on how you get on!

Peter