Using old landline phones on digital voice

AngieHannam
Explorer

Hi all, we recently converted to EE from BT. Our old setup was a BT Halo modem into which we plugged 2 desktop PC's and a landline phone. These are all upstairs. Downstairs we had a conventional phone socket. We have received an adaptor to make the downstairs phone work on digital voice. I registered it with the modem without problems. I plugged in the adaptor as instructed and called the landline number. The phone downstairs using the adaptor rang without issue, but the upstairs phone, plugged directly into the modem doesn't ring. Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks in advance.

3 REPLIES 3
XRaySpeX
EE Community Star
EE Community Star

@AngieHannam : What is this modem you have upstairs? Don't you have an EE router?

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Hi, it is a router supplied by BT. The EE agent said it will still work with EE and it does. Instructions for EE said phone will work if plugged directly into the router but it doesn't.

JayKayGee
Investigator
Investigator

The BT smarthub2 can be connected into your old analogue wiring (via the green socket at the back and an appropriate 2 ended btplug cable) to enable your analogue phones to work as they used to, i.e. answer a call on one and someone can pick up a handset in a different room and take/join in the call. Some handsets which dont ring in this arrangement may need a microfilter with a ring wire, EE say they can supply one if needed (look up help on digital voice installing).

Alternatively plug the base station of a dect phone set into the bt hub green socket and handsets should all work off that if they are linked.

I found I got weird results using the mains adapters supplied by BT. The handsets dont talk to one another. Also, the green socket on the back of the hub is completely separate from the hub dect implementation (the mains adapters and any digital bt phone) so you will never get them in tandem. I had phones ringing at different intervals rather than synchronised as in the old days, and picking up one handset when another was in use got me a ring tone.

Its complicated but it can be done!