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[Edinburgh_lad]

Well, I've finally switched over to FTTP. Last port on the pole. However, after the engineer has connected everything, he said there was no 'light' in the port and he had to fail the job so that the 'light' can be connected. He assured us that we'd 'see' this 'light' within a week, as Openreach needed to switch something on. How difficult is this process of switching on the light at the pole? (pardon the expression)

The second thing is: do I need to switch anything on/off at the ONT to connect a Fritzbox to it? Does the Fritzbox need to be in the bridge mode? I presume, I need to select 'Connecting to a cable modem (cable connection) Select this kind of connection if the "LAN 1" port of the FRITZ!Box is to be connected to a cable modem that establishes the internet connection'?

The final question is about our lovely retro (analogue) phone. Currently (on my VDSL line), I can connect it to the Fritzbox using the adapter that came with it. I can hear the line working, but when I dial the number or phone the number, the phone isn't ringing. Can I still use my analogue phone with FTTP?

Thank you in advance!

PS I'm pleased actually that the install was painless. Well, apart from  maybe the blowout hole, so will need to get our stonemason to fix it, as I'm not a great supporter of sealant to seal holes in sandstone. I'll miss looking at my VDSL spectrum, but since we have some SHINE on the line, I won't miss that aspect, though.

(I sometimes wonder how oblivious some neighbours can be that their equipment can cause so much misery for the nearby neighbours in terms of interference! Utter pain in the ****)

 

[dee.jay]

The first problem - means they need to increase capacity, i.e. another splitter or something to provide light to that last fibre.

Second thing - You don't touch the ONT, just plug your router into that. You should not use bridge mode on your own CPE. Assume you are using that in place of your ISP's router.

Third one - Did you take a voice service with your FTTP?

[Edinburgh_lad]

Thanks @dee.jay

What does it mean to provide another splitter and is that a big job? We have another pole at the back of the property that has lots of FTTP ports but because the initial DSL service was from the front, we had everything set up for that. I have no idea why Openreach don't do site visits but plan on paper only instead. The pole at the front only had 4 ports, three of which had the 'light' (VDSL-wise, there are 9 properties served from that pole). The pole at the back has 6 or 8 ports. Isn't that strange that there are four ports and only three have light? What's the point in that, especially that  it's quite a recent FTTP install (Aug 2023). Honestly, I could never understand the way Openreach work.

We got BT Hub, but I like to use my Fritzbox. Do  I just plug it in using an ethernet cable? (I wasn't going to touch the ONT, though I must have misread somewhere that you configure it to work for the bridge mode.)

Yes, we have a voice service with FTTP.

[dee.jay]

They don't light everything up from day 1 - that is an expensive way to do things - so they probably just need to enable something upstream before they can complete your install.

It's not strange, it's all to do do with cost

I don't know how BT deals with you using a third party router - so you'd need to check with them.

Also, if you have taken a voice service with BT it should be a case of plugging the phone into the BT router. Without knowing all the mechanics of how their voice service works, you may not be able to use a 3rd party router depending on how the voice portion is provisioned - again you'll need to talk to BT I think

[Edinburgh_lad]

Cheers. So, how does that work if one has digital voice from one provider and broadband from another? Two routers? Sounds odd, doesn't it?

[Edinburgh_lad]

A chap came this afternoon. He went to another pole and connected 'light', so all working fine. Thank you for your help @Dee.jay.

However, I've read on another forum that in order to use BT digital voice, one has to use their own hub. Is that true? Or can Fritzbox be configured to work with BT digital voice?

[Alex Atkin UK]

Cheers. So, how does that work if one has digital voice from one provider and broadband from another? Two routers? Sounds odd, doesn't it?

Then its not done from the router, its done from a dedicated VoIP base station or you can use a smartphone or desktop VoIP client.

[Edinburgh_lad]

CHeers, mate. So, effectively Teams/Skype/WhatsApp type of thing like I have a Teams number through work (previously a Skype number). Wow.

Can one then use a BT app to have the calls 'delivered' to one's mobile?

[dee.jay]

If it's on their router then I'd bet you'll be stuck with their router.

On the network I operate, we currently provision voice direct through the ONT so you could have whatever router you want.

However, the industry is moving away from ONT's with voice ports, so we either have to design it around our CPE, or, think of something else.

Me personally, this was exactly the reason why I wanted to decouple my landline phone number from my internet. I don't care for taking a voice service from an ISP so I am no longer restricted to having to use their CPE.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Yeah you need to note, Digital Voice is BT specific via their router.  Other ISPs it varies, which is why I moved mine to AAISP VoIP as I can use that anywhere.

There is no good reason to have voice tied to your broadband unless the calls package is especially appealing, as dedicated VoIP the call charges without a package are much much cheaper.

Mine and my mums mobiles are both PAYG, so calling over VoIP is dramatically cheaper and better audio quality.

[Edinburgh_lad]

Cheers, mate.

So, just a confirmation: with A&A, I could use their DV number with my Fritzbox? If so, I could set up Fritzbox to use A&A, then I could set up call forward on the BT DV to that A&A number. A bit of a hassle, but this is the only way forward to avoid using BT's Hub? 

[g3uiss]

Just port you number to AA or any VoIP provider. I use SIPGATE

[dee.jay]

Cheers, mate.

So, just a confirmation: with A&A, I could use their DV number with my Fritzbox? If so, I could set up Fritzbox to use A&A, then I could set up call forward on the BT DV to that A&A number. A bit of a hassle, but this is the only way forward to avoid using BT's Hub?

I'd have just ported my number off BT and cut out the middle man

[Edinburgh_lad]

CHeers. Isn't that if you cease/port the number when with BT, then broadband services automatically stop, too? So, the only option would be to buy a new number and then do call redirect.

Unless things have changed - can anyone confirm? If not, then this would be for the knowledge of the whole Kitz community.

Also see here: https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/held-hostage-with-this-bt-digital-voice.38231/

[g3uiss]

No your broadband is on fibre not a copper pair. Porting the number is simple and easy process.

Many posters on here have done this. Also you could use an ATA device to plug your phones into then it’s separate from whatever router you use.