Sky Talk - Compatible internet phones

[Toni+Cornish]

I've been a Sky TV Customer for over 21 years, but today I have moved my broadband and phone service from BT to Sky.  With BT I had 3 cordless VOIP phones which do not need to be plugged in (these ones  https://www.bt.com/content/dam/bt/help/digital-voice/advanced-phone/BT-Advanced-Digital-Home-Phone-U...). 

I have tried everything to connect them to the new Sky hub (which every other wireless device in my house has successfully connected to) but the phones, they just won't connect.   I no longer have telephone extension sockets as BT switched me to the VOIP phone line a year or so ago.  I phoned Sky earlier and they said my BT phones would work with the Sky hub (all the lights are on on my hub, including VOIP).  I'm now really fed up as my mobile signal is terrible and I really don't want the extra expense of having to buy new phones as our house is quite spread out so I cannot just have the one phone.

[GD1 · Accepted solution]

@Toni+Cornish  Any standard landline phone will work with Sky VOIP service the the phone plugs into the back of the hub, there is no VOIP settings you can  use  with any VOIP type phones.

Go for cordless dect phones of you need them in more than one room.

[Mark39]

They're not compatible, I'm afraid. Sky don't have an equivalent. The simplest solution is cordless phone kit, where a base station plugs into the Hub, and the handset or handsets wirelessly communicate with the base station.

[cymru123]

@Toni+Cornish 

The BT Digital Voice handsets will only connect wirelessly (via DECT) to the BT Smart Hub 2 and it's functionality is primarily development and provide only to work with BT's own Digital Voice service.

The Sky Hub works with most other cordless or corded handsets that can plug into the phone port on the back of the hub. You can buy a modern house hold phone from online retailers 

[Toni+Cornish]

Thanks although I had a conversation with Sky before I switched and they spoke in great detail about their VOIP system and said that it would work.

Why is there a VOIP light on the hub?  Am I missing something?

[cymru123]

@Toni+Cornish 

The voip light on the Sky Hub illustrates that the hub is connected to Sky's own VoIP service.

How sky's VoIP service works is that the voip client is within the Sky hub and in order to use it you then plug a phone into the ATA port (the phone port on back of hub) to then make and receive calls.

The BT Digital Voice handsets are specifically designed for BT's own VoIP service call BT Digital Voice and BT's own consumer router call the BT Smart Hub 2.

[Toni+Cornish]

Thanks for explaining.  I wish I'd been told that by Sky when I agreed to switch my phone/broadband to them.  I will now need to go and buy some new cordless phones.  How annoying when I had four which worked perfectly well before I switched.  😩

[TimmyBGood]

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@Toni+Cornish wrote:

How annoying when I had four which worked perfectly well before I switched.  😩

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Perhaps worth reflecting it was BT who designed those handsets to only work with their own Smart Hub rather than specifying them for wider compatibility. As noted above that hardware isn't actually VOIP (which is a generic standard): it's a closed wireless system with the Hub acting as base station and the VOIP part starting at the router outwards.

[MightyQuinn]

Hi @Toni+Cornish 

Did you keep your BT Digital Voice landline number when you moved to Sky Internet phone? With the pending 14.4% BT increase I am thinking of moving over to Sky but would like to keep my old number that I have had for 36 years.

Luckily I kept my old BT Premium phones! I have 4 BT DV HD phones with Alexa, how are you finding the audio quality moving back to analogue phones?

[deakmann70]

Unfortunately DECT phones are not an option if your router and base station are in different parts of the house, the BT wireless adaptor for DECT phones also only works with a BT Smart hub.

I can't beleive there aren't VOIP phones which work with Sky?

[Mark39]

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@deakmann70 wrote:

Unfortunately DECT phones are not an option if your router and base station are in different parts of the house, the BT wireless adaptor for DECT phones also only works with a BT Smart hub.

I can't beleive there aren't VOIP phones which work with Sky?

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Move the base station?

You can't use any VOIP phone with Sky Talk, because Sky don't offer the native VOIP service which would be required to connect a handset directly to the internet. It's the Hub which converts the output from a standard handset into a form that can be transmitted via the broadband service.

[TimmyBGood]

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@deakmann70 wrote:

Unfortunately DECT phones are not an option if your router and base station are in different parts of the house

Once an address is provisioned on SOGEA broadband (with no PSTN service) then by definition the router is the connection point for a DECT base: there's no longer a 'phone' signal at any socket other than the rear of the Hub.

[Brian+slade]

I think it's totally disgusting. Sky are changing to fibre optic but have not considered people with more than one extension and they have no answer to the problem. You will no longer be able to have more than one phone unless you have the cordless set which has one that plugs into router and others straight into electrical socket. Even then they are not guaranteed to work. My cousin is 88 and has be left without a phone for 4 days now. It's totally disgraceful. If you have a new product in place you have to consider all aspects and how it affects others but Sky really don't care. You can see why so many ditch their landline altogether and just have a mobile. 
So bad ! They really are the most terrible company. My cousin is terrified. How is he supposed to call an ambulance if he is unwell ? 

[Mark39]

@Brian+slade actually it's Openreach driving ALL service providers, not just Sky to change to an Internet calls solution in preparation for turning off the analogue phone network completely, scheduled for 2025.

The simplest solution is, as you've identified, a cordless phone kit

Personally I agree that it's a retrograde step with several disadvantages and no advantages (that I can see), not least that if there's a power cut, or your broadband service goes down, you have no phone service either.

[Brian+slade]

That's what I'm so annoyed about. My cousin is deaf and we bought 4 phones suitable for the deaf that are corded as he could not get on with the cordless type now they are all useless. Nearly £300 to throw away. Sky should have had something in place. No wonder people are doing away with landlines altogether and just having mobiles.