topic Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..? in Talk

Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

NicholasG — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 18:03:17 GMT

Hello All,

Just had my new set up done, but because of the way cabling is set up around the building, Openreach had to drill in the back, and thus I was forced to have my hub to the other side of the house, far from my study/

Setting aside that I now need a booster (and reviews of these are not great), my new package requires me to connect my landline directly to the hub. However, it is very inconvenient to have the phone set in the room the hub is now in.

I was told there is an adapter (which works like an antenna?), which plugs wherever I want my phone to be, and then I connect my phone base to it. What is this adapter called? Sky Tech Support was unable to give me anything beyond 'adapter'. When googling 'adapter to connect landline to sky hub from another room', I get bombarded with all kinds of irrelevant things, from SkyTV connectors (I don't own a TV), to splitters, to BT equipment.

Please help. What is it I should be looking for? Can anyone suggest an adapter?

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

Mark39 — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 18:33:00 GMT

I'm not aware of any such adaptor. The best solution is probably to invest in a cordless DECT phone, where a base station plugs into the Hub and you can place the handset where you want it or carry it with you.

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

NicholasG — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 18:45:07 GMT

It is cordless. But the room the hub is now in does not have a good place to put even the base, due to a variety of issues, not the least of which is that location of the plugs is very awkward, and such that does not easily resolve with extension cords. (Plus, would you like to run 20m extension cords all around your living room, and trip over them?) There are other issues as well, so my question stands.

Algain, to reiterate. Sky Tech Support and the Openreach guy both mentioned such an adapter. So, anyone?

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

TimmyBGood — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 10:52:43 GMT

@NicholasG wrote:

Algain, to reiterate. Sky Tech Support and the Openreach guy both mentioned such an adapter. So, anyone?

I suspect they were thinking of the BT 'Digital Voice' solution, which is proprietary to BT and will only work with a broadband subscription to BT as an ISP and a BT Smart Hub 2 in place as the router.

https://www.bt.com/help/user-guides/phones/digital-voice/digital-voice-adapter

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

TimmyBGood — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 09:18:42 GMT

@NicholasG

As I've said before in this forum, it's worth remembering that BT in various incarnations has had a century of experience with handset hardware: the latecomer ISPs aren't really phone companies at all.

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

NicholasG — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 11:52:00 GMT

If it was just the Openreach engineer who told me about this, the BT thesis would make total sense, since Openreach services sevral providers.

However, I got the exact same information from Sky Tech Support, when I called. I asked, and the guy said not only said that this thing exists, but also specifically mentioned that cutomers were very happy with tyhe way it worked. (Not to say, of course, that Sky Tech Support could not be mistaken too.)

So, do you know for a fact that this does not exist? Sorry to press the issue, but I have to be sure.

If so, I will drop the package like a hot potato, because at the moment I have an issue with the landline, which is massively inconvenient, and (as I alluded to earlier), with the hub moved to a different room I would be looking at drawing cabling through the whole house, if the booster does not fix things (and from comments online, their effectiveness is really hit and miss).

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

TimmyBGood — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 13:16:06 GMT

@NicholasG wrote:

So, do you know for a fact that this does not exist? Sorry to press the issue, but I have to be sure.

I'm not aware of any widely available domestic technology which would make such a thing possible, outside the proprietary solution which BT Broadband offers.

There are various business-grade DECT offerings designed to provide handset roaming over a greater area: these typically have an IP backhaul and would connect back to a PBX rather than a domestic 'phoneline'.

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

TimmyBGood — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 13:15:05 GMT

@NicholasG

Note that you cannot now revert the property to have a PSTN (analogue) telephony service because that technology is no longer available for ISPs to order, in advance of nationwide switch-off at the end of 2025.

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

TimmyBGood — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 13:23:25 GMT

@NicholasG

Unofficially, you could also investigate 'Voice Re-Injection' (VRI) which takes the signal from the socket on the rear of a router and puts it back onto internal phone extension cabling: while this is theoretically entirely viable, ISPs aren't offering subscribers the option of commissioning the service from Openreach. VRI typically involves messing with the master phone socket, so can't be recommended in this forum.

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

NicholasG — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 13:47:06 GMT

@TimmyBGood

Thank you, good to know this, and I have print-screened it for future reference. I cannot, however, tamper with hardware too much, because I am renting.

Incidentally, when upgrading, I was only told that, with the new set up, if there was a power cut, I would not be able to use my phone. I was not told that I would not be able to revert to the previous phone set up if I decided to downgrade or change my package (even now, still a year or two away from the overall shift). Which is a very oportant point. Thanks for letting me know!

Could I ask something else, since you are very knowlegeable about these things? Is it possible to set up a second hub on the same connection, but in another place of the home? So, say, drill and draw a cable from the other side of the building..? I saw something seemingly like this mentioned ona different forum, but that whole discussion got too technical afterwards, and I couldn't tell whether this was actually a possibility, or if it was just reveries.

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

TimmyBGood — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 13:50:52 GMT

@NicholasG wrote:

Is it possible to set up a second hub on the same connection, but in another place of the home? So, say, drill and draw a cable from the other side of the building..?

For internet, certainly (although the relevant hardware is an ethernet switch rather than a Hub)

That wouldn't solve your telephony issue though: for that you need to relocate the Hub itself on the end of its appropriate incoming cable.

Is your broadband arriving over FTTC (on an Openreach wall socket) or FTTP (via an Openreach ONT)?

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

NicholasG — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 16:20:29 GMT

@TimmyBGood

I believe it is via OpenReach ONT. I confess I had to look it up and I am seeing on Google images the same little white box the engineer installed yesterday. (This is for something called 'Ultrafast 1'. Also, if it is relevant, I do not have a TV, or a mobile contract with Sky, so it is just broadband and landline.)

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

TimmyBGood — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 16:29:52 GMT

@NicholasG

That's a good thing: for FTTP arriving at an ONT the ISP router connects to the ONT over a standard ethernet cable, and ethernet is good for up to 100 metres of cable length. This means it's potentially relatively simple to acquire a much longer ethernet cable (Cat5e is fine) and route this, either internally or externally, to a more convenient location for the Hub.

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

Popsy1 — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 10:20:35 GMT

Hi, did you find the adapter? I spoke to an Open reach engineer today. He mentioned an adapter, which he says EE definietely provide, but he is not sure about SKY. he said it plugs into the wall like a plug, and you can move it from room to room or have a few, so you can pick and choose where to put the phone. We had had out Fibre router installed and they have put it in the garage (not integrall garage). Now we cannot use out landline phone because the hand set base has to sit next to the router. Sky on the phone did not mention an adapter, and said why cant we have a huge wire running all round the house. (no words!!).

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

Mark39 — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 10:35:13 GMT

@Popsy1 Sky don't provide the sort of adaptor that BT and EE provide. Furthermore if your phone is designed to work with BT/EE's Digital Voice service, it won't work with Sky.

A standard DECT phone might be ok, depending on the range. There are DECT phones available for more than one handset, each with their own recharging base.which might be a solution.

Otherwise you may be,stuck with a wired (not huge) extension socket.

Or you could arrange for the broadband Hub to be relocated inside your home. In a detached garage does seem somewhat impractical.

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

Popsy1 — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 13:06:31 GMT

Hello Mark39

I am finding it hard to get my head round this. My Panasonic phone looks like it is a DECT phone (KX-TGC220E), but sky told me the base has to be plugged in to the router. (in the garage). I only have the one handset. Is the only alternative only to drill a hole in the wall from the garage into the home and run an extended phone wire through the hole.

All because they pushed Fibre.🙄

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

Mark39 — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 13:26:58 GMT

@Popsy1 yes, that looks like a standard DECT phone, so it will work with Sky, but as they told you, the base station has to be plugged into the phone socket at the back of your Sky Broadband Hub.

It's not simply because of Fibre. Anyone switching to Sky, or upgrading their Sky broadband technology will be moved to internet calls, where the phone plugs into the broadband Hub. Indeed all landlines will be moved to internet calling before 2027.The problem specific to your setup is that your fibre ONT has been inconveniently located in the garage.

Twin handsets might solve the problem for you - you would then have a base station permanently plugged into your Hub, and a separate powered cradle inside your home for charging the handsets. Do make sure first, by testing with your current DECT phone, that you can use your handset in your home with the base plugged into the Hub

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

TimmyBGood — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 16:16:03 GMT

@Popsy1 wrote:

All because they pushed Fibre.🙄

As @Mark39 indicates, with PSTN due to be switched off in January 2027 all landline voice telephone service will be coming over broadband, whether that's on copper or fibre.

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

Hillclimber50 — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 21:25:34 GMT

I have the same sort of problem, base unit plugged in to router upstairs second phone downstairs. Problem is the base unit upstairs has the answer machine and i would like it downstairs.

Re: Adapter to connect landline to hub remotely..?

Mark39 — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 21:42:10 GMT

@Hillclimber50 wrote:

I have the same sort of problem, base unit plugged in to router upstairs second phone downstairs. Problem is the base unit upstairs has the answer machine and i would like it downstairs.

@Hillclimber50 addressed in your other thread. No need for duplication.