Does Hub Two work with Voip?

[#1]

I've seen plenty of comments on here that PlusNet's Hub Two phone port has been disabled, so I'll need an adapter to use VoiP. The Openreach engineer who installed my Full Fibre reckoned it should work, as did a PlusNet employee I spoke to today. I've moved my landline number to another provider but up to now it's not working.

If the phone port has been disabled I'll go ahead and get an ATA but I'm receiving conflicting messages about it. Does anyone know the facts please?

[#2]

The Hub2 phone port is disabled, as PN don't offer a VoIP service.

[#3]

But they're doing away with all phone services as I understand it, so it would be nice if they could get the phone port to work for people who are staying with PN but have to go elsewhere for their VoiP. 

[#4]

@Frances28  Unfortunately OR and Plusnet personnel often tell you what you want to hear, which may not be the truth. Which Voip provider have moved to? Obviously it is not yet working but if you get an ATA or an IP phone such as one of the Gigaset range it should be working. Will probably need some setting up but help is available on the forum if required.

Edit: It would be nice to have the Hub phone Port working but as it was intended for use with BT digital voice which is a locked down version of VOIP, it would be major software change to allow it to be used for other providers, so as a retired software engineer I would say there is no chance of that happening.

[#5]

so it would be nice if they could get the phone port to work for people who are staying with PN but have to go elsewhere for their VoiP. 

if the port was functional then people would expect Plusnet to provide assistance with configuring it with whatever VoIP supplier people choose! That's just not practical I'm afraid...

[#6]

I've gone with A&A as it seemed well recommended here. And hardly anyone phones me on the landline anyway. The voicemail is working (though with a nice gentlemanly voice, not my own) so I can live with that even without an ATA. But it's annoying that PN said it would work. I think they've raised a support question, so I'm interested to see what the final response will be.

[#7]

@Frances28  A&A is a good choice, I'm sure they will help you if you need any support. As for Plusnet raising a support question I can't see that getting any useful response.☹️

[#8]

@Frances28 if you've got a smartphone , you could use a VoIP app such as zoiper

[#9]

@Frances28  if you think about this, for any call to reach you there has to be a unique identifiable way of sending the call to you. The ATA can do this with the settings provided by A&A. However, it is not something they can do to a PN, or indeed any of the BT Group based routers.

Perhaps one day someone will crack the BT Group router firmware and work out a way of identifying the settings on the routers, but the day is not yet here. Also an ATA is relatively cheap, so hardly worth anyones effort.

HTH

[#10]

@Frances28 Well the Hub 2 does work with VOIP, mine certainly does, so (depending how you asked the question) the advice you were given by BT/OR/PN was indeed correct at one level. Though probably simplistic and misleading at best. 🤐

HOWEVER you do need an adapter of some sort to answer/make calls, unless (as you have so far with A&A) you rely on voicemail messages and call out via mobile or other alternatives. Personally I'm also on A&A and have purchased some Gigaset equipment in order to answer incoming calls, though in retrospect voicemail would probably have sufficed.... 🤣

[#11]

Well I've just switched my internet off and can go to voicemail on my landline - which is all that happens when I've got internet and Hub 2 working, so I'm not sure what you mean by Hub 2 working? I'm sure it would work with an adapter, but that's not what PN said - they said it should work as soon as I plugged the phone in.

But I am in the middle of a contract change so maybe I should wait till that's sorted and try again? Not holding my breath.

[#12]

Deleted

[#13]

@Frances28  you have not set up a way for a call to your number to go anywhere, hence any call will go to your answer service, roter on or off, calls have no where else to go. You need the ATA, with a phone connected to it and set up as per A&A instructions, or a Viop app on your mobile that will do the same thing.

Again, HTH

[#14]

Another option is to ditch the PN router, replace it with a Fritzbox 7530 from the CEX shop. The Fritzbox does have a working ATA port which can be configured to A&A. Currently about £30.

[#15]

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@Frances28 wrote:

.... The Openreach engineer who installed my Full Fibre reckoned it should work, as did a PlusNet employee I spoke to today. ...

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The installation techie presumably saw what is a rebadged BT Smarthub and incorrectly assumed it would work simply because the phone socket has been retained. As previously stated, it is a non operational legacy 'feature'.

Regarding the Plusnet agent's response, I guess that it's a matter of the degree of technical knowledge and the way that the question is interpreted.

Can you use VoIP with a Plusnet router? The full answer is: Yes, but you need an adapter or an IP phone. The fact that the adapter/IP phone will work with any router is irrelevant.