Anyone with Virgin and having landline attached to wi fi?

I am with BT and switched to Digital Voice two months ago. I simply disconnected the phone cable from the wall socket and attached it to the port at the back of the Smart Hub (router). Phone and router are close to one another in the hall.

Now, instead of picking up messages from the answer machine, I call 1571. That's the only difference.

If the numbers for seeking help and advice change, I am sure it will be in the Virgin switchover package.

I was sent a small adaptor earlier this year to plug into the router and my landline now operates via the WiFi. My bedside extension didn’t require any adaption and functions as normal.

My problem is that mobile coverage is very poor in my house regardless of the network. So, I rely on WiFi Calling to use my mobile in the house. With this new set up if my WiFi breaks down I will then have no landline or mobile coverage . It doesn’t seem like progress.

I omitted to say I’m with Virgin.

I am with Virgin and was sent something to plug into the router. I didn’t bother as I never use the landline.

Thank you Grannynannywanny, The email they sent me referred to an engineer having to visit regarding extensions and needing points nearby. However, I was hoping that as wi fi surely that wouldn’t be necessary. I agree it doesn’t sound like progress as I relied on the 150 to inform me about wi fi break downs. Our hub and telephone is situated in the front of the house but not in the room we use the most as we live mostly in the back and our hearing problems require
us to hear another phone in the hall!!!Sounds complicated - so we pick up in the hall and then go into the front room to sit comfortably to talk to relatives who only use the landline. If we didn’t have hearing problems I would only use the mobile but as I am also forgetting where I have left it I often use the landline to locate it. I know I sound beyond help but I muddle through 🤣🤔🙃

We have been told this will be happening to us soon (BT). Our hub is in the study with an old phone but our main phone (which controls two others) and the answerphone is downstairs. (Our line has two outlets). I don’t want to move the hub downstairs as DGS had to have extra disc in his room for the Wi-Fi and now hub will be even further away.

Thank,you NorthFace and Theexwife for taking the time to NorthFace that sounds really clever.

Meant to say Grannynannywanney that I am really sorry about your predicament regarding your lack of a good mobile signal. I do hope you don’t have any major problems or if you do a close neighbour will be able to help.

Does anyone know, if a storms or power cuts knock out Wi-Fi will it mean landlines will no longer work until power is restored? Does it mean all the telegraph poles, with lines stretching across properties out to the street, will be removed?

Crumbs Lollins! What a thought ! Cable, like Virgin, wi fi doesn’t require them as things work underground. So I imagine trouble could arise in some conditions but I believe most companies are changing gradually to fibre optics which I think is underground. I know exactly zero about these things but trust that technology will sort it.

Lovetopaint037 I was picturing you using your landline to locate your missing mobile. I’m another who relies on that trick 🤣 I mostly keep my mobile in my trouser pocket now to avoid mislaying it.

I can’t remember the precise details now but I read on the Virgin letter that exceptions could be made for customers who are vulnerable and would be left in a precarious situation if a WiFi breakdown left them without a landline.

Good morning
I have a 98 year old MIL who we have kept in her own home with our hard work and support from social care
It is getting to the point where we are finding it difficult to continue as we are pensioners ourselves. We will have to sell her house to fund it.
Just wondering if anyone has sold their parents house, at a reduced rate to a relative so not all the money from the house sale goes to the care home. Any advice would really help. X

I think you need to start a new thread about your problem Phillips. This one is about WiFi phones.

Misread it to is anyone a Virgin and having a landline attached. Intriguing.

Grannynannywanny. I think you are right. We are down as vulnerable because of our hearing. A week ago we had trouble with a phone and my daughter got an engineer booked. I then discovered there was a fault with a cable upstairs which we removed and all was well. I then phoned Virgin to cancel the engineer and while I was on I was told a engineer would be coming in August when the change takes place. As we have only had emails saying nothing about this I did wonder if I heard her correctly. Our hearing can be prone to misunderstanding !!!!!

nanna8

Misread it to is anyone a Virgin and having a landline attached. Intriguing.

The mind boggles nanna8. Sorry you must be so disappointed!

In the past, landline phone calls have taken place over copper wires which terminate in the house and allow you to use a handset to make and receive calls. However, the technology that has been used is old, slow and is increasingly expensive to maintain. All phone operators are phasing out copper wires and installing optical fibre. Copper wires not only carried the voice and broadband but also a small electric current to power the signals, so phones still worked, even in a power cut. This can't happen using optic fibre so there is an issue during a power cut. If you have a mobile phone with a reasonable signal, the chances are that you can still call for help but there are vulnerable customers that need to talk to their phone providers about an alternative solution.

Like the OP, we have mobile phones and a landline on 2 extensions - I don't carry my mobile phone around in the house but can hear the landline phones ringing wherever I am indoors.

Recently, I had problems with my landline and ended up being switched over to full fibre broadband. This was not simple. There was a problem getting the optical fibre terminating in the centre of our house where the copper terminated. To put it simply, our house was built over the copper cable so the engineer could not route the fibre to the same place.

The engineer that turned up was determined to give us full fibre broadband so he drilled through the outside wall to install the connection point (nowhere near the copper termination). However, the new router (and various other gadgets that are associated) needed power sockets so we put up with temporary extension cables until we could find an electrician to add the necessary power points. Full fibre broadband install cost nothing but the electrician was at our expense.

We also now have BT Digital voice (BT landline handsets), the two handsets are quite crude after using smartphones but they work. Broadband speeds are now excellent.

For those used to digital assistants (Alexa, Siri, Google etc.), you could substitute these for landline calls at various points around your home or you could use WiFi calling from a smartphone over your broadband if your mobile signal is weak.

I've been with Virgin/02 for a year so the phone socket's now redundant.

Still, I do remember a fireman saying everyone should have a house phone/BT connection as, in case of fire, electrics may well fail, just when you need to make an emergency call.

I'm not worried as I have my mobile and I'd leave the house but, if you're disabled or live in a flat, maybe it's best to consider your emergency escape plan?

We, too are caught in the VOIP trap. We recently transferred to Vodaphone from BT. We didn't really give it much thought, we kept our landline number, we bought a new set of house phones and placed them where the others had been. The only difference was that the base station is now in the study not the hall.

A few weeks later and we realise that this was not a very clever idea. We have a long thin house, length not height and in the middle is a huge brick fireplace, nearly 5 foot deep in places, and the signal cannot get though, so we can now not pick up 'landline' reception in half the house

I was expecting a doctors call this morning, which meant I couldn't go up to our bedroom to make beds, collect washing etc because if the phone rang while I was that end of the house, even if the phone was with me, it wouldn't ring and I couldn't answer it and DH was out.

Additionally the new internet line is far less stable than a land line and it is now quite common to have phone calls cut off half way through, because the connection has failed and we need to dial the number all over again. It happened to me last night, on a call from DD and this morning on the call from the doctor.

Give me back my landline.

If you don't carry your mobile around the house, why not invest in a basic,cheap smartwatch? This can be set to vibrate on your arm if you get a call or message.

Youngsters no longer talk on the phone. It's all messaging now.

My sister had this foisted on her , she is not good with technology !
She has two handsets , if she is talking to me the other handset rings , so she drops me , races ( well , hobbles ) upstairs , that phone has rung off , she rings me back , and it happens again

Neighbour was transferred to the system, had to have a new number , she was ill , the Doctor couldn’t ring her back as they didn’t have the new number !
Luckily her daughter called in and rang the Surgery to find out what was going on and some sense was restored ,
Now if I ring her , or she rings me , she has to stand still so the phone doesn’t cut out , it’s a stone built house with thick walls , it’s a shambles !
I dread it coming to here

Pittcity I have had two phone calls today from different doctors arranging appointments. They could have texted, but decided to ring. Various tradesmen ring to arrange appointments.

My DC and I prefer to sit down in comfort and have long telephone conversations, every few days, rather than keep texting. My mobile tends to live in my car, harking back to the time when our, even now slightly dodgy reception, was non-existent. I have problems with my hands and find using a mobile phone quite difficult.

If I’m chatting to anyone on the phone I prefer the handset on my landline , it is more comfortable to hold , the sound is better , I can move about without it losing signal

Pittcity, a smart watch uses Bluetooth technology which has a short range and doesn't go through thick walls.