New Wireless Hub Q?

[Count Steer]

For a number of reasons the home phone line is being 'upgraded' to digital. (ie 'downgraded' to via broadband). This is ongoing so others will experience the joy - if they still have a home phone line. (Yes. I need/want one despite having mobile phones).

Part of the package is a digital phone (with Alexa! O be still my beating heart... ). This does not wish to pair with my old hub. So I could swap the hub for the super-whizzy new hub they gave me last time I renewed contract - which was left in the box and stuffed in a cupboard.

Does changing the hub really, really mean I have to re-pair/redirect everything? (11 things identified so far*, there will be more). (Even if I chuck the digital handset in the bin I may have to change the hub in order to plug the old phone in the back of the hub if I want to use the satellite handsets that run off it - not sure yet).

Bah! Progress.

* only the house elves will know where the manuals are for some of the kit.

[Skub]

We 'upgraded' our hub last year. Passwords up the wazzo. Several times I came close to giving up.

[Count Steer]

We 'upgraded' our hub last year. Passwords up the wazzo. Several times I came close to giving up.

As I feared. I was kind of hoping to leave things as they are until a house move...whenever that may be. I even wondered if I could plug the new hub in the router alongside the old one and run them both then gradually migrate but set the phone up first.

[Skub]

It'll probably be ok. I'm notoriously impatient with stuff like that,so it sometimes takes little to scunner me.

[Ditchfinder]

Make a note of the SSID and password of your old hub, install new hub and change SSID and password to your old ones

[Count Steer]

Make a note of the SSID and password of your old hub, install new hub and change SSID and password to your old ones

Oh coolio!! Just had a Google and found a step by step on how to do it.

[Mussels]

I'd guess the new handset doesn't work because it needs 5Ghz, you probably have stuff already running that needs 2.4Ghz so set the new system up to run both and if you need to use different SSIDs then make the 2.4 match your old SSID and password.

[Count Steer]

I'd guess the new handset doesn't work because it needs 5Ghz, you probably have stuff already running that needs 2.4Ghz so set the new system up to run both and if you need to use different SSIDs then make the 2.4 match your old SSID and password.

The new one is very similar in most respects to the old one - both dual 2.4/5GHz. The new one has a phone socket (which I guess is something like a DAC) so a conventional phone can be plugged into the digital service. (They're BT Smart Hubs v1 and v2). Somehow the digital phone recognises that the hub isn't compatible I guess.

[Kneerly Down]

The new one has a phone socket (which I guess is something like a DAC) so a conventional phone can be plugged into the digital service.

ATA - Analogue Telephone Adapter.
I have a load of Cisco SIP (internet) phones that I used to have in my office and haven't decided whether to connect them up to my Sipgate account at home.
They will run off the PoE switch and they do have very good speakerphones on them but I think they're fairly power hungry for what they are and I'm trying to limit superfluous kit using electricity these days. It does make it sound like I'm in the CIA (?) office in the original series of '24' when they ring, but I guess if I'm after that there's a ringtone I could download on the mobile?

[Count Steer]

The new one has a phone socket (which I guess is something like a DAC) so a conventional phone can be plugged into the digital service.

ATA - Analogue Telephone Adapter.
I have a load of Cisco SIP (internet) phones that I used to have in my office and haven't decided whether to connect them up to my Sipgate account at home.
They will run off the PoE switch and they do have very good speakerphones on them but I think they're fairly power hungry for what they are and I'm trying to limit superfluous kit using electricity these days. It does make it sound like I'm in the CIA (?) office in the original series of '24' when they ring, but I guess if I'm after that there's a ringtone I could download on the mobile?

That's a fair point about electricity use, all those things sitting there using very little but using it 24/7/365.

I think I'm going to swap the hub and either change the SSID/Key as suggested or check the change network procedure on the things I expect to be a pain and then do each device. In the process I may decide it's time to upgrade a few things (ie the printer to a tank model). A couple of things (streamer, Hive hub) I've got wired into the main hub so that should be straightforward.

Added 3 more things to the list...Freesat box, PlayStation (used for the Blu-ray player), wi-fi extender (to get signal out to the cabin). That's 16 things so far. The SSID/Key change gets more attractive! It's a wonder anything works when the broadband is off.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

The new one has a phone socket (which I guess is something like a DAC) so a conventional phone can be plugged into the digital service.

ATA - Analogue Telephone Adapter.
I have a load of Cisco SIP (internet) phones that I used to have in my office and haven't decided whether to connect them up to my Sipgate account at home.
They will run off the PoE switch and they do have very good speakerphones on them but I think they're fairly power hungry for what they are and I'm trying to limit superfluous kit using electricity these days. It does make it sound like I'm in the CIA (?) office in the original series of '24' when they ring, but I guess if I'm after that there's a ringtone I could download on the mobile?

Which model Cisco phone, some of them, despite being SIP rather than SCCP, will only work with CUCM.

[Kneerly Down]

Which model Cisco phone, some of them, despite being SIP rather than SCCP, will only work with CUCM.

3 of 7940
I ran them off an asterisk server in the office.
They are far from the easiest phones to manage but they were absolutely bulletproof in the office.
The main thing stopping me is that almost every call I do now is on teams or zoom or, very occasionally, Skype.
Unless it's the family, in which case it's FB messenger.
Unless it's my mum, in which case it's still POTS.

[Mussels]

If it's a landline number you need rather than the physical phone how about using an app on your mobile to make or receive calls?
Even when I had a landline I unplugged it as the only calls were scams and spam, after changing to ftth I was happy to have nothing

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Which model Cisco phone, some of them, despite being SIP rather than SCCP, will only work with CUCM.

3 of 7940
I ran them off an asterisk server in the office.
They are far from the easiest phones to manage but they were absolutely bulletproof in the office.
The main thing stopping me is that almost every call I do now is on teams or zoom or, very occasionally, Skype.
Unless it's the family, in which case it's FB messenger.
Unless it's my mum, in which case it's still POTS.

7940s are proper old, must be getting on for 20 years old, the latest versions of Call Manager no longer support them, I didn't know they came as a SIP version.

[Count Steer]

If it's a landline number you need rather than the physical phone how about using an app on your mobile to make or receive calls?
Even when I had a landline I unplugged it as the only calls were scams and spam, after changing to ftth I was happy to have nothing

It's a bit complicated One of the phones is a commercial thing connected to a PC and has a headset and call recording software. In combination with speech-to-text software it enables the production of published articles based on phone discussions.
The spam/scam thing isn't a big problem (with Call Line ID and having been ex-directory for years, the few that do get through are ignored/go to ansaphone and get picked up v rarely).
I think I'll get the existing phones connected and think about the digital handset later. It'll probably try it but it may well end up back in the box. Poor Alexa won't get implemented.

[Kneerly Down]

7940s are proper old, must be getting on for 20 years old, the latest versions of Call Manager no longer support them, I didn't know they came as a SIP version.

Old but gold!
The later firmware versions have a SIP configuration option.

[Count Steer]

Well, I did it in the end. Fired it up, got the main PC connected and was all set to change the name and p/w to match the old one and thought 'Sod it, if this goes wrong....'

So I set the afternoon aside and reconnected everything manually. The only thing that won't connect is the new digital phone It registered with the hub OK though. I guess they won't switch the phone service to digital until the system detects the new hub is up and running. Not a problem as the wired phone/s are still

The new hub is bigger but neater as it's all integrated and doesn't sit on a white box with little flashing lights. The light in it isn't as bright either which is A Good Thing.

[Kneerly Down]

The light in it isn't as bright either which is A Good Thing.

A lot of them (most?) have a setting to adjust the brightness or turn of the light.
I think BMW and Audi owners have theirs pre-configured with no indicator lights

[Count Steer]

Oh. My. Giddy. Aunt.

Having got everything connected, phones, tvs, computers, streamer etc etc etc they switched the copper wire phone line off.

The digital phone won't connect, nor will the old phone when plugged into the phone socket on the back of the hub. Get on-line, run tests. AI says 'You haven't got a Smarthub 2 connected'. Err, exkweeze me...what's this thing I'm looking at with the lovely blue light? Scotch mist? You know, the one called Smarthub 2 that you supplied when I renewed contract 2 years ago (that I didn't bother using until now).

Bitbot says: 'Contact us'.

3 hours later and I still haven't made contact with a human being either by (mobile) phone, text, email or ouija board. Not bad for a communications business. BT are trying to underperform Sky.

[Mussels]

How are you connected to the network, did they replace the copper with fibre? If so had you connected the hub to the new port they would have installed and disconnected from the old one?