Phone extenders

[dave2010]

Has anyone had any experience of phone extenders, such as these - http://www.amazon.co.uk/RTX-WIRELESS-PHONEJACK-Wireless-Phone/dp/B000NJQHL4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390211011&sr=8-1&keywords=telephone+extenders ?

Maplin also do a set - http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/dect-wireless-phone-line-extender-a82fy

We have two routers - two ISPs - one is with BT - a new package with fibre connection - better for downloads, though can rack up costs if not set to unlimited. Recently moved from TalkTalk. Despite comments on costs - see below - still seems a good package, as the supplied YouView PVR is good, and there are extra TV channels. However, there is no point in needlessly paying extra charges for phone calls - also see below.

The other is with John Lewis, which has been reliable, and has "free" phone calls - all calls included in the package. Having seen how quickly costs can mount up with BT, I want to extend the range of the JL phone connections, so that all outgoing calls are made through them. It is possible that the cost of the extenders, if they work, can be recovered within a month or two, in terms of not making more payments to BT .

I have also ordered some cheap powerline ethernet devices - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-PA411KIT-AV500-Powerline-Adapter/dp/B0084Y9N3O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390211506&sr=8-1&keywords=tp+link+power+line as these may also keep the cost down on the BT broadband. Our BT broadband usage seems very much higher than I expected, and I wonder why, so now investigating. I'll switch to an unlimited package if it really seems necessary, but right now I suspect that there's some unwanted factor increasing our measured usage with BT. Again, the costs of the powerline link will be recovered in a short time if we can avoid having to pay BT any more than currently agreed.

Those TP link powerline devices seem cheap at the moment, and they are claimed to be AV up to 500 Mbps.

[Bethelcat]

I am not clear what you want to do but DECT and Ethernet are two different technologies that cannot communicate with one another

I have used poweline plugs to extend a network over mains cables and if worked great. I have also used a DECT amplifier to extend DECT range which again worked brilliantly, but they will not cross link

[Stratmangler]

I daren't begin to think of the amount of crap those units are modulating over your mains :eek:

[dave2010]

OK guys - thanks for the responses so far.

The story is ...

Before Christmas we ordered BT Infinity 1, having had problems with broadband and another provider. The overall deal seemed very good - 12 months contract, YouView box, plus a Sainsbury's £100 voucher - and it includes some TV channels and catchup channels we haven't had via Freeview or Freesat.

After a while I received an email saying we'd used up a significant amount of our broadband allowance (40Gbytes) - which surprised me. Indeed now I wonder if that is correct, as there has now appeared a note on the BT site that some of the monitoring is incorrect for users who use the TV channels.

We also have a 2nd ISP - John Lewis - with unlimited downloads and unlimited phone calls, but the router is in a relatively remote part of the house, and wireless coverage to and from that area is weak. I figured that non-urgent downloads could go via the JL link, and the cost of the powerline adapters is less than the additional charges to BT either to upgrade to unlimited, or to pay additional monthly charges.

I bought and installed the two powerline adapters, and connected a TP Link 701 wireless access point I already had. This has improved coverage immensely, though I've just ordered another TP Link MIMO (901) wireless access point to push the coverage up further. This now means that we can download via the JL link without eating into our BT allowance. Clearly downloads via BT are faster, but we don't always need that. A bit of adjustment to our laptops ensures that the default wireless link is to JL at the present time in most rooms.

Those TP Link AV 500 Mbps units which I mentioned are really good - they even allow us to connect upstairs and downstairs, and I've never managed that before. They are a good buy at around £25 a pair - if they're still available.

We could also have discontinued the JL link completely - broadband and telephone, but we didn't. Having spotted the issue with BT and the broadband allowance, I then looked at the phone bill. This is horrendous - and I want to ensure that all of our calls go via JL now - which will save a fortune. Again, the cost of telephone extenders would be small compared with the cost of phone calls saved. However, the units I have just received do not work properly in our house. Maybe they really do work "wirelessly" - some form of wireless communication between the sender and receiver.

The lights come on, but there is no dialing tone. Despite others having "fixed" this problem using ADSL filters, or other means, I have not so far succeeded with these, and they are probably going to be sent back for a refund. The devices I was sent are the RTX ones from this page - http://www.amazon.co.uk/phone-extender/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=phone%20extender&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aphone%20extender

So, that's the story.

Maplin also do some extenders - I don't know if it's worth trying those instead. Maybe simply wire would be best, after all! This might do the trick - 20 metres - http://www.amazon.co.uk/20m-telephone-extension-6P4C-cable/dp/B00009938H/ref=pd_sim_ce_16

[tommy6206]

PLT adaptors should be banned .the amount of crap they put out on the HF bands is horrendous.As a licenced radio ham I hear firsthand the noise pollution they putout and spoil my and tens of thousands of others enjoyment.Ofcom seem unwilling to do anything about it.Of all the cme tests done on them none passed.Ban them..

[Audioman]

Surely it isn't beyond the capabilities of someone who can set up a hi-fi or computer to wire in an extension to their phone point. Having wireless everything around a house is bound to result in problems eventually. If you are using the computer a lot for viewing video (incl BT TV channels) I would have thought unlimited broadband is essential.

[dave2010]

Surely it isn't beyond the capabilities of someone who can set up a hi-fi or computer to wire in an extension to their phone point. Having wireless everything around a house is bound to result in problems eventually. If you are using the computer a lot for viewing video (incl BT TV channels) I would have thought unlimited broadband is essential.I agree with some of this, but wires or at the very least conduits ought to be part of the infrastructure of modern houses. Otherwise trying to retro fit wires is a pain, and some people, don't like them - not mentioning any gender specific characteristics.

An additional assumption is that everyone should have to do DIY, and that they've got nothing better to do. Sorry - no. Just because one is able to do something doesn't mean that one should have to.

Re BT and unlimited, "normal" usage should generally be below the 40Gbyte allowance of their cheaper offer, and the extra TV channels offered by YouView and BT TV are supposed to be outside the allowance, but the metering seemingly doesn't work properly. Otherwise I'd agree about paying for unlimited broadband.

It would also be worth paying for unlimited (largely) phone calls as it's easy to rack up calls to above the additional cost for that service for BT - and anyone who doesn't have any other way of making phone calls cheaply probably needs to check that out. It's only because we are paying for another service which we do still use that it's worth trying to reduce payments to BT. If the BT service eventually turns out to be reliable enough that we don't need the other line, at that point it would be worth saving the money paid to JL, and upgrading both the phone and broadband BT package to unlimited.

[dave2010]

PLT adaptors should be banned .the amount of crap they put out on the HF bands is horrendous.As a licenced radio ham I hear firsthand the noise pollution they putout and spoil my and tens of thousands of others enjoyment.Ofcom seem unwilling to do anything about it. Of all the cme tests done on them none passed. Ban them.I have some sympathy with this view, which has similar characteristics to the problems pointed out by amateur and professional astronomers who don't like street lighting, and other light pollution associated with modern living.

I would be interested to know how the noise problems manifest themselves for radio hams.

There are YouTube videos showing interference on DAB radios - such as - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLj0iF-MsoM

There are also other articles - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/13/bbc_plt/

[AlexM]

The RTX DEC extenders are a good solution if you need to connect a Sky STB or similar to a phone outlet. They also work well with fax machines and analogue modems. I have used them for this purpose in the past and they do what they say on the tin. I'm not sure if DECT uses the 2.4ghz ISM band but if it does it doesn't appear to overlap with wi-fi and I haven't experienced any impact on signal strength, throughput or range. Of course if you already have a DECT base station then just plug it into the RJ11 port of the router or into the appropriate outlet on the master socket/ADSL filter and away you go!

Regards,
Alex

[dave2010]

The RTX DEC extenders are a good solution if you need to connect a Sky STB or similar to a phone outlet. They also work well with fax machines and analogue modems. I have used them for this purpose in the past and they do what they say on the tin. I'm not sure if DECT uses the 2.4ghz ISM band but if it does it doesn't appear to overlap with wi-fi and I haven't experienced any impact on signal strength, throughput or range. Of course if you already have a DECT base station then just plug it into the RJ11 port of the router or into the appropriate outlet on the master socket/ADSL filter and away you go!

Regards,
AlexAlex

Do you know how those RTX extenders work? I bought mine from Amazon - and am about to return them. They are described as wireless phone jacks, and there is mention of DECT in the details.

The reason I ask is because I didn't think it was totally clear how they work from the sales material. There are possibly similar units available from Maplin - indeed they look from the pictures that they could be the same, but at a higher price.

It seemed to me that there might have been two possible scenarios - (a) they use a wireless transmitter to send to a wireless receiver - both designed to appear functionally like mains plugs with one or two telephone outlets - or (b) they use powerline technology to send the phone audio plus maybe the dial tone and other signalling. It would depend on how one interprets the word "wireless". My guess is that they don't use powerline technology, but something rather like DECT, and therefore they are subject to the same constraints as a regular DECT phone.

The problem I have with these units is that they don't appear to work properly with dial tones and ringing. The reason I got them in the first place is because one of our office rooms presents difficulties with wireless transmission (both for wireless phones and wifi), so I wanted to relocate the DECT base station to give better coverage in other parts of the house. I don't know why the signalling doesn't work, but that kills them for me, and I don't want to spend any more time on them. Given the issues in our house relating to wireless transmission, it's perhaps not surprising that they don't work - though I find it odd that it seems to be the dial tone/signalling which is the main problem.

In fact after discovering that they didn't work - though the lights come on - as it says in the manual - I bought 20 metres of extension cable for not much more than £2, and that seems to do the trick. It does, however, need to be tucked in neatly around one or two rooms, and ideally I should have done this over a year ago when we had building work done, as wire could have been embedded in the plaster work.

I'm glad the RTX units work for some people, but sadly they don't work as required in our abode. I have, however, very successfully extended broadband and wifi coverage from the router in that back office using a pair of cheap TP-Link powerline adapters - as mentioned previously. They are still cheap, and under £25 a pair. I'm sorry if these interfere with local radio enthusiasts - I'm still planning to check that out.

[AlexM]

Dave,

The RTX extenders are dect basestations/handsets - they just use the mains to power the units. The RTX units I have have a mode switch to toggle betweek phone and modem/fax machine use - this might effect the way it deals with signalling on/off hook or dial tone detection. I find them pretty good for range, and will work out of the box if you buy them as a set. Pairing them is a bit of a faff, but they are a good product.

Wireless solutions are always less capable than a proper cabled cat5e or similar run. If you can I would. I ran in nearly 3k of Cat5e into my house as a 'fun' DIY project. It isn't as hard as you think to lift a few floorboards and poke a cable through between the joists - you can usually find cable routes that run near central heating pipes, which will usefully have been butchered by your friendly plumber which makes getting them up easy. You can usually bring them up behind a skirting board to a surface mounted or countersunk patress box.

Regards,
Alex

Hope this helps.

[dave2010]

Dave,
I ran in nearly 3k of Cat5e into my house as a 'fun' DIY project.
3k? Cost in pounds or distance in metres/kms/miles?

What sort of house do you live in? Windsor castle?


It isn't as hard as you think to lift a few floorboards and poke a cable through between the joists - you can usually find cable routes that run near central heating pipes, which will usefully have been butchered by your friendly plumber which makes getting them up easy. You can usually bring them up behind a skirting board to a surface mounted or countersunk patress box.Doesn't quite work for concrete and tiled floors though!

Upstairs we do have boards, but also carpet over the top. I suspect we had one or more dead mice up there a year or so back, and the smell was bad for a while. I figured they'd gone up to keep warm near the hot water pipes, having found a box of mouse/rat poison in the garage and scoffed the lot. [I bought that "just in case" and never used it, but the critters must have found it and decided to eat it anyway. Pity (for them) that they couldn't read.] The preferred way of dealing with that situation is to locate the problem, lift the boards, and remove the dead animals, but I'm afraid this seemed too difficult so we waited until the smell diminished - which took a few weeks. Yuk!

Thanks for the suggestions though.