Just now, mjt said:

You're clearly using the wrong one.

I change it regularly back to UK but for some reason, it usually reverts back to USA spelling. I blame Trump personally... LOL

But the spell checker doesn't force you to use American spelling, does it?

Just now, mjt said:

But the spell checker doesn't force you to use American spelling, does it?

No, but sheer laziness does...LOL

I'll have to start calling you Steven then - one less letter to type.

5 hours ago, StephenFord said:

It appears my spellchecker is

Funny you should say that, but I have the problem on the FOC forum that all the words are spell checked and corrected to the American way. I've tried every setting I can find and just can't get it to use UK English.

On 2/22/2024 at 3:01 PM, unofix said:

If your provider is BT the new hubs include a phone socket on the back of them. From the information I have the socket on back actually provides an analogue signal via an inbuilt digital/analogue converter. So even without having internet (which by default you will kind of end up with) you can use existing analogue equipment provided it is connected to the phone socket on the back of the new hub.

Got my line upgraded a few months back (I'm with TalkTalk)
It only lasted 2 weeks because the new fibre line failed at the outside box where the fibre was fused together,
Temps only dropped to about 3c that night it failed, luckily it's been fine through this winter since it was fixed,
To my point, my phone was connected to the router, but when the line died so did my phone,
I'm ok with a mobile, but more elderly people won't be if the broadband or power is down.
At least the old lines were good in an emergency, you could plug in an old phone if the power was out.

 

9 hours ago, RAIDER32 said:

At least the old lines were good in an emergency, you could plug in an old phone if the power was out.

mmm... good point LOL

I have been lobbying for years against this. Last month, BT Northern Ireland announced they would be suspending 'digital voice' roll out to vulnerable customers till they have found a more robust system to cope with power outages. (Current battery pack last just 2 hours!). My mum doesn't even get a mobile signal at her home, even if she owned a mobile!

10 hours ago, RAIDER32 said:

At least the old lines were good in an emergency, you could plug in an old phone if the power was out

I keep an old phone for exactly that contingency. Soon won't be any use I guess.

11 hours ago, unofix said:

Funny you should say that, but I have the problem on the FOC forum that all the words are spell checked and corrected to the American way. I've tried every setting I can find and just can't get it to use UK English

I'd be interested to know what device and browser you're using. It doesn't auto-correct spelling for me or for the vast majority of other members judging by the howlers I see here every day. I can't see anything in the Forum settings but there is in my Firefox browser (see attached). Even though the box to check spelling as I type is ticked it never flags up any errors.

11 minutes ago, mjt said:

I'd be interested to know what device and browser you're using.

FireFox v115.8.0

Old fashioned Windows laptop!

11 hours ago, RAIDER32 said:

It only lasted 2 weeks because the new fibre line failed at the outside box where the fibre was fused together,
To my point, my phone was connected to the router, but when the line died so did my phone,
At least the old lines were good in an emergency, you could plug in an old phone if the power was out.

I'm not sure that's correct?  If the copper line failed in the same way as your fibre line did then you'd lose an analogue phone as well.

I keep meaning to try this on my landline.  It's cordless so wouldn't be any use in a power cut, I just want to know if the router line still works without power as I've seen online a few times now.

12 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I'm not sure that's correct?  If the copper line failed in the same way as your fibre line did then you'd lose an analogue phone as well.

I keep meaning to try this on my landline.  It's cordless so wouldn't be any use in a power cut, I just want to know if the router line still works without power as I've seen online a few times now.

Tom, I've had a 'copper line' for over 40 years, it has never failed, it's as reliable as a hammer & nails! I have a 'cordless' phone too which obviously in a power cut is useless, BUT, I also have a backup corded phone plugged in so that in an emergency, in a power outage I still have a working phone.

The router line will still work without power if it's old fashioned copper, a fiber line needs electricity...

9 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Tom, I've had a 'copper line' for over 40 years, it has never failed, it's as reliable as a hammer & nails! I have a 'cordless' phone too which obviously in a power cut is useless, BUT, I also have a backup corded phone plugged in so that in an emergency, in a power outage I still have a working phone.

The router line will still work without power if it's old fashioned copper, a fiber line needs electricity...

Our copper line kept failing every few years when I lived at home.  It was always repaired for free as it was on BT's side but still annoying when the phone was too crackly to hear anything and the internet was slowed to a crawl for weeks at a time.

I thought the fibre line was powered from the other end, not the 'house' end?

7 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I thought the fibre line was powered from the other end, not the 'house' end?

Think about it. Optical signals are sent from a LED. It needs power at the house end to send signals out.

9 minutes ago, mjt said:

Think about it. Optical signals are sent from a LED. It needs power at the house end to send signals out.

Fair point.  

So what happens in my case where it's only fibre to the cabinet, with copper for the final few hundred feet?  Presumably the cabinet must be powered to convert electric signals into light signals? 

If that's the case, then as long as the cabinet still has power, my line would still work?

Yes, because the copper carries "phantom power" to the house end.

To add to the confusion... 

I've just unplugged the router to test the theory.  The phone doesn't work despite being hardwired through the router.  Says 'please check phone line' on the screen. 🤔

7 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

To add to the confusion... 

I've just unplugged the router to test the theory.  The phone doesn't work despite being hardwired through the router.  Says 'please check phone line' on the screen. 🤔

I'm unsure I understand the experiment. If you deprive the router of electricity, isn't that the point that the phone won't work?

Even living in a fair sized town in Hampshire since 1995, we have had many mains fails, but the copper 'phone line, has to, my knowledge never failed.  We have a cordless base station with three handsets, and a wired 'phone that works without mains by using the 50V from the exchange. Still on ADSL for broadband.

We do not have any fibre to the property.

By forcing us on to Fibre, BT I'm sure, will be both minimizing their electric bill, and save on UPS and generator support for the copper network.

What Householders will have to do is have a power supply feeding the new termination, thus pushing a small cost on to each householder ?  May be insignificant to some, but I would think that 30million (guess) power supplies will in total use more energy than is currently used to support the copper network at the exchanges.  And when that domestic plug top power supply fails and you lose electronic communication with the outside world (apart from your mobile), how long will it take BT to replace it ?

7 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I'm unsure I understand the experiment. If you deprive the router of electricity, isn't that the point that the phone won't work?

The point of plugging an analogue phone directly into the router is to keep a hardwired phone line connection through it, even without electricity.  I'm sure that's what I'd read anyway...  Maybe I've misunderstood it.

6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The point of plugging an analogue phone directly into the router is to keep a hardwired phone line connection through it, even without electricity.  I'm sure that's what I'd read anyway...  Maybe I've misunderstood it.

That's odd that you can plug your phone into a router without having been converted to digital voice? As you can see, this is a BT router where the phone socket is covered up (with a sticker) to avoid accidentally being used for a phone till you have been converted to digital...

 

3 hours ago, mjt said:

I can't see anything in the Forum settings but there is in my Firefox browser (see attached). Even though the box to check spelling as I type is ticked it never flags up any errors.

Hi, I use Windows 7 on a Dell Latitude 3570 laptop. Using Firefox Browser 115.8.0esr (64-bit). The spell check settings is set for UK English but both the UK and USA dictionaries are install (UK selected). Seem unable to uninstall/delete the USA dictionary.

Any suggestions on how to sort this would be welcome. If I type e-mails or use MS Word 2010 then the spell check is in UK English.

2 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

That's odd that you can plug your phone into a router without having been converted to digital voice? As you can see, this is a BT router where the phone socket is covered up (with a sticker) to avoid accidentally being used for a phone till you have been converted to digital...

 

I have been converted to digital voice.  I thought I'd read that some of the concerns about the switch were not warranted, as it was still possible to use a landline hardwired through the router without power at the house.  Perhaps I misread or misunderstood it though.

(I haven't been able to use phones for years anyway, so a moot point for me really, just interested on behalf of others lol)

4 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I have been converted to digital voice.

Aahhh, well that certainly explains why your phone doesn't work without electricity LOL Sadly, nothing 'digital' works without electricity (or battery) power. Sorry to hear about you not being able to use a phone, that must be a right nuisance!