What's in the Box?

[SmilerUK]

I'm considering defecting from Virgin cable to Gigafast after CityFibre layed cables in my street last year. I'm trying to workout the practicalities of the connection. At my house the Virgin phone line comes in at ground level, but the broadband cable comes in at the first floor, runs through to the modem in a central cupboard. 

So, that comes in the pre-install box? 

[Mark]

Hey @SmilerUK Good choice!! I'm sure you'll love our awesome Gigafast service. For more information on having this installed, give our dedicated Gigafast team a call on 03333 041 524 and they'll be able to go through everything with you. 

[SmilerUK]

Well I called that number and spoke with "Mike" or something. He got stuck on the techie questions very quickly.

"What's REN mean?" is not a good start. Answers of "Sorry, I don't know" followed on. If he'd said "I'll find out and call you back." I might have had hope.

But still he ploughed ahead trying to make a sale.  

[Jayach]

To be honest REN has no meaning as far as Gigafast is concerned as the phone service is VOIP.

Still, shows a lack of basic technology.

[SmilerUK]

Can you clarify please?

My understanding is that the router isn't providing a pure VOIP solution. It will be VOIP when it leaves the router and goes down the fibre, but from the router to my phones, it emulates POTS so must present 48Vdc etc via RJ11. If that's the case, surely the router must have a limit to the REN to support multiple handsets?

[Jayach]

You are correct, and I hadn't even considered that.

However the REN was really about the loading on a telecom line and whilst there must presumably be a limit the router can drive I doubt anyone has stated what it is.

Most people I would expect have a single wireless base station and WiFi connected extensions, however perhaps there are still those who use wired extensions.

There is no longer the need to keep a hard wired phone in case of power cuts as they would no longer work on Gigiafast.

[SmilerUK]

The manufacturer of the router will have stated the REN limit even to simply cap liability. 

Wireless landline handsets use DECT not wifi. Yes you can add a box to convert landline to VOIP and connect via wifi or ethernet, but then you are into the VOIP handset territory. Just more cost and things to go wrong.

Many of us still use wired extensions because wireless handsets aren't particularly good through masonry walls. 

Gigafast and landline will happily continue to work if the modem and router are connected to a UPS.

Anyway, my OP was about what was in the box, which was pretty much the only question the customer support guy could answer. The rest is just me moaning about how poorly trained he was.

[Jayach]

Perhaps I should have said wireless rather than WiFi, thank you for correcting me.

And seriously, how many home users have UPS's.

[SmilerUK]

Who knows. but perhaps more than we would think.  Tech enthusiasts and those who live in rural locations prone to power cuts perhaps.

Market data shows there's been an increase in small UPS sales recently triggered by folk working at home under lockdown.