UPC broadband+phone, using existing pabx

madmadser

Hello There

I am thinking of moving to UPC to their 50 or 100 Mb broadband plus phone service.

I used to be with BT Ireland but since they switched me to Vodafone it's gone from bad to worse to impossible, so I am ditching them.

However I got a nice small PABX from BT (called BT Micro) that works really nice and I would like to keep. I rang UPC and their rep told me I can *only* use the phones UPC supply. Is this true? I have read somewhere here that people are using their existing standard phones.

And another question: My house has an old Cablelink box in the living room near the TV. I would however like to have the UPC kit upstairs in a separate room. Is this possible? If so, any idea of who can do the work and how much they would typically charge?

Thank you very much!

jor el

Any phone will work with UPC, however I'm not sure about a PBX. UPC can install additional points, you'd have to ask them about the price.

Solair

No, the UPC rep is totally wrong.

The UPC phone service is provided using carrier-grade VoIP technology through a CISCO 'gateway' which combines the cable modem, wifi router and telephony equipment into a single box.

It has 2 line ports on the back, only one of which is active unless you get 2 lines from UPC.

Basically the interface is identical to an eircom line in. You can connect ANY phone to it. The only thing it does not support is pulse dial phones.

It provides a dial tone, connects calls instantly etc just like a normal landline.

So, don't worry, it will work fine with your PBX.

You can even do the following:

Ensure that the eircom incoming wiring is 100% disconnected from your internal wiring i.e. find where it comes in and remove the wires from the master socket.

Once you're 100% sure that there is no connection to the eircom line, simply plug your UPC phone port straight into any existing internal wiring extension.

All your other sockets will go live!

The CISCO box will support up to REN 5, i.e. up to 5 normal phones. So, again, similar spec to a normal phone line.

madmadser

Thanks a lot for the lightning fast response, jor_el and solair. That is very interesting... The BT Micro connects to a standard eircom line; it's pretty straight-forward

I have read some pretty bad comments about the cisco box UPC provide as default with some people suggesting I ask for a different device. Is this possible? If so, what would you recommend? Is the wireless router that UPC supply dual-band / wireless-N ?

Thanks again

collier

jor el wrote: »

Any phone will work with UPC, however I'm not sure about a PBX. UPC can install additional points, you'd have to ask them about the price.

I had an extra box installed along with the bb and cost me €40

Solair

madmadser wrote: »

Thanks a lot for the lightning fast response, jor_el and solair. That is very interesting... The BT Micro connects to a standard eircom line; it's pretty straight-forward

I have read some pretty bad comments about the cisco box UPC provide as default with some people suggesting I ask for a different device. Is this possible? If so, what would you recommend? Is the wireless router that UPC supply dual-band / wireless-N ?

Thanks again

The telephony service is rock solid, it's a lot slicker than a normal VoIP service, it really does compare perfectly to a landline. It has some neat features too like anonymous caller rejection as well as the usual call forwarding, call waiting, voicemail 171 etc.

Bear in mind, it's not like Blueface, there are several full Nortel DMS telephone exchanges running everything.

Just read the instructions as the service codes are completely different to eircom.

I'm using the CISCO box at the moment and it seems absolutely fine. I've had no problems with it.
If you don't like the WiFi part of it, you can always turn it off and plug in your own router into one if its ethernet ports.


If you go to 192.168.1.1 and just leave user name and password blank, you can access the configuration settings for the wifi and router.

Full spec sheet:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/video/ps8611/ps8675/ps8686/7016661_b.pdf

roast

Hold up....

If you're planning on getting the 50mb or 100mb packages, you won't be supplied the crappy Cisco EPC2425. Instead, you will be supplied the Thomson TWG870UIR instead, which IMO has very little flaws.

The Cisco is only provided to the lower-end UPC packages.

Solair

Just upgraded to the 50mbit/s from the 25mbit/s package and they're sending out a new modem on Monday by courier.

I have to say, I am finding UPC really good to deal with. They've really pulled up their socks in terms of customer service and products. Chorus were the pits!

However, back to your phone service. Just treat it exactly as you would an eircom line.

If you need to connect anything complicated to it, simply get any RJ11 phone cable and a cheap standard Irish/US phone jack i.e. one of these

Plug the RJ11 cable into the back of the UPC box and the other end into the phone jack and then connect your equipment to the red and green terminals inside the jack.

Easy no fuss way of getting screw-down terminals connected to any device

Incidentally, your BT Micro is the exact same as the eircom small office gear. They're made and designed by Lake Communications in Dublin.

http://www.lakecommunications.com/lake.nsf/ProductPage?openpage

madmadser

Hi there,

You've convinced me! I am saying bye bye crappy Vodafone, hello UPC.

@solair: thanks for the tip about Lake's Sigma pabx. Glad to see it's Irish technology. Usually works pretty well, but good to know they're in Dublin in case of any issues.

And thanks to everyone else for the great and fast responses.

madmadser

Sorry, forgot to ask if you guys know of any promos or any advantages in ordering UPC 100Mb + phone direct from UPC or through some store (e.g. DID, Carphone WH, etc).

Thanks again!

Solair

Cheapest option is probably ordering online and self installation, if you already have a upc socket.

No harm in checking the deals though.