Vodafone RBI Home Phone Line

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barclayg

16 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#154160 19-Oct-2014 21:01

Hi

We recently got a brochure in the mail from Vodafone promoting their RBI product in our area.

We're pretty keen on the increased speed, but are a bit unsure about how the phone situation would work. We've currently got a Spark fixed line, into a master splitter, and then onto a number of analogue phones throughout the house.

Apparently the modem that would be supplied is a Huawei B683 Basic. Is it as simple as plugging the existing network of phones into a port on the modem - or would we need to replace them all with DECT, etc?

Cheers

Coil

6614 posts

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Inactive user

#1158093 19-Oct-2014 21:03

You can keep a POTS line with RBI.
Or port it to a Home Phone wireless.

Speak to VF sales and ask for the options.

RBI does go over the cell network so your existing POTS might not be compatible.

barclayg

16 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#1158110 19-Oct-2014 21:46

Hi

Thanks for the reply.

I tried asking the VF sales person these sorts of questions but she was, um, not as helpful as I'd have liked. It took 5 minutes on hold just to get the model of modem. Any information that wasn't related to pricing was out of the question.

I guess I was hoping there might be an FXS port on the modem that I could hook into...certainly the Quick Start guides that are online suggest something like this, but wasn't sure if I'd understood it right.

Cheers

grant_k

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#1173343 12-Nov-2014 09:43

barclayg: ...
I tried asking the VF sales person these sorts of questions but she was, um, not as helpful as I'd have liked. It took 5 minutes on hold just to get the model of modem. Any information that wasn't related to pricing was out of the question.

No surprises there!

barclayg:
I guess I was hoping there might be an FXS port on the modem that I could hook into...certainly the Quick Start guides that are online suggest something like this, but wasn't sure if I'd understood it right.

I've been using a B683 for the past 18 months or so and I've learnt a fair bit about them during that time. The RJ11 phone port uses 3G/UMTS to make a phone call i.e. it's a separate connection to the main HSPA data channel. Thus you can't do anything with it other than plugging in a standard analogue phone. If you get hold of an RJ11 to BT adaptor cable, you'll be able to hook up the phone outlets around your house to the B683, but in order to avoid a conflict with your existing landline, you'll need to cut the connection at the demarc point.

If you use Vodafone's phone service as provided with their RBI plan, you'll be paying exorbitant prices to call mobiles, although you do get free national calls. I find it better to use a different RBI provider than Vodafone, and hook up a separate ATA, thereby using the VoIP provider of my choice to make phone calls. It works well over RBI, so long as you have a good signal.

Check out the RBI pricing from Ultimate Broadband: RBI Pricing

$75 is pretty good for 15GB.

NZCrusader

646 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 230

#1173370 12-Nov-2014 10:20

barclayg: Hi

We recently got a brochure in the mail from Vodafone promoting their RBI product in our area.

We're pretty keen on the increased speed, but are a bit unsure about how the phone situation would work. We've currently got a Spark fixed line, into a master splitter, and then onto a number of analogue phones throughout the house.

Apparently the modem that would be supplied is a Huawei B683 Basic. Is it as simple as plugging the existing network of phones into a port on the modem - or would we need to replace them all with DECT, etc?

Cheers

Phones:

Yes you can connect an existing analogue phone network into the FXS port (phone port).

The existing line will need to be disconnected from the Chorus "line in".
You then will need to attach a RJ11 connector on the existing network cable to plug into the FXS port.

A new cable run spliced on to the existing cable or master jack might be required to get the cable close enough to the new 3G modem / router.

However a better option is to use a base station, connect it to the FXS and use wireless (cordless) phones.

Completely up to you.

As for the install...

Make sure you are adamant with the installer where you need the cable to terminate inside the house. This is also where your 3G modem / router will be.

Often (as expected) they will just try to do the most minimal install.
Don't let them boss you around. Think about where you need your 3G modem / router to be and ensure the cable is tidily installed to that location.

I am unsure if connecting the existing phone network to the 3G modem is included in the install. (Might be extra.)

Double check with the installer to make sure the antenna is positioned correctly and in the most optimal place, with the best LOS or least interference.

Speeds:

Speed of Vodafone RBI is also much better than that you may already be experiencing on congested conklin / ASAMs.
Have seen speeds ranging 7-15 Mbps (national) depending on time of day and server.

This was also on a connection without an exact LOS and more on the edge of the towers range.

Other:

The wireless radio for WIFI is quite poor on the device.
You might want to factor this into the placement during install if you rely on WIFI for some PCs / tablets / mobile phones etc.

Else you can just buy a new AP.

Watch the data cap use as well. Its only 30 gb..... hopefully this will increase or alternatively have higher data cap options in the future.

Really need callplus group to come to the RBI party and shake things up with larger data caps (like they did with DSL yesteryear).

NZ / AU Battlefield 4 Gaming Community
http://www.sonsofvalour.net/forums/forum.php

barclayg

16 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#1175494 13-Nov-2014 21:40

Hi Grant_K / NZCrusader

Thank you very much for the info and helpful tips...exactly what I was after.

Cheers