FritzBox 7490 - telephone question

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › FritzBox 7490 - telephone question

1 | 2

Lethal29

65 posts

Master Geek

#1794036 2-Jun-2017 23:16

richms:
Lethal29:

The information supplied was sparse, to say the least. No instruction manual or anything. The help section from the GUI is quite good, but could definitely do with a separate manual.

If I was to plug the phone back into another phone jack in a power outage, presumably it would still work then though?

No, because the phone is provided by the fritzbox, the analog line on the chorus copper is only providing you with DSL internet.

Hmmmn well, that's probably something they could have mentioned. Not really a deal breaker though I guess.

Lethal29

65 posts

Master Geek

#1794039 2-Jun-2017 23:19

vexxxboy:
Lethal29:

richms:

Bit shocking that this wasnt all provided to you along with the rest of the information when you joined like that the phone will not work in a power cut or if the internet goes down etc.

The information supplied was sparse, to say the least. No instruction manual or anything. The help section from the GUI is quite good, but could definitely do with a separate manual.

If I was to plug the phone back into another phone jack in a power outage, presumably it would still work then though?

vexxboy - yes I've had a poke around quite a few of the settings. They might actually now be relevant with a phone that actually rings!

No idea how to set up a voicemail though. Again, a proper instruction manual would have come in quite handy!

just turn it on in the Fritzbox and it will work , keep it to 20 seconds otherwise you will never have time to find phone.

Right found it. And it looks like I can access it from the phone too, by putting in whatever the mailbox number is - I don't have to access from the gui?

And when you pick up the phone there will be beeps to indicate new messages like you Call Minder used (?) to have?

vexxxboy

4336 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2072

#1794048 2-Jun-2017 23:45

once you start getting messages they will be listed where you turned the answer phone on and you can click on the play button to hear them . under telephony devices you can set up the answer phone number , think it's **600

Common sense is not as common as you think.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80655 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41052

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1794087 3-Jun-2017 10:10

@Lethal29:

Well, the phone I have plugged in is a 5 year old Panasonic Digital phone, so VOIP isn't relevant (?) and yes the number has been ported over to 2 degrees.

I think you understand a bit more by now but to make it clear to others reading this thread.

Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) uses copper cables to connect your phone (or phone base if cordless) to an exchange. It's an electrical thing.

When you have fibre installed you no longer have copper to transmit electricity to your phone. Instead the service is provided using Voice over IP (VOIP). VOIP connects a server to the telephone network and convert phone calls into a digital signal that is transmitted over the Internet using the same methods as your web pages, emails or Netflix - packets.

On your end your router will have a configuration to understand these packets and rearrange then into voice signals to transmit either over cordless or the FON1 port. From this point it FEELS like the old telephone you had.

But in reality it's a lot smarter. Because everything is on the network now you have more control. Log into your 2degrees broadband account and you can forward calls (cost money, just like the POTS redirection would), change DND and other settings (please do not change password there if you don't know what you're doing).

This is the same kind of service Orcon, WorldxChange (now Vodafone) and others offer.

To be clear: if you don't use copper anymore and still have something that "looks like a landline" then you're likely using VOIP. Some telcos were selling a hybrid version where they had broadband over fibre but still connecting a phone to the old copper network. This is wrong as it keeps the copper network alive and costs a lot more to maintain.

In other words, nothing wrong with the approach here.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

vexxxboy

4336 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2072

#1794154 3-Jun-2017 10:54

sorry one more thing , if you are looking at getting a new phone , check out the 2degrees home phone. Much more than a phone when paired up with the fritzbox, really makes it easy to personalize your home phone service.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80655 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41052

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1794185 3-Jun-2017 12:14

I am actually at parents-in-law and they just had 2degrees fibre service installed. Since we don't use a fixed nubmer at home anymore (and we do use 2degrees for broadband) I just gave them my FritzFon (the 2degrees handset). Connected to their 7490 router via DECT and it's done. No cords or anything. Also you can add phone book entries in the router and those will appear on the phone itself. Much better experience than old handsets.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2159

#1794225 3-Jun-2017 15:00

Our fritz box VoIP has never worked great.... call audio dropouts and static noise....have tried everything to fix it .... wired connection to fritz, tried different cables, handsets , snap sent a new modem and fussed around with settings but no luck.

I call 2 degrees from the landline but they have trouble hearing me haha so usually I call them from my cell.

Funny thing is, that on the odd occasion call quality is perfect... maybe 10percent of the time.

The only advantage is that when oversea telemarketers call us to see trading platforms we cannot hear them too well haha.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80655 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41052

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1794909 5-Jun-2017 13:24

Lethal29: No idea how to set up a voicemail though. Again, a proper instruction manual would have come in quite handy!

You have two options: let the Fritzbox do it or let 2degrees do it. If you log into your 2degrees broadband account, go to your Home Phone Plus tab and click the cogwheel for settings you will see this popup:

You can then manage A LOT MORE than the Fritzbox. In my in-laws' case I have the network voice mail do it (30 seconds) and forward as an email to then:

For this to work you have to turn off the Voice Mail service on the Fritbox though. The advantage here is that you can manage call forward (good if you're away for example) or have voice mail work even if there's a power cut at home.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

Lethal29

65 posts

Master Geek

#1795045 5-Jun-2017 20:57

freitasm:

Lethal29:

No idea how to set up a voicemail though. Again, a proper instruction manual would have come in quite handy!

You have two options: let the Fritzbox do it or let 2degrees do it. If you log into your 2degrees broadband account, go to your Home Phone Plus tab and click the cogwheel for settings you will see this popup:

You can then manage A LOT MORE than the Fritzbox. In my in-laws' case I have the network voice mail do it (30 seconds) and forward as an email to then:

For this to work you have to turn off the Voice Mail service on the Fritbox though. The advantage here is that you can manage call forward (good if you're away for example) or have voice mail work even if there's a power cut at home.

Very interesting. Thanks for that. I'll definitely look into doing that.

Just one last question - when we pick up the phone now to make a phone call, we get 10-12 beeps and then a dial tone. I assumed this was because there were voicemails, but I've cleared them out and it still does it.

Is that what those beeps indicate? How do you know there are voicemails if that's not it?

Cheers

1 | 2