TalkTalk Prep UK Digital Voice Service and Wi-Fi Hub 2 Router UPDATE

Budget home broadband ISP TalkTalk appears to be getting closer to launching their own take on a Digital Voice (VoIP) product to replace analogue phone services, which will come alongside a number of connectivity options. One of those will also include the introduction of a new ‘Wi-Fi Hub 2‘ router.

Most of TalkTalk’s major rivals have already introduced, or are still in the process of introducing, a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) based internet phone replacement in order to be ready for the withdrawal of the old analogue phone (PSTN / POTS) service by Openreach – due to complete by December 2025. Admittedly, that migration does have its caveats, as underlined by BT’s recent decision to pause its own rollout (here), but that’s another story.

Similarly, TalkTalk appears to have begun trialling their own VoIP service at around the end of 2021, which adopts the same “Digital Voice” naming terminology as BT’s product, and some recent feedback suggests that the official launch is now very close.

Customers who connect via Digital Voice will be able to do so via one of three primary methods. The first is likely to be used with existing customers, which involves sending them an Analogue Terminal Adapter (ATA) from Grandstream (similar to the Grandstream HT801 that retails at c. £45 on Amazon). This box enables you to plug a traditional phone handset into the ATA, which also connects to your router and converts VoIP to analogue phone signals.

The ISP will also launch two new Digital Voice Apps for Android and iOS based Smartphones and Tablets, which can already be found listed on the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. Hopefully this doesn’t need too much explanation, but it will allow customers to access their “home phone” service almost anywhere, so long as there’s a viable internet connection.

The final method involves the introduction of a new ‘Wi-Fi Hub 2‘ router, which we expect will initially only be available to new customers on ultrafast plans. The current ‘Wi-Fi Hub‘ router, which is based on the Sagemcom F@st 5364 and claims to offer a combined WiFi 5 speed of 1733Mbps, was first launched four years ago (here) and managed to be a fairly capable device for the time of its introduction. But times have changed.

At present, our information on the new router is limited, but some official details suggest that it may adopt a similar design to the previous model, albeit with the obvious addition of a phone port (FXS) for VoIP. Some anecdotal feedback has also indicated that it may have better WiFi performance, but officially, TalkTalk told ISPreview.co.uk to expect “very similar” WiFi performance to the Hub 1 (sounds like more of a minor revision).

We did ask TalkTalk whether they could provide any further details or confirm the likely launch window, but they declined. In terms of pricing, if TalkTalk’s Digital Voice solution is anything like the others we’ve seen, then you shouldn’t expect too much of a cost difference (if any) between that and older broadband bundles with an analogue phone service.

UPDATE 8th June 2022

We’re starting to see more customers receive the Wi-Fi Hub 2 router and can confirm that it is indeed more or less identical (physically) to the previous model, except for the phone port. The new kit is based off the Sagemcom F@st 5464 and, as above, appears to have similar specs to the original model. Sadly, no Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax).