Elms64
Member
This question is about the audio quality of the various UK landline telephone service providers.
I am currently with BT for my landline phone and line rental. Plusnet for my broadband (ADSL with 17 Mbps download speed, which is fine for my Internet usage).
But with BT turning off their analogue landlines in 2025, I have to either switch my landline to BT Digital Voice (which I believe requires that I also use BT broadband).
Or alternatively I could use another provider such as Virgin Media for my landline telephone and broadband (at my address in London, Virgin offers fibre speeds up to 1130 Mbps).
Or another option would be to terminate my BT landline phone, and switch to one of the many third party companies offering VOIP telephone services.
But my question is about the audio quality of the landline telephone service.
I live with elderly parents who are both hard of hearing, and call clarity and quality is important for them, otherwise they can miss important information (when talking to their doctor on the phone, etc).
BT claim their Digital Voice system offers a high audio quality named "HD calling". Although I understand that in order to obtain this high quality, you need to use BT's own DECT phones (such as the Essential Digital Home Phone) which wirelessly link to the BT Smart Hub 2 router. And I understand this high audio quality also requires the person at the other end of the line to be using BT Digital Voice, or using a mobile on the BT-owned EE network.
So I wonder if BT Digital Voice would offer better call audio quality than a landline phone provided by Virgin? Does anyone know how the audio quality of BT Digital Voice would compare to a Virgin phone?
And how would Digital Voice audio quality compare to the audio quality of third party VOIP telephone providers?
Thanks in advance for any insight anyone can give on this sound quality issue.
I am currently with BT for my landline phone and line rental. Plusnet for my broadband (ADSL with 17 Mbps download speed, which is fine for my Internet usage).
But with BT turning off their analogue landlines in 2025, I have to either switch my landline to BT Digital Voice (which I believe requires that I also use BT broadband).
Or alternatively I could use another provider such as Virgin Media for my landline telephone and broadband (at my address in London, Virgin offers fibre speeds up to 1130 Mbps).
Or another option would be to terminate my BT landline phone, and switch to one of the many third party companies offering VOIP telephone services.
But my question is about the audio quality of the landline telephone service.
I live with elderly parents who are both hard of hearing, and call clarity and quality is important for them, otherwise they can miss important information (when talking to their doctor on the phone, etc).
BT claim their Digital Voice system offers a high audio quality named "HD calling". Although I understand that in order to obtain this high quality, you need to use BT's own DECT phones (such as the Essential Digital Home Phone) which wirelessly link to the BT Smart Hub 2 router. And I understand this high audio quality also requires the person at the other end of the line to be using BT Digital Voice, or using a mobile on the BT-owned EE network.
So I wonder if BT Digital Voice would offer better call audio quality than a landline phone provided by Virgin? Does anyone know how the audio quality of BT Digital Voice would compare to a Virgin phone?
And how would Digital Voice audio quality compare to the audio quality of third party VOIP telephone providers?
Thanks in advance for any insight anyone can give on this sound quality issue.
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