Talk-Talk and pulse dialling

[Ian - G4JQT]

I'm considering moving from BT to Talk-Talk for my broadband and phone. Before I do, does anyone know if I'm likely to loose the pulse/loop-disconnect on the phone line? I doubt anyone from their sales team will know what I'm talking about.

Thanks.

Ian

I have one pulse dial 'phone here on TalkTalk, it works. You may find a house close by from a broadband speed test that uses TT, perhaps you could pop round and ask to try your 'phone?

[Ian - G4JQT]

Thanks for the reply. The sales lady assured me it would work as it's the same connection at the exchange as BT.

Regards,


Ian

[Nickthedentist]

I was on Talk Talk, and pulse dialling worked well.

But everything else was *&%@, not to put too fine a point on it. You have been warned!

Nick

[G6Tanuki]

Truth is, it depends where you are - and what ther local 'unbundled' telco infrastructure is.

If you're moving an old-style BT landline to an unbundled provider you - might - still get pulse-dial support. But you might not: it all depends on what hardware your specific LLU-provider has provisioned at their head-end.

Also be aware that if your telco has gone "Fibre" [meaning fibre-to-the-cabinet-in-the-nearest-town, not actual fibre-to-your-house] they may be supporting legacy pulse-dialling in software in the DSLAM and a lot of the software-implementations are rather more-authoritarian on the mark:space ratios they'll accept than was the case when you had a dedicated copper-path to a clockwork exchange.

[Ian - G4JQT]

Thanks all for the info. I'm on BT for phone and already talk-Talk for broadband, but the offer they have at the moment halves my monthly bills for both.

The broadband speed out here can be anything from 2.2M max to nothing for a day or so. Wires on poles...

I said if speed didn't improve I'm off to BT, but they said that would make no difference. I'm limited by 'the speed in my area'. Not sure if that's true or not, but sounds like they would say that wouldn't they?!

Ian

[OscarFoxtrot]

Originally Posted by Ian - G4JQT

Thanks for the reply. The sales lady

You can't believe anything remotely technical said to you by TalkTalk sales. They refused to believe that I had a phone line even thought I was talking to them on it.

(No complaints over the actual phone/BB service though - but the speed dial feature would be oh-so-handy to pulse dial users if it didn't need ** to use.)

[HamishBoxer]

Been on TalkTalk a few years and no problems plus a great deal when I mentioned changing providers.

Let's leave it at that before being OT.

[Dave Moll]

If the worst comes to the worst, there are a couple of gizmos available which can convert LD pulses into DTMF tones by going between the LD 'phone and the telephone line. One is from oldphoneworks.com (the same people who produce the Rotatone which does a similar job as an internal device in a given 'phone) and the other from dialgizmo.com.

The only way I know for using * and # from an LD 'phone is by converting it to DTMF using a Rotatone.

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by Ian - G4JQT

I said if speed didn't improve I'm off to BT, but they said that would make no difference. I'm limited by 'the speed in my area'.

Bog standard ADSL speeds depend on the quality of the line between your house and the exchange and the version of ADSL supported by the DSLAM at the exchange. ADSL2 normally gives the best speed, but some ISPs disable this for subscribers on their cheaper contracts (Plusnet do this).

If you are already using ADSL2 then speeds are unlikely to improve significantly if you switch to another supplier and they may even get worse.

[Pellseinydd]

Originally Posted by Dave Moll

The only way I know for using * and # from an LD 'phone is by converting it to DTMF using a Rotatone.

The Dialgizmo also can produce the * and # from a rotary dial phone - see the User Guide. The other advantage is the you don't need to wire it into the phone. It is just inserted in the line between the phone and the exchange line - it is line powered. Virtually no difference in price and a lot easier to use.

[Dave Moll]

Thanks for the reminder. It's so long since I last powered up my dialgizmo that I forgot the availability of this function (along with last number redial and stored number speed dial) through its detection of a held dial-off-normal state.

[60 oldjohn]

Ian, Before jumping ship check if there are any small private groups or companies in your area offering internet. I was in your position 5 years ago speed decreased every time a new customer was connected near the exchange until we had 6 months of nothing from BT. I heard by chance a local guy had a connection to a fibre optic connection and was fitting customer houses with a microwave link across the fields to the receiver. We get 10megs enough to watch video.
Have a look at the houses in your area, are there any with 1ft high boxes or 1ft dishes on poles? wondered what they are ? chances are they are internet, and time for a bit of door knocking and investigating.

John.

[AC/HL]

But does it also carry a phone line, with or without pulse dialling?

[60 oldjohn]

Stay with original phone line provider, Internet service is extra, £18inc VAT PM but it works until Fibre Optics is rolled out nationwide. Hopefully you could get a reduction on your phone line only service bill.

John.

[Station X]

Let's get back on topic please.

[recordamus]

Ian - if you encounter a problem, I would seriously consider the Dialgizmo which, as someone else has already said, just needs the 'phone plugged in and a floating lead plugging into the telephone linebox. The Dialgizmo will enable you to send * and # and can also store quickdial numbers, if that's what you want. The RotaTone is also good but will require a simple internal circuit modification to your telephone and a degree of dexterity when installing it. You can have the Dialgizmo up-and-running in a few moments if you're not too well-versed in all this.
Best wishes - and good luck. Peter

[Ian - G4JQT]

It's been a while since my initial request and recordamus has prompted me into replying.

Following the changeover to Talk-Talk the pulse dialling didn't work, despite what I'd been told by the salesperson, and I was going to look into the Dialgizmo solution. However, after a couple of days pulse dialling worked.

It appears maybe the exchange only applies it if it detects a requirement from the subscriber, although as someone unfamiliar with telephone exchange equipment this sounds unlikely, but you never know. Perhaps it just got applied later anyway regardless of what I was using.

Ian

[Dave Moll]

Or perhaps (though again unlikely) it was applied because you had enquired about it and had been told by the salesperson that it would be available.