Rogers Wireless Home Phone...

[BH-TW]

Is it possible to plug the ZTE Wireless box into a telephone jack and have telephones plugged into other telephone jacks or does the ZTE need to be plugged directly into an phone.

TIA

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[RogersMaude]

Hello @BH-TW,

Thank you for posting your question to the Rogers Community!

The ZTE wireless home phone works exclusively with the Rogers cellular network and does not use your home phone wall jacks.

Plug your phone into the “Phone 1” port on the device, using your existing phone cable or the included phone cable.

To place phones throughout your home, use a cordless phone system with multiple handsets. Wall jacks are not used with the ZTE wireless home phone.

The "Phone 2" port can be used to connect an additional phone and it uses the same phone number as the "Phone 1" port.

Hope this helps!

RogersMaude

[BH-TW]

Interesting. I got this reply from a Rogers CSR in an online chat:

(Removed content: Keep personal info private. Please paraphrase the chat conversation, remove names and post it.)

[57]

Just as an FYI, you may wish to retain home phone instead of paying for wireless. The "Gateway" (XB7 or XB8 modem/router) that comes with the installation has a phone jack on it.  You can plug a regular phone into that, but what most people do is have cordless phones throughout the home with the main cordless phone/base plugged into the phone jack on the Gateway. 

You will need to decide how many cordless handsets you need in your condo, but cordless sets with 2-4 handsets are usually available for $50-150 depending on make/model/features.  I prefer the Panasonic brand due to reliability and features.  If you have Rogers Voicemail, you do not need to purchase one that has an answering machine built in.

Sample link below:

https://shopping.panasonic.ca/product.aspx?g=1d0ecded-c120-4d84-b67a-0d1c6e542b42&c=2fbe6189-7c9f-43...

I'm assuming that you will also have IgniteTV and/or Ignite Internet.

[BH-TW]

Thanks, I understand about the modem's phone jack. The problem is where the modem is going to have to be placed after Rogers pulls the fibre to my unit. There is no telephone jack anywhere near the location and would mean placing the base phone on top of one of my stereo speakers or in front of or behind my TV or on the floor. Not an ideal solution, nor do I want to run RJ11 cable around my baseboards to the nearest telephone wall jack, which would be about 35 feet of cable or more. I was trying to find out if the ZTE box would be a solution if it could be plugged into any phone jack. I've been told that will work by an online CSR and here in the forum I've been told it won't work. The search for an acceptable option continues.

[57]

No room for the base anywhere near the Gateway?  (Behind the TV? Anywhere 6-10' from the Gateway?)  Do you have a picture of the location?  The Gateway obviously needs a spot and I'm not sure where you're putting the ONT, but no room for one more small device?

What is the cost of Wireless when compared to a cordless phone set?

[57]

One more bit of additional information. Based on a web search, I see no reason that you can't plug the ZTE wireless box into one of the condo's jacks and "backfeed" any phones connected through those jacks inside your condo, assuming no "weird" wiring for a lobby phone, etc.  You can use the Phone2 port for a phone at the ZTE's location.

Most people today don't have a home phone and simply use their cell phone.  Can you do that?

PS.  Are you sure they're running fibre to your specific unit and not simply fibre to the complex and existing RF-coax to your unit?

[BH-TW]

I currently have Rogers Ignite Home Phone, a Wirecomm Supervisor activated my jacks, so all good there. I have a recording studio in my condo unit and need the phone line for my phone patch (a Telos Hx1 digital hybrid) which allows me to bring a phone conversation into a session for remote direction. The cell reception in our area, for Rogers, Bell or Telus, is not good, they each have only one Tower anywhere near our complex, so even if the ZTE can be plugged into one of my jacks, it may not be a solution. I might have to start drilling through the 6" rebarred concrete bearing wall in my unit to get to a jack in another room. technology is great - as long as it works. Thanks very much for your comments.

[BH-TW]

Yes, they have told our condo board that the fibre will be pulled directly to each unit, through the existing conduit, to the coax jack in the living room. It's GPON, not RFoG.

[Pauly]

Yes you can backfeed the dialtone from the ZTE wireless home phone into your inside jacks, but you must also ensure there is no other provider signal feeding those jacks before you do this, otherwise you could damage your equipment.

Also the Ring Equivalency number of the Wireless Home phone device may be lower than that of a traditional Public Switched Telephone Network so i would advise having too many handsets plugged into your inside jacks.