Using a UK phone in Ireland

Kobie

Hi folks,

I bought a phone from Argos in Dublin, but just can't get it working. It's a BT cordless DECT phone.

I think it might be the cable I'm using. It comes with a british flat phone connector. Looking at the 'regular' end - the 4pin one that fits into an Irish socket, I can see that only the two inner pins are connected. I've tried a cable that has all 4 pins connected, but I'm still not getting any dial tone.

So can anybody tell me if I need a special adapter to use a BT phone in Ireland (I wouldn't have thought so, but I can't think of anything else).

P.S.
I got a replacement phone from Argos but with the same result. I tried out both phones at a friends house & couldn't get them working, so I guess it has to be down to some sort of incompatability.

Thanks,
K.

Spunog UIE

have bought phones off argos, they supply an adaptor for the flat connection to fit the irish style socket, other than that it didn't need any other changes. Was a british branded phone too.

Mad Mike

Only the middle two pins are needed. Phone should work fine in Ireland with regular cable or with adapter.

Things to try (apologies If I am stating the obvious)

1. Make sure base station is plugged in.
2. Make sure handset is registered to base station (read the manual)
3. Make sure you press the green button (just like a mobile) in order to get a dial tone.

Kobie

Thanks lads, but I'm pretty sure I'm not doing anything wrong - it should just plug and play. It's registered to the base station (I've just re-registered it to be sure), it's all plugged in & as soon as I hit the green talk button I should hear a dial tone, but don't.

Damn thing's driving me mad....

Cheers.
K.

Our man in Havana

Originally posted by Kobie
Thanks lads, but I'm pretty sure I'm not doing anything wrong - it should just plug and play. It's registered to the base station (I've just re-registered it to be sure), it's all plugged in & as soon as I hit the green talk button I should hear a dial tone, but don't.

Damn thing's driving me mad....

Cheers.
K.

You will need to go back to argos and get the converor thingy from them, that will fix it.

Kobie

Got it sorted.

For the record, as Mad Mike says only the inner two pins are used in the Irish sockets, but the UK phones use the outer two pins. I missed what Gideon said about the adapter, but that's what you need to cross over the wires. A friend of mine actually did it for me, but I guess I should have been given one of those connectors when I got the phone.

Thanks lads,
K.

sceptre

Nice to have a friend who can do such things. I didn't realise the wiring setup was different with UK phones, though I was aware that the connector is different (RJ44 as opposed to RJ11 IIRC). They should have given you the connector, they give them away for free with all the phones they sell. They're about three euros or so to buy on their own, in case anyone without wiring skills is in the same boat.

Kobie

Thanks Sceptre,

I wouldn't mind but I essentially got two phones from them - the original one & the replacement one when I took the original back - neither time did anybody mention a connector. I know they sales people there aren't necessarily technical, but still - it would have saved me a lot of bother.

You live & learn.

K.