BT Cordless Phone

Bruffkid

Hi all
i just brought back a BT Synergy 4500 Cordless phone from england and plugged it in my apartment but nothing i know it works and i know that my land line here works but is their something missing..
Appreciate any help..
Cheers

musically challenged

did it come with an english line cord (big white plug at one end) or RJ11 (clear plastic plugs)?
If it is the former you need a bt to rj11 adapter, if it is the latter then the wiring may be wrong - brits use different wiring to us.
Argos do line cord kits

Bruffkid

yes it came with the big white plug so i have to get the kit..
cheers for the info..

Solair

Oddly enough some, but not all BT-branded, phones wire the RJ11 (Irish/US/International) connector on the bottom of the phone incorrectly.

Basically, the line is carried on the centre two pins in normal phone wiring.

On BT phone plugs (the big white ones the UK uses) the line's carried on the outer two pins.

Because both RJ11 and BT-style plugs are crimped onto flat wire, they just wire the RJ11 connector as if it were a BT-plug, carrying the line on the wrong pair of pins. They then do the matching incorrect wiring in the bottom of the phone so the cable works.

The upside, is that it saves money for the manufacture.
The downside, it's incompatible with standard telephone cables and you can only use the cable the came with the phone.

Quite honestly, I think it should be banned by the EU as it makes devices very difficult to use. RJ11 is now an internationally accepted standard and it should not be wired in weird ways for basic telephone service.

Many phone cords you'd buy in the UK would not work on it either, as they present the phone line on the correct pins on the RJ11 plug i.e. the centre two as this is what's used on most modems, faxes, and the majority of phones sold in the UK too.

Solution: buy a BT-Irish RJ11 adaptor and use the original cable. Most hardware shops have them.

Bruffkid

Thank you for that useful info i will have to get an adaptor.

Cheers