Options for landline sharing over Ethernet?

Associate
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Hi,

I need a standard PSTN/DECT phone extending to an office 100m away, where walls and distance make the typical cordless DECT phones not really feasible.

I'm going to do powerline-ethernet to get wifi there - is there any reasonably priced solution to getting this phoneline over there as well, so it can be used at the same time in both locations? I need the same landline number, so external VOIP services is sadly not an option. Or maybe an expandable set of DECT phones that support multiple signal boosters?

If it complicates it, there's only one phone socket in the first location, and that's currently sharing to 3 handsets with a normal cordless device.

Thanks for any ideas!
 
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Soldato
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20 Oct 2008
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Good luck getting Powerline Ethernet to get that far and work at decent speed (assuming you are talking about the adapters that transmit over the mains wiring).

Can you run cables? You're within range for copper for both Ethernet and phone.
 
Soldato
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100m is the limit for wired ethernet so by the time you've accounted for cable routing you may exceed that by a fair bit thus you may need to go fibre.

If this is a home office then a separate number (from your home number) may be a good idea. OTOH if this an office with an extension to a second building you may be well advised to have a small exchange.
 
Soldato
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100m is the limit for wired ethernet
100m is the length it has to work at to be compliant. It doesn't suddenly stop working at that distance, and there's a good chance it'll work tens of metres beyond that. Fibre would be a much better option, if for no other reason than avoiding problems with differential mains earths.

Entending the phone over copper isn't going to be a problem (except possibly on contractual grounds).
 
Soldato
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For the phone, distance isn't an issue. Phone lines can be massively long. I know from back in the ADSL days that my line travels well over a mile back to the exchange, a few hundred additional metres aren't going to make any difference to a POTS connection.
 
Soldato
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Norfolk, South Scotland
Hi,

I need a standard PSTN/DECT phone extending to an office 100m away, where walls and distance make the typical cordless DECT phones not really feasible.

I'm going to do powerline-ethernet to get wifi there - is there any reasonably priced solution to getting this phoneline over there as well, so it can be used at the same time in both locations? I need the same landline number, so external VOIP services is sadly not an option. Or maybe an expandable set of DECT phones that support multiple signal boosters?

If it complicates it, there's only one phone socket in the first location, and that's currently sharing to 3 handsets with a normal cordless device.

Thanks for any ideas!

I don't think this (powerline) will work. You're going to need a cable or a point to point link (Mikrotik Wireless Wire would be my suggestion). If you use the SHG option with 2.5Gbps switches at either end you can get a 2Gbps full duplex link over the sort of distance you're looking at.

I'm not sure why you think VOIP won't be an option? You want to have one phone number to multiple phones? That's extremely straightforward. The easiest way is a gateway as suggested by @bledd that converts your incoming analogue phone line to an internal digital exchange. They're not stupidly expensive and the SIP phones can be very nice indeed. Or you could use a pure digital solution like FreePBX but I suspect others will have more expertise in this area than me.
 
Associate
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Have you check the BT Elements IP67 Rated 1 km Cordless Phone.

The reception might still be improve by installing the base to a higher location and maybe outside on a rain proof enclosure.
 
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