Does a 2nd (DECT) cordless phone need a phone line?

M

macnas

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I have a dect cordless phone and would like a second phone in another room. Do I need a telephone connection in that room to use the 2nd phone? The DECT phone I now have is from Eircom and is now 2/3/4 years old. Does the 2nd phone have to be the same make as the first one to be of any use? The Eircom dect phones were BT I think, so do I need a BT phone to be compatible with what I now have.
 
First off you don't need a new line - the connection to the base unit is wireless.

In theory you can just get another DECT phone (NOT one with a base station) and use it with the existing one. However, for home units, I for one have had difficulty in getting an extra phone for an existing base unit: they tend to sell just 2 or 4 phone sets (including base station).

Although DECT is a standard, you're probably better off getting any additional phones (if you can get them) from the same manufacturer. I think Eircom used Siemens phones for their own brand, but I could be wrong in this.
 

it would be better to get a new twin /triple or quad pack although you are supposed to be able to set up any dect phone on any other dect system it some times does not work too well i got a new bt synergy system from argos i also used a surge filter on the line as have problems with this. We went through a few phones before they were installed. Surges most likely to do with lighting at least the failures occured at about the same time. Got filters from pc world these are not broadband filters, have also seen them in atlantic home care
 
To add another dect phone to your existing dect base station you need to ensure that your "old" dect phone is GAP compliant. You can then add any GAP compliant dect handset as an "extension" to the base unit.
 
Thanks for that, emul. How will I know if the existing phone is GAP compliant? It is Eircom/Siemens stock.
 
eBay is a good place to pick extra handsets up cheaply; you'll often find UK sellers with a faulty base unit who are happy to list otherwise 'useless' handsets with a very low starting bid. As emul says, you just need to make sure that both your own base unit and the new handsets are GAP compliant.

Our twin (Philips) handsets needed replacing after being dropped/thrown/stood upon/chewed by the dog once too often and I got two nice sturdy Motorola replacements for a penny + £8 postage.
 
With your Siemens / Eircom phone have a look here:



Find the manual, that will tell you if it's GAP compliant and how to add and additional GAP handset

Good luck

Eoin
 
It is difficult to get just an additional cordless handset. All individual phones are base sytation ones. Is it ok to use a base station as an extra handset by just ignoring the telephone connector cable?
 
macnas said:
It is difficult to get just an additional cordless handset.
Click to expand...
Are you sure about that? Last time I shopped for this stuff extra handsets without the full base station (just a charger cradle) were easily accessible. Have you checked the Argos catalogue for example (new one out recently)?
 
macnas said:
It is difficult to get just an additional cordless handset. All individual phones are base sytation ones. Is it ok to use a base station as an extra handset by just ignoring the telephone connector cable?
Click to expand...

Yes exactly what I have, two base stations - one of which is an extension off the other. Siemens used to have handset/charger units on sale - but can't say I've seen them for a while. Anyway ignore the base station telephony, register the 2nd handset to the primary base unit and off you go.

Good luck
 
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