I'm planning on dropping an AT&T landline and going w/ the already present Xfinity/Comcast router- modem-in-one for "landline" cordless phone service.

The problem: The house is 100 yrs. old w/ a 70's addition. The phone lines inside have been problematic so the AT&T contractor isolated things down to just one working jack where a cordless phone base has been providing phone service for the house.

From that jack is a splitter for that phone base, an answering machine, and a Life Alert base.
The modem/router is upstairs where the cable line comes into the house (and has a PC directly connected). So I would have to put the answering machine and Life Alert base upstairs, which is not ideal. The cordless phone is no big deal as I can have one of the satellite bases plugged in anywhere.

Is there a wireless device that would allow me to keep these things on the main floor? I'm not seeing an extender type thing w/ phone line connections.
Otherwise I think I'm looking at having to run more cable into the house which I was thinking I could avoid now w/ all the wireless gizmos now days.

If you have WiFi, a "softphone*" on a computer, tablet, or mobile device will allow calling from anywhere a WiFi signal is available. Or, you can acquire an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter - it connects to your Ethernet, and provides an analog telephone jack to connect your phone), and plug in your cordless phone base. I believe there are stand-alone wireless SIP phones that will use your WiFi router as well, but I've no experience with these. Sounds like your Comcast "router" may have an ATA built into it, undoubtedly only for use with Comcast's SIP servers.

Running a SIP phone requires getting an account with a SIP provider. You configure your SIP device/ATA, or softphone to connect with their server, and pay them for the privilege. Rates are usually nominal, somewhat lower than traditional telephony. I use VoIP.ms as my provider and can recommend them highly. The website is worth visiting even if you choose another provider for the information in their support wiki.

* a softphone is software that emulates the functions of a traditional telephone desk set using a device's microphone, speaker, and keyboard. There are many softphone programs available for pretty much every operating system or device. Many of these are FOSS (Free Open Source Software).

Please feel free to e-mail me if you want more information on SIP and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). VoIP understanding can be hard to "get" when thinking about telephony in the traditional sense.

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Please feel free to e-mail me if you want more information on SIP and VoIP

Thank you. I just may do that.

I had a chat w/ xfinity support and got no help except that they would send someone out to solve my probelm. But as I understand it, the phone service is all set to go w/ the router upstairs. I just plug the phone into it for 29$ additional/mo. I just want the answering machine and Life Alert to remain on the main floor but need something to plug them into.
Mom has dementia so I want to keep things the same as much as possible.

A quick easy fix to this is a Magic Jack.

It is an expensive VoIP service.

https://www.magicjack.com/acco...gpages.do?page=index

I have had one for a long time.

you can plug it into your router or computer and it works fine.

They also have an app now that works on your cell phone that works without the hardware set up.

$4 a month or cheaper if you buy a several-year contract.

If you include the phone service from Xfinity they will provide the phone router that will connect to the internet modem.

You can plug your existing wireless base into it for the phones, it will be just like before but going over VOIP.

They should also include a VM box with the service, so you won't need the answering machine anymore, you'll get a beep when picking up the phone to tell you that a message is there and you pull it from the phone.

If you can't get a wireless solution inside the house, maybe contact your ISP and ask them how much it would be to relocate their connection nearer where you want the answering machine/Life Alert to be?

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Originally posted by joel9507:
If you can't get a wireless solution inside the house, maybe contact your ISP and ask them how much it would be to relocate their connection nearer where you want the answering machine/Life Alert to be?

That's what I was trying to avoid but it may be the final solution. Thank you Joel and others.

What got me started on this was I saw in another thread a box that possibly Ensigmatic posted that looked like a relayer/extender? w/ several input jakcs in the back. I can't seem to find that thread. So I just might have to "call the man" and have them come out and deal w/ the "We'll be there sometime after 1pm in March and before 5pm sometime in April.