Help with 2degrees home landline plans & features
What's the difference between 2degrees Home Phone Basic and Home Phone Plus?
2degrees Home Phone Basic
Home Phone Basic is a traditional landline that uses your existing copper phone line. The service includes free local calling, but features such as Voicemail or Caller ID will cost extra.
2degrees Home Phone Plus
Home Phone Plus uses your broadband connection to provide all the services that an old-school landline would, but you plug it into your modem. Unlike Home Phone Basic, it needs a power source to operate. In the event of a power outage, we recommend customers have a charged mobile phone available to make calls, including those to emergency services.
If you have 2degrees Home Phone Plus, Voicemail, Caller ID and Call Waiting services are included in your monthly plan at no extra cost.
Will my jack points work for my 2degrees landline service?
The answer is: it depends on the wiring in your house.
If you have a 2degrees Home Phone Plus, your landline uses your broadband service, which may mean your existing telephone jack points won't work without a few additional steps.
Our 2degrees modem has at least one telephone port available where you can plug in a standard phone (look for the port labelled 'FON1).
If you have a base station and handset combo, then only the base station needs to plug into the modem and the handset needs a power source. Position the base station in a central location and away from large appliances such as fridges or microwaves which may affect the signal.
If you purchase a 2degrees cordless phone which comes with a base station, the handset doesn't need to be plugged into the modem (our Fritzfons come with DECT technology enabled), so you can have more than one handset, or you can set up your phone in a different room to your modem.
How do I set up 2degrees Home Phone Plus?
With Home Phone Plus, you can use your broadband connection to make phone calls just like you would on a traditional landline.
Connect your phone through your modem (ALL connection types)
Your phone can be plugged in through your modem. To use your landline, simply plug your handset into FON1 port at the back of your modem using the telephone cable supplied.
Connect your phone through integrated or star wiring (homes with star wiring and Fibre broadband connection)
Integrated or star wiring is completed by an electrician. If your home was built or renovated recently, you may have a comms cabinet which indicates that you have star wiring. Depending on the way Fibre is installed at your place, integrated or star wiring can allow you to use your existing phone jacks for your landline service.
How do I install my 2degrees Fritzfon phone?
If you've purchased a 2degrees phone, getting set up is easy. The phone doesn't need to be plugged into the modem, but there are a couple of things you need to do to get started.
Steps for connecting your 2degrees Fritzfon to the modem
- Take out the base station and plug it into the power point on your wall.
- Now get your new phone, remove the back cover and slot the battery in.
- Hold down the red End Call button until the screen says, Not Registered. (It's OK, that's what it's meant to say when you turn the phone on for the first time).
You might see settings in other languages, so just wait a few minutes and it will sort itself automatically once connected to the modem.
- Get your 2degrees modem and hold down the DECT button until the Info light flashes.
- Press the register button on the phone and just like that you're connected!
Your phone comes packed with heaps of functionality, so take some time to customise it to suit your needs and when you've done that, you're good to go.
Can I have more than one phone line with 2degrees Home Phone services?
We currently offer only one phone line with 2degrees Home Phone services.
If you never want to miss a call to your landline, you could sign up to our Landline on Your Mobile service
Never miss a call to your landline when you're out and about again with Landline on Your Mobile. All you have to do is bring your existing landline number to your 2degrees mobile, or set up a new one. Simple.
Any calls to your landline number will be sent straight to your mobile phone so you'll never miss a call or have to pay call forwarding fees.
What Calling Rates do I get with the 2degrees home phone services?
With a 2degrees Home Phone service you'll get great calling within New Zealand and to international destinations (standard calling rates vary depending on whether you have Home Phone Basic or Home Phone Plus).
Some destinations do have a two-hour calling cap. This means that for any call you make from your home line that lasts up to two hours, the most you will pay is the amount of the specified calling cap. After two hours, you will be charged the standard per minute calling rate without any discount.
Will my rotary phone work on the 2degrees network?
If you happen to have a vintage rotary dial phone, please note that it will not work on the 2degrees network (including emergency calls to 111). This is because rotary phones use pulse signals which are part of an older technology no longer supported.
If you've inherited Grandma old rotary phone, we recommend you repurpose it as a design feature and upgrade your landline phone to one that uses tone dialling.
How do I set up Call Divert or Call Forwarding on my landline?
If you're a Home Phone Basic customer, please give us a call to set up call divert or call forwarding.
If you have Home Phone Plus, you can set up a Call Divert for your landline by logging into Your2degrees.
Simply log in and click Home Phone Plus. Click the cog icon, and by using the Call Forwarding dashboard and dropdown menu, you'll be able to:
- divert all calls to another number
- divert calls if there's no answer
- divert calls if your phone is busy
In Advanced Settings, you can:
- forward calls from selected numbers
- reject calls from selected numbers
- assign a distinctive ringtone to a list of numbers
- forward calls to a selected number if your phone is unavailable
- reject calls from anonymous callers without going to voicemail
Please note that Call forwards to New Zealand mobile numbers incur standard mobile calling charges. See our Standard Calling Rates for Home Phones here.
How do I set up Call Waiting for Home Phone Plus?
Call Waiting is included with our Home Phone Plus service and allows you to receive calls when you are on the line with someone else. You will hear four beeps when someone else is trying to call you. To talk to the second person, press the 'flash' or the 'recall' button and you will be able to talk to them. To talk to the first person again, simply press 'flash' or the 'recall' button again.
How does Voicemail work for my home phone landline?
Voicemail is included free of charge with our Home Phone Plus service. With Home Phone Basic, you can choose to add Voicemail for $8 per month.
To access your Voicemail with Home Phone Plus, simply dial *55 and you can manage your Voicemail and messages. In addition, you can log in to My 2degrees and use Home Phone Plus Manager by going to Home Phone Plus > Phone settings to manage your call settings.
If you're using Voicemail for the first time on Home Phone Basic, please dial 083210, enter your temporary PIN of 1234 and then follow the instructions.
Will my Monitored Alarm work on Home Phone Plus?
It depends on how and when your alarm was installed. As it is run through your broadband connection which needs to be plugged into a modem and power source, Home Phone Plus services may be incompatible with older monitored alarms. Please check with your alarm company whether your alarm will work over 'VoIP'. If not, you may require a new VoIP module to be installed.
