The BT Home Hub is only meant to work with BT Talk, but with a few hacks, we can make the Home Hub function with other VoIP providers such as Sipgate and even make the Home Hub a standalone VoIP Gateway if you already have a router (by using the RouteInternally hack). For these hacks to work, you should make sure your Home Hub is running firmware 6.2.2.6 as later firmware versions have had the telnet server removed from it. If your firmware version is not 6.2.2.6, download the BT Hub firmware recovery tool recovery.zip and run it.

Before I begin, I would like to say thanks to HomeHubHacks.co.uk and the relevant people on The Scream forum for the information.

First of all, we need to gain root or SuperUser access to the hub to be able to be able to continue. Therefore, if running Windows, go to Start, Run and type in telnet then hit Enter. In the telnet window, type in open, hit enter and type in 192.168.1.254. You will now be prompted for a username, then a password, which by default is admin and admin. When logged in, type in the following (making sure you press enter after every line).

:script add name = pwn command = "user add name = hackme password = hackme role = root descr = r00t"
:script run name = pwn pars = ""

Now you have made a root user called hackme with the password hackme. You now need to log in as hackme, which can be done by repeating the steps you did earlier to log in as admin.

Now type in voice profile add then under the following headings:

SIP_URI = nnnnnnn (this is your 7 digit SIP ID)
[username] = nnnnnnn@sipgate.co.uk (replace nnnnnnn with your SIP ID)
[password] = ******** (enter your password NOT the website password)
[password] = ********
[display name] = (whatever you want as your name)
voiceport = (I use COMMON, you can select using up/down arrows)
[abbr] = (nothing is needed here, not sure what it is)

now type:

voice sip config primproxyaddr=sipgate.co.uk
voice sip config primregaddr=sipgate.co.uk
voice sip config notifier_addr=sipgate.co.uk
config save filename=user

If you are using the Home Hub as your main router, just go into the Home Hub web setup interface and go to Advanced - Telephony - and check Enable Telephony and click Apply. You should now be done! If you already are using another router, and just want the Home Hub to function as a VoIP gateway, then read on.

Now type the following in, replacing 192.168.1.1 for the IP address of your router (if it is not already 192.168.1.1):

:ip rtadd dst=0.0.0.0 gateway=192.168.1.1 intf=LocalNetwork
:dns client dnsadd addr=192.168.1.1
:dns server config WANDownSpoofing=disabled
:dns server route add dns=192.168.1.1 intf=LocalNetwork
:voice config intf=LocalNetwork
:system config defaultconnection=LocalNetwork
:config save filename=user

Now make sure you forward the relevant ports on your main router to the Home Hub, these tend to vary. I do not recommend putting the Home Hub in DMZ, as this exposes the web interface and telnet to the outside world. Now, just go into the Home Hub web setup interface and go to Advanced - Telephony - and check Enable Telephony and click Apply. Also, disable DHCP to avoid conflicts with your other router.

Notes

• Make sure your router and the Home Hub are in the same subnet, otherwise they cannot communicate!
• Incorrect port forwarding is usually the reason for being unable to receive calls
• It is usually best to start on a clean configuration to help avoid problems

If you can make and receive calls, but the ringer on your phone doesn't work

This is usually because your using an older phone which requires the dedicated ringer wire, where the Home Hub only supplies the A and B wires. To get round this problem, chop the BT plug off a working RJ11 modem cord, and attach the two cores to the A & B screw terminals inside a BT Master Socket (obviously one that's not connected to anything!). You can then plug the phone into the master socket. You should end up with something like this: