this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2026
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The most common routers here in Germany have POTS connectors and convert that to VOIP internally. At least for POTS with DTMF. I keep one specific router around that even still supports pulse dialing as I have two rotary phones from the 1950s and 1970s still hooked up for fun. (They work, except for the fact that nobody knows the number of my land line)
When the biggest provider in Germany switched from POTS and ISDN to VOIP there was also a number of solutions available for bigger installations, so you could keep your POTS installation while the adapter does the VOIP conversion.
So all in all switching worked mostly fine.
This router can put out enough juice to ring them like normal? If so what's the model?
It's an old FritzBox where I turned off wifi etc and just use for VOIP - Pots. When I set it up a some time ago it was EUR 15 or so on ebay, as these old FritzBoxes have no other modern use. They put out "just" enough juice to ring the phone. Ringing is softer than what I know from. my childhood, though.
Pulse dialing works, but you can't pause while dialing as it interprets a pause as "now connect the call". (Real POTS had "incremental" dialing)
I have these phones for fun, but if I'd need to use them I'd probably buy a new dedicated voip adapter (EUR 150+).
Old FritzBox routers are cheap here, that's why I use them.
Just slap a mosfet in between the modem and ringer so you can boost the signal with an external power supply.
It's good enough for what I need as is. I was thinking about doing something like this with an esp32, IIRC there's a voip firmware for the esp. I was thinking of hiding it in the rotary phone along with a battery, connecting it to the mobile network via a hotspot or just setting the esp32 up like a BT headset. Then put the rotary in a backpack and using it to receive a call on the commuter train or so.