Expensive intercom repairs are the worst! I know the feeling – I faced the same frustrating expensive SIM quotes for my old gate system.
But I found a way out. I fixed my outdated intercom myself and connected my it to a super convenient app-based system. And guess what? It saved me a ton of cash.
Ready to do the same? I’m spilling all my DIY wiring strategies, the equipment I used, and how you can have total control over your gates through your phone using Ring Intercom and Videx.
Short Answer:
- Basic Summary: This blog guides you through repairing an outdated Videx gate intercom and connecting it to the Ring system for app-control.
- The One Lesson: With a bit of research and technical know-how, you can fix a faulty gate intercom without breaking the bank.
- My Expertise: I refused to overpay and took direct action. Through DIY research, wiring diagrams, and strategic equipment choices, I fixed the outdated intercom and saved hundreds.
- Benefit to Reader: Readers gain detailed instructions and the confidence to potentially fix their own intercom setup, avoiding costly professional quotes.
How to fix an old phone line gate intercom, on a wired connection with a modern app-based Ring intercom system. And do it without breaking the bank.
My gate intercom ran on the old BT copper line, which got disconnected some time ago. This meant our gate intercom didn’t work anymore. We got in an ‘expert’ who said the only solution was a SIM card-based intercom unit, due to the distance from the house to the gates. That would be a snip at £800, plus the cost of the SIM and a monthly mobile bill to add on top. No thanks mate!
Intercom: didn’t fancy getting ripped off
I refused to believe there was not a better solution.
We clearly had a perfectly good wired connection from the house to the gates before. So I thought this must be something we could utilise. This might be a super niche post. But as I couldn’t find much info on the internet and worked a lot of this out myself, I thought it could be helpful.
Our set-up used a Videx Art 280 N1. This clearly was what integrated the gate system into the phone line. The way it worked: when someone pressed the gate buzzer, it rang your landline and you could open the gate by pressing ‘0’.
If at first, you don’t succeed…
I tried just connecting a standard phone to the unit to see if that worked. But no joy.
A bit more research revealed that this system probably had a power supply at the gates. This was confirmed by finding a Videx ART 520 power supply in the unit by the gates. This creates a 13v supply that powers the intercom unit at the gate.
My hunch was that this would supply a phone unit if I bought the right one. After a fair bit of digging around the internet – I found the Videx 3021 seemed compatible – and picked one up on Amazon.
The real challenge was the wiring – how the hell to work out what went where. After pouring over lots of diagrams, it seemed the best combination was below:
Ring Intercom / Videx 3021 / Videx 280 N1 wiring combinations
| Videx 280 N1 Number | Wire colour | Videx 280 N1 action | Videx 3021 (handset) number | Videx 3021 (handset) action | Ring intercom Colour | Ring Intercom ref |
| 2 | Orange | Recieve Speech | 2 | Speach in (speaker) | Brown | A-2 |
| 1 | White | Transit Speech | 1 | Speech out (Mic) | Black | A-3 |
| 3 | Blue | Ground | 3 | Common | Pink | A-1 |
| 6 | White | Call Trigger | 6 | Call AC | Purple | A-6 |
| C | Green | Dry Lock output | 5 | Lock | Grey | A-5 |
| NO | White | Receive Speech | * | Call | White |
* in my unit this did nothing – and I left it unconnected. My neighbour’s house – this wire acted as a second Common – and had to be wired into 3 along with the blue Ground to allow the gate to open.
Videx 3021 wiring
This worked, which I was rather pleased with myself about. However, not much use having a call buzzer to our gate in a cupboard in the garage!
So more internet trawling and I found the Ring Intercom, designed to enable you to use the Ring app with an external buzzer. No mention of external gates – but it’s compatible with the Videx 3021, so worth a punt on another Amazon purchase.
Ring Intercom wiring instructions
It’s very easy to link up – the instructions via the app are really good. Although finding a copy of instructions after the event when I accidentally disconnected one of the wires was impossible – so I took a screenshot when I fitted the same system for a neighbour. Here it is:
Ding dong! Success!
The challenge: fix an old phone line gate intercom, with a modern app-based Ring intercom system.
The result, now when someone buzzes the gate – it rings my mobile, and my wife’s (wherever we are) and I can press a button to open the gates and let people in. Result.
And for how much, is probably your burning question. £100 for the Ring intercom. £27 for the Videx phone. Which is a saving of £673, plus no monthly fee. Take that, Mr expert Intercom man!
Lastly – here are a couple of manuals with the various wiring diagrams if you need them: