topic Re: Full Fibre digital voice in Everything else

Full Fibre digital voice

MalcolmS — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 07:22:54 GMT

I have BT Full Fibre (no separate copper wire landline) with a digital voice phone. If I move to Plusnet Full Fibre is this included in the package price and if so do I keep the same phone number? If it isn’t included how much extra does it cost to have it added?

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

MisterW — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 07:30:40 GMT

Plusnet don't provide a Digital voice service.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

MalcolmS — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 09:18:47 GMT

Thank you for your help. Does this mean I have to stick with BT if I want to retain a landline number? We have a couple of elderly relatives that will never call our mobile numbers.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

Baldrick1 — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 09:39:30 GMT

@MalcolmS

No. If you shop around you will find that most ISPs can provide this service.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

RobPN — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 12:21:34 GMT

@MalcolmS

Or you could port your BT number to a third party VoIP provider and move your FTTP service to PN if that is your preferred ISP.

If you look around the forums you'll find plenty of threads covering porting your number to VoIP.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

bmc — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 12:23:47 GMT

@MalcolmS

You can also seperate the VOIP service from your Internet service by using an independant provider. There are many to choose from. You might have a few days down time when you port your number.

A&A seem to offer a good deal and have a good FAQ page on VOIP.

https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/

Brian

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

Scholar1 — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 13:21:36 GMT

I moved my FTTC/landline package from BT to Plusnet in August. As you can see from the photo below the new Plusnet router I was sent has a phone socket covered by a Digital Voice Customers only sticker. Was this part of a plan that was not carried through, or is it there for some other reason. Is there any reason why a similar router could not be supplied for Full Fibre.

Plusnet Digital Voice Router

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

jab1 — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 13:22:44 GMT

As the BT/Plusnet/EE Hubs are all basically the same inside - just different 'packaging', they are designed for the BT 'Digital Voice' product, which the PN brand does not support, hence the cover.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

dvorak — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 13:26:24 GMT

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Full Fibre to Everything Else

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

RealAleMadrid — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 13:31:02 GMT

@Scholar1 The socket is there because the HUB2 is the Plusnet version of a BT router and uses the same hardware, however at the present time Plusnet are not offering any digital voice (VOIP) phone service with their Broadband products. The phone socket is non-functional and there is no indication that Plusnet's policy will change. They are seen as the budget brand of the group.

As has already been stated you can set up a 3rd party VOIP service if required.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

Baldrick1 — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 16:42:25 GMT

@Scholar1 wrote:

..... Is there any reason why a similar router could not be supplied for Full Fibre.

You can certainly buy a third party router with a built in ATA (analogue telephone adapter), Frtzbox comes to mind as one. Alternativwly you can get a digital IP phone or stand alone ATA that plugs into your router.

However, as has been suggested, there is much more to providing a digital phone service than providing a router with a working ATA. Unfortunately, Plusnet have decided not to enter this market. If you look through the Tech Help board you will see many posts relating to alternative third party suppliers of a digital VoIP phone service.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

jab1 — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 19:05:05 GMT

@Baldrick1 wrote:

However, as has been suggested, there is much more to providing a digital phone service than providing a router with a working ATA. Unfortunately, Plusnet have decided not to enter this market. If you look through the Tech Help board you will see many posts relating to alternative third party suppliers of a digital VoIP phone service.

@Baldrick1 What you should have said is: Unfortunately, BT Consumer has decided that the Plusnet brand will not enter this market.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

Hrossey — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 17:43:43 GMT

In the last month or two they have installed FTTP down my road in a remote rural location under the Scottish Government R100 scheme, I qualify for a voucher worth up to £5000 to have FTTP put into my house. I just pass the voucher to my ISP when I apply (the guys installing the fibre reckoned it would cost about £2k to put mine in) . The fibre isn't live yet but should be in very soon (next 2 - 3 months). I have registered with openreach to be informed when its available. At the moment I am on a fairly long copper line right back to the exchange, but have quite a decent signal due to them replacing much of the line back when I had Home Highway (ISDN). I have been with PlusNET/Force 9 since 1998. I plan to go onto the PlusNet 145Mb FTTP and want to use Digital Voice with it but understand Plusnet do not offer this service. I understand from posts on here that BT will only do Digital Voice on BT Broadband? I also do not intend to use a PN router, I always use Draytek Vigors. Unfortunately the router I have at the moment only does ADSL and FTTC, so I will have to upgrade to a G.Fast one.

I have no experience of Digital Voice at the moment and what I wanted to know is can you get WiFi digital phones that connect to your router and Devolo home plugs or do you have to have something plugged into the router?

I hope my ramblings make sense to someone on here!

Nearly forgot, I also have my phone line with plusnet and would like to keep my number.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

Nodigitalvoice — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 12:09:45 GMT

I cannot believe Plusnet not offering digital voice even though there is a socket for a phone in the back of the router

They are making me sign up and pay another company to supply a house phone this is disgraceful service.

I am now 5 months into a new 2-year contract and seems I cannot get released from my contract as they are breaking it with discontinued phone service I demand a transfer to BT Digital Voice as a minimum service to keep my phone service.

I have written to my MP on this matter but I expect no decent treatment from this company.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

MisterW — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 12:29:09 GMT

@Nodigitalvoice

I cannot believe Plusnet not offering digital voice even though there is a socket for a phone in the back of the router

Digital voice is not as simple as just having a socket on the Hub. It needs infrastructure and support for DV as well as firmware in the Hub to support it. PN have decided that, since many people dont require a landline service, it is not economical to put all that in place.

as they are breaking it with discontinued phone service

Sorry, where are Plusnet discontinuing the phone service on existing contracts ? Unless something has changed VERY recently AFAIK people can still recontract on their existing product if it includes a phone service (until Openreach drop the PSTN in 2025? ) only new contracts on a different product can not include a phone line.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

MisterW — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 12:47:18 GMT

I plan to go onto the PlusNet 145Mb FTTP and want to use Digital Voice with it but understand Plusnet do not offer this service. I understand from posts on here that BT will only do Digital Voice on BT Broadband? I also do not intend to use a PN router, I always use Draytek Vigors. Unfortunately the router I have at the moment only does ADSL and FTTC, so I will have to upgrade to a G.Fast one.

@Hrossey only just noticed your post. Not sure why you think you need a G.Fast router ? In principle for FTTP all you need is a router with an ethernet WAN port. What model is your Draytek ? having used Drayteks in the past I'd be pretty sure its got a WAN port

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

Nodigitalvoice — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 13:35:02 GMT

Thanks for your info, nowhere have seen it in the articles I have read, and other info on the changeover seems to indicate all users will lose their landlines on change-over dates and be swapped whether they want it or not, so far in spring this year for this area..

So both systems will be running together till 2025 but no purchase of the old system?

This should be made much clearer, still cannot see why Plus Net will not offer digital voice. even small SP's are offering it

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

bmc — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 13:45:10 GMT

@Nodigitalvoice

It is BT customers who are being moved onto Digital Voice by area. Other ISP's will have their own plans.

The BT Group has clearly decided that PN will be the basic (low cost) brand of the group offering Internet only. For voice you need to transfer free of charge to BT (if PN customer) or change ISP's.

There are many VOIP providers offering a service. A&A seem to offer good deals and have good FAQ's on the subject.

https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/

Brian

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

MisterW — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 13:58:52 GMT

@Nodigitalvoice as @bmc says the problem is that all of the information regarding the changeover to DV schedule actually ONLY applies to BT Retail customers !! Even the press don't seem to have realised that it doesnt apply to ALL ISP's, its not helped that all the articles tend to show an Openreach logo which is misleading . The only thing that applies to all ISP's is the Openreach PSTN switchoff in 2025 (and there's no published schedule for that).

What IS currently happening is that Openreach will not accept new orders for a landline from any ISP (its called WLR Stop sell) as of Sept 2023. So anyone changing ISP's or changing products will lose the phone line. Recontracting with an existing ISP on the same product does not involve Openreach, therefore retaining a phone line doing that is still possible.

So one could assume that Openreach are thinking that by implementing the stop sell now, the number of phone lines in use will gradually decline leaving a much smaller problem discontinuing in 2025!

still cannot see why Plus Net will not offer digital voice. even small SP's are offering it

If youre thinking the likes of Zen and A & A, they already had a voip(digital voice) system in place. In fact I've used A & A for voip for nearly 5 years now!. So they already had the infrastructure and support in place, all they have done is package up the voip service with a broadband product and call it Digital voice!. In fact 5 years ago I was going to use Zen at the time but their sales/support had much less knowledge of their voip product than A & A did of theirs.

Re: Full Fibre digital voice

Penny — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 17:01:10 GMT

@MisterW wrote:

What IS currently happening is that Openreach will not accept new orders for a landline from any ISP (its called WLR Stop sell) as of Sept 2023. So anyone changing ISP's or products will lose the phone line. Recontracting with an existing ISP on the same product does not involve Openreach, therefore retaining a phone line doing that is still possible.

Thank you for the clarity on how landlines can be retained - for now at least - much appreciated.