topic Re: Help for elderly in Everything else

Help for elderly

stathe — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 11:29:44 GMT

This costs me A lot of money any help available I am 88 and airband shortly available in Burrowbtidge I want to ,keep my wired phone and email as it is Any advice

Re: Help for elderly

corringham — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 11:44:16 GMT

If you make any change to your phone/broadband package you are likely to lose your land line phone - but you should be able to move to a VoIP phone connection and keep your existing land line phone number (if you're careful). The only real difference is that the phone won't work in a power cut (without a backup battery).

However, Plusnet don't offer VoIP, so either you have to move to another provider for both broadband and phone, or use different providers for each.

You mention Airband - they do offer both broadband and VoIP, and have a range of speeds (and prices) available.

However, if you are eligible for any benefits on top of your pension, then you could be eligible for a social broadband tariff - they are a lot cheaper than other deals, and just as good. I moved a family member to a £15pm deal with BT which gives them 40Mpbs FTTC, VoIP phone service (BT call it Digital Voice), and 700 minutes of anytime calls to UK landline or mobile. Only a few companies offer social tariffs (Plusnet don't), but there are still a good few available.

Re: Help for elderly

MisterW — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 11:52:53 GMT

@stathe

You mention Airband - they do offer both broadband and VoIP, and have a range of speeds (and prices) available.

They do! https://www.airband.co.uk/broadband-packages/airband-talk/

and email as it is

be aware that if you leave Plusnet , you will lose your <account>.plus.com email addresses!

Re: Help for elderly

stathe — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:10:30 GMT

So where do I go to keep my plusnet email and my bt telephone number when I take advantage of Airband services and if I do Still not sure have had email and numbers for years Subscribe to both I hasten to say Airband not yet available

Re: Help for elderly

jab1 — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:18:02 GMT

@stathe If you leave Plusnet - for any other ISP, you loose the email, the phone number will have to be transferred to a VoIP provider.

Re: Help for elderly

dvorak — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:20:59 GMT

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Broadband to Everything Else

Re: Help for elderly

corringham — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:21:07 GMT

If you leave Plusnet you will lose your e-mail address. They used to allow you to keep the e-mail address, but that is no longer allowed. E-mail is no longer available to new customers and it is likely that Plusnet will withdraw all e-mail support at some point in the future - they are becoming a broadband only provider.

You can keep your phone number - but it will become a VoIP number. That can be done with a number of providers but not Plusnet.

You may want to look at getting a new e-mail account (free ones are available from Google and Microsoft Outlook etc.) and run them both in parallel for a while until you get all your contacts updated with your new address.

Re: Help for elderly

jab1 — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:26:51 GMT

@corringham Just as an aside, there are currently no plans to withdraw the email service for those members who already have it, but as you correctly say, new subscribers and those leaving, don't have one.

Re: Help for elderly

corringham — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:31:32 GMT

@jab1 I agree with you - I did say it is likely rather than it is planned because there is no announced closure of e-mail. However, they are getting rid of everything else that isn't broadband - mobiles, phone accounts, web hosting, business accounts etc. I can't believe they will keep e-mail long term.

Re: Help for elderly

stathe — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:59:11 GMT

Not much help for the elderly then just pay two firms !!!! My e mail is important

Re: Help for elderly

jab1 — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 13:01:30 GMT

If the email is important, then, yes, you eventually will have to pay two suppliers.

Re: Help for elderly

corringham — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 13:30:56 GMT

@stathe wrote:

Not much help for the elderly then just pay two firms !!!! My e mail is important

If e-mail is important to you then I'd recommend getting an e-mail account that is independent to any ISP. That way you will not held hostage by an ISP through fear of losing your e-mail.

I'd do this by getting an independent e-mail address, and gradually migrate all your contacts over to using it. Once you have very little traffic on your Plusnet account you'll be able to drop it. That will allow you to follow the best deals, save money, and not have the stress of being held hostage.

Re: Help for elderly

Baldrick1 — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 14:17:01 GMT

@stathe wrote:

This costs me A lot of money any help available I am 88 and airband shortly available in Burrowbtidge I want to ,keep my wired phone and email as it is Any advice

1. What do you define by 'a lot of money?

2. Are you surrently in a contract or are you paying th out of contract price?

3. Which service are you on, ADSL Fibre, Fibre Extra ot Full Fibre?

4. What is your motivation to move to Airband? It's not mandatory.

You can extend your current contract with Plusnet by ringing the Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632 telling them that you wish to keep your phone numbe. This will take you up to late 2025. If you do this then nothing will change until this contract ends.

If you leave Plusnet you will lose your email service and if you use IMAP protocol all your sent and received emails will be deleted. Also, currently, it is quite complicated to stay with Plusnet but transfer your phone number to a VoIP provider.

My personal view is that unless you have a pressing need for the extra speed available from Airband then your best bet is to extend your contract with Plusnet until they give you notice that they can no longer provide you with a landline service, probably autumn 2025. By this time hopefully the ability to port landline numbers to third party VoIP providers will become simpler and more reliable.

Re: Help for elderly

stathe — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 15:22:11 GMT

around 40 pounds a month and our broadband is very slow have a look at Burrowbridge I am signed up for a year or so How about if I asked to be put back on BT phone?? or would they penalise me more assumed they gave me a good deal Maybe not Twist the oldies No fibre yet

Re: Help for elderly

stathe — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 15:23:12 GMT

yes

Re: Help for elderly

stathe — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 15:39:42 GMT

probably not eligible for any of this but if so would still be penalised for leaving Plusnet my mistake was to leave BT phone for Plusnet backalong Have had Plusnet internet for years

Re: Help for elderly

stathe — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 15:41:40 GMT

Can I change back to BT as it owns Plusnet ?

Re: Help for elderly

Baldrick1 — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 16:35:31 GMT

@stathe

If you were to break your contract and return to BT then you will still lose your Plusnet email service.

Re: Help for elderly

kjpetrie — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 20:59:15 GMT

I realise Burrowbridge is quite rural - I go through it when I cycle to Taunton - so Broadband there might be quite expensive. However, it's amazing what PN can come up with if you tell them you're tempted by someone else's prices. Don't tell 'em you've got a reason to want to stay. Let them think you might leave if they don't offer you a lower price. Remember if your contract has another year to run there'll be a penalty for leaving, though. If you can get a lower price on a renewed contract you'll have won something.

If you can't you'll have to weigh up the cheaper deal against the loss of e-mail address and penalty for leaving early.

Re: Help for elderly

HPsauce — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 21:25:55 GMT

Lots of people started using their ISP-supplied address as their primary email and stuck with it.

Tieing it to banking and other important services now, with hindsight, is not so wise.

As advised above I'd acquire an independent email address (Google etc. there's plenty of choice) and start migrating to that.

My final comment about this is that an ISP MUST allow users to retain their email address for some considerable time, ideally indefinitely, after terminating a broadband contract. This should be free, or at best a nominal fee

To terminate email immediately and delete the emails held, as PlusNet does, is downright immoral. 😠 And quite probably a form of discrimination.

On a positive note, I still have "free" Tiscali and Yahoo email addresses acquired so long ago I can't remember when!