topic Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP in My Router

Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

geojay — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 20:28:43 GMT

Thanks to the forum, my parents are now using their existing Fritz!Box 7530 router with their newly upgraded FTTP connection (see https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Switching-parents-Fritz-Box-router-from-Plusnet-DSL-to-full/m-p/2038659#M44082 ). I'm now visiting and thought I'd try to get their phone working again. I've plugged it into the Fritz!Box 7530 via an adaptor and while I get a dial tone, when I dial a number I get a failure tone.

Do Plusnet need to do any config? Is there something I can do?

I'm with Zen myself and when I was migrated, they had to do something at their end before my own Fritz!Box 7530 router would offer a voice service. That router, while Zen branded, wasn't supplied by them, rather I bought it second hand so wasn't associated with my Zen account, if that's a thing...

Thanks in anticipation!

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

jab1 — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 20:45:47 GMT

@geojay Plusnet will having nothing to d with it - they do not offer or support VOIP. I suggest you or your parents contact whichever VOIP provider they have gone with for help/guidance.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

PhilipHeyes — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 20:49:06 GMT

Have you configured your VoIP providers SIP account & SIP server details on the Fritz!Box 7530 ?

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

geojay — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 20:57:47 GMT

They were led to believe that they would retain a voice service with their existing landline phone number via their broadband. This didn't sound unreasonable to me at the time as that's exactly what I have through Zen.

They tell me that a woman from Openreach tried to get it working in person when they were physically connected with fibre but without success. They weren't worried at the time as they knew they wouldn't be using the Plusnet router.

Are you saying that Plusnet don't offer any kind of voice service once you move to FTTP? If so, it sounds like they've been somewhat mislead. Is there any option to retain their old phone number if they use another VOIP provider?

Continuing thanks!

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

jab1 — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 21:03:32 GMT

That is the case, @geojay - Plusnet do not offer a voice service over FTTP - never have. You have 30 days from the start of the FTTP service to transfer the number to a VOIP provider.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

PhilipHeyes — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 21:10:24 GMT

Correct Plusnet FTTP means no telephone service. If your folks mentioned they wished to retain the landline they should have been directed to the EE FTTP + phone service. The phone works from the EE supplied Router only, it is perfect for my parents who are in their 90s and want a fully supported no complexity solution.

If this has happened very recently you may need to get on to a VOIP provider like Andrews and Arnold ASAP,
explain what has happened and see if they can recover the landline number from Plusnet and port it into a new VOIP account.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

geojay — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 21:11:05 GMT

Thank you for clarifying this.

Based on this, they're considering whether they really need a voice-line. Can you recommend a resource to compare VOIP providers for this scenario? From a quick look at A&A, it looks like it'll only cost a couple of pounds per month. Is that right, it doesn't sound commercially viable if someone isn't making outgoing calls...

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

jab1 — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 21:12:03 GMT

This link maybe of some help, @geojay : https://support.aa.net.uk/VoIP_Phones_-_FritzBox . NOTE: I don't know if it will, as I have not read through it, just saved it 'in case'.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

PhilipHeyes — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 21:22:37 GMT

Expect a home VOIP service to cost less per year to run than BT might charge for 1 to 2 months.

We have 3 VOIP lines with Sipgate, they are so low in cost we have a dedicated line for a home alarm,
if all is well it makes a couple of test calls per year.

Starting now Sipgate will cost more that A&A for a similar service.

Given the minimal cost with A&A, it is worth grabbing the phone line whilst you can,
often the bank or doctors etc have the landline number.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

pvmb — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 10:06:26 GMT

@geojay wrote:

They were led to believe that they would retain a voice service with their existing landline phone number via their broadband.

This is true, just not via Plusnet. If they want to continue using their landline number after the PSTN service is withdrawn my understanding is that PN will offer them a cost free switch to EE (in other words BT), who will include a VoIP service. Other VoIP providers are available, but you would have to DIY.

Then again, do they really need to keep their landline number? Do they have, use, an up-to-date smart phone? If so they may be able to simply use Wi-Fi calling via the Plusnet router which, if you think about it, is really just the same thing as using VoIP with an ex 'landline' phone - apart from not keeping the old landline number.

P.S. This auto transfer by PN to EE may only apply to people using an existing PN landline. Anyone know? Otherwise it would presumably be up to the relevant landline provider.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

Baldrick1 — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 10:40:55 GMT

@geojay wrote:
Based on this, they're considering whether they really need a voice-line.

Just remember that time is of the essence here. If they wish to keep the same number they only have 30 days from when it was disconnected to recover it from quarantine.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

mwwagain — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 01:22:46 GMT

@PhilipHeyes wrote:

Correct Plusnet FTTP means no telephone service. If your folks mentioned they wished to retain the landline they should have been directed to the EE FTTP + phone service. The phone works from the EE supplied Router only, it is perfect for my parents who are in their 90s and want a fully supported no complexity solution.

My experience of fixing people who have been put over to EE is pretty poor.

EE / the EE routers were only capable of supporting wifi handsets, not 'Just plug your old phone into the green socket'.

Technically of course they can, but organisationally.... not.

+1 for using A&A for the VOIP

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

corringham — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 10:30:04 GMT

@geojay wrote:

From a quick look at A&A, it looks like it'll only cost a couple of pounds per month. Is that right, it doesn't sound commercially viable if someone isn't making outgoing calls...

From a VoIP provider's point of view providing a service to a customer doesn't cost much at all - they don't have to pay to provide and maintain the connection in the way a PSTN phone needs a landline, as VoIP uses whatever broadband the customer has.

The VoIP provider just needs a server in a data centre, and to pay for the necessary peering agreements to be able to forward and receive calls as necessary.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

pvmb — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 11:14:17 GMT

I confess to being a little puzzled as to why apparently so many(?) people want to keep their 'landline'(!) going via VoIP...

The only real reason I can see is to keep the landline phone number. But apart from people who are running a business and for whom the minimal cost and inconvenience of VoIP is offset by the greater risk of losing/missing some business, I can't see why it would really be so important to keep, for most.

Another possibility is people still mainly or entirely using a landline telephone and are with BT and uninterested, even unaware, of what is going on. Here BT will some day simply 'come knocking' to transfer them seamlessly to their own proprietary Digital Voice system and everything carries on as before (more or less).

But for anyone who does use a smart phone - even I do now! 🤣 - when at home you just switch to Wi-Fi call and all phone calls go seamlessly through the PN router, irrespective of PN not providing phone calls from now on. Who needs 'landline' VoIP?

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

jab1 — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 11:21:25 GMT

@pvmb wrote:

'Who needs 'landline' VoIP?'

Anyone who has a bad mobile signal and doesn't have WI-FI calling - not all networks/plans allow it, although I accept most do these days.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

MisterW — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 11:29:50 GMT

I confess to being a little puzzled as to why apparently so many(?) people want to keep their 'landline'(!) going via VoIP...

but is there really so many ? we only see on here those that want to keep it. I suspect that is a very small percentage.

The only real reason I can see is to keep the landline phone number.

There are primarily two reasons for voip

1) keep the landline number

2) reduce the cost of a landline, rental and calls

In a non-business environment where people are happy to use mobiles , then neither of those reasons really apply. Where people have had the same landline number for many years and lots of their contacts use it , then 1) becomes important. In practice 2) only applies where a third party voip is used, since the main ISPs 'Digital voice' products aren't that much cheaper than a landline.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

pvmb — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 11:59:48 GMT

@jab1 wrote:

@pvmb wrote:

'Who needs 'landline' VoIP?'

Anyone who has a bad mobile signal and doesn't have WI-FI calling - not all networks/plans allow it, although I accept most do these days.

True, of course. But the trend is clearly away from this kind of situation.

e.g. As I understand things, my Tesco Mobile smart phone wouldn't have been able to use Wi-Fi calling not so very long ago - it's 'PAYG' (Well! Another story there...) - only originally available with Tesco Mobile contract phone accounts. Now it can.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

Baldrick1 — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:58:08 GMT

I am one of the alleged small minority with a landline phone. I have a mobile phone to take out with me when I'm 'mobile'. It is also used for 2FA and minor purchases, say car parking aps and in the pub. I don't walk around the house with it permanently clapped to my ear awaiting irrelevant social media chit chat to interrupt me. It is put down in a place where it is regularly lost and I often have to ring it to find it! Only a select few know the number.

If people want to contact me they are instructed to call my landline number. This is received on a call guardian phone that filters the incoming calls and rejects spammers' automatic dialers. If I am out, callers are transferred to the answer phone. If callers get the answering machine they know that I will call them back at my earliest convenience, not theirs.. If I am around I have 4 handsets distributed around the house, so there is always one within easy reach.

I know that this is not the trendy way to do it, I guess that it's a generation thing.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

PowerLee — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 14:03:26 GMT

@pvmb wrote:

I confess to being a little puzzled as to why apparently so many(?) people want to keep their 'landline'(!) going via VoIP...

I want to keep my landline number as I use the home phone & also the alarm system is linked in to the home phone.

I also want both my broadband & VOIP service with the same provider, something Plusnet doesn't do & EE where jokingly expensive even with the Plusnet customer discount applied & then there is the annoying yearly price rise. Plus going with EE would mean dealing with Openreach, something I refuse to ever do again.

As an added bonus I have to say the Fritzbox 7530AX is a fantastic router & also extremely easy to set up with a Fritzbox 3000AX repeater for a mesh network.

Re: Getting voice / VOIP wrorking with a Fritz!Box 7530 router with FTTP

pvmb — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 14:25:47 GMT

@Baldrick1 wrote:

I am one of the alleged small minority with a landline phone. I have a mobile phone to take out with me when I'm 'mobile'. It is also used for 2FA and minor purchases, say car parking aps and in the pub. I don't walk around the house with it permanently clapped to my ear awaiting irrelevant social media chit chat to interrupt me.

Nor me. But then I didn't do that with my landline phone either - why would I?

I find Google Maps really useful when out and about with my new smartphone (I don't mean I get lost a lot...), for answering: "When is this bloody bus/train going to arrive?".

@Baldrick1 wrote:
If people want to contact me they are instructed to call my landline number. This is received on a call guardian phone that filters the incoming calls and rejects spammers' automatic dialers.

Funnily enough I don't suffer from spammers etc. But that's another story...

@Baldrick1 wrote:

If I am out, callers are transferred to the answer phone. If callers get the answering machine they know that I will call them back at my earliest convenience, not theirs..

Have you not heard? They went and invented 'answer phones' for mobiles, too! In fact, I have had one of those on my old Nokia 1100 2G mobile phone that I have used for the last ~20 years. What will they think of next? 🙂

@Baldrick1 wrote:

I know that this is not the trendy way to do it, I guess that it's a generation thing.

Could be. But, then again, I'm nearer 80 than 70. 😒