Plusnet adsl, BT Landline, carelink alarm and more!

[#1]

Hi all, asking for a family member and wonder if you can help?

Once you leave Plusnet, I assume your Plusnet email stops working? - is it possible to keep a Plusnet email account active (as a standalone paid service?) once you stop your broadband?- I ask because my aunt has Plusnet ADSL, BT Landline, Care Link alarm via phoneline and BT landline contract due for renewal and she wants to know how best to proceed given that Plusnet don't do voice phonelines, she doesn't want to change email from Plusnet, ..they must keep landline number so all a bit precarious.

I won't go into reasons why but it is what is it, so I assume the simplest answer is stick with Pluset adsl, BT landline and carry on for another year or two.'as is'

If she did moved  BT landline, Plusnet adsl (presume it'll be fttc) over to EE,  who assure her that the careline alarm will work (?) with digital voice.... does anyone see issues other than possibly losing her Plusnet email address?

Sorry it's a ramble..... things have got so more complex for the older generation with Digital voice it seems!

[#2]

@orby If she moves her internet connection to another provider, she will lose the email address. I'll leave the rest of your questions to others.

[#3]

@orby 

E-mail goes when you close the account - no paid e-mail only.

You can stick with things as they are but BT will move the line onto their Digital Voice service sooner rather than later. This may force your Aunt onto an internet only service called SOSAL (I think) from PN.

You need to look at the care alarm package to see if it works with VOIP. Neither BT or PN will be able to tell you.

Are you an authorised name on her PN account (allows you to speak to then on your aunt's behalf)?

If the post a screen image of the results from the following (after hiding personal details) it may help Members provide advice. Include the narrative below the results window.

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

Brian

[#4]

@orby  I think you need to talk to Careline about how to upgrade the existing phoneline based system to one of their current products which are all advertised as "No Phone Line Needed".

I've tried looking at the specifics of the products shown and can't find exactly how these 'no phone line' units actually communicate, because some of the the instructions show plugging a lead into a phone socket !, and I couldn't find any instructions that indicate that broadband is used, so how do there units work ? - 2G mobile SIM maybe ?

[#5]

@jab1

Thanks, I thought that might be the case.

[#6]

@bmc thanks, I'm not able to check her account right now, I know the DV is coming and I guess when it does Plusnet needs to go, so her email needs to change too.... at least she can prepare and look at changing that in preparation.

Results show:

[#7]

@orby 

You don't need to stay with BT for the landline - there are plenty of other VOIP providers. Check out

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

FTTC is also available if required.

Brian

[#8]

@Anonymous thanks, yes she has spoken with careline I think, who said they might need to come to the home when the broadband is changed over to new provider with digital voice - her device looks like that one on the left...so maybe it's 2G in which case I wonder why they need to even worry about the phoneline/broadband?

I'll see if I can ask her more info and see exactly what she's got.

[#9]

@bmc - thanks, yes if it were me I'd go VoIP but it's an elderly aunt and uncle so am their remote support but a few miles away.... so a more established landline might be needed should I not be about to help.

[#10]

You can stick with things as they are but BT will move the line onto their Digital Voice service sooner rather than later.

I'm not sure how BT retail would go about moving a line to digital voice where another supplier is already providing broadband. My gut feeling is that they (BT) don't know (or care?) either! They may well just ignore the situation, provide their own digital phone and router, cease the other suppliers BB and convert the line to SoGEA/SoTAP using BT broadband. If one is lucky, you'd get a 'sorry you are leaving' from the existing BB and have a chance to stop the transfer...

[#11]

@orby  the reason @bmc  is suggesting VoIP rather than 'Digital Voice' is that ideally you want to retain the Plusnet email.

'Digital Voice' is a BT product, that is similar to VoIP but tends to be locked to BT's (or a few other ISP's) router/adaptor.

VoIP is an open standard that gives you a choice of where you get the service and what hardware you want to use.

If you move your aunt/uncle's broadband to BT to get 'Digital Voice' then they will LOSE their Plusnet email.

If you upgrade their Plusnet broadband to 'SoGEA' AND port their BT phone number to a third party VoIP service,  then your aunt/uncle can continue with their existing Plusnet email, AND keep their existing telephone number, AND VoIP calls are usually much cheaper than 'digital voice'.

[#12]

@orby 

Thanks for the information.

@Anonymous has explained why I suggested VOIP. The BT Digital Voice service is another form of VOIP but tied to BT. One thing not mentioned yet is VOIP doesn't work during power cuts.

On PN ADSL the line appears to be eligible for transfer to SOADSL which is an internet only product if they're not interested in higher speeds from FTTC. Given the ADSL pricing nowadays there might not be much difference in price.

If you're an authorised name on the account I would speak to the PlusNet Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632 to see what's available.

Brian

[#13]

Thanks to all that replied, it's much appreciated, I'll have a chat with them and see what they want to do.

[#14]

I moved a family member with a careline type device from Plusnet to BT - as it turned out the device was already 2G/3G SIM based and didn't use the phone line at all. It will use 2G when 3G is switched off, and has battery back-up.

I was pleasantly surprised at how professionally the broadband/phone switch was done. The broadband changed over when they said it would (to the minute), then I received a text to ask if it was working, and when I confirmed it was the phone was switched to VoIP within a minute. I just had to move the phone wire from the master socket to the router, and it just worked.

The choice of BT was made because the family member receives benefits which make them eligible for a social tariff - £15pm for 40Mbps FTTC broadband, VoIP, and 700 minutes of calls. Previously Plusnet has been charging £47pm for 2Mbps ADSL & landline (but for unlimited calls).