Business account switching

silentmonkey · ‎15-09-2007

Sorry. Original msg somehow got corrupt. Bear with me and I'll repost

silentmonkey · ‎15-09-2007

I used to run my own IT company and resold Plusnet but I have been retired now for a few years. However, many years ago I did setup a business broadband for my daughter's hair salon with Plusnet which I still look after for her. She has now received Notification of Termination of the Service. Because of this I've been speaking to another provider, and I wanted to check what they have told me is correct. I know you lot are all clued up and can give sound advice.

Firstly, I though I'll describe what we currently have. Her contract is for Unlimited Business Fibre Broadband inc. Line rental (FTTC with analogue Phone) with a speed of around 67Mb/s down and 8Mb/s Up. The contract ends on 27th Sep 2023. She uses the broadband for Cloud based booking system, credit card transactions, Streaming Music, Office 365 and guest wi-fi. The phone is analogue and used for client communications. DNS, Email and website ore hosted by other providers.

I have contacted another ISPs and was told that if we wanted to keep the analogue phone then we would have to move before the 7^th August as they are unable to provision phones on copper after that date and we would then need so switch to full FTTP and VoIP at a higher cost (approx. 25%). Now, I know BT are turning off analogue exchanges in 2025 but I had not realised they will not be provisioning VoIP over the existing FTTC broadband network and are forcing the use of FTTP. This doesn’t seem right to me!

So now for my raft of Questions,

Is the statement above, correct?
Do ISPs currently offer VoIP over FTTC Broadband now? I see no reason why I cannot move her to say Sipgate now over here existing FTTC connection!
I'm not 100% sure if FTTP is available in her semi-rural location so what happens about a phone service if we switch after the 7th of August (Assuming that is correct) and FTTP in not availble?
VoIP will be replacing analogue in the near future so do we Jump now to VoIP and FTTP (If available) or switch before 7th Aug and stick with analogue phones until we are forced to change?
Who pays for the switch over when forced too later?
Will we incur Early Termination Charges if we transfer prior to Aug 7th bearing in mind the contract ends on 27th Sept.
I see some are opting to convert to Plusnet residential. Is that allowed for a genuine business and if so, will VAT receipts still be issued.

Thanks in advance.

Mark

MisterW · ‎30-07-2007

Ok so I'll try and give you some facts and see if they answer some of your questions

Openreach stop-sell for copper based voice (WLR) starts in Sept this year. Existing provisions can continue but no new orders will be accepted. That probably explains the 7th Aug date you were quoted.

There's no reason why VOIP cant be used over an FTTC connection.

Some broadband providers are offering their own voip ( e.g BT Digital voice ) but others ( Plusnet being one ) are not.

If you transfer an existing phone service to voip it will cease the landline and any associated FTTC broadband.

The broadband only product over FTTC is called SoGEA ( Single order generic ethernet access ) .

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

Baldrick1 · ‎30-06-2016

@silentmonkey

There are a few issues that I would seriously consider. Yes, cost must be a factor but so is the continuity of both the Internet and phone services to keep the business trading through this major change.

It will cost a bit more but consider temporarily installing a second service alongside the current one. First check if FTTP is available (put the phone number in here to see if Openreach can supply https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL), or maybe there's an Altnet available. If not a second phone line with FTTC service. You then need a VoIP phone which will have a different number. This can either be provided by the ISP or a separate VoIP provider such as A&A or SIPgate.

Once this is up and running you can do the transition in phases, first transfer the booking service then port the current phone number over to VoIP, which will trigger the cancellation of the current Plusnet service. Note you will need a VoIP service that allows number transfers in.

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knowdice · ‎25-04-2008

@silentmonkey

I'm in the same situation with the loss of the Business service.

We have used Gradwell SIP service over FTTC for many years and it certainly works, that said we are going to move away from Gradwell as they are getting expensive.

A few other choices for SIP VOIP:

Andrew & Arnold - seems like good value, Setup £1.2 Monthly £1.44 that's unless you subsequently want to port away from them where they are expensive

Also considering Numbers People which seems to be £1/per for a basic SIP service.

There are many others...unfortunately sipgate no longer have a free service for new users 😥

And as Baldrick1 is saying [implying] 🤔 you need to be careful in the order that you cancel things otherwise you may find yourself without broadband.

Anonymous · ‎14-07-2023

@knowdice wrote:

We have used Gradwell SIP service over FTTC for many years and it certainly works

I used to have Gradwell SIP VoIP (until it became too expensive !) when I was on 8Mb ADSL and it worked perfectly with a little QoS enabled in my router, even when more than one VoIP call was in progress and my kids were watching YouTube.

corringham · ‎25-09-2015

@silentmonkey wrote:

I see some are opting to convert to Plusnet residential. Is that allowed for a genuine business and if so, will VAT receipts still be issued.

As I understand it Plusnet won't issue VAT receipts for a residential service - despite suggesting a migration to residential for business customers (although they'd prefer business custmers to move to a more expensive BT contract).

For VoIP (over anything not just FTTP) I'd also recommend A&A.

markhawkin · ‎17-07-2016

@silentmonkey

Just an observation.

For that kind of business the phone number is the most valuable thing and continuity of the phone service (and number) is the thing I would prioritise.

If someone will keep the copper phone line going for another year and provide internet that would be attractive.

Otherwise a single supplier who does both the Internet service and a phone line is attractive.

I am the satisfied customer....

Townman · ‎22-08-2007

It’s not so much an ISP/CP who might keep the “copper going for another year” but very much “Will BTw/OR permit orders for copper borne services in the locality?”.

In another browser tab, login into the Plusnet user portal BEFORE clicking the fault & ticket links

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

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silentmonkey · ‎15-09-2007

Thanks for all the suggestions. I see I have a lot of research to do. I will certainly check out A&A

The ISP I spoke to was XLN who gave me the information. They will accept analogue phone up until 7^th Aug. Does anyone have any experience of them?

As for FTTP - The exchange is:
Telephone Number 01908xxxxxxx on Exchange STONY STRATFORD is served by Cabinet 41
FTTP is not available.
The exchange is not in a current fibre priority programme
WLR is currently available at the exchange
SOADSL is not restricted at the exchange

However, it would appear gigaclear is available, but it doesn't look like they do business or phone. I’ll check on Monday but it may be to late to get it installed as I guess we would need landlords permission and a Wayleave Agreement.

Who would have thought it would be so challenging to move ISP! I'll keep you all posted regarding my experience. I see a whole lot of pain ahead for small businesses like this.

corringham · ‎25-09-2015

@silentmonkey wrote:

However, it would appear gigaclear is available, but it doesn't look like they do business or phone. I’ll check on Monday but it may be to late to get it installed as I guess we would need landlords permission and a Wayleave Agreement.

If Gigaclear is available I'd consider them (with proviso below) - I've just come to the end of my initial 18 month period and it has been excellent. £25pm for a 500Mbps symmetrical connection. When I joined they resold Vonage (I didn't go with that as I already had sipgate), but now offer their own VoIP for £3pm (+calls). Their new customer deals are very attractive - if you recontract after that for another 18 months you can get a deal that is significantly cheaper than the month-to-month price, although not as good as new customers. I've gone with an upgrade to 600Mbps for £44pm. They will only impose one inflation price rise per 18 month contracted term, and the next will be £3pm for me (so no annual 3.9%+CPI rise).

Latency is consistently low, and speed tests reliably show the full contracted speed (slightly more for upload).

I've only had two minor issues to date - one was a fibre break shortly after install which was fixed quickly, and a few days of slow (~300Mbps!) connection when the network was rerouted to cope with a major backhaul fibre break in the next county.

Here's the proviso - Gigaclear do business accounts, but you probably don't want one - they are expensive (or were when they last published prices on their website). They may negotiate a deal? Anyway, as long as the address is at least partly residential they will provide a residential connection (I run a business from home, and that was fine with them). However, if it is a purely business address they may not let you have a residential account.