Email addresses stopped with no notice

[#1]

@JOHNO2  

If your old landline phone NUMBER is important to you, you probably still have an brief opportunity to migrate the ceased NUMBER away from TalkTalk to a VoIP provider. You typically have 30 days from when the number was ceased.

If you were successful in migrating the NUMBER to say A&A VoIP, you would then 'own' the number at a cost of £1.44 per month, and the number wouldn't be lost to you forever.

Unfortunately the immediate chances of getting VoIP to work on SOADSL is quite low, given your estimated line speeds.

However, once you 'own' your number again, then we can explore how you might re-establish a home phone.

While it appears that SOADSL is the ONLY option currently available from Openreach, have you full explored other networks in your area, including AltNet full fibre providers, "Fixed Wireless" broadband providers, and 4G/5G mobile data networks ?

If you want us to have a look for you, to see what other (non-Openreach) broadband networks might exist in your area, either give us an idea of where you are (if you don't mind posting your locale in a public forum - but get the collective views of everyone here) or send me your postcode in a Private Message, and I'll have a look later.

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[#2]

Many thanks, outcast, that's very helpful.  I'm looking at 4G, but the two masts closest to us are both obscured from direct view  by trees, (we are in the  boondocks here)  so we have to move about a bit in the old-fashioned way to get much of a signal. It may be possible to get one with a signal booster. 

Talktalk did say they have only 'frozen' the account, not actually closed it, and I think I understood the operative correctly to say that it would be re-opened if I paid the sum owing, which I did straightaway.  However, no signal in or out yet, tho' the dialtone is there.  I'll try them again this week. The number is only really important in that it's the one my 95yr-old mother-in-law knows, and rings when she's confused or needy. 

I suppose the other option is satellite through Sky or Starlink - but I resent giving money to Musk and people who have Sky say it's problematic. 

[#3]

Have you looked at "Fixed Wireless" broadband providers ?

Here is a brief description on how this differs from mobile networks -

       https://www.ispreview.co.uk/broadband_wireless.php 

You can narrow down to local providers, by entering your 'county' here -

       https://www.ispreview.co.uk/isp_list/ISP_List_Wireless.php 

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[#4]

Hey @JOHNO2,

no more emails are coming through since then, including several that I have sent to myself from other email addresses. 

I've reviewed the mailbox component and everything appears to be correctly configured from the admin side. It seems your mailbox might be over capacity. Could you please check the sizes of your inboxes?
 

[#5]

@JOHNO2 

It might be worth checking this out -

Ofcom : Your right to request a decent broadband service

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[#6]

It might be one thing to inhibit calls on a line for non-payment but trash the service all together so as to cease other services is outrageous. If I were in your shoes I’d be making a formal complaint to Ofcom about TT’s conduct.

[#7]

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@JOHNO2 wrote:

Talktalk did say they have only 'frozen' the account, not actually closed it, and I think I understood the operative correctly to say that it would be re-opened if I paid the sum owing, which I did straightaway.  However, no signal in or out yet, tho' the dialtone is there.  I'll try them again this week.

TalkTalk may well 're-open' the 'frozen' account but you won't get either ADSL broadband, or analogue phone service back - at least not on Openreach equipment at your exchange.

The mechanism which destroyed your Plusnet account, would have been TalkTalk ceasing your landline phone service via Openreach.  ADSL doesn't exist without an associated landline phone service (without becoming SOADSL).  Since 5th September 2023, Openreach won't process any orders for any new service, or modify an existing one, which includes a landline phone service.

I would say that it is impossible for TalkTalk to restore your phone service and ADSL with Openreach.

The only possibility you have with them is if by luck they have their own LLU (non-Openreach) voice and ADSL equipment installed in your local exchange (which isn't impossible as maybe 1500 out of 5600 telephone exchanges still have TalkTalk LLU equipment installed from back in the early 2000s).  You would however be locked in to being with TalkTalk, and even those old LLU equipped exchanges are expected to be closed some time before 2030.

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[#8]

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@JOHNO2 wrote:

I suppose the other option is satellite through Sky or Starlink - but I resent giving money to Musk ...

I'm not sure why you would first think of those overpriced services, when there are at least half a dozen providers of residential satellite broadband services available in England.

An obvious contender is Brdy, with good speeds, low monthly costs, and latency that is lower than most other sat comms.

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[#9]

Very many thanks again, outcast, that's very helpful.  Though brdy is a Starlink re-seller, but I'll bear it in mind. At the minute I've gone for a mobile wi-fi device just to get something. The mobile signal is not brilliant, but as I've been used to 0.5mb speeds on the ADSL (we're four miles from the exchange), a slow or weak signal is a minor problem! 

Thank you also for the advice about the fixed wireless option.  The local operation is Quickline from Hull, who have worked hard in this area, and have got gigabit-capable fibre to the premises in the village a mile to the north of me by using a point-to-point transmitter, and also to the farm to our west,  but they don't fancy getting a signal through the trees to me.   Openreach/EE did then bring fibre-optic cable to the village to supply a mast on the Emergency Services Network (still not operational, tho' supplying a hugely improved EE signal in the area), and the contractors showed me a workplan where they were to carry the cable on past our house - but it's never been done. 

Thanks also to townman and others for their comments about talktalk and the withdrawal of service.  It is something I will have to follow up. Talktalk did promise to restore the landline, but it hasn't been done either. 

[#10]

Sorry, Marsh,  but still nothing coming through on my mailbox after the comment left by your colleague on 5th March.  I've checked that inbox size, it's 75mb.  I used to get occasional emails from Plusnet Support about the size of my wife's inbox, approaching the limit at ?750mb?, and I would then log into it and delete a load of the  circulars that her email client didn't rub out.  I last did that in September, and it normally lasts a couple of years.  However, I can't log into it at the moment, so both of us have started circulating new email addresses to get things going again, as it's clear that Plusnet is unable to help. 

[#11 · Accepted solution]

Ah Hull and area ... know it well ... used to be a great telephone supplier.

Lets take this in steps to ensure that everything is properly restored...

1. Are you able to log into the broadband account / user portal here - https://plus.net
2. If yes, under 'Manage Account' go to Manage your Plusnet mailboxes
3. Under there do you see the mailboxes
4. If yes, try logging into the via https://webmail.plus.net - use the email address
5. If you cannot log in try changing the password via (2) above

[#12]

Townman, 

Great work, thank you.  I've got into my wife's email, using your suggestion of changing the password (to that which I thought it already was!)  She is still receiving circulars etc, since re-instatement on 6th March.  However, I tried to forward some of them to her new email, and it wouldn't send.  But that's not important. 

Her email inbox was 356 Mb.  Nearly all rubbish, which I can delete, but it's not refusing incoming mail. 

So I then tried re-submitting my own login , and finally got into my own mailbox, so many thanks for sorting that out.  I hadn't realised that I had to re-submit the login passwords. I think there was some confusion, when Marsh got the mail going again, he left me a voicemail to call him and he'd explain how to get it going, but by the time I rang him back, he'd gone off, and a colleague just said that it should be instantly operational.  However, that's fine.  I'll get on now, and stop troubling y'all. 

Smartest move the East Yorkies ever made, keeping their own telephone company out of the greedy hands of BT.  Quickline were a good and energetic young company, but now they've been acquired by another (from Oxford way I think), they've got a bit 'steadier'. 

Many thanks again.

[#13]

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@JOHNO2 wrote:

... the other option is satellite through Sky or Starlink - but I resent giving money to Musk ...

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@JOHNO2 wrote:

... Though brdy is a Starlink re-seller ...

Yes, Brdy does resell Starlink systems, however they are also resellers for other Low Earth Orbit satellite network providers.

If you used Brdy to get satellite broadband, it is unlikely that you would be contributing to Elon Musk's earnings.

If anything you would be paying one of Elon's competitors !.

I asked Elon's AI, what network does Brdy use for the residential package (£29.90) when Starlink's equivalent costs £75. -

For its £29.90 package aimed at residential customers, BRDY does not appear to use Starlink as its satellite network. As you pointed out, Starlink’s direct residential offering starts at £75 per month, which makes it unlikely that BRDY could resell Starlink at such a significantly lower price point while maintaining a viable business model. Instead, BRDY leverages other satellite networks to provide its services, with evidence pointing toward Eutelsat as the primary provider for this specific package.

BRDY’s £29.90 plan, often referred to as the "BRDY Standard" or similar entry-level offering, is described as delivering download speeds of 25-75 Mbps with a 100GB priority data allowance, followed by unlimited standard data at reduced speeds. This aligns with specifications commonly associated with geostationary satellite services rather than the low-Earth-orbit (LEO) system used by Starlink. Information from BRDY’s own materials and industry sources indicates that they utilize Eutelsat satellites, specifically mentioning the Eutelsat-KONNECT infrastructure for their broadband services. Eutelsat’s geostationary satellites, positioned 22,000 miles above the equator, provide wide coverage across Europe, including the UK, and are well-suited for delivering affordable broadband to rural and remote areas—BRDY’s key market.

Additionally, BRDY’s partnership with Eutelsat is highlighted in their deployment of the KONNECT VHTS (Very High Throughput Satellite), which supports their standard residential plans like the £29.90 package. This contrasts with their business-oriented offerings, where BRDY explicitly mentions Starlink as an option for bespoke packages, suggesting a clear distinction: Starlink for higher-end or business clients, and Eutelsat for cost-effective residential plans. The lower cost of the £29.90 package is consistent with Eutelsat’s pricing structure through resellers, as opposed to Starlink’s premium direct-to-consumer model.

While BRDY also mentions OneWeb in some contexts (another LEO provider), OneWeb’s focus is primarily on enterprise and institutional clients, and its pricing through partners tends to be higher than Eutelsat’s geostationary offerings. There’s no direct evidence linking OneWeb to the £29.90 residential package, whereas Eutelsat’s infrastructure matches the technical and pricing profile of this plan.

Thus, for the £29.90 residential package, BRDY most likely uses the Eutelsat satellite network, leveraging its geostationary satellites like KONNECT or KONNECT VHTS to deliver affordable broadband to households. This allows BRDY to undercut Starlink’s pricing while still providing reliable service tailored to rural connectivity needs. For absolute confirmation, contacting BRDY directly would clarify any ambiguity, but the available data strongly supports Eutelsat over Starlink or OneWeb for this specific offering.

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