Catch 22 -How to upgrade to FTTP & port phone number to Sipgate without losing existing PN account ?

[#1]

This seems like a real Catch 22 situation, Sipgate say that if I request them to port my current BT phone number to Sipgate it will cause all existing services on my landline to be cancelled, including my Plusnet (F9) Broadband and as an old F9 customer I still have email, web-space, static IP, etc. So how on earth can I ever port my old phone number ?

If I upgrade to FTTP first, before requesting to port my phone number, will that still cause my new FTTP F9 BB to be cancelled causing me to lose all my PN perks ? or will that be considered a completely different unrelated service ? will BT and or Sipgate allow me to port my number after it has been ceased ? Sipgate say they can only port active numbers

[#2]

@daveg6hni 

Is it OpenReach who will provide the FTTP via PlusNet?

Must the VOIP provider be Sipgate? A&A are happy to port "ceased" numbers. If it is Sipgate then it appears you're on a loser. https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/

Brian

[#3]

Not that it has affected me, but if A&A can do it relatively easily, why do other VoIP suppliers have such difficulty - they can use the same route as A&A do?

[#4]

Is it OpenReach who will provide the FTTP via PlusNet?

@bmc Well I assume it will be Openreach as it is a BT phone line

I already have a Sipgate account so I don't really want a second VOIP account, but if I can't find a way, then A&A might be the way to go, thanks.

[#5]

@daveg6hni 

If PN are offering you an upgrade to FTTP then it will be OR. You could give the PlusNet Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632 a phone to see if the upgrade will have any affect on your historic add ons.

How about signing up with A&A for a short period to get your number ported and then porting it again to Sipgate?

Brian

[#6]

@bmc 

I have spoken to someone at PN who sent me a link to upgrade my existing account without loss of any of my existing add-ons and I like the idea of joining A&A temporarily...

[#7]

How about signing up with A&A for a short period to get your number ported and then porting it again to Sipgate?

Whilst that will work, dont forget it will incur the porting fee (typically £15) twice!

[#8]

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@jab1 wrote:

.. if A&A can do it relatively easily, why do other VoIP suppliers have such difficulty - they can use the same route as A&A do?

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I understand that sone-one has to contact a help desk to manually recover the number from quarantine. This is not compatible with the automated process available when porting an active number, obviously preferred by VoIP providers.

[#9]

@Baldrick1 I know that, but are you saying VoIP providers are like GPO Telephones - 'our way or no way' - in other words - we don't want to help?

[#10]

@jab1 

From previous posts on the Forum it appears the automatic A&A port fails but A&A Support are happy to phone BT (as the range holder) to do a manual port. That takes Support time and therefore money - perhaps other VOIP providers are unwilling to go this far to get new customers.

Brian

[#11]

Fair enough @bmc - but remind me not to deal with them - I don't think I ever will, as I'm very happy with my current set-up, but you never know...

[#12]

@MisterW ,

Thanks, yes I just found the £15 charge in A&A's fees, I'm not sue if Sipgate charge the same, If there was a simply way of just forwarding all BT calls to my Sipgate number then I'd do that. At present I'm logging into all my on-line accounts and updating my home phone number, if I was confident I could update everyone that has my BT number, I could just let it go...

[#13]

@daveg6hni 

I'm not sue if Sipgate charge the same,

No they dont,  just checked and they now charge £25! https://teamhelp.sipgate.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/204128432-Porting-my-existing-telephone-number-to-s...

As you're already using Sipgate, what voip equipment do you use ? will it support multiple SIP accounts ?

For instance I'm using a gigaset N300 and it has a sipgate account , an A & A account and an account which links me to the company pbx as an extension.

[#14]

@daveg6hni  

I'm assuming that your existing Sipgate number is an old free 'starter' or 'basic' account ?

It is my understanding that at the end of 2023 Sipgate stopped selling 'free' accounts, however existing 'free' accounts won't be closed.

Given that Sipgate's cheapest account is now £12.95/month, that's quite expensive compared to A&A's VoIP at £1.44/month + 1.5p/min calls.

If you only wanted to be paying one provider, you could port both your landline and Sipgate numbers to A&A,

or you might consider that having two different VoIP suppliers to be a good thing as it gives you diversity of connectivity and is likely that at least one of your VoIP phone numbers would work if either supplier had a technical outage.

For what it's worth, I have A&A VoIP, their phone number porting from landline was faultless (despite the added complication that I previously had different suppliers for phone and broadband !), and has worked flawlessly the entire time.

[#15]

@Anonymous , @MisterW 

Dohh, this gets worse by the second !

Yes my Sipgate account is an old "free" one and I just pay for calls... or at least that is how it always has been, I don't remember receiving any change notice ?

If Sipgate are likely to make me pay more then A&A are looking a lot more attractive

And that would solve my Catch-22 situation too

>>> update <<<

I've just checked my Sipgate account and can confirm I am still only paying for calls...