Being switched to EE

[#1]

OK. 😁

[#2]

@jab1 

It looks like we won't be connected yet. An Openreach engineer came out on Friday and apparently there is a problem with our copper cable about 300 yards down the lane, so they have to apply for a road closure order to dig it up. 

We are beginning to wish we had stayed with Plusnet and found some other way of getting a home phone, a friend mentioned Phonely?

[#3]

Not having much luck, are you @nuttyknitter ?

Phonely are a VoIP provider, but I admit to not knowing much about them. Being with Zen, who do combined internet/phone through the same router means I haven't  had to research alternatives. 

[#4]

Do you think Zen would give us the things we want?

A friend who was recently forced to migrate to EE from Plusnet had connections for a few days. When we saw him on Saturday he had nothing at all and had been told they wouldn't look at it until Wednesday. He lives in a residential area, I am worried that we might end up totally cut off down here.

[#5]

I am a little biased, as a very satisfied Zen customer, but if you went with them, you would have an easy switch to a combined internet and phone service, and they are rather more proactive than BT Group companies when it comes to fault resolution.

Your problem at the moment  is the Openreach infrastructure, and until that is sorted, whoever you are with you will have problems.

[#6]

One of my many objections to using a "Digital Voice" service instead of a real VoIP phone service, is that you are trapped in using your ISP's router to be able use the telephone service.  This means that if you have a problem with your broadband connection, then you lose your phone service as well.

If you use a real VoIP provider, you could use a different broadband connection - such as 'borrowing' your neighbour's WiFi.  You could also use a smartphone app to act as a VoIP handset (as if it was your home phone) either when you are at home via WiFi or when out and about via mobile data.

Be aware that in rare cases, some ISPs with "Digital Voice" do provide an app for mobile phones, however these tend to ONLY work when you are at home using your router's WiFI, and do not work when away from home on mobile connections, so even when using a mobile as a handset if the broadband fails you still lose your landline phone.  EE does NOT have a "Digital Voice" app, but Zen has  FRITZ!App Fon that works when at home with the Zen provided router via WiFi.

Using a third party VoIP service also means that your phone service is independent of your broadband provider, so is much easier to change broadband supplier when what is available locally changes, such as full fibre arriving, a new local AltNet that is cheaper, or using Starlink when the apocalypse happens.

[#7]

The saga continues....I had a text from Openreach almost two weeks ago  saying the problem had been fixed and to give them a date for their engineer to come. An appointment was made for today between 8am and 1pm, got up earlier sat around and waited but no one came. We are beginning to think if this is what EE are like before we switch, how good will they be afterwards. Not very by the look of it. What should we do now? In the meantime our out of contract price has gone up again, this time it will be £63, a big jump, this month it was £57, our contract price was £40. 

[#8]

@nuttyknitter Was the FF installation because of the switch to EE? Irrespective, because all the BT Group Consumer companies are now dealt with via the BT call centres, I would give then a call and ask them to get OR to get their act together.

[#9]

@jab1

We are supposed to be moving to EE using the one touch switch method. EE made an appointment for someone to visit yesterday but no one came. We can only have part fibre due to only having a copper line. 

We are wondering if we would be better abandoning the switch to EE and move to someone more reliable. I spent 27 minutes listening to the most awful music yesterday afternoon, when I hung up and tried again a bit later they said the wait time was 45 minutes. 

[#10]

Sorry, I forgot you can't get FF @nuttyknitter  - this saga has been going on for so long.

I am assuming this engineer visit is related to the 'isolator' or whatever they claim you need, but as you cannot contact OR directly, I'm afraid you will have to go via EE, however painful that route is.

As I seem to recall, you don't have any alternative network providers in your area, so you are stuck with OR, and whichever ISP you went with would still have to be your first port of call, and they would still hit the OR wall.

[#11]

@jab1

I think there might be other providers but it seemed like EE would be the easiest for us as we are getting on a bit. 

We don't mind who our broadband and home phone are with, we just want them to be reliable. We wouldn't be leaving Plusnet if they hadn't decided to give up on home phone, and us.

[#12]

I understand your reasoning @nuttyknitter  but unfortunately I'm running out of suggestions at the moment. 

I will tag a couple of the much more experienced users, and see if they have any ideas.

@Townman  / @MisterW ?

[#13 · Accepted solution]

Hi, @nuttyknitter 

I'm concerned to hear about the ongoing issues you've had with your transfer to EE, and am keen to ensure we get this resolved for you.

I've just popped you over a private message so we can take a few more details.

Speak soon,

Peter 

[#14]

Seeing as the problem appears to be down to Openreach and EE's apparent reluctance to apply pressure. If Peters intervention doesnt bear fruit. I think its time for an email to the Openreach CEO. That usually gets things moving...

[#15]

Now why didn't I think of that?😉