Choice of landline provider?

Routefinder · ‎01-08-2007

Hi all

Our phone & FTTC contract will be up for renewal end of May 2026......so subject to learning what my options will be then, I thought to ask for some insights now?

Right now as mentioned we have Home Phone & FTTC and the PN email and would not like to lose our landline phone number!

I accept that PN are hiving off the email service to Greenly, and so be it, I just hope that come the time they let me know when our email service will transfer that it will be transparent of the change i.e. other then perhaps a brief pause it will like nothing has changed

But back to the main question? We like our phone line for convenience as the mobile is not IMO the 'be all & end all' of home communications.

So, as PN will not be offering Digital Voice the only option will be to change to another service provider for "voice" whether, until analogue voice is turned off in our area, it will be a continuation of the PSTN service or we go VOIP/Digital Voice before the local area PSTN switch off.

Note ~ we are not on an FTTP 'availability' service exchange.

The question(s) I would appreciate some insights and suggestions about are:-

When to time comes (in May 2026) are we obliged to go VOIP or will, if PSTN has not been turned off, we be able to get e.g. BT to takeover the current landline "as is"?
If digital voice/VOIP is obligatory, which providers are leader of the pack and if you have gone that route already who are you with and is the service good enough to recommend?
Now, back up power for both the landline digital voice (and my router )
I surmise a decent UPS supply would be good, so any thoughts as to make & model numbers to look out for?
Also, we have a perfectly fine set of 3 handset DECT phones......what do I need to plan for to continue to use them or should I be buying VOIP capable equivalent set?

Many thanks in anticipation of any answers & feedback which maybe will be of help to other PN customers who will be facing a similar dilemma over the next year of three?

Townman · ‎22-08-2007

@Routefinder wrote:

We like our phone line for convenience as the mobile is not IMO the 'be all & end all' of home communications.

So, as PN will not be offering Digital Voice the only option will be to change to another service provider for "voice" whether, until analogue voice is turned off in our area, it will be a continuation of the PSTN service or we go VOIP/Digital Voice before the local area PSTN switch off.

The question(s) I would appreciate some insights and suggestions about are:-

When to time comes (in May 2026) are we obliged to go VOIP or will, if PSTN has not been turned off, we be able to get e.g. BT to takeover the current landline "as is"?

If digital voice/VOIP is obligatory, which providers are leader of the pack and if you have gone that route already who are you with and is the service good enough to recommend?

Now, back up power for both the landline digital voice (and my router )
I surmise a decent UPS supply would be good, so any thoughts as to make & model numbers to look out for?

Also, we have a perfectly fine set of 3 handset DECT phones......what do I need to plan for to continue to use them or should I be buying VOIP capable equivalent set?

Many thanks in anticipation of any answers & feedback which maybe will be of help to other PN customers who will be facing a similar dilemma over the next year of three?

It is a good idea to explore the issues well in advance of the need to do something. There are lots of threads around here offering answers to your questions, but briefly...

If "like our phone line for convenience" means "it still works during a power cut" then it is important that you understand that is not the future of "line line" telephony services. It will not deliver quite the same breadth of 'convenience' unless you provision for service continuity during power cuts. Depending on where you live (how remote) that might or might not be a concern for you.

At present your 'voice' service is delivered as an analogue electrical signal direct from the local exchange over an end to end copper circuit. The exchanges have their own back-up power supply to cater for power cuts. The PTSN switch off (all too often referred to as the 'withdrawal of copper') is about removing the functionality of the telephone exchanges and the copper circuit from the exchange to the green cabinet. When that happens, voice services need to be delivered digitally over the broadband connection ... which requires power to the router and the telephone device.

To your specific questions...

No provider can take over an as is PTSN service, either now or in the future; the most you can expect if for Plusnet to continue to supply your service as is ... until BT Openreach plug the plug on the PTSN service
Read the many threads around here - there are experiences reported with many of the providers, from VoIP only (broadband remaining with Plusnet) to moving everything to another provider ... when Plusnet ditched business users I moved FTTC+PTSN to FTTP + VoiP from Zen ... all went very smoothly with no break in service
There are already various USP discussions around here - use the search option at the top of the screen
Reuse of the DECT phones is probably be the least concern - when I moved the business service to Zen, they supplied the excellent Fritz!Box which has an in-built DECT base station, to which I paired (IIRC) six DECT handsets from two different systems ... the Fritz!Box then effectively acts as a PABX

I think that there is already a great deal of help on this board which will help ... it might though be helpful to consolidate this into a FAQ. Such a matter has been raised with the business, but given that they are not moving forwards with voice services, it is not space they are inclined to advise on ... for understandable commercial concerns.

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.

If this post helped, please click the Thumbs Up and if it fixed your issue, please click the This fixed my problem green button below.

bmc · ‎28-02-2017

@Routefinder

You're wise to look at options before the push comes. I believe it'll be before the end of the year when PSTN goes but several on here think it'll be later.

With regards to the email - if it moves before you take any action then you'll be able to keep the address but pay Greenby £15pa (which you'll do after two years anyway).

You first choice to whether to stick with an ISP who does both VOIP and Internet or stay with PN but port your number to an independant provider. A combined service is easiest to transfer with little downtime on the phone. Separating the services gives you more options in the future.

Depending on your phone usage A&A are well regarded for VOIP.

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

As to your Dect phones - if staying with PN for internet consider getting your hands on a FritzBox 7530 router. I recently bought one on CEX for £35. A newer version (7530 AX) has better WiFi but costs more. The reason I mention it is it has a built in Dect base station. If buying, make sure you get a UK version. It is the router of choice for Zen Internet so their Help pages can answer most questions on the 7530. Zen are also a good choice for bith internet & VOIP.

Brian

198kHz · ‎30-07-2008

@bmc wrote:

@Routefinder

It is the router of choice for Zen Internet so their Help pages can answer most questions on the 7530. Zen are also a good choice for both internet & VOIP.

I'll second that.

This was my experience in 2023 when it became apparent that Plusnet were not going to provide VOIP.

https://community.plus.net/t5/Home-Phone/change-over/m-p/1936776#M37845

A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine
Zen SOGEA 40/10 + Digital Voice FRITZ!Box 7530
BT technician (Retired)

pint · ‎19-08-2007

I moved yo a voip provider effectively splitting the voice service and the internet service.
Plusnet for broadband, and voipfone for voice.

I purchased a little adaptor box from voipfone that came pre configured but it's unlocked so can be used with other standalone voice/landline providers if i want.

This box (grandstream ht801 ATA) is powered from the routers usb port.
It is possible to run the whole lot using a power back up battery but if you have a cordless phone you will also need battery back up for that, or have a corded phone attached as well, that doesn't use mains power.

The voice service (landline) can plug into any internet service provider/router.

My set up can remain powered for at least 4 hours in a s power cut with both wifi and phone working

mwwagain · ‎03-12-2024

One tale worth adding is the experience of my neighbour (and guess who is IT support around here .....)

She was forced onto EE from BT when going FTTP but despite all it says EE have proven to be incapable of making the little green socket on their router work as a phone socket.

So 'just plug your old phone in' has become 'throw your DECT and real copper stuff away and after 3 weeks of arguing and 5 engineers we will give in and send you 4 wifi VOIP house phones for free'. Well so far they are free.

So the 'seamless transfer' that PlusNet are also offering is more aggro than going to say A&A's real VOIP as I have. I found getting VOIP desk phones (eBay £25 or so) a lot easier to set up than a 'generic' GrandstreamHT801, but then I run 100% wired.