Switching to Plusnet but my home phone and broadband are from different providers

[#1]

I'm considering switching to Plusnet, but my current situation is a bit complex.

Current home phone is with BT, in my name (I pay). Broadband is with Sky, in my wife's name (she pays). I want to bring both together under one provider: preferably Plusnet, and all in my name alone.

If I switch to Plusnet (home phone+broadband) will Plusnet be able to handle it? Or will the two different providers ( and two different billing customers) cause problems? I need minimal downtime for both landline and internet.

(Asking here as online chat is unavailable at the moment, and in any case it's not an urgent query).

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Bacalhau,

Welcome to the forums!

This is totally something that's doable. It's actually no different than if both services were with the same provider and in the same name. The type of transfer that's placed has a minimum lead time of 2 weeks to complete and it's all initiated from our end.

Once your account is set up we place orders in the relevant systems, these orders notify your current providers that a new provider is taking over the service. After the initial validation period a completion date is set on both sides, the 'winning' provider - us, and the 'losing' provider(s) - Sky and BT.

Once this date is set both sides should then notify you via their standard methods. For example we'd email you to say your service is set to go live with us on 'X' date. Sky may send a letter, BT may phone. No matter the method the dates will all match up.

Once the transfer completes your service with us will go live and be usable, and then the losing provider(s) should automatically close down your account with them and generate any final bill that is payable.

These kind of transfers should not incur any downtime, but if you're moving from a Sky ADSL service to a Plusnet fibre service there is a chance you will have downtime as part of the technology change.  

Let me know if you have any further questions. 

[#3]

Thanks a lot, very helpful.

Any idea how long a typical Sky-ADSL-to-Plusnet-Fibre downtime might be? Hours? Days? (Gulp) Weeks?

[#4]

Hey @Bacalhau

If you are transferring your service we would generally place both the phone and broadband order simultaneously, meaning both services will become active on the same date. There may be a couple of hours between your provider stopping your service and our order completing (as this can take up until midnight on the transfer date).

We try to aim for the orders to go through as seamless as possible with very minimal downtime. However, we cant advise on this specifically as every order is different.

Let me know if you have any further questions,