Going to Fibre - the knock-on effects

[#1]

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@penneck wrote:

@bmc . It seems I'm getting Full Fibre.

Having seen the video, I now have another problem. The video indicates I need a double 13A socket for the Router and the ONT. My phone also needs a 13A socket for its base station. I only have a single socket at the moment. I could plug a 3-way adaptor in I suppose but whether that is safe or not, I dont know. I would assume it is or they wouldn't be allowed to sell them

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@penneck A 3 or even 4-way adapter is perfectly safe if you are just plugging in a router, ONT phone base station in - that is exactly how I am st up now, and have been for three years. I would suggest a flat adapter - such as this : THIS 

[#2]

@penneck You don't want any power interruptions so ideally use something as secure as possible. Plug-in adapters are prone to being detached.

You can easily (if competent) replace a single socket with 3-way or 4-way outlets, but that needs the power off and "some" electrical skills.

More easily, as suggested above by @bmc , a short plug-in 4-way extension lead fixed to the wall. Most have "keyhole" slots on the back to fit them over a pair of screws. Adjusted correctly that is usually quite secure.

[#3]

@HPsauce Depends where your sockets are. The one containing my 4-way is on a back wall ' in an almost inaccessible corner, and only get touched if I need to use the fourth socket, or turn it off if I am going away for any length of time.

[#4]

@penneck 

My grey matter finally caught up with me. If Full Fibre is available to you then this opens up another option no matter what product you're currently on.

Note - this option will cost money.

You could create a new account with PN for the Full Fibre install while keeping the old account (with phone line) running. You make clear when ordering and when the engineer is installing Full Fibrehhtat you want to keep you're phone line working. You end up paying for two accounts for a period.

You could probably cancel your original PN account once Full Fibre is up and running. This should not cancel you phone line with Utilites Warehouse which you keep running until they say you must change.

Apart from paying for two accounts for a period you may become liable for the £15 per year Greenby charge unless your new account can be associated with Greenby.

As you appear to be out of contract you could also change ISP to one of your choice. I would have a look at Zen Internet as they do both phone and internet. They have the added bonus that their router has a built in ATA and Dect base station which would reduce the number of power sockets required. Going down this route might also mean you suffer ETC's from your phone provider.

Consider phoning the PlusNet Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632 to ask / confirm

1) what product you are on

2) are you out of contract

3) is full fibre available ty you

4) does cancelling your old account cancel the phone line (it shouldn't)

5) Although your mail has been migrated I gather you have to make changes to your outgoing SMTP server if you leave - ask them to confirm.

Finally, if you stay with PN you could buy a FritzBox 7530 or 7530AX and use that. As I've said it has a built in DECT bas Station. I use the former as do others on here.

https://uk.webuy.com/search?stext=fritzbox%20routers 

Brian

[#5]

@bmc @penneck I did something similar (now about 2 years ago) when migrating from POTS/ADSL to FTTC (still no FTTP here!). I had a second line installed by PlusNet for FTTC (luckily drop wire had multiple pairs in it so an easy job for the engineer) then managed the termination of my old PN ADSL broadband and (later) BT phone line (moved number to VOIP with A&A) at my own pace. Only real cost was the £50 installation charge. Everything else ended up being a saving.

Note: I was "Out of contract" with both BT and PN so absolutely no termination charges, I actually had refunds from both on prepaid partial months.

[#6]

Look fellas, this is getting more and more complicated for me, when I was trying to make it simpler. I am not particularly computer savvy. I dont know what a lot of these things represented by letters (eg FTTC or ADSL, etc) actually mean in effect, not what they actually mean such as FTTC = Fibre To The Cabinet. I'm trying to understand what I need to have waiting for the engineer, what he will do, what equipment he or I will have to replace, things like that, what problems will I have to solve to end up with what I need working, etc. For example they say he will supply a router. Wont my present router (Netgear DGN2200v4) do the job - its old but working well and it is set up for the rest of my system here - the only problem would be whether the telephone exchange side of it might not be a compatible interface with the equipment the Open reach engineer will fit. If I have to use his router, will it feed into my router, or replace it and will I have to reprogram it so that it can work with the 3 computers that are here?

Sorry if that looks like I'm not grateful for your help. I am grateful, but I'm floundering in terminology that I dont understand

[#7]

As regards the router question @penneck  (1) no, your Netgear will not work on any flavour of fibre - it is only suitable for an ADSL connection (the one you have now) (2) The engineer will not bring the replacement - that comes from your ISP.

[#8]

@penneck  Back to square one, I believe PlusNet forum membership is entirely independent of any account with PlusNet so should continue. Happy to be corrected on that though.

[#9]

You are correct, @HPsauce .

[#10]

@penneck Also back to square one if your landline is with UW and your broadband (whatever exact type that is) with PN "in theory" you would expect any change to your PN service to leave the landline alone as they are independent contracts.

Sadly, as many contributors here have attested, that may not be that case. Both services are sub-contracted from BT Openreach and their systems link them, despite your contracts being unrelated. It is possible (many say likely) that changing your broadband to full fibre WILL cancel your old-school phone line.

As suggested earlier, the only likely SAFE way of retaining your phone line (for now) if it's important, is to take out a separate contract for Full Fibre broadband then separately cancel you PN old contract later, ensuring the phone line IS RETAINED.

Things have changed recently but I WAS able to cancel a PlusNet ADSL broadband service and still retain my separately-contracted BT phone line 2 years ago

.

[#11]

With the router he says he is using, @HPsauce , it is definitely ADSL.

[#12]

If the new router is coming from Plusnet (or EE?), will they send it so that it is here waiting for the engineer or am I likely to be left with a system that doesn't work until it arrives and I have figured out how to get it working? It would have been a good idea (my opinion) if they supplied equipment that interfaced the fibre on one side to ADSL on the other, so we could just plug it in between the fibre and my existing router.

Am I also going to have problems because I am still using Windows 7? That would mean buying 2 new computers and a printer. This is getting expensive.

[#13]

@HPsauce  I have spoken on the phone to two Plusnet people and they both said that if I wanted to keep the landline, I would have to move to EE. When I asked Utility Warehouse about VoIP, they told me that they didn't provide that service yet - hopefully they will by July, but that will be too late for me.

I also contacted (someting like) VoiPhone, and they seemed rather expensive. However, in their defence I did write Broadband when I meant Landline, so I may have been getting quotes from them as an Internet Services Provider as well as the Telephone Service

[#14]

@penneck PlusNet normally send a router just before the installation. It will not work on the old and new connections in parallel, though it IS possible (assuming it's PlusNet and you get a Hub Two) to configure it to work on one or the other. The two connections use different cables and internal configurations. With Full Fibre the router will have an Ethernet cable to the new BT-owned (powered) box installed inside your home, called an ONT.

Windows 7 will still work, it's just an internet connection. You will have security issues anyway being outdated software but presumably are dealing with those.

[#15]

The router comes from whoever is your ISP of choice, be it EE or PN. It is sent to arrive two or three days before your confirmed installation date.

If you move to Fibre of any variety, your Netgear is redundant - it  only works on ADSL.

Your operating system is irrelevant.