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This is one of those "I think this is what I am going to do unless anyone has any better suggestions" things.
Our contract with our present ISP (Plusnet) is up for renewal in a month. We are currently on half fibre, but may as well move to full fibre as the price difference is minimal (they don't push their half fibre offering much now). But Plusnet do not offer, even as a paid for option, keeping the landline or VoIP and keeping the number (though they are our landline provider).
The dilemma is, Mrs g is heavily invested in her plus.com email address and doesn't want to lose it. Or at any rate, would want a long period to change email address and get all contacts on board with the new one. But also, we quite like our home phone number and would like to keep it (though the number of people who use it to call us, other than tradies etc. who we decide to give it to) is small.
So the options appear to be stick with plusnet half fibre, move to full fibre and arrange for VoIP separately, or switch to a provider like Vodaphone or BT who bundle home phone with their full fibre offering and just bite the bullet with the email address. Possibly with BT we could also retain an actual landline, but at a higher monthly cost. I have discovered that phonely.co.uk offer VoIP for £12.00 a month with a free adapter (if you sign up for a year), which is manageable.
For various reasons, the second option (Plusnet + VoIP from phonely) seems attractive. (We don't need massive speeds or bundled stuff, so prices between different providers are quite similar.)
Is there a way of achieving what we want that I haven't considered? Is ditching the copper wire wise, as mobile coverage in the home is pants for all networks, so if the network is down we will be a bit isolated?
Thanks
Watching with interest as considering switching from BT internet via FTTC and BT VOIP to FTTP but my wife is keen to keep a landline as, currently, the VOIP is much clearer than internet calls on mobile, WhatsApp, etc..
Mobile reception is, at best, grim here.
We are plusnet and just ditched the landline when we went full fibre. One fewer source of nuisance calls.
Hard to imagine a scenario where a phone call is better received (or made) on a landline rather than mobile really.
It won't be made on a landline, but it will be made using the old landline number. More of an emotional attachment to it tbh, but it does have the advantage of not being a mobile number so we only get bothered when we are at home, rather than all the time.
You're paying, what, £25+ per month for line rental before you've even started paying for the actual service? For something which practically no-one uses anyway, but you want to keep for "sentimental reasons"? Sack it off. It'll be dead in the next year or two anyway so you won't have much choice, BT are decommissioning the old PSTN network.
Your missus can keep her Plusnet email account - if you notify them that you wish to keep it before cancelling the service. Then start migrating contacts and website login accounts to an account which isn't beholden to an ISP. There are many many free email services, some of which are actually pretty good.
it does have the advantage of not being a mobile number so we only get bothered when we are at home, rather than all the time.
Modern phones have "do not disturb" modes, many of which can be set to a timer. Mine's permanently set to 'vibrate,' if there's an incoming call and I don't want to be bothered then - radical idea I know - I ignore it.
As for poor mobile reception:
Yep, we have wifi calling on our mobiles but for some reason VOIP on a landline handset through to FTTC is much clearer than wifi calling on a mobile over the same internet connection. Why ?? Hence our interest in maintaining a landline based VOIP system.
We have a Devolo 1200 Powerline LAN/wifi system through the house electrical system.
The old school PSTN was switched off 12 months ago.
Fusion Fibre potentially offer FTTP down our lane, though they seem to need pushing along and we are unsure of there customer service. To date BT/EE/Openreach customer service has been very good but the download speeds (50-55 Mbps) are relatively slow and the cost is £silly/month.
You're paying, what, £25+ per month for line rental before you've even started paying for the actual service?
We are effectively paying 0£ for line rental atm. That is why we moved to a broadband plus line rental deal with plusnet, the package costs slightly less than their cheapest full fibre no VoIP deal.
Your missus can keep her Plusnet email account - if you notify them that you wish to keep it before cancelling the service.
Ooh thanks, I will ring them up and ask about this. Presumably this would be a time limit/ fee, even for them just directing mail to somewhere else?
We already use WiFi calling, as I said indoor signal is pants. I was thinking of connectivity in an emergency, power cut situation. Although that will only be there until they turn PSTN off in Jan 2027. If they stick to that date.
How often do you have power cuts of significant duration *and* urgently need to make a phone call at that time *and* cannot get somewhere with a passable mobile signal though? How many people will die if the phone call isn't made?
How often do you have power cuts of significant duration *and* urgently need to make a phone call at that time *and* cannot get somewhere with a passable mobile signal though? How many people will die if the phone call isn't made?
This.
We ditched our landline about 8 years ago and never really given it a thought since. Wif-fi calling is good, networks are reliable and my elderly relatives (who were the only people who called us on the landline) prefer to use Facetime now anyway. It didn't really save us much money but did help de-clutter life ever so slightly.
I forgot to renew our plusnet broadband / phone service when our deal expired so my price more or less doubled. When I called them, they said that they could not offer any deal including a landline - we HAD to move to EE. Bit of a bugger, we rarely use the landline but it IS on Mrs NBT's business cards so could do with keeping it. As mentioned above the landline network itself is being decommissioned, so plusnet are getting out of the phones side. THey already moved out of mobiles, we both had to move to other networks last year so I'm now on EE and mrs NBT is on Lebara.
The lady who took my call was really good and sorted us out a pretty painless move, in the end. I had full fibre broadband fitted last week, and now have the home phone plugged into the router. I have the same number, double the download speed, and the BB / phone packge is cheaper than before - £25.99 down from £28.99. Even better, as I have EE mobile, even though I'm not paying very much for it (they kept the same price package as I was on with plusnet, so even after price rises I'm now paying £6.88 for 5gb data, unlimited calls and texts and EU roaming) they upgraded me so I now have unlimited mobile data.
Try calling them and asking, it's worth trying...
My area is one picked for total landline switch-off this year - doesn't affect me at home as not had a landline for 20 years! But we use one at work. Moved over to VOIP a couple of years ago, think we pay about £15 month for 2 users. Will move over to Unifi Talk at some point as it's now available, you need Unifi hardware (which we have!) but the cost should be about half (if I understand it properly) for unlimited users.
VOIP (as has full fibre in general) has been as far as I'm aware 100% reliable - not aware of any outages in the time we've had it!
The dilemma is, Mrs g is heavily invested in her plus.com email address and doesn't want to lose it.
rip the plaster off lol. A gmail/apple/etc service will be more reliable than plusnet mail surely, and bonus you're not tied to one provider so able to seek out deals when it's time to renew.
Yep, we have wifi calling on our mobiles but for some reason VOIP on a landline handset through to FTTC is much clearer than wifi calling on a mobile over the same internet connection. Why ?? Hence our interest in maintaining a landline based VOIP system.
Pass, but I think I'd want to be getting to the bottom of that 'why?' question. Have you tried a headset with the mobile?
How's it connected, just a BT 'tail' hanging out of the router? That's how it was presented when I had Virgin cable (I promptly threw it in the bin, I don't even have a regular phone aside from a BT Engineer's test phone).
Presumably this would be a time limit/ fee, even for them just directing mail to somewhere else?
Not as far as I'm aware. I think they used to charge but not any more. I can only guess that having loads of people with plus.net addresses is free marketing.
How often do you have power cuts of significant duration *and* urgently need to make a phone call at that time *and* cannot get somewhere with a passable mobile signal though? How many people will die if the phone call isn't made?
Stick the router on a UPS.
A gmail/apple/etc service will be more reliable than plusnet mail surely,
Why would that be? I've been with Plusnet since the early days of Metronet and issues have been very few and far between. For a few years now I have used my own domain and redirected to Apple. Mrs. Slow though still has an active Plusnet account and like the OP I am also considering options.
which means there ARE issues, though. You've only got to google it you'll find loads of reports on forums etc of intermittent issues. If you aren't using it all the time for work, you'll probably not notice. Couldn't find an actual uptime percentage but I could for Gmail - 99.9975% apparently. I have used Gmail all day for work for many years and maybe can remember one occasion when it was down briefly? Don't really want to get into a massive argument about it but a trillion dollar global tech company is fairly obviously going to do an email service better/more reliably than a budget UK operator? 😃I've been with Plusnet since the early days of Metronet and issues have been very few and far between.
(Not hating on Plusnet particularly, I use them for fibre and they've been fine).
A land line? So you can call people and talk about the latest BetaMax releases? Not had a land line at home now for 15 years. Does 1471 still work?
Why would that be?
The comparative likelihood of Google, Microsoft, Apple or Plusnet going bang tomorrow, for a start.
Having your own domain name is the best option really. But that's beyond the reach of your 'average' user.
A&A are often a recommended VoIP provider, I believe your old land line number can be ported to their service.
https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/
Myself I just binned the landline when we went full fibre (with Plusnet as it happens).
When we went from Plusnet to small fttp company called Zzoomm (no-one else will do fttp around here) I was all for dumping the landline number but Mrs.P was insistent that we kept a landline.
Zzoomm have a hook up with a company called Keep In Touch, so I went with them and for the last few years everything has been working perfectly.
I don't use the landline at all as WiFi calling works really well, with better quality calls than our landline phones. TBH, as far as I can tell, the only reason we have the landline is so Mrs.P's daughters and a couple of her friends can call on it.
One thing to remember - don't go for VoIP landline expecting it to act as a safety net in the case of a power cut because it'll be lost as well until power is restored.
TBH, as far as I can tell, the only reason we have the landline is so Mrs.P's daughters and a couple of her friends can call on it.
Cancel it, tell them it's broken.
One thing to remember - don't go for VoIP landline expecting it to act as a safety net in the case of a power cut because it'll be lost as well until power is restored.
As I said earlier, if this is a concern, plug it into a UPS.
Cheaper options are available, but will probably require power cabling shenanigans.
A fibre ONT and a domestic router is, what, 20W between them? You'll get a couple of hours out of that easily, considerably longer if you shut down the devices when they're not needed in an emergency.
Mobile reception is, at best, grim here.
Same here but we have not had a land line for years. WiFi calling on mobile works just fine
Why do people still want/need a landline?
Last time I checked number porting was a standard offering when switching providers - even from PSTN to VOIP. If you want to keep the number and PlusNet won’t do it, switch to a provider that will. A mistake to tie yourself into a provider simply because of wanting to keep an email address IMO. Switch that ASAP in any case even if you do stay with them.
We have really spotty power here. I have an APC UPS similar to the one Cougar posted. I have both of our NAS's, the power for the fibre termination and one of our Deco's. When we get an outage, the NAS's auto shut down and that leaves me with enough to run internet connectivity for up to two hours from memory. We have no mobile signal in the house, so wifi calling is where it's at since we dumped the land line years ago.
I do have a VoIP line for work, it's SIPGATE and a Hereford number (so close but obv different my old PSTN number). No rental, just call costs which must be about 5 quid a year 😉 I don't know if they still do that deal but we've a DECT and a desk based phone linked to it, and if we do need a landline number that's works. Even got voicemail! (For some reason the Vet's CRM system appears to have no update facility so they always call the landline- which I have set up to autoforward to my mobile if we're out, but that's some geeky geo fence stuff)
We also bought our own email domain about 20 years ago. Costs me maybe £15 a year from memory. I just use iCloud email hiding for anything that's not people we know, and our own domain for everything else.
You can pay for a virtual landline and port your number. The calls forward to your mobile. Google virtual landline as a fair number offer the service.
Well, when my dad calls his friends in England from Ireland it's free for landline to landline under a special old person scheme but if he calls a mobile its 25p per minute. He doesn't have the internet.
Mmm. Thought I’d replied but perhaps I didn’t ’add reply’.
I’d second the ‘get your own domain’ suggestion. Easy to setup. Easy to administer. And looks better than ‘me@anyoldisp.net’. Also, it maintains consistency of service and consistent branding irrespective of whatever ISP you use. It is time to rip the plaster of plusnet off.
I’ve used yournamehere for ages. Small with helpful folks. Many others are available.
the ‘VOIP doesn’t work in a power cut’ problem will be somewhat moot when old style services end in a couple of years. Plus, as others have said in similar threads, many folks have phones that need a power supply anyway. As described, you can get around these problems with a UPS or battery storage. Might be handy in power cut prone areas anyway. we’ve had one power cut in the 20+ years in the area we live in. Someone chopped through a supply cable down the street.
after paying for a relatively unused landline for a few years we ditched it when we changed ISP a few years back. Don’t miss it.
OP here, thanks for all the interesting responses. I have looked into A&A, but we would need to purchase a converter (or new phones) as they don't offer a free one. But they do look like a solid outfit.
Actually I have a domain, which my email is on (Plusnet's 1Gb limit wasn't enough for the whole family and at the time Mrs g used her plus.com address for work). But as we get old and decrepit I may bin that (one less thing to forget to renew etc). Never got the kids interested in it, they just switched to hotmail/gmail.
I suppose there is some value in having a number associated with the area one lives in? If only snob value unless you are a business 😉 ATM "landline" and mobile numbers are distinguishable (I think) but once the copper wire is left to rot that may not be the case and eventually they will all just be numbers.
TBH it is Mrs g you all have to persuade about ditching the email address and landline number, not me. Probably we will keep them but monitor usage and I will try to get Mrs g to start using a gmail address and see how that goes.
Well, when my dad calls his friends in England from Ireland it's free for landline to landline under a special old person scheme but if he calls a mobile its 25p per minute. He doesn't have the internet.
"Hi, can you call me back?"
There are plenty of sub-carriers (for want of a better term) where you can dial an access number ahead of the regular number to avoid BT going in dry with international call charges. Here's a random example. I used to use one (whose name escapes me and probably no longer exists anyway) when I was calling the US a lot back in the late 90s.
Of course, "free" is hard to beat. But if all his friends are maintaining otherwise pointless landlines just so that he can save a few cents, that's a false economy.
Plus, as others have said in similar threads, many folks have phones that need a power supply anyway.
That's a very good point in itself. If your "backup landline" is a cordless DECT phone then you're ****ed in a powercut anyway because the base station will be dead without a UPS.
I suppose there is some value in having a number associated with the area one lives in?
Why?
There was a time where local / national / international dialling were handled (and billed) differently. So you could dial 123456 for a number in the same area code, or 01234 123456 for a number in a different area (the '0' signified a trunk call). I could be wrong but I think you were billed more if you included the area code even if it was the same area.
Today though... what, it's like a car vanity plate?
Literally every contact number in my phone is entered in IDD format, whether landline or mobile. You need the international exit code - historically some variant on 00 or 010 depending on your country of origin, but supplanted by '+' on mobiles which works from anywhere; then the country code which for the UK is 44; then the area code without the trunk signifier if there is one; then the local number.
So if you wanted to call (UK) 01234 567890 from anywhere in the world, you could enter it as +44 1234 567890 and it would Just Work. Modern billing is worked out based on where you call from/to, not which digits you dialled. Calling RoI would be +353 [rest of number]. That will work from anywhere in the world. Calling UK or RoI from the USA? Same contact number. Calling the guy next door? Same contact number.