Those VoIP phone things.

I was switched recently and everything is exactly the same except the same phone is plugged into the router instead of a dedicated phone plug. So you keep your home number.

Edit. I didn't read your question quite right. I was switched by virgin media. Not sure about the router with a sim.

A VOIP phone is neither a landline nor a mobile - it uses the internet. So you plug it into a router - a dedicated VOIP phone can be plugged into any old router port, an old landline phone has to be plugged into a special port on a router that supports it, or any port on a router if you use it via an adapter.

The router can be a normal broadband/fibre one or one that uses a SIM depending on what your internet situation is 🤷‍♂️

if your ISP is providing the VOIP service I'm sure you can port your number as above. We (at work - wouldn't bother at home, no point!) use an ISP who doesn't provide a VOIP service so we get this inexpensively through a 3rd party. There was a small charge to port our existing number (or we could have had a new one for no charge).

According to my ISP, if we went full fibre we would need a voip phone but could keep our number. As our internet is OK for us with half fibre, I decided to keep it as it is for a couple of years. Having a landline seems like a useful fall back situation, though we don't use it so much.

Out of intrtest, would moving to full fibre/ voip imply moving to ipv6?

Out of intrtest, would moving to full fibre/ voip imply moving to ipv6?

No you can go full fat fibre. Some older phones won't work with VoIP thou.

Ipv6 is still a bit thin on the ground but most will be onboard soon

Ours went over ages ago to VOIP. We hadn't realised as we rarely use the land line, and then for some reason we found it wasn't working. That's when I just plugged it into the router instead.

We got one as part of the package when we went full fibre. Was told that it wouldn't work without it. Our land line base station also plugs in to the router, so the old handsets still work.

Kept the old number, but you have to dial the area code when calling local.

I think it is a VoIP. I just plugged it in and it worked so I didn't bother investigating further.

BT one. Quality of the kit and the line clarity are very good.

Looks like Vodafone (ISP not mobile) are proactively moving us to VOIP ahead of getting rid of phone lines. Got an email about it last week, new router being sent out.

Prob an attempt to get us tied into a long contract again if we say yes, so we stick with them when fibre goes live soon.

Some older phones won’t work with VoIP thou.

What’s the point? Sure, for a business it can be handy in some cases.

A relative insisted on keeping a phone line when swapping ISP. Cue fewer options and higher cost. Result? Never answers it ‘it’s always spam calls’ never calls from it ‘I find it easier to use FaceTime on the iPad’. I would expect the same outcome if they’d moved to a VOIP phone service.

When we ditched Virgin a while back for BRSK we abandoned the, rarely used, home phone.

I'm interested because my mum can't use a mobile so a box with a Sim card and ye olde fashioned phone would be good.
Mrs Zips mum is paying £34 landline only and Origin Broadband are complete ****s , so we want rid.

My MIL has mobile broadband (£20/month with Three) for her internet.

And plugged into that a Linksys PAP2T (£30 on ebay?) with an account at Andews and Arnold (£1.something a month).

And plugged into that the same phone she has used for years.

We even ported her old landline number across (although she doesn't actually live in that zone any more).

Calls are chargeable, but really not very much.

One caveat - it's not maintenance free.  You'd have to set up the VOIP initially (A&A instructions are v good).  And Three once pushed an update to the mobile router which broke incoming calls on the VOIP and I had to do some forum digging/fettling in the settings to get the phone back online.

My mil has a fall bracelet which is monitored down the phone line.
Would that still work?

my mum can’t use a mobile

Can't or won't?

I genuinely don't understand this argument. If someone can use a landline, they can use a mobile. You can get ones designed specifically for elderly people which have big buttons and speed dial. Some have emergency buttons.

Eg,

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doro-Unlocked-Simplified-Localisation-Charging/dp/B08KQBBT3P

One caveat – it’s not maintenance free.  You’d have to set up the VOIP initially (A&A instructions are v good).  And Three once pushed an update to the mobile router which broke incoming calls on the VOIP and I had to do some forum digging/fettling in the settings to get the phone back online.

I'd agree they're fairly pointless for home use, except for people who fear change etc! But great for business use as you get a lot of functionality for not a lot of outlay. Plus been massively reliable thus far (vs. normal landline)

@zippikona

It might not if going to full fibre. Some call alarms are now being upgraded to SIM card use. You need to check with the provider of the care alarm.

My mil has a fall bracelet which is monitored down the phone line.
Would that still work?

it should work with a VOIP box. Our alarm monitoring moved from a connection to the phone line to a VOIP ‘dialler’.

Until you have a power cut

In the days where we're having threads discussing Internet access as an essential service, it's surprising that home UPS (battery backup) isn't more of a thing.

Originally it was lots of battery pack onts where put into new build housing stock then they moved to the new little ont with a power adapter.

It's a * not my problem guv* use your mobile

Until you have a power cut

pretty sure the point has been made in past VoIP threads that since many landline phones are mains powered being wireless or having answering machines, etc the power outage is going to mean you won’t be using it to make a call anyway.

Edit. Though to your point on ONTs and modems and the like. Indeed. Hence @Cougar ‘s UPS comment I suppose. When we had our second power outage since 2007 just earlier this year the Powerwall switched in without any disruption for then CU it offers back up to. Meant I could keep working online for the 6 hours the power was out. 🤔 yay?

Had an email from Virgin saying that they are turning off our copper phone line at the shop.

Phoned them to book an appointment for them to come and switch it over. I was assuming they would swap the box and that's that. They want to swap the box then fix us into a contract for 2 years and charge us more.We are currently on a rolling contract, which suits us.  As we intend to retire in a year a contract would leave us paying £500 for something we don't need.

So, is it possible to do nothing and plug a VOIP phone into our existing broadband box? We do need a phone at the shop and keep our number.

Obviously I can search for another provider but would rather avoid the hassle.

Posted by: Cougar

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my mum can’t use a mobile

Can she use a cordless landline phone? If so, then what’s the difference? A mobile can be just a cheap dumb phone, which is what my late partner used, she had no interest in a smart phone, and half the time she left the damn thing at home anyway.

I now have full fibre, a contractor for BT got a truck to turn up with one of those arm jobbies with a little cage thing on the end to connect the fibre to the top of a utility pole on the opposite side of the road, then ran it down the wall, through a hole he drilled behind my tv, then put a couple of little boxes on the wall and ran a connection out into the hall to the old phone box which my satellite box and the landline phone are plugged into. Had it all done in a morning or so, although most of the time was waiting for the truck to arrive, the engineer went and did another small job in the meantime. 
The main benefit of the old landline phone being connected to fibre is it tells me when a call is likely a nuisance call.