Broadband, landline and where's my number gone?

elsien

Quick background - had standard broadband and landline for years generally bouncing back and fore between providers and keeping my same landline number along the way. Most recent change was between Plusnet and John Lewis; with working from home and poor internet quality I switched to fibre.
Now being told that to go back to plusnet I need to pay a one off installation fee to go back to copper from FTTP and for reasons that are completely unclear I can't keep my number when I change. I wasn't aware that moving to fibre would have these implications - is this going to be the case every time I change provider from here on in?
Will going back to standard broadband mean that I won't have to pay fees and change number everytime I swap?

Please can someone explain to me in simple terms because I'm very confused.
Thank you. 

iniltous

As far as I know Plusnet  don’t offer FTTP, and John Lewis don’t appear on the OR list of FTTP providers , is it definitely OR FTTP you have ?
If it’s Plusnet you want to reuse , a switch to copper would be necessary if you wanted to move from OR FTTP, but if ‘quality’ is important then it’s unclear why you would want to move away from FTTP .
In general , number portability shouldn’t be a problem switching providers ( the regulator expects company’s to offer it, and TBH, it limits customer acquisition if a company doesn’t offer portability) but if the new provider from the outset states you cannot import the number , then it puts the onus on you , either accept the terms or don’t…but it’s not a issue with swapping technology, it’s specific to the company’s involved,
 if you want to go back onto copper based products and Plusnet cannot port the number , try someone else who will reinstate the copper connection and port the number.
The only possible issue is if a stop sale of copper products is in place on your exchange , but if that were the case Plusnet wouldn’t be able to reinstate the copper line anyway, in time the copper network will not be available  to property’s that have FTTP, as it’s being retired.

elsien

I want to keep the speed and the number and was confused because I thought JL amd plusnet were pretty much the same thing.
Not entirely sure what I’ve got with JL other than fibre. I’ve not saved the Plusnet chat but they initially said  I was on cable then when I said I wasn’t aware I had any cable products they said the £50 one off charge was to go back to copper from FTTP (I think). When I said I wanted fibre and to keep my number they said I could have fibre but keeping the number wasn’t possible - I still don’t understand why fibre to fibre needs a BT line installing when I already thought I had one and have had for years. 

JJ_Egan

Cable that's a very odd reply , VM coaxial, cable .

Fibre to Fibre ??  what do you mean ?

Fibre to the premises is a new rollout of fibre Optical cable not using the  old line you have had for years .

Fairly sure also that JL do not offer FTTP .

Do you have an ONT box that feeds the router  , usually white squarish box .

Personally it does not read as you have FTTP  but the old fashioned fibre to the local cabinet .

djk-uk

My personal experience with this type of issue is normally a problem the way bt openreach (they operate the lines) are doing things. They are a pain. (retail customers can't speak to them directly normally)

As suggested by others, maybe just move your number to a IP phone provider such as TTNC. Once moved it's £25 per year to keep number, and you pay per min for calls.

400ixl

John Lewis only do Fibre to Cabinet (FTTC), not FTTP. Plusnet also only do FTTC at the moment with FTTP coming in the second half of 2022 according to their press office.

You should be able to keep the number as they are both Openreach based.

If you are a cable (as in Virgin etc) then the number often cannot be ported. If for some reason they thought you were a Fibre Cable customer then that would explain why they believed you couldn't port the number and you would need to re-initiate a line.

I would go back to them and explain you are currently on an Openreach FTTC line and not a cable product.

HaroldWren5

elsien said:

Quick background - had standard broadband and landline for years generally bouncing back and fore between providers and keeping my same landline number along the way. Most recent change was between Plusnet and John Lewis; with working from home and poor internet quality I switched to fibre.
Now being told that to go back to plusnet I need to pay a one off installation fee to go back to copper from FTTP and for reasons that are completely unclear I can't keep my number when I change. I wasn't aware that moving to fibre would have these implications - is this going to be the case every time I change provider from here on in?
Will going back to standard broadband mean that I won't have to pay fees and change number everytime I swap?

Please can someone explain to me in simple terms because I'm very confused.
Thank you. 

Part of your confusion is caused by the mis-marketing of various broadband as "Fibre" by various companies. FTTC for instance is often labelled as "Superfast Fibre" when it is like you said Copper to your house. Whereas FTTP is fibre all the way to your home. 

Usually your number can be transferred from one provider to another with FTTC broadband products.

With FTTP, it is my understanding that the only "large" providers currently offering a landline service via Openreach are BT, Sky and Vodafone. There are other niche smaller ones, but they tend to be more expensive. 

If you switch to FTTP, you can keep your landline number with BT, Sky, or Vodafone for instance. In the case of BT, I understand it to be the case that you get something called "Digital voice" which is a landline via your Fibre to a Phone connected to your Router (or connect existing digital phones at home into an adapter). If you cancel the landline at any point in switching provider, then your old number also gets cancelled.