BT landline deal

Ladyarcher

This is probably a cross over question so I apologise in advance. I recently changed over to a BT Landline deal due to being on a specific benefit, everything was fine until recently when there was a problem with the internet dropping out every 15 minutes which of course meant that the VOIP phones do not work.  I did contact BT to explain this and they said they would provide a back up battery system at a cost of £85 which is ridiculous, for what they are charging me monthly against a system that doesn't use VOIP it would take me ages to recoup this amount.

My query relates to not be able to make phone calls when the internet is down, and as I live in sheltered accommodation, if I were to fall and not be able to reach the cord which connect me to the care system I would need either a phone or a mobile.  This brings up the cross over question, my signal is very poor does anyone know of a provider who would sell me a sim card with a guarantee that works or that I could return because it doesn't work.

Any thoughts welcome.

QrizB

Ladyarcher said:

This is probably a cross over question so I apologise in advance. I recently changed over to a BT Landline deal due to being on a specific benefit, everything was fine until recently when there was a problem with the internet dropping out every 15 minutes which of course meant that the VOIP phones do not work.  I did contact BT to explain this and they said they would provide a back up battery system at a cost of £85 which is ridiculous, for what they are charging me monthly against a system that doesn't use VOIP it would take me ages to recoup this amount.

If your internet is dropping out, but the power (for lights etc.) is staying on, it isn't a power problem and a backup battery isn't going to help.

If it is a power problem, £85 seems quite a lot for a UPS to service a VOIP phone and router.

Ladyarcher said:

My query relates to not be able to make phone calls when the internet is down, and as I live in sheltered accommodation, if I were to fall and not be able to reach the cord which connect me to the care system I would need either a phone or a mobile.  This brings up the cross over question, my signal is very poor does anyone know of a provider who would sell me a sim card with a guarantee that works or that I could return because it doesn't work.

Many providers will send you a SIM card for free, for you to activate when it arrives. You can usually put these in a phone and see what the reception is like before paying anything.
It might be simpler, however, to see what mobile service the other people around you use. You can then choose a provider on the same network. Is your sheltered housing an apartment block or similar? Do you have neighbours you can discuss this with?

Ladyarcher

QrizB said:

Ladyarcher said:

This is probably a cross over question so I apologise in advance. I recently changed over to a BT Landline deal due to being on a specific benefit, everything was fine until recently when there was a problem with the internet dropping out every 15 minutes which of course meant that the VOIP phones do not work.  I did contact BT to explain this and they said they would provide a back up battery system at a cost of £85 which is ridiculous, for what they are charging me monthly against a system that doesn't use VOIP it would take me ages to recoup this amount.

If your internet is dropping out, but the power (for lights etc.) is staying on, it isn't a power problem and a backup battery isn't going to help.

If it is a power problem, £85 seems quite a lot for a UPS to service a VOIP phone and router.

Ladyarcher said:

My query relates to not be able to make phone calls when the internet is down, and as I live in sheltered accommodation, if I were to fall and not be able to reach the cord which connect me to the care system I would need either a phone or a mobile.  This brings up the cross over question, my signal is very poor does anyone know of a provider who would sell me a sim card with a guarantee that works or that I could return because it doesn't work.

Many providers will send you a SIM card for free, for you to activate when it arrives. You can usually put these in a phone and see what the reception is like before paying anything.
It might be simpler, however, to see what mobile service the other people around you use. You can then choose a provider on the same network. Is your sheltered housing an apartment block or similar? Do you have neighbours you can discuss this with?

interesting query/answer about the internet dropping out, the lights on the router go through all of their range of colours before eventually coming back to blue but during this time the phone is not usable.

littleboo

Are you actually experiencing a loss of power when this happens? If not, a UPS is not the solution for that issue. If you do want a UPS for peace of mind then you don't have to get it from BT if you think they're expensive.

Ladyarcher

littleboo said:

Are you actually experiencing a loss of power when this happens? If not, a UPS is not the solution for that issue. If you do want a UPS for peace of mind then you don't have to get it from BT if you think they're expensive.

not experiencing a loss of power, every electrical item in the house works, even the telephone has messages saying "no broadband connection"

littleboo

It sounds then like a broadband issue and it needs to be faulted as such. The phone not working is secondary, it's the broadband which needs fixing

Eldi_Dos

Ladyarcher said:

QrizB said:

Ladyarcher said:

This is probably a cross over question so I apologise in advance. I recently changed over to a BT Landline deal due to being on a specific benefit, everything was fine until recently when there was a problem with the internet dropping out every 15 minutes which of course meant that the VOIP phones do not work.  I did contact BT to explain this and they said they would provide a back up battery system at a cost of £85 which is ridiculous, for what they are charging me monthly against a system that doesn't use VOIP it would take me ages to recoup this amount.

If your internet is dropping out, but the power (for lights etc.) is staying on, it isn't a power problem and a backup battery isn't going to help.

If it is a power problem, £85 seems quite a lot for a UPS to service a VOIP phone and router.

Ladyarcher said:

My query relates to not be able to make phone calls when the internet is down, and as I live in sheltered accommodation, if I were to fall and not be able to reach the cord which connect me to the care system I would need either a phone or a mobile.  This brings up the cross over question, my signal is very poor does anyone know of a provider who would sell me a sim card with a guarantee that works or that I could return because it doesn't work.

Many providers will send you a SIM card for free, for you to activate when it arrives. You can usually put these in a phone and see what the reception is like before paying anything.
It might be simpler, however, to see what mobile service the other people around you use. You can then choose a provider on the same network. Is your sheltered housing an apartment block or similar? Do you have neighbours you can discuss this with?

interesting query/answer about the internet dropping out, the lights on the router go through all of their range of colours before eventually coming back to blue but during this time the phone is not usable.

If it is a intermittent fault report it. Sometimes when a engineer deals with it there can be no fault to find. If it reoccurs within thirty days you would be eligible for compensation from time fault was first reported so worth persuing. 
Keep note of all dates for future reference.

QrizB

Ladyarcher said:

QrizB said:

Ladyarcher said:

This is probably a cross over question so I apologise in advance. I recently changed over to a BT Landline deal due to being on a specific benefit, everything was fine until recently when there was a problem with the internet dropping out every 15 minutes which of course meant that the VOIP phones do not work.  I did contact BT to explain this and they said they would provide a back up battery system at a cost of £85 which is ridiculous, for what they are charging me monthly against a system that doesn't use VOIP it would take me ages to recoup this amount.

If your internet is dropping out, but the power (for lights etc.) is staying on, it isn't a power problem and a backup battery isn't going to help.

If it is a power problem, £85 seems quite a lot for a UPS to service a VOIP phone and router.

Ladyarcher said:

My query relates to not be able to make phone calls when the internet is down, and as I live in sheltered accommodation, if I were to fall and not be able to reach the cord which connect me to the care system I would need either a phone or a mobile.  This brings up the cross over question, my signal is very poor does anyone know of a provider who would sell me a sim card with a guarantee that works or that I could return because it doesn't work.

Many providers will send you a SIM card for free, for you to activate when it arrives. You can usually put these in a phone and see what the reception is like before paying anything.
It might be simpler, however, to see what mobile service the other people around you use. You can then choose a provider on the same network. Is your sheltered housing an apartment block or similar? Do you have neighbours you can discuss this with?

interesting query/answer about the internet dropping out, the lights on the router go through all of their range of colours before eventually coming back to blue but during this time the phone is not usable.

Sorry, when I said lights I meant the ones illuminating your house, not the ones on the router!

But if the lights on the router are staying on, you must have power and a UPS won't help.

I agree with the others who say it sounds like a line fault and your ISP (BT?) need to fix it.

400ixl

What do the logs say on your BT router. They will tell you if it is the WAN connection dropping or the router itself going off.

There are many reasons for the drop, which may not be ISP related. We had a rouge Apple device which when connected to the wifi would make the wifi become unresponsive for a period. More recently I would get WAN drops once a day sometimes more, it was the master socket in the house starting to fail and not the ISP.

Have a look at the technical logs and see if they give you a clue as to what the problem is (alongside reporting it to the ISP of course).