Most BB deals no longer include phone

ButtersUK

^^^^ All received .

It was my understanding that Plusnet don't offer new customers a VOIP phone option and that it is their intention to stop offering one to all their customers in due course. But, as always, things could change.

I'm a bit set in my ways and less understanding of stuff that younger people would easily grasp .... and when it comes to the internet and phones, because I'm not great with technology, I like to stick to options that I can get assistance with in the event of a query. Hence me saying that there are only two companies that I am happy to be with, and neither are as cheap as as the big names but both allow me to ring them and get first class service after a couple of rings.

Both of those companies happen to offer FTTP and VOIP and both will provide customers with a VOIP enabled router into which our old style analogue phones plug straight in. One of those companies offers a TPLink router and the other a Technicolour router, both having green FXS ports. Of those two companies the VOIP plan offered by Andrews & Arnold ( AAISP ) is an unbeatable option regarding price, flexibility and customer back up. As mentioned above it costs £1.44 a month plus £12 to bring your existing "landline" number over to them.and calls are cheap as chips.

I, too, didn't want to do away with my landline number and £1.44p a month is cheap enough to justify keeping it, even if it doesn't get used much.

If the ATA option is better, then so be it. I've not used a separate one but they're popular enough. If you look on the website called ISP Review there's a reasonably active core of well informed individuals who correspond with each other online and dispense much helpful snippets of information and advice. Worth a quick look.

EnPointe

UncleZen said:

So if we wanted to keep a home phone e.g. landline number how would we do it if the broadband deals are for bb only. VOIP I assume? So, how is that done? What do I need to research to understand this.
Personally I'm OK with using just a mobile, but Mrs zen is not.

fundamentally you have 2 choices here 

1. take the 'digital voice'  VOIP  that the ISP offers  and  may  well have a phone  socket on the back on the router 

2. arrange your own  VOIP from commercial provider  and use a SIP  terminal as your landline phone 

personally i have both - the 'house phone ' is the VOIP bundled with VM and i have SIp terminal  which i needed for a particualr  thing  and also  used for  experimenting with   SIP based  virtual PABXs  among geeky  friends 

EnPointe

brewerdave said:

ButtersUK said:

400ixl said:

Plusnet don't offer a digital voice service so moving to one of their FTTP services will mean not having a landline.

Most of the problems switching landlines you will find relate to the the bottom dwellers of ISP's such as Vodafone, Shell, TalkTalk.

"You could move the phone line to a VOIP provider like Arnold&Arnold for a small monthly fee."

You certainly could.  That's what I did a month or so ago.  Once it's up and running it's absolutely fine.

You have to "port" your existing landline number away from whoever it's with... over to Andrews and Arnold (AAISP as they're otherwise known) ... that'll cost you £12. And when it's working it'll cost you £1.44 a month. Calls are extra at about 1.5p per minute.

I won't pretend it's a simple "plug and play" .... you have to configure the settings and passwords with AAISP but the wonderful thing about them is their one to one customer service. It's literally the best in the business. You ringthem and someone answers straight away and will talk you through the set up.

I recommend them wholeheartedly.  You could also do a lot worse than to get your broadband from them too, but that's a different topic.

You also need an ATA adapter to sit between the router and analog phone set. I'm just looking and that appears to add anything from £35 to £!20 depending how complex you want your phone system to be.

or buy a SIP  based service and use a SIP terminal 

ButtersUK

EnPointe said:

brewerdave said:

ButtersUK said:

400ixl said:

Plusnet don't offer a digital voice service so moving to one of their FTTP services will mean not having a landline.

Most of the problems switching landlines you will find relate to the the bottom dwellers of ISP's such as Vodafone, Shell, TalkTalk.

"You could move the phone line to a VOIP provider like Arnold&Arnold for a small monthly fee."

You certainly could.  That's what I did a month or so ago.  Once it's up and running it's absolutely fine.

You have to "port" your existing landline number away from whoever it's with... over to Andrews and Arnold (AAISP as they're otherwise known) ... that'll cost you £12. And when it's working it'll cost you £1.44 a month. Calls are extra at about 1.5p per minute.

I won't pretend it's a simple "plug and play" .... you have to configure the settings and passwords with AAISP but the wonderful thing about them is their one to one customer service. It's literally the best in the business. You ringthem and someone answers straight away and will talk you through the set up.

I recommend them wholeheartedly.  You could also do a lot worse than to get your broadband from them too, but that's a different topic.

You also need an ATA adapter to sit between the router and analog phone set. I'm just looking and that appears to add anything from £35 to £!20 depending how complex you want your phone system to be.

or buy a SIP  based service and use a SIP terminal 

Or look at the company I mentioned above. Port your number in to them and pay them less than one pound fifty a month. Choose your means of connecting to fibre and get incredible, personal service and technical know how if you need it. 

123Sandra

A few companies do offer broadband +landline.  I am currently with Talk Talk (having been passed to them from Octopus/Shell/Post Office).  My broadband speed is around 35M - which is more than enough for me, and I have unlimited UK calls - around £38/month.  If you are looking at landline packages make sure you check that calls include those to mobiles - some suppliers have started charging a disgraceful 14p+ a minute for them (highest I saw was 45p!)

ButtersUK

Not sure it would be wise to look to Talk talk. Their financial situation gets worse and their future doesn't look at all secure. A quick Google reveals the facts and figures.   
Dido Harding's time as CEO did them no favours, as was well documented, and things went further downhill as time passed thereafter.
Not a good firm to be with, in my humble opinion.

Boohoo

ButtersUK said:

Not sure it would be wise to look to Talk talk. Their financial situation gets worse and their future doesn't look at all secure. A quick Google reveals the facts and figures.   
Dido Harding's time as CEO did them no favours, as was well documented, and things went further downhill as time passed thereafter.
Not a good firm to be with, in my humble opinion.

Do you know if you have broadband and phone number and /or mobile number with a telecoms provider and they go bust what happens to your phone/mobile number?

Just asking as I have never seen it mentioned anywhere.

ButtersUK

It's a much discussed issue on forums that cover that sort of thing. The website called ISPREVIEW is full of detailed information. But, as a generalisation, there's a view that with the advent of full fibre (FTTP) and  digital voice (VOIP) it could be considered wise to get your broadband from one (trusted) provider and if, additionally, you choose to continue to have a "landline" (albeit provided via the fibre rather than the old copper pair of wires) then get that from a different  trusted independent provider of VOIP services. That way the two aspects of your service aren't linked to each other and you can leave one without affecting the other.

Who to go with is other matter. You do seem to have chosen a couple of the less well regarded providers (but that's a topic for debate) and my own preference lies elsewhere. I happen to have gone with smaller organisations who offer a far better, and more personal, service. My VOIP provider is both reasonably priced and outstanding regarding customer service and my broadband provider is equally well regarded for offering good service but isn't the cheapest.

I won't mention them again unless specifically asked for fear of advertising but both are smallish companies in the UK with UK based staff and are referenced further back in this topic.

Enough for now. Others will have different views and experiences.