Broadband/phone

RedRosie1

Hello. Could anyone advise? My very elderly parents who live far from me need to change from their TalkTalk deal where they have broadband, some kind of strange TV setup and a telephone. They need broadband and a telephone line for sure - I could probably buy them a new smart TV if necessary. That telephone line (which I think is digital now) is connected to a falls alarm for one of them so is vital, and they really need to keep the same telephone number as a change would be very difficult for them. What would be best to do? I've got into a kerfuffle already trying to advise them! 

iniltous

Why the ‘need’ to change provider ? …..as they use Talk Talk is reasonable to assume they are on Openreach , if moving to another Openreach provider the new telephone provider will almost certainly have to be via VoIP , so the phone plugs into the broadband router , if they are within a full fibre ( FTTP ) area not only will they plug the phone into the router , a new fibre ‘line’ will be installed as well , these things may affect any fall alarm they have , but the alarm provider has known about the phone network changing to ‘all IP’ , ( internet protocol ) for many years and should be making their alarms compatible……

if you don’t want any fuss then it’s only really staying with Talk Talk that will achieve that , assuming TT are not telling them they need to switch to VoIP , if the reason to switch is financial, unfortunately it probably won’t be a like for like swap with a new provider, personally I would be speaking to the fall alarm provider to see what they are doing about this change , and switching provider depends on how risk adverse you ( and they ) are 

RedRosie1

Thanks very much.

My Dad (88) says the service is "unreliable" so I do need to unpick that with him a bit. BT/Openreach (presumably) changed them over to "digital" already, and the alarm provider came out and made some changes... but he does get a bit confused and it's difficult to understand his worries sometimes. I may ask him to stay with Talk Talk for now, until I get get up there if they'll accept some kind of rolling contract.

He currently has three different remotes and I can't even turn their TV on reliably. He says he's paying £55pm at the moment. They are quite poor but I can pick this (or whatever) up for them if they'll accept it, it's mostly about getting them what they need. My mum uses the landline very extensively, and it's a lifeline for her as she struggles with mobiles. 

400ixl

TalkTalk are typically at the bottom of customer satisfaction reports and for a good reason. Very nearly went bankrupt this year to add.

However, the service should not be going on unreliable (just a pain to deal with if there is an issue) so you do need to understand what that means.

Are they on any types of benefit such as pension credit? That may qualify them for one of the social tariffs that some providers supply.

If they have already moved to digital voice then I would say there really isn't any reason to stay with TalkTalk other than the distance to support the change. However, if they do change, they will get a new router and the trick is that provided they know the wireless network name and the password, you just change the new router to use the same and all the devices will re-connect. So as long as there is someone who can help them do this and to then physically plug it in where the current one is then its not a hard change.

You should be able to get broadband and a phone line for under £26 a month at least.

Some of the providers I would avoid are TalkTalk, Shell Broadband (TalkTalk white label), Pop Telecom, OneStream Vodafone of the ones that will come up a lot. Plusnet won't be of any use to you as they don't do phone lines for new customers as they have no digital voice solution. Sky, BT, Now, EE are all decent with Sky likely to be the cheapest.

If they are paying the higher rate because they do have a TV service, then Sky, NowTV or EE would be the likely replacements.

iniltous

You may want to check what’s going on , obviously if they use Talk  Talk then BT have no involvement with their service, and Openreach are not involved in any change to ‘digital’ telephony , so what do they mean by ‘digital’ ,digital ( VoIP ) telephony or do they mean full fibre ?

 If at some point Talk Talk converted them to ‘full fibre’ ( FTTP ) then Openreach are involved to fit the new optical line , and Talk Talk would take the opportunity to provide their telephone service via the Talk Talk router ( so VoIP ) , if they were on FTTC ( fibre to the cabinet ) any change to VoIP doesn’t involve Openreach , the ISP simply tells their customer to connect the phone to the router on the changeover date ….so the what they mean by ‘ digital’ needs clarification.

If they are already on FTTP and the fall alarm has already been made compatible with IP telephony , then switching provider should be pretty simple , I ( incorrectly ) assumed it was the fall alarm that was the issue with switching , if that’s not a problem, then pick a new provider and switch, if TV is required, not every provider offers an integrated TV service but something like Now TV works on any broadband, if a TV service not needed ( apart from Freeview from the aerial ) simply switch telephone and broadband and the Talk Talk TV is ceased at the same time the TT broadband is replaced by another ISP broadband 

RedRosie1

You people are all so helpful, thank you. 

I will try to get to the bottom of everything with my dad and work out what he's actually signed up for. TV is important to my mum in particular, as she has a very limited/small life these days. I'd love to get my dad access to cricket/golf etc, but can't seem to work out the best way to do this and still get them access to what they think of as a landline. 

They rent from a HA, are just over the limit for pension credit and although my mum gets the higher rate of attendance allowance they are pretty poor regardless. They might let me pay for this, potentially, or not (very proud/independent) it's just that all the new technology has got away from them! 

macman

If they are on such a limited budget there is no way they need to be paying £55per month for those services. But it does sound as if they have now recommitted to a more expensive FTTP/calls/TV package which is probably way beyond the speeds they actually need.
Do they actually need any subscription TV services: would Freeview not be sufficient?

RedRosie1

Yes. Thanks again all. I've chatted to my dad again. I *think* they've been switched to digital voice VoIP, but they don't have fibre as such. The local authority came and made an adjustment to the falls alarm system (a lifesaving service where they come out and help), which provides backup for power cuts via a battery. He has a Talk Talk broadband, free evening and weekend phone calls, and some kind of TV service contract (a box of some sort and I think three remotes!) which he feels is unreliable - at £55 a month.

All of this mostly works right now, as far as I can tell (they are hundreds of miles away and the next planned visit is Xmas). It could be set up incorrectly. His Talk Talk deal runs out in November. They love film and cultural stuff in particular, he loves golf and cricket but doesn't have access to that. I asked what he wants from TV in particular and he says "Freeview, pause, record TV, iplayer and a selection of films plus unlimited phone calls (evening and weekends) and broadband". 

So I'm not much further forward really but will try and work out what to do and pay if he'll let me. It's sad. He's a former engineer but the tech has just got away from him at 88, so is confusing and frustrating. A new properly smart TV (I'm not convinced this is what they have) is something I could help with, if they'll accept it. I'm happy to pay for whatever they need - it's not that simple sometimes with proud and independent but poor elderly people. I can't talk to people on their behalf, that would offend them.

macman

So he doesn't appear to really need any subscription channels. iPlayer and catch-up TV is available through any smart TV, and record/pause is available through a Humax Freeview recorder or similar: a one-off payment, then no ongoing charge. Beware the out of bundle call charges though: if they make calls during the daytime, which people who are retired are very likely to do if not using their mobiles, they may be extremely expensive.
I suggest you get yourself access to the TT online billing system, with this agreement, so you can see exactly what is being charged for and how much. Elderly people are very susceptible to their contracts rolling over at end of minimum term, and then they are paying the ruinous rack rate for everything.

RedRosie1

Thank you everyone for your help. Much appreciated.

I've gone ahead with a new smart TV for them from us, and my dad has found a reasonable broadband/phone deal. All of that is happening/being delivered at a distance next week, so hopefully it will all work (I went with John Lewis for the TV, purely as they will set up and demonstrate everything).