Do I need a land line?

oldernonethewiser

With Sky & Vodafone you will get a phone number but you never need to connect, to your router, or use that phone.

If you do and don't have a package with included calls then you pay as you use the phone.

I've got a "no calls included" deal with Sky. No idea what the phone number might be and no interest in ever using it

FiestaRed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81982640#Comment_81982640

Sorry to be so thick, but when you say "We only use the telephone for incoming calls" is there a charge for that too?

oldernonethewiser

No charge to receive calls

Exodi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81982589#Comment_81982589

Yes you're right but it doesn't change the point, from what I could see on the EE forums/pricing sheets, that the OP would be paying for line rental, whether they use a landline phone or not. It matters little whether it's a separate line on their invoice or built into the broadband price behind the scenes. There's only a few exceptions to this (e.g. Virgin who uses their own coaxial lines instead of OR). One thread on the forum suggested it was as much as £20 p/m which is crazy to me as my entire FTTP package, which is likely 10x the speed, is only a few pound more.

In any case, it's largely meaningless as moving to fibre is a pretty much a no brainer from my perspective. Much faster and likely much cheaper. It's hard to even do any comparison on this because out of the 103 results on MSE for my address, 103 of them were expectedly FTTP.

iniltous

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81982739#Comment_81982739

Its a mistake to keep referring to ‘line rental’ when meaning a telephone service , with broadband there is no line rental , and there hasn’t been a separate item on the bill for ‘line rental’ for decades, broadband is the service that the customer purchased, and it includes the rental of the ‘line’ that delivers it , basically ‘line rental’ is irrelevant if it is included in the broadband price .

….if you want to add a phone service (bafflingly called a landline when these days it’s an IP service via the broadband ) to your broadband (some ISP offer this , some do not ) then what they charge has nothing to do with ‘line rental’, given there is no such thing on broadband bills , as stated Sky and Vodafone include telephony with broadband on a PAYG basis regardless of you wanting it or not , and charge for individual calls should any be made , or can offer to upgrade to Unlimited calls for a fee , BT/EE don’t provide a telephone service unless you want it and , if you do they charge around £3 for telephony on a PAYG , they too can upgrade you to an unlimited calls plan for larger fee .

QrizB

the OP would be paying for line rental, whether they use a landline phone or not.

Similarly, a fixed-line broadband customer (vs. mobile, airband or satellite) will be paying Openreach, Virgin or an altnet for the provision of their fixed line whether they take a telephony service or not. It makes no difference whether it's an analogue copper line for ADSL, part-fibre for FTTC, full fibre for FTTP or coaxial for Virgin "fibre".

In any case, it's largely meaningless as moving to fibre is a pretty much a no brainer from my perspective. Much faster and likely much cheaper.

In areas where FTTP is available it can be cheaper, but equally it might not be. And it's not necessarily faster; there are "slow" full-fibre packages available for people who don't want or need hundreds of megabits.

Compare prices, platforms and providers, then choose whatever suits you best.

(There's an altnet that provides FTTP to my address. Much faster than my SOGEA and, during the initial period, about £8/week cheaper. But their standard pricing (after the initial period) is horrendous and I don't fancy the hassle of getting a fibre and ONT installed if I'm going to quit after 12 months.)

DarthDaisy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6666350/do-i-need-a-land-line

I have been looking into this requirement for a landline.

My conclusion is that the one company you do NOT want to have your number with is your ISP.

I found two practical choices.

1. Move your number to Plexatalk for £6 a month (most basic service

https://www.plexatalk.co.uk/top-5-uk-residential-voip-providers/

2. Move your number to Phonely for £15 odd a month if you require equivalent of BT Call Protect

https://www.phonely.co.uk/services/digital-voice

Of course there are plenty of other companies if you want to search around. I called both of the above and was able to speak to a real human.

You can also host a number yourself for a few dollars a month but you would need to build your own call management infrastructure, there are scripts online but if you do not know what code does it is best not to depend on it.

If you are with EE it means you are able to take advantage of the current Vodafone deals on this weeks newsletter

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip/

Basically from just under £19 a month for 150mb Fibre or just under £24 a month for 500mb Fibre.

You will need an analog to digital phone converter, these cost up to £50 from the above companies but you can get a Daytel router with 2 VoIP ports second hand off ebay or pick up a new device from Amazon from around £35.

You just plug it in, get the IP of the device then paste IP into browser, log in and change the SIP domain/config details and credentials.

You could use one of the services above and have all calls go to voicemails which if you subscribe to the right service level will be sent as emails.

I have not had a land line since maybe 2011/12, so seriously consider whether you need it.

FiestaRed

Sorry to come back with another problem. If I change to fibre broadband, will I still be able to get 'Freeview catch up TV please?

QrizB

Yes, Freeview catch-up TV doesn't mind what type of network connection you have. My parents use it over mobile data!

FiestaRed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81983626#Comment_81983626

Thanks again for all the help.