Plusnet move my broadband and home phone package to EE

shadewood_mole

I'm in the same boat. My contract with Plusnet ends in Jan 2027. They have given me less than thirty days to decide which option to choose. I was originally told that the landline would be provided by Plusnet until the end of the contract but clearly this was wrong.

So my question is if they are forcing me to move to EE (to retain the landline) is this sufficient to be a change of contract so that I can chose a different ISP at this point without penalty? Yorkie1 seems to suggest not?

littleboo

Is anything changing apart from the branding?

iniltous

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82066970#Comment_82066970

So what is the problem ? , if you want to keep a telephony service with your broadband and the move to EE allows you to do that , with nothing changing apart from the name on the bill , the price , contract length , call costs maintained exactly the same as you currently have with PN , then arguably to dismiss the offer and expect to be allowed to leave penalty free for some other provider seems unrealistic ….many companies in this industry basically sell their customer base to other providers , and the consumer has no say in the matter provided the terms and conditions are maintained, you need to consider it that way if you don’t want to continue with Plusnet albeit on a broadband only basis , what’s more , in your case it’s not as if the date you can leave PN penalty free for someone else is way in the distant future, its is only 6 months away .

TBF , your claim you were told telephone would be maintained till 2027 must have been 18 months ago , no customer service representative could possibly know the date telephone was to be removed from PN portfolio , so it was truthful at the time , what’s more the fact you asked showed you knew of the chance PN wouldn’t be a telephone provider forever, yet you signed up anyway …..be interesting to know what it is you find unacceptable, as I can’t see any issue at all , join EE for 6 months, paying the same as you do now , then leave .

shadewood_mole

Hi iniltous, thanks for your post.

I've spoken to Plusnet and evidently the change to not support landlines until 2027 was only made recently, if you believe them, so fair comment. And yes I did ask specifically but there you go.

However the change to EE will involve more than just branding. I will need to change the hub, reset all the wifi attached devices, new account, etc.

So I think I'll ditch the landline, stick with Plusnet and go broadband only. That will involve fibre to the house so that will need an installation visit.

The landline number is listed with many companies. I take it they will just hear 'number unavailable' or something after it stops?

elsien

Or if you still want a landline stay with Plusnet for broadband and just get a voip third-party provider which is what I’ve done.

Plusnet router still works - no change needed. Open reach have drilled the new hole, which they would have had to do for the move to fibre anyway and which I was happy with because my FTTP line was rubbish.

I’ve had to pay a little bit extra for the phone adapter, but it’s already set up so it’s plug-in go. I could’ve paid less to fiddle with the settings myself but couldn’t be arsed. Current Landline number moved over with no problems.

I’m anticipating calls in rather than out so I’m doing it on a per minute basis not on a monthly fee however the monthly fee is cheaper than EE anyway.

plantation_2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82067871#Comment_82067871

No need to reset all the devices attached to your current WiFi. Just change the SSID and password on your new router to match the old one and everything should reconnect automatically

iniltous

Its a little disingenuous to say a router change with EE is the reason to look at leaving Plusnet and not join EE .

How can that argument be valid when whoever you would have joined instead of EE if you got your way to not join EE and leave PN penalty free would also require a change of router so the thing you say was a factor in not wanting to join EE , the supposed issues you fear using a different router with EE , is no different whatever company you would have then joined , so it doesn’t really make sense , if using the EE router is a problem , then using a Sky or Vodafone or Zen router is also the same problem.

Although you state your preference is now to stay with PN but on a broadband only basis , dropping the telephone service , the EE router couldn’t really have ever been an issue at all ,and was just trying to justify wanting to leave , presumably keeping telephony isn’t that important , so dropping it and staying on PN (and saving a few ££ ) was clearly the optimal way to proceed, your OP suggested that telephony was more important to you than it actually was .

redux

Setting up new WiFi isn't too difficult. Phones and tablets can do it with a picture of QR code on either the device or on another phone screen, unless it's an older version (my Hudl 2 will not), so there might be search then type in password on not much more than PC and TV

For VoIP it's possible to have more than one provider, which might work out cheaper for line rental and/or calls. Try to make sure that one will do 999 calls, set up location and dial plan accordingly

Neil_Jones

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82067871#Comment_82067871

1. The decision to retire landlines PSTN was meant to be actioned in 2025. It was later pushed back to 2027 but the whole idea was tooted back in 2017. Here's a May 2025 article: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/moving-landlines-to-digital-technologies
2. It's never been a secret that Plusnet are not offering Digital Voice/landline, which has been the company line since at least 2024, and while there was a concept at one point about BT being the business brand and EE the consumer brand and Plusnet was going to be <whatever>, that went back out the window and it was pretty much as you were.
3. There is no obligation to use the Plusnet router (or the EE router come to that), you could just use your own, and then if you switch FTTP provider in the future, you just change the log-in details in the router. Which solves the whole "reset the wifi attached devices" problem.
4. Re: Landline number, well you'll probably find you're supposed to furnish the companies with accurate details as part of the T&Cs, so if they do contact you regularly perhaps you should update your details with them.

Ectophile

The landline number is listed with many companies. I take it they will
just hear 'number unavailable' or something after it stops?

Once you abandon a landline number, there will be a period of about 30 days when it will be unavailable. After that, the number will go back to the pool of spare numbers and may be allocated to someone else.