Migrating land line to VOIP

My PlusNet contract is due up for renewal in January 2021.

I have been with them for a number of years and have a very reliable FTTC connection (synchronising at 80/20 ever since installation) More recently FTTP is now available in my area.

Currently I pay £10 pm for internet, circ £20 line rental and £5 for Evening/weekend calls so approximately £35 pm

I see that BT/PlusNet have recently announced their intention to raise prices by 3.9% + CPI

PlusNet do not offer any form of FTTP

I am therefore seriously considering moving to Zen where I can obtain a 100/20 FTTP connection for £39 with a guarantee of no price rises post contract expiry (remains to be seen how firm this will turn out!)

Going forward I would like to retain my "old" PlusNet landline number but as I have unlimited calls via my mobile provider this would be for incoming calls only. My plan would be to migrate my PlusNet number to a VOIP provider.

By way of a test I currently have a VOIP number running via AAISP (line rental £1.20pm) so this might be a possible solution. However I am unclear of the implications if I needed to transfer out from AAISP to another VOIP provider.

Does anyone have any experience of migrating a land line number to VOIP - would I need to have two simultaneous broadband connections running (aka FTTC/FTTP) until migration finished and then cease the FTTC (presumably this would incur a termination fee)

In reply to a post by farrinaf:

Does anyone have any experience of migrating a land line number to VOIP - would I need to have two simultaneous broadband connections running (aka FTTC/FTTP) until migration finished and then cease the FTTC (presumably this would incur a termination fee)

I transferred my land line number to AAISP VoIP, and this ceased (cancelled) my Plusnet phone and FTTC service.

So if you want to move the existing number this is going to be very difficult. You may want to talk to your chosen new ISP as you may need to port out, cancel existing, and then have a whole new install. With all the set up fees.

In theory you need a "renumber and export" but I think only AAISP can do this if you are on their broadband. You might need to migrate to AAISP, do this transfer, then migrate to your chosen ISP??

I got my 4G broadband working reliably on Sipgate basic with the number they supplied me, I then ported my BT number over to them which ceased the ADSL and the phoneline. This has also worked well, loaded the sipgate account with £10 credit and now down to £9.80. Much more control, get emails of all incoming calls, a block list and a email with voicemail link attached. Also the number of spam calls reduced significantly, raising the suspicion that BT's database is open to abuse as I had been ex directory for decades but still got spam calls.

Some ISP's can get your old BT number ported but the broadband stays live.

https://forums.thinkbroadband.com/voip.html

In reply to a post by farrinaf:

I am therefore seriously considering moving to Zen where I can obtain a 100/20 FTTP connection for £39 with a guarantee of no price rises post contract expiry (remains to be seen how firm this will turn out!)

Why not go with BT and get 160/30 on FTTP for only £30/m which includes a voice service? Far cheaper and simpler solution, assuming you’re ok with potentially using BTs Digital Voice service for incoming calls.
https://www.bt.com/campaign/full-fibre-240

I followed the same route - got sipgate working (over a 4G connection), then ported my landline number from Plusnet ADSL (terminating both the ADSL and land-line). Still get incoming calls on my old number, but use mobile for outgoing calls - no more line rental charges

In reply to a post by farrinaf:

My PlusNet contract is due up for renewal in January 2021.

I have been with them for a number of years and have a very reliable FTTC connection (synchronising at 80/20 ever since installation) More recently FTTP is now available in my area.

Currently I pay £10 pm for internet, circ £20 line rental and £5 for Evening/weekend calls so approximately £35 pm

I see that BT/PlusNet have recently announced their intention to raise prices by 3.9% + CPI

PlusNet do not offer any form of FTTP

I am therefore seriously considering moving to Zen where I can obtain a 100/20 FTTP connection for £39 with a guarantee of no price rises post contract expiry (remains to be seen how firm this will turn out!)

Going forward I would like to retain my "old" PlusNet landline number but as I have unlimited calls via my mobile provider this would be for incoming calls only. My plan would be to migrate my PlusNet number to a VOIP provider.

By way of a test I currently have a VOIP number running via AAISP (line rental £1.20pm) so this might be a possible solution. However I am unclear of the implications if I needed to transfer out from AAISP to another VOIP provider.

Does anyone have any experience of migrating a land line number to VOIP - would I need to have two simultaneous broadband connections running (aka FTTC/FTTP) until migration finished and then cease the FTTC (presumably this would incur a termination fee)

I would recommend posting a link to this post in the VoIP area of the forum as you are likely to get more responses. Don't repost the same message as that's cross-posting.

Post deleted by kommando

In reply to a post by Highland76:

In reply to a post by farrinaf:

I am therefore seriously considering moving to Zen where I can obtain a 100/20 FTTP connection for £39 with a guarantee of no price rises post contract expiry (remains to be seen how firm this will turn out!)

Why not go with BT and get 160/30 on FTTP for only £30/m which includes a voice service? Far cheaper and simpler solution, assuming you’re ok with potentially using BTs Digital Voice service for incoming calls.
https://www.bt.com/campaign/full-fibre-240

Linking your email to your ISP gave them leverage over you, keeping VOIP with your ISP gives them the same potential. I keep my email and VOIP away from my ISP.

In reply to a post by kommando:

In reply to a post by Highland76:

In reply to a post by farrinaf:

I am therefore seriously considering moving to Zen where I can obtain a 100/20 FTTP connection for £39 with a guarantee of no price rises post contract expiry (remains to be seen how firm this will turn out!)

Why not go with BT and get 160/30 on FTTP for only £30/m which includes a voice service? Far cheaper and simpler solution, assuming you’re ok with potentially using BTs Digital Voice service for incoming calls.
https://www.bt.com/campaign/full-fibre-240

Linking your email to your ISP gave them leverage over you, keeping VOIP with your ISP gives them the same potential. I keep my email and VOIP away from my ISP.

What "leverage" would that be?

In reply to a post by Highland76:

In reply to a post by kommando:

In reply to a post by Highland76:

... nested quotes trimmed ...

Why not go with BT and get 160/30 on FTTP for only £30/m which includes a voice service? Far cheaper and simpler solution, assuming you’re ok with potentially using BTs Digital Voice service for incoming calls.
https://www.bt.com/campaign/full-fibre-240

Linking your email to your ISP gave them leverage over you, keeping VOIP with your ISP gives them the same potential. I keep my email and VOIP away from my ISP.

What "leverage" would that be?

Potential leverage, ie something unknown but possible in the future, marketing departments can come up with schemes in years to come.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/10/budget...

In reply to a post by kommando:

In reply to a post by Highland76:

In reply to a post by kommando:

... nested quotes trimmed ...

Linking your email to your ISP gave them leverage over you, keeping VOIP with your ISP gives them the same potential. I keep my email and VOIP away from my ISP.

What "leverage" would that be?

Potential leverage, ie something unknown but possible in the future, marketing departments can come up with schemes in years to come.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/10/budget...

What on earth has email accounts from your old ISP got to do with landlines??!! You're comparing apples with oranges.

In reply to a post by farrinaf:

My PlusNet contract is due up for renewal in January 2021.

By way of a test I currently have a VOIP number running via AAISP (line rental £1.20pm) so this might be a possible solution. However I am unclear of the implications if I needed to transfer out from AAISP to another VOIP provider.

Does anyone have any experience of migrating a land line number to VOIP - would I need to have two simultaneous broadband connections running (aka FTTC/FTTP) until migration finished and then cease the FTTC (presumably this would incur a termination fee)

Five years ago, when I had FTTP working I ceased my Plusnet ADSL service with no termination charge as I was out of contract. I then ported my BT landline number to Voipfone, which killed the landline. I have not wanted to change VOIP provider.

From my own experience, this can be pretty straightforward, but there are potential traps, and depending on your circumstances, the sequence and timing can be important.

Firstly, there's a useful guide to the process and pitfalls at https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/04/swappi... (Jump to page 3, you already know the basics ... )

Secondly, already having a VOIP provider should (!) make life easier.

Thirdly, the provision of FTTP is entirely separate to your existing copper service, so the only consideration in running the two side by side is cost. If you can afford to do it for a month or two, it is well worth considering, in case of problems with the new service.

In my case, once I was able to wake OR up to the fact that the FTTP infrastructure was already in place (Duh...!), and being out of contract with TTB (ADSL), I ordered FTTP from Cerberus, and let the two run for a couple of months, which gave me the time to assess VOIP providers and satisfy myself that all was well with the FTTP provision. I then signed up with my chosen VOIP service (Vonage), and requested porting of the TTB landline phone number; this automatically sent a cease service request to TTB, and after the required notification period, the changeover proceeded seamlessly. No problems since! (Fingers crossed.)

I don't know what sort of delays are likely with FTTP installation in the current circumstances, so I suggest getting your FTTP order in soon. With 3-4 months to run, the penalties for early termination of your current contract should be fairly reasonable if the installation is quick, and if longer, then a month or two at out-of-contract pricing should also be bearable.

I hope the above is helpful and not stating too much that you didn't know already.

Good luck with your plans!

Edited by Mygri (Fri 09-Oct-20 17:30:45)

Thanks to all for very helpful replies - the suggestion of running FTTP/FTTC simultaneously certainly seems sensible and I shall ponder this aspect carefully.

The only real nagging question, is whether I sit back to see what form of retention deal PlusNet might offer, or just (as suggested) bite the bullet and go straight for future technology and FTTP

Cheers