FTTC to SOGEA 80/20

Looking to move my landline from a EE Fibre Plus FTTC plan as in total (including call packages) it's costing over £60 a month, ridiculous, i know. I'm gonna move it to AAISP for their £1.20 a month, I don't mind PAYG, as only use it once a month for international calls home. Problem is, I would need to move my FTTC VDSL2 service (80/20) to SOGEA, however i doubt EE will do this as I've read on the BT checker that only 40/10 will be available as my area has been in a copper stop sell since 2021. I could move to community fibre, but i would rather stay with ee (no cgnat), hoping that should decrease my price back to £30. Would this be possible? Attaching BT checker below. edit: says FTTC unavailable, so i assume theres no more slots in the cabinet. Bit risky then, as someone could snatch my spot should the number be ported. Whole reason Im doing this is to save the hassle later.
Cheers
BT CHECKER

If your area is in a stop sell exchange … then the reason you are not being offered copper based products is because of the stop sell. You should be looking at full fibre offerings.

Your checker results show that OpenReach FTTP is available. So, as Zarjaz says, you will not be able to buy a FTTC service. However, you should be able to buy a FTTP service for around £30 a month (plus phone fees as you want a phone service). EE selling 150Mbps for around £31 a month at the moment according to the ThinkBroadBand deals page (plus one off £11.99 charge).

In reply to a post by ian72:

EE selling 150Mbps for around £31 a month at the moment according to the ThinkBroadBand deals page

... which becomes £34 in April and then £37 a year later, so you need to do some maths to work out for yourself what the true cost is. I reckon: 13 + 4*31 + 12*34 + 8*37 = £841 for 24 months (more exactly £840.75), which is £35.03 per month.

If you don't like playing those games, then Aquiss will sell you 80/20 FTTP or SOGEA for £36 per month on a 12 month contract, with the first 6 months discounted to £18, no price rises within contract and no price hike at the end of the contract - but you need to provide your own router, and your AAISP VOIP will be on top of that.

Order an FTTP based service. That’s all you can do anyway 😂

As your hardly using your landline - save further by ordering a plain service - literally just the broadband no bundled voice service (off the back of the router).

Order the new service, get it installed and running. Only then put in a porting requesting on your FTTC service to port your landline number across to a third party VOIP provider like A&A or Voipfone.

Live a happy life 😅

Yes, if FTTP is available for your area then it won't allow you to order FTTC SOGEA that's not because no slots are available.
The slots are available but Openreach doesn't allow you to order an FTTC service once FTTP is available. All the offers on any ISP website will show only FTTP packages by default.

However, in areas like that of my own I switched from TalkTalk FTTC to BT FTTC SOGEA just over 2 years. This was BT Home Essentials 2 at that time for £20 a month and the website at that time gave me the option to switch from Analogue phone service to Digital Voice while retaining the phone number. Plus received Alexa phone for free as part of the package.

I don't really care about the landline but if it is included, it is a bonus. Phone calls are free unlimitedly to both UK landline and mobile.
Community Fibre is also available here, but I also stuck with BT FTTC for the time being as I am also worried about CGNAT being a potential issue. The BT FTTC service has been excellent for me no connection drop outs for 165 days and all for £20 a month.

TalkTalk were price hiking me to £40 a month. But BT Home Essentials 2 80/20 is only £20 a month and has been that way for over 2 years since getting their service. Btw, you can also get Home Essentials 2 if you are on Universal Credit or Pension Credit. But now you won't get it for £20 a month instead it is up to £23 a month for new customers.

Only old existing customers like myself still pay £20 a month. At some point of-course this will go up.
Actually there is also Vodafone social tariff for £20 a month https://www.vodafone.co.uk/broadband/essentials-broa... Same 80/20 speeds and no early termination charges.

I recommend Aquiss FTTP 80/20 for £18 a month (first six months) then £36 a month there after. Make sure you got your own wireless router (not from ex ISP router because it will be locked to the isp) and you also get free Static IP Address (useful for home CCTV)

I am now with Aquiss Family 80/20 service is top level. You can trust Martin on great support.

This is my speedtest with Aquiss SoGEA 80/20 https://www.speedtest.net/result/17195027186

Edited by adslmax (Tue 31-Dec-24 10:48:48)

As with others, order a basic 80/20 FTTP service - as low as £25/month.

Get it installed and running - then, port your old landline number to a VoIP provider such as VOIPIFY.net who have some very good international rates (one reson I went to them), and cancel the old copper FTTC service.

Yes, you will need something like a Gigaset N300 base for VoIP but after a couple of months you will be saving considerably.

In reply to a post by MHC:

As with others, order a basic 80/20 FTTP service - as low as £25/month.

Get it installed and running - then, port your old landline number to a VoIP provider such as VOIPIFY.net who have some very good international rates (one reson I went to them), and cancel the old copper FTTC service.

Yes, you will need something like a Gigaset N300 base for VoIP but after a couple of months you will be saving considerably.

... just on your last point MHC, that's of course only if the OP really wants physical handsets. You can have a mixture of physical or virtual devices to access a "landline".

We've gone all Marie Kondo here, and fixed handsets have been banished. Including my once cherished Cisco 9971-series video capable VOIP handsets!

Landlines are just apps on our phones. Shout out to Acrobits as the clear and superior winner on VoIP smartphone apps by a country mile 😎🤣

ye, I see that, but I also see the exception for sogea. It seems to be limited to 40/10, however I also see that sogea is to stay for now.
will ring up ee to see what they say.

Edited by nslawski09 (Tue 31-Dec-24 13:56:01)

Landlines are just apps on our phones. Shout out to Acrobits as the clear and superior winner on VoIP smartphone apps by a country mile 😎🤣

Which begs the question, why have them at all?

In reply to a post by Nervous:

Landlines are just apps on our phones. Shout out to Acrobits as the clear and superior winner on VoIP smartphone apps by a country mile 😎🤣

Which begs the question, why have them at all?

Is that rhetorical or do you really want an answer? So hard to tell on the inter webs 😅

using a vigor 2860, speeds arent great, getting 65/18

Edited by nslawski09 (Tue 31-Dec-24 16:44:24)

In reply to a post by nslawski09:

using a vigor 2860, speeds arent great, getting 65/18

It's depend on your router chipset. Also depend on your FTTC stats eg: noise margin, line attenuation, G.INP, high or low rtx.

Mine is Zyxel Router which it support both G.fast and Vdsl2 (broadcom chipset)

Downstream Upstream
Line attenuation (dB): 11.6 0.0
Signal attenuation (dB): Not available on VDSL2
Connection speed (kbps): 79999 19999
SNR margin (dB): 6.5 15.3
Power (dBm): 12.4 0.0
Interleave depth: 16 1
INP: 48.00 0
G.INP: Enabled Not enabled
Vectoring status: 5 (VECT_UNCONFIGURED)

RSCorr/RS (%): 0.0000 0.0000
RSUnCorr/RS (%): 0.0000 0.0000
ES/hour: 0 0

Max: Upstream rate = 24015 Kbps, Downstream rate = 85147 Kbps
Bearer: 0, Upstream rate = 19999 Kbps, Downstream rate = 79999 Kbps

Bearer 0
INP: 48.00 0.00
INPRein: 0.00 0.00
delay: 0 0
PER: 0.00 3.98
OR: 0.01 64.22
AgR: 80614.82 20063.54

Bearer 1
INP: 4.00 0.00
INPRein: 4.00 0.00
delay: 3 0
PER: 16.06 0.01
OR: 95.62 0.01
AgR: 95.62 0.01

SoGEA 80/20 speed result: https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/17356725184...

Edited by adslmax (Tue 31-Dec-24 19:16:34)

https://lrlasjniaocw.objectstorage.uk-london-1.oci.c...

ipv6
ipv4

What does BTw IP Profile say on your line here: https://speedtest.btwholesale.com by going to Additional Diagnostic as it should be on 77.35Mbps with throughput speed around 74Mbps

In reply to a post by nslawski09:

https://lrlasjniaocw.objectstorage.uk-london-1.oci.c...

That's a very good line stats, you are more closer to the FTTC cabinet.

That exception bit means "by exception". As in, if you can get FTTP and are in a fibre priority area but there are ECCs that you don't want to/cannot pay, your ISP can request that SoGEA is opened up on the checkers for you to order.

https://lrlasjniaocw.objectstorage.uk-london-1.oci.c...

annoyingy, i cannot even see possible upgrades without calling.

It could just be an error showing SoGEA 40/10

If your are really is a copper stop sell, and your property does have FTTP available to order, then you should not be able to order copper at all. (It is possible to raise exception orders but they are in very narrowly-defined circumstances)

In any case, why would you choose SoGEA 80/20 when FTTP 80/20 is available? The latter is more reliable, and gives you 100% of the speed you paid for (no dynamic speed adjustment to cope with long or bad lines).

Edited by candlerb (Wed 01-Jan-25 10:12:48)

I actually did want an answer.
I can't understand once you have got rid of a physical landlines only plus point, which is it actually comes down a landline and is more immune to things like powercuts etc and incorrporate it into your mobile, subject to all the things mobiles are subject to, why not just use your mobile?

Incoming landline directed calls. For me it boils down to that. I suspect so for lots of other folks too.

Outbound not so much as I have inclusive everything on all our mobile plans. So from a cost and convenience perspective I do just use the mobile.

It was different years ago and I’ve employed multiple strategies over the years, especially when outbound mobile telephony was more expensive etc.

The death of the “landline” both physically and in volume terms (usage) has been in terminal decline for the last two decades. So none of this is a surprise.

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Incoming landline directed calls. For me it boils down to that. I suspect so for lots of other folks too.

I still don't understand, your incoming call using an app is going to your mobile and surely every incoming call to your mobile is directed at you.

A lot of people use the argument that some relative or other won't call a mobile so they keep the landline but if they didn't have a landline the relative would have no choice but to call the mobile.

Once the PSTN network is dismantled and probably long before ALL calls are going to be subject to the strengths and weaknesses of the internet regardless of how many virtual VOIP apps you try to comfort yourself with.

Edited by Nervous (Sun 12-Jan-25 10:02:14)

That’s precisely why I prefer having it all on my mobile. Business and personal landline numbers come into that one device (as well as my wife’s mobile for our home number). So let’s say relative from Australia is calling or my kids schools are calling the landline, then either one of us can pick the call up wherever we are. Don’t have to be at home, don’t have to be in the office. People can reach me (should I wish) wherever I’m carrying the handset. It’s just more flexibility for incoming landline calls.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

It could just be an error showing SoGEA 40/10

If your are really is a copper stop sell, and your property does have FTTP available to order, then you should not be able to order copper at all. (It is possible to raise exception orders but they are in very narrowly-defined circumstances)

Under the Openreach 'FTTP Priority Exchange Stop Sell Dilution Rules' if you have an active FTTC or SOGEA circuit you are permitted to migrate & change bandwith to SOGEA 40/10 only, even if FTTP is available to order.