Minimal use / backup VOIP provider

SO, I am in the process of upgrading my Plusnet FTTC broadband to FTTP, which of course means I will lose my landline service.

I am 99% fine with that as I very rarely use my landline service, but I'm not sure if I am completely happy in not having it there as am emergency backup.

There have been times I have lost / forgotten my mobile somewhere and had to use my landline to get in touch with family / friends I am indeed still alive (being as I live alone).

I also have a landline number that I have provided to places such as my doctor, dentist, etc which they may try to contact me on, so I would ideally like to retain this.

Research tells me AAISP is the cheapest option. I'm perfectly happy to pay the £12-15 (Whatever it is) porting fee, plus the £1.50-ish rental fee as a "line rental".

However, I'll be making minimal (if any) outgoing calls unless it's an emergency situation.

Would AAISP mind that? As surely I'd be costing them more than they'd be making from me?

Or is there a better option?

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies!

Apart from not just staying with the same ISP for my broadband, that is exactly what i did over 3 years ago. No problem, I am an aged single householder as well, only use the VOIP for incoming calls from people who don't have my mobile number.

Someone else will probably come along and advise on the dos and don'ts of the actual Porting procedure, because I have forgotten now.

I’ve recently had the opportunity to sign up to FTTP from a G.Fast FTTC connection with TalkTalk. I’m moving the broadband to Aquiss who only provide the internet connection, so I decided to go with A&A for VoIP to retain my phone number. Process so far has been great. FTTP is due to be installed Wednesday and the phone number migration on Friday. I’ll post back on how it goes.

One word of advice don’t cancel your old account with PlusNet if you want to migrate the number. The migration will cease the service as far as I know.

I ported my landline number from BT to Voipfone 10 years ago. I use a Cisco ATA.

Unlike Voipfone, A&A will allow you to have multiple devices registered all of which should ring if there is an incoming call. It is also possible to receive calls to a landline VOIP number using the Android GS Wave app on a mobile phone.

I have a number with Andrews & Arnold barely gets used and its fine no issues.

Just ported my Dad's over to them from PlusNet that wont have much use either but saves a fortune.

In reply to a post by biggish_who:

Would AAISP mind that? As surely I'd be costing them more than they'd be making from me?

No they don't mind. I installed Virgin cable in 2019 having been previous a plusnet customer and I kept the plusnet service going until I was happy with the Virgin, then I went to AAISP and they ported my number from plusnet to VOIP. This then caused plusnet to close down both FTTC/VDSL and physical phone line. I know two others have done similar recently.

as others have said, porting your number on adsl/vdsl(fttc) lines will cease all services on that circuit. That includes your internet provided by the line.

So get the fttp installed, and once up port to aaisp and that will cease your pn account.

I have been with A&A for a couple of years now and never made any outgoing calls other than 0800. The bill every month is £1.44, no problems at all.

Thank you to all who have replied.

It sounds like this is certainly possible then, and they won't mind the 'low usage' (I'll make the odd call here and there, and they're so much cheaper than normal landline calls!).

I think AAISP is the cheapest in terms of line rental fees?

I just need to decide whether it's worth the effort. I could almost definitely get away with not having any kind of landline at all, but part of me just wants to hang on to it 'just in case'.

My understanding is when my Plusnet FTTP takes over from the FTTC, the associated phone number becomes 'ceased', at which point AA would still be able to port the number.

If I initiate the port before the FTTP, it will close my account with Plusnet entirely, and leave me with no broadband conntaction, which I definitely do not want!

Get the FTTP installed then port to A+A.

I only make a few calls and it's no problem for them. The important thing is their customer service which is exemplary.

It’s tricky when the FTTP and the VDSL/FTTC are from the same provider. Unless you can convince them to set up a new account for the FTTP.

When our fibre went live we ported the landline number to A&A. That was over two years ago and in that time we have made one outgoing call. That call was actually a call to my father while on holiday in South Africa, a 20 minute or so call cost 23p. A bit better than the £2/minute O2 would have charged me had I used their network!

I was under the impression that landline numbers are now held in a sort of limbo for 30 days after accounts have been terminated, specifically so that it is possible to port a number to a VoIP service AFTER the change of service from FTTC to FTTP? I'm sure that was all part of the new One Touch Switch regulations.

In reply to a post by t_r_davies:

I was under the impression that landline numbers are now held in a sort of limbo for 30 days after accounts have been terminated, specifically so that it is possible to port a number to a VoIP service AFTER the change of service from FTTC to FTTP? I'm sure that was all part of the new One Touch Switch regulations.

I can confirm that for me a disconnected line was moved over to VoIP a week after the provisioning of FTTP. Got a second instance of the same thing going through at present. A&A are not the only hosting provider that can achieve this task.

I have VOIP from AAISP, and it works well. That said, the only person that uses the line is my 85 year old brother who has not mastered FaceTime or Whats App for calls. He does though call me using a basic mobile phone.

VOIP set up can be tricky depending on your router/ATA and choice of phone. It took me about a week of online research to ascertain how to set up push tones on my Gigaset handsets (with a Fritz!box router). AAISP support just pointed me at their support pages which are very technical for a 70+ year old. Gigaset suggested I buy their ATA.

Yes I'm pretty sure this is exactly the case. The important thing is not to initiate the number port until after the broadband service has been ported to FTTP (Or SoGEA) to avoid the account being completely closed.

In reply to a post by GoWest:

I have VOIP from AAISP, and it works well. That said, the only person that uses the line is my 85 year old brother who has not mastered FaceTime or Whats App for calls. He does though call me using a basic mobile phone.

VOIP set up can be tricky depending on your router/ATA and choice of phone. It took me about a week of online research to ascertain how to set up push tones on my Gigaset handsets (with a Fritz!box router). AAISP support just pointed me at their support pages which are very technical for a 70+ year old. Gigaset suggested I buy their ATA.

Thanks for getting back to me. Yes it can definitely be tricky, but I have set this kind of thing up before and I have a spare Grandstream ATA knocking around which would do the job. It's just deciding whether to go through the hassle and (minor) expense of getting it all set up... or just risk going 'mobile only'!

In reply to a post by biggish_who:

I think AAISP is the cheapest in terms of line rental fees?

There is https://numberpeople.co.uk/ (note: I've not used them, and I've heard variable reviews)

* No monthly fee, if you pay per minute to get your calls forwarded to a mobile (bundles are available - e.g. £1 per month gives you 20 minutes)
* And/or: £1 per month for a SIP extension

BUT... it looks like they now charge £2 per month for ported numbers. So no banana

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlkuQOU1iM...