Where to start....

I'm pretty new to the whole VOIP thing, but I've been spurred on by the recent rises in line rental from OR in an effort to push people towards SoGEA.
I'd quite like to keep my land line number, but it doesn't get an awful lot of action.
Firstly - is is possible to port a number away from a land line service to a VOIP service without it all falling down? (i.e. not losing broadband for a few days) I know A&A can do it - is anyone else doing it yet?
Secondly - Is there anything to choose between the VOIP providers and hardware providers? I've got a few BT DECT phones, so I assume it's easier to use an ATA? Or will a DECT base station work with BT phones?

Thanks!

If your landline really isn't used much then don't worry about having a physical phone. Just use an app on your smartphone.

Even though my wife isn't the most tech savvy of people, we went this route and haven't regretted it.

In reply to a post by gromit69:

Firstly - is is possible to port a number away from a land line service to a VOIP service without it all falling down? (i.e. not losing broadband for a few days) I know A&A can do it - is anyone else doing it yet?

Not that I am aware of if you want to stay with the existing ISP.

I know BT & Zen can migrate FTTC+WLR to SOGEA+DV for both existing and new customers, not sure of other ISPs who have DV offerings (Sky, TalkTalk).

Secondly - Is there anything to choose between the VOIP providers and hardware providers? I've got a few BT DECT phones, so I assume it's easier to use an ATA? Or will a DECT base station work with BT phones?

With providers the costs and billing arrangements vary - some have low monthly costs with PAYG call charges, others have higher monthly charges with some inclusive minutes to different destinations (maybe UK geographic, 01/02/03, geographic plus mobile, etc.).

Mixing base and handset from different vendors often provides basic functionality, but things such as shared phonebook, intercom calls, etc. usually don't in which case an ATA is probably a better solution. If replacing base and handsets Gigaset have a good reputation, as does Yealink.

If you're new to it all then I would suggest buying the DECT bundle from A&A:

https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-informat...

You will then be able to pair your existing handsets to the Yealink base as long as they are GAP compatible (most are). The advantage of buying the hardware from A&A is that you won't be messing around with configuration but you can always go down the route of configuring something yourself if you are happy to put the time into it.

I had lots of problems getting a Cisco ATA191 to work with A&A SIP when it was behind a BT Smart Hub 2 that had Digital Voice enabled, as soon as I changed router it worked without issue, so bear that in mind.

My number port was done by having a new service installed (Lit FIbre) without telling BT anything, and then starting the number port process with A&A which BT saw as a transfer of service as if you were moving to TalkTalk or whoever. I am not aware of a way to make this seamless if you only have a single copper service and don't want to get another line installed, other than transferring your phone and internet service to A&A and letting them do the renumber and export on it.

In reply to a post by gromit69:

I'm pretty new to the whole VOIP thing, but I've been spurred on by the recent rises in line rental from OR in an effort to push people towards SoGEA.
I'd quite like to keep my land line number, but it doesn't get an awful lot of action.
Firstly - is is possible to port a number away from a land line service to a VOIP service without it all falling down? (i.e. not losing broadband for a few days)

First question is are you copper or FTTP ? If copper then as soon as you port your number you will lose your broadband. If FTTP, then as long as your Digital Voice is not tied to your contract (eg BT) then should be ok

In reply to a post by jpm:

My number port was done by having a new service installed (Lit FIbre) without telling BT anything, and then starting the number port process with A&A which BT saw as a transfer of service as if you were moving to TalkTalk or whoever.

I did similar in 2019 moving from Plusnet (phone & broadband) to Virgin Media (broadband only).

Apologies - I thought I'd put that in. I'm on FTTC, so I know that any movement of the number will be an issue.

Jumping in here, if I may.

We are on one of Sky's Fibre products - they also supply our 'landline' though you have to use their router for it to work.

As part of an offer, we have also had Hey! Broadband's 900Mb fibre product for the past 6 months (whilst we were tied into Sky). We are using our own router with Hey! and didn't take up their phone product.

We are about to lose the Sky connection (in about a week's time) so will be losing the landline with it.

Hey! insist their phone product doesn't work unless you use their router (which is useless by all accounts)

I am not debating if we even need a landline at all ???

If we do keep it then I assume I need to go to a VOIP provider that lets me keep my current number ?

We currently use a few DECT phones. Will these be compatible with VOIP or is it easier/cheaper to go with a service which "forwards" all calls to the landline onto a mobile number(s) ?

I should point out this is a purely domestic use phone number - i.e just one number is required

Edited by AdamBrunt (Thu 25-May-23 15:25:54)

In reply to a post by AdamBrunt:

We are about to lose the Sky connection (in about a week's time) so will be losing the landline with it.
I am not debating if we even need a landline at all ???
If we do keep it then I assume I need to go to a VOIP provider that lets me keep my current number ?
I should point out this is a purely domestic use phone number - i.e just one number is required

Not sure if it works with Sky but normally just porting your phone number to a VOIP provider should be all you need to do and it should automatically stop your Sky landline/broadband. Not sure on timescales though so do research and do not leave it too late or you may risk losing the number.

Either run a VOIP/SIP app on your mobile phone (obviously needs Internet access to work) or just do as you say and pay the VOIP provider to forward landline number to your mobile. If the landline is not used much it is probably acceptable just remember if you receive any scam calls you will in effect be paying to forward the call to your mobile.

For cheapness I think A&A is reasonable (<£2/month for the line) but be careful you can't put any max monthly spend on the account which is a damn pity as otherwise it would be an easy choice. Obviously check it has options to forward all calls also.

In reply to a post by think26872:

For cheapness I think A&A is reasonable (<£2/month for the line) but be careful you can't put any max monthly spend on the account which is a damn pity as otherwise it would be an easy choice. Obviously check it has options to forward all calls also.

You can set the outgoing call price limit to £0.00, that way you can't make any costly outgoing calls.