Hi,

In reply to a post by Iniltous:

In reply to a post by APTMAN:

In reply to a post by Iniltous:

As a SMPF customer your migration away from PSTN is likely to be amongst the last to be done so probably well over a year before any decision will need to be made ,

Yes that's what I was thinking.

Not sure if this new system BT are trying would help my case 'SOTAP for Analogue'
Is this were they are using an ATA type card to do the service.
In our village there are a lot elderly people who still have POT's phones (some with emergency call systems ) who are no way tech savvy who will need help in the switch over to ip based systems.

I believe SOTAP for analogue is a transitional product for PSTN only customers currently without access to FTTP , as someone who already has FTTP access , I doubt BT will offer you this , that’s assuming you remove the broadband provider from your SMPF service and try to revert it to a basic telephone only service with BT , the clock is ticking though , and although some vested interests managed to postpone the inevitable PSTN retirement until Jan 2027 it’s a risk to assume the deadline will be extended again , so I would have though you need to be making a decision sooner rather than later , that being , do you need to even keep this extra service, and if you do , who should provide it, BT or the ISP .

SOTAP for analogue is a transitional product for those who have no broadband provision* so wouldn't be an option in this case.

* Technically SOTAP for Analogue cannot be provided to those who have broadband provided over Openreach copper. Whether Openreach would choose to make it available for sale to those who also have an Openreach (or other supplier) FTTP connection is unknown (to me at least).

In reply to a post by DFScale:

In reply to a post by burble:

I want the number on the lousy copper line( sometimes it's impossible to use) moved to VOIP with our ISP so that it receives calls, but at present this seems beyond the capabilities of TalkTalk(some might not be surprised at that)

That this is beyond the capabilities of TalkTalk is perhaps an indicator to put your phone line with an independent VoIP service, rather than negotiate this kind of issue when you want to change ISP

I was halfway through moving that number to Sipgate when they decided to 'abandon' residential services, as 'landlines' become ever less popular I think there is a good chance other VOIP providers may go the same way.

In reply to a post by burble:

I was halfway through moving that number to Sipgate when they decided to 'abandon' residential services, as 'landlines' become ever less popular I think there is a good chance other VOIP providers may go the same way.

Yes, we had an extra sipgate line, which they kept on as legacy, with included EU calls, which was good value. But we abandoned it after the prices went up beyond the value to us of the included calls. Mrs Scale got included EU on her mobile for £10/month more and we transferred the landline to voipfone for £6/month, so overall a saving of about 50%

In reply to a post by jpm:

You must be paying far in excess of what is required to get what you want. If you have FTTP then you have no need for ADSL, port the numbers from the lines you want to keep to a provider like Voipfone or A&A and take preconfigured ATA hardware from them if you want, and then cease anything that is left over.

Agree with what you say here. Would be pretty simple to shave a decent chunk from monthly bills by completely obviating the old+slow ADSL broadband & separately billed PSTN voice service line rental.

About the only other thing I would suggest to the OP is to do some research on local power backup for any voice service carried over FTTP. There are several good DC UPS/Powerbank solutions now on the market that are small and reasonably inexpensive compared to an old fashioned AC UPS. The savings noted above would easily pay for one in two or three months.

Other than that, perhaps the OP could look into a ‘domestic’ ISP (in lieu of the business provider currently in play, but with no longer any business paying the bills) on the FTTP service that can offer a bundled VoIP service - if indeed a “one stop shop” is desirable.

Otherwise go shopping for an indy VOIP provider. Perhaps try a few out and see how they go, call costs work out etc. before porting their cherished number across.

OP is otherwise in a good position with established / active FTTP service and choice (and right now) time to choose. There’s little doubt what will happen - PSTN will be ceased. So…

Final words - better to jump than be pushed. Good luck @APTMAN

Agree with @pheasant and a few others.

You can normally with a residential property move between a business product and consumer products. So as you(@aptman) have said its a business line, once you have come to the end of the contract period - move to a residential fttp product.

That will save you lots of money alone.

You don't have to with the same service provider that provides with internet, for voip. You can go with x for internet and for voip you can go with a, d and f, if you wish.

Try some providers out, some indy services can have poor cs or crazy payment terms.

once you have found your perfected voip service and your out of contract on your adsl service, move the number to voip and than that will cancell your adsl service for you.

Coming back to your original question of "why should i move to voip"

Eventually you will have no choice but to do so (echoing Pheasant again here - don't get pushed because you left it)

In reply to a post by burble:

I was halfway through moving that number to Sipgate when they decided to 'abandon' residential services, as 'landlines' become ever less popular I think there is a good chance other VOIP providers may go the same way.

For clarity to the OP and others reading, Sipgate decided to stop offering the ‘free’ (for monthly subscription cost) Basic/Starter packages to *new* customers.

They have continued to maintain that tier for existing users.

So it’s probably not quite right to say they’ve ‘abandoned’ it. It’s just not available anymore to new customers 😉

Update.
Looking into to do away with ADSL 2 isp and copper pair, (saving about £636 year ) porting the number to AA first.
or
Looking into a completely separate system for the phone (like phones use to be) .

In talks with BT and Openreach Executive office about using a Second port on the ONT (either ONT swap or Another ONT feed in line, as there is a spare 'Lit' port in my 4 way CBT for our property )
possibly using WBC FTTP 0.5 / 0.5 Mbs product plus Smart Hub, Only for VOIP phones... early days yet.

I can only guess there is a r ason for doing this that you are going unwilling to share, as that seems to just feel complicate matters at increased expense

In reply to a post by APTMAN:

Update.


In talks with BT and Openreach Executive office about using a Second port on the ONT (either ONT swap or Another ONT feed in line, as there is a spare 'Lit' port in my 4 way CBT for our property )
possibly using WBC FTTP 0.5 / 0.5 Mbs product plus Smart Hub, Only for VOIP phones... early days yet.

Why do you actually need to do this ...... it just costing extra ............

In reply to a post by APTMAN:

Update.
Looking into to do away with ADSL 2 isp and copper pair, (saving about £636 year ) porting the number to AA first.
or
Looking into a completely separate system for the phone (like phones use to be) .

In talks with BT and Openreach Executive office about using a Second port on the ONT (either ONT swap or Another ONT feed in line, as there is a spare 'Lit' port in my 4 way CBT for our property )
possibly using WBC FTTP 0.5 / 0.5 Mbs product plus Smart Hub, Only for VOIP phones... early days yet.

You only need a second CBT port ‘lit’ up from the splitter if you got a second complete installation from the CBT including a second separate ONT , if a multiport ONT replaces the existing single port ONT , the CBT capacity etc is irrelevant, your existing optical lead in is used for both services.

Why do you want BT to supply you with either a second complete connection from the CBT with its own ONT etc , or a multi port ONT , and then only require them to supply a ‘DV’ telephone only service on it , when you already have a FTTP from someone other than BT , that presumably can supply you with a VoIP service ? your requirements doesn’t fit in easily with what BT currently offer …..any reason to be so ‘awkward’ and not just add VoIP service to your existing FTTP and cease your ADSL ?

Edited by Iniltous (Mon 30-Jun-25 18:05:47)