I must say that keeping it simple with one provider for all was our solution, in a similar situation, however the one time the phone went down the Vodafone cs was useless.

For a 91-year-old, BT is the obvious choice; at least they know how to deal with vulnerable customers. Zen and Sky would probably also be fine.

Whoever you choose, make sure you can get yourself added as a trusted contact.

Thanks eveyone for the help, its been very informative.

I tried the bt broadband checker on the landline number and got "There is no data available. This may be because it is not a BT line or it is a number which has been moved to an IP Voice service. We advise using the address to check availability instead." which seems very strange to me!

I was originally looking at getting an XLink Xtreme Technologies BT Bluetooth Telephone to Mobile Adaptor so she can use the existing panasonic DECT phones, but can't for the life of me work out how to get VOIP to keep the landline number and divert it to a mobile so she can get free minutes.

Unfortunately looks like Voipvoice is the most practicable solution. Thanks everyone for your help.

We still haven't heard whether your mother's connection is FTTP, VDSL or ADSL and who the current supplier is. We also don't know whether the change is being driven by the supplier or by your wish to change your mother's phone connection in your own good time. All of those points have a critical impact on the the possible options you have.

Depending on the answers to those questions, it may be as simple as letting the supplier do everything (provide a new router with a phone port, retain the existing number and then you plug the phone into the router rather than the socket on the wall). As your mother will be classed as a vulnerable customer because of her age you should also check what arrangements the supplier will make to maintain service in the event of a power outage.

If your supplier has warned that they will no longer provide a voice service in the future then pick another supplier that will give your mother a broadband and voice service and let them supply their router which will have a phone connection. No need for you to be buying additional kit.

I don't understand your point about getting free minutes if you divert the call to a mobile. When you transfer a landline number to VoIP you are using a different technology than the mobile telephone voice calls. If you put an app onto the mobile such as acrobits, that connects you through the internet to the VoIP system. You are not using the mobile phone to make a mobile phone call; you are connecting through the mobile phone's internet capability into the connection provided by the app and the supplier's network.

In reply to a post by Malti121:

I tried the bt broadband checker on the landline number and got "There is no data available. This may be because it is not a BT line or it is a number which has been moved to an IP Voice service. We advise using the address to check availability instead." which seems very strange to me!

Like it says, use the Address Checker instead - enter postcode, select house from drop-down provided on next screen.

However, if this is a BT PSTN line it's indeed unusual that it can't be used as a key here. I'm presuming it's not a line provided by Virgin Media or some other company? It would be very helpful if you could say what the existing connection is.

In reply to a post by Malti121:

can't for the life of me work out how to get VOIP to keep the landline number and divert it to a mobile so she can get free minutes.

There are companies that will port the landline number, accept incoming calls and forward them to a specific mobile number, although there's a per-minute cost for that. For example see numberpeople.co.uk (not a recommendation). If the number's being kept just for the occasion calls from the GP or whatever, while friends and family use the mobile number directly, that's not a bad way to migrate to mobile.

But really: she's 91. I would just take digital voice from BT / Zen / Sky so the existing phone plugs into the router, and the entire responsibility for managing the line and the voice service, including support for a vulnerable person, rests on a single company. If it costs you a few quid more per month, I think it's worth it for peace of mind.

Oddly I have just done almost that for my 91 year old mother.

She has a big button handset in her home with a cheap SIM to save costs/hassle of a land line installation in a care home. I have taken custody of the family phone number by porting it to voipfone business bottom of the line £6 per month service (not recommending, though so far they are excellent; the service includes the master phone, one extension and basic PBX features). I use their softphone app on my mobile to get the calls to the landline which I can then transfer to my mother should they be personal rather than scams - those transfers come out of the 100 minutes per month talk time I get with the voipfone service.

Hope you come up with a solution that fits your requirements - it's much more flexible out there these days but, as others have said, it might be wiser to just go for BT/EE or equivalent so they have all the hassle

In reply to a post by Malti121:

Thanks eveyone for the help, its been very informative.

My friends 90 year old mother moved from Plusnet to EE last year to solve this and as far as she is concerned nothing has changed. Internet works, and telephone works. The telephones are now plugged into the back of the EE router, but as they have a couple of wired phones and a DECT system this is not an issue.

I tried the bt broadband checker on the landline number and got "There is no data available. This may be because it is not a BT line or it is a number which has been moved to an IP Voice service. We advise using the address to check availability instead." which seems very strange to me!

That is quite common in the last few years, it just means the current service is not known by BT, since they are now only ONE of many providers who can use the same physical wires.

My SPA112 has been fine for the past 11 years. It is connected to the Internet via my router. The replacement is the ATA 192.

Sorry Gonepostal

Currently with Now broadband and getting about 60 meg ADSL. Currently paying over £50 for the privilege so I was looking at something like virgin FTTP which is about £24 for the broadband but doesn't include any way of my mum keeping her phone which is why I have been looking at the voip options.

I live in the same house as my mum and have converted the loft.

The point about getting the xtreme bluetooth system was my mum could make outgoing calls on the landline and its using the mobile minutes as its linked over bluetooth, I have tested it previously and it does work but my mum is adamant about keeping the landline. She can't use a smartphone as she doesn't have the dexterity and likes to push the buttons on the landline. The only reason for voip is to keep the incoming calls for friends and family.

She's is 91 and does spend a lot of time on the phone (often over 1 hour on just one call - have previously told her many times because she was on a call plan to hang up after 59 minutes and ring them again but she's never been able to do that which is why our landline calls are so expensive) so I was wanting a way of increasing the internet speed and trying to keep costs low while still keeping the landline and the landline number.

Presumably your mum has no need for FTTP speeds so worth looking at a provider like EE over FTTC for both broadband and phone which will retain the landline number. No idea about prices, though.

I think terminology is mixing us up about the free minutes. Are you saying that your mum uses the landline hand set but is actually making a call using the mobile connection? If that is the case is there any need for you to retain the landline phone connection? You can transfer the landline number to a VoIP provider so you keep the number but for less than you would be paying an ISP for a landline connection then add your preferred bluetooth connection