Questions about Zen

Hello, I am thinking of switching to Zen and have a simple (I hope) and difficult question (to which the answer is probably no). Obviously my first attempt was to ask Zen directly, and though I got an auto-reply saying they would answer within two days, they did not. Which itself is a worrying sign as using the phone can be a problem for me so I rely on email communication.

As background, I have a BT landline and Sky (ADSL) for broadband. I also want a static IP which I have as a legacy O2 customer, but I think I would lose if I switch to fibre. Also only FTTC is offered here at the moment which is all I need, though it seems BT and EE do claim to now offer FTTP.

Anyway, the simple question.

On Zen's product page it says for both products that "Phone line not included" yet lower down the page the "All our packages include…" section has a panel for "Phone line rental" though it goes on to say "When you need it [you can]…"

So does this mean I still need line rental from someone else if I do not also take their Digital Voice phone service, or do they take over the line to deliver a broadband only service and I would lose my phone line?

Which leads to the difficult question.

I do not use my landline (nor my mobile one) but I want to keep my phone number. Though my elderly dad would normally use my mobile, after a number of recent illness scares I do not want to confuse anything by losing or changing it in case of any emergencies. So ideally what I want to do is move my number to a cheap VOIP service.

Is there any way to do this without a prolonged loss of internet service? Because I know if I transfer the number it will shut down my phone line, including broadband. Would it be too much of a risk to order VOIP one day and internet the next so that there is only a short gap between the two? Or is the scheduling of the change random that I could have my broadband transferred then cut off? Or do I even need to wait until I have no phone line because after the line has been disconnected it needs to go through some separate process?

I am assuming the answer to the first question is No? The alternative plan is that I have read somewhere that Ofcom plan to make some changes later this year allowing you to reclaim you number within a short period after it has been cancelled. Is that correct? If so then I presumably could just take Zen's Digital Voice for a year, cancel it, and then move it elsewhere after that. I would at least still save more than I am currently spending.

Though with all phone lines becoming VOIP ones in a few years, surely by that point Ofcom will then have to require being able to switch between providers easily without it affecting the broadband service.

If you go FTTC there will still be a physical phone line there, so somewhere "rental" will need to be paid - either as an identifiable item or hidden in other charges.

If you have FTTP available, then why not make te jump now? You can choose from lower level options right up to 1Gbps.

Go for FTTP and get it installed - chosing a supplier that will give a static IP. When that is installed, initiate a transfer of your number to a VoIP provider, which will cancel both your line and ADSL. You will have maybe a one month overlap, but you have a decent IP connection and VoIP

In reply to a post by Rebecka:

only FTTC is offered here at the moment which is all I need, though it seems BT and EE do claim to now offer FTTP.

Above wasn't clear to me if FTTP was available at the OP's address ,if it was I wouldn't suggest they go with Zen considering the issues they have been having over the last month without a resolution in sight.

Exactly what does the BT checker say for your line and FTTP?

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

Note to Rebecka, on that checker do not confuse FTTP and FTTPoD (FTTP on Demand). Lots of people make that easy mistake.

FTTP is "standard" products where available, usually at FTTC prices. FTTPoD is a special provision where FTTP is not a standard product and costs thousands.

In reply to a post by Rebecka:

On Zen's product page it says for both products that "Phone line not included" yet lower down the page the "All our packages include…" section has a panel for "Phone line rental" though it goes on to say "When you need it [you can]…"

So does this mean I still need line rental from someone else if I do not also take their Digital Voice phone service, or do they take over the line to deliver a broadband only service and I would lose my phone line?

It means they allow you to have your line rental with your existing supplier of phone services. But that too depends on your existing supplier being willing to supply a line if your broadband isn't also with them. Clearly BT do.

The Zen pages are confusing/misleading. As they have recently introduced SoGEA + Digital Voice to replace FTTC atop WLR3 phone for residential customers then where they say "Phone line not included" they really mean "No phone service included". Other pages / sections of pages have not been updates so they still mention line rental from other suppliers.

I recently migrated from Plusnet FTTC atop ICUK WLR3 to Zen SoGEA which all went smoothly and dropped the phone service (as my historic landline number is already VoIP from moving to a different exchange area previously). Unfortunately there is no easy foolproof method of migrating ADSL or FTTC to SoGEA and transferring the WLR3 phone number to a provider than the one offering the SoGEA broadband service.

For no loss of either phone or broadband service options include:
Transfer everything to Zen, migrate from their Digital Voice to a lower cost provider (e.g. Sipgate, AAISP) when contractually permitted - it isn't clear if the Digital Voice is subject to the same 12-month contract as the broadband.

Install a new line for SoGEA, or FTTP if available. Once the new broadband service is operational port the existing phone number to a VoIP provider of your choice, this will cease the orginal phone service and broadband.

Transfer everything to AAISP - they can do a working line takeover of the existing phone and broadband and then do a 'port out with renumber' to move the phone number to their VoIP platform, but crucially keeping the broadband active. As their broadband comes at a permium due to their excellent customer service, etc., you could migrate the broadband when contractually permitted. If you are on ADSL currently this may only be a month so you could potentially stay on ADSL when transferring to AAISP, then migrating from ADSL to SoGEA with another provider.

Zen and AAISP both provide static IPs.

Even when the planned Ofcom regulations regarding reclaiming ceased numbers comes into effect there would be a break in phone service using this method, and being new how foolproof it will be is as yet unknown.

It says at the bottom of the page that:

The exchange is not in a current fibre priority programme

WLR is currently available at the exchange

SOADSL is restricted at the exchange

FTTP is not available.

I am sorry for the ambiguity in my post, which seems to have been a misunderstanding by me. I had looked on the SamKnows Availability page which said that FTTP was not available, and no other provider was offering it. But when I looked on the BT and EE sites they were the only ones offering 300 Mbps packages for my line, which I wrongly assumed meant FTTP services. I guess from the above I was wrong about that, although neither of those offer domestic static IP addresses anyway.

For reference, the BT Wholesale page shows an availability of "green" in both columns for G.fast, if that means anything important.

Incidentally, the problem for me with FTTP is having to have an installer visit. Aside from having to move a load of things that are in front of the phone socket (it was where it was so there was only so much I could do to work around it), I am immunocompromised and have a lung condition so I am still be extremely careful of Covid and would not want anyone coming in anyway.

The relevant samknows pages, which used to be the fastest and best for the info, are now not usefully maintained. Haven't been for literally years.

Sam himself, and his business, now have far bigger fish to fry.

Thank you so much, that was all very helpful.

That was my problem with Zen's language, I had originally assumed they now only offered a service where they provided the line too whether or not you also took a phone service. But then it was suggested that that you still needed a separate line, and rereading the page it did read that way too.

So basically, they no longer offer a service on top of a line provided by another provider.

AAISP is where I wanted to take my phone service, but they also do not like answering sales emails either, it seems. Though for £1.20 a month I am probably not the most important customer.

The problem with their broadband service is the higher cost, unless it is truly worth the cost difference? Unfortunately my old Netgear modem requires regularly rebooting so I cannot access any usage stats, but with streaming TV I would not be surprised if I exceed the 500GB quota for the lower tariff. Though rechecking the AAISP site just now it seems they do offer G.Fast up to 160Mbps, so I suppose that is one benefit. Though with the risk of doing so at a higher quality if I do not exceed the quota!

Also they have different charges based on whether you take a copper pair from them or not, I assume from the language use in "migrate existing copper pair" then I would be with them, rather than it more strictly only meaning something they physically installed?

Because of the reason above, about not wanting to deal with installers visiting at this time, the idea of using a second line to separate broadband and phone is not really an option. So I guess it is between AAISP or Zen, or paying the premium to spend a month with AAISP then move broadband to Zen