Advice needed on switching broadband and telephone to new pr

My 88 year old brother would like to switch from Virgin broadband + telephone + basic tv package to a cheaper broadband + phone provider.

His contract with Virgin ends at the end of January 2025 and they keep phoning him from India I presume, and offering him a new package which includes O2 mobile for £61/month which he does not want as with a new provider he can save half of that per month.

As mentioned above he does not want a TV package only broadband + phone. As the phone land line is being phased out and some broadband providers do not offer phone line or VOIP such as I believe PlusNet, we are finding it difficult to find the best provider for his needs.

He would be pleased to have FTTP broadband + phone package.
He spends half a day surfing the internet and watching whichever film he manages to find on the internet.
He lives in Gillingham in Kent.
Questions are;
1. Which provider would suit his needs?
2. Can he port his phone number away from Virgin to his new provider?
3. How long does it take to port his number?
4. How long should he leave to switch and port his number before his contract runs out with Virgin so that he does not have to be without phone or internet?

Any help will be most appreciated.

Yes he can port his number away from Virgin either to another ISP which offers a phone service or to a VOIP provider.

I moved from Virgin to Zen (not the cheapest ISP!) and it was very smooth. I signed up to Zen about a month before the end of my Virgin contract and they contactedVirgin to take over the phone line on the day my Zen connection was installed.

As soon as my Zen FTTP was installed and active my phone number switched to Zen within minutes. I waited to the end of my Virgin contract before cancelling their broadband so I had 2 weeks overlap.

Everthing went very smoothly apart from cancelling Virgin which took about 40 minutes being passed from one person to another. I followed up with a cancellation letter to be sure they got the message!

In reply to a post by panda1704:

He would be pleased to have FTTP broadband + phone package.
...
1. Which provider would suit his needs?

There are several providers who sell FTTP+voice packages: major ones are BT, EE, Sky, Zen, Vodafone. These will all provide you with a router with a voice port where you can plug in your existing telephone handset or extension wiring, and will port the number. (Or in the case of BT you might get a DECT handset that talks wirelessly to the router)

Vodafone is cheapest but has a poor reputation for customer service; the others should all be OK.

This is arguably simpler than setting up a separate VOIP provider, although there are some advantages to the latter approach.

Make sure they know your brother is a priority customer because of his age. Note that *some* providers had been refusing in the past to move such customers from copper-based analogue services to FTTP with digital voice (Sky in particular), so do check at time of ordering. This was due to the issues around emergency calls in the event of loss of power.

Personally I think FTTP+digital voice is perfectly reliable, and the provider is obliged to supply a backup power source capable of a "minimum of 1 hour" for vulnerable customers. But you can provide him with a better UPS, and/or a mobile phone if there's decent indoor coverage, for emergencies.

In reply to a post by panda1704:

2. Can he port his phone number away from Virgin to his new provider?

Normally it's not a problem, although you should check who originally assigned the number. For example, if it was originally a BT number, that was ported to Virgin, I wouldn't expect any problem. If it was a number originally assigned by Virgin, or some other smaller provider, then there *might* be issues porting it to another provider - it depends what porting agreements they have in place. Therefore it's worth checking with the target provider to be sure.

In reply to a post by panda1704:

3. How long does it take to port his number?
4. How long should he leave to switch and port his number before his contract runs out with Virgin so that he does not have to be without phone or internet?

The providers listed above will all port the number on the day of activation of the service, although it's not unknown for the port to get stuck and take a few days to get sorted.

If you decide to go for a separate VOIP provider, then porting typically takes about a week, and will cease the original service that the number was on. Therefore, the steps would be:

1. Order the FTTP service as a new provide (i.e. don't use the one-touch migration service). At the same time, order your VOIP service, which will come with a temporary number. Setup whatever device or software you've chosen to terminate the SIP session, and test it all works as you expect.
2. Wait until the contract with Virgin has almost run out. But DON'T give notice of termination to them.
3. Instruct your VOIP proivder to port the number. This *should* make Virgin cease the associated service, but if it doesn't you can then cease it directly with Virgin.

This approach ensures no loss of broadband and no loss of the phone number.

Edited by candlerb (Thu 14-Nov-24 13:59:19)

Thank you HughA for your input much appreciated.

Thank you candlerb for you input much appreciated and educational.

I would look at what he needs from those packages ..

What does he watch from virgin..

Would NowTV work for him?
Does he need a landline and mobile? would mobile just enough! How much is he using mobile wise (would a low cost sim only pan at £3 to 5pm be enough)?

Has he got enough budget to cover ordering a new service before his virgin contract finishes
Etc.

Its one of those you have think about and look at your usage.

Thanks @Taras
He does not need TV package Freeview is enough for him.
Does need phone now will have to be VOIP as landlines are being phased out.
Probably needs FTTP as the exchange and the cabinet are too far away for a decent download speed.
The question is if BT would suit him although he does not like Indian customer services hence Zen has UK customer services!

Edit
He does have mobile with daughter's joint supplier but hardly uses it.

Edited by panda1704 (Thu 14-Nov-24 15:43:34)

In reply to a post by panda1704:

Probably needs FTTP as the exchange and the cabinet are too far away for a decent download speed.

First thing to do is check what's actually available.
https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/...

Post deleted by panda1704

In reply to a post by burble:

In reply to a post by panda1704:

Probably needs FTTP as the exchange and the cabinet are too far away for a decent download speed.

First thing to do is check what's actually available.
https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/...

Result of broadbandchecker
https://imgur.com/a/8gGejcR

Look like Openreach based FTTP service is available there. Should be able to place an order via an ISP that runs over OR network for a full fibre service.

Thank you @Pheasant

I am thinking of switching him to either Zen or BT.

Him being 88 years old is most worried about setting it all up especially switching to VOIP as I can't do it for him as I live a long way from him and cannot travel due to health problems.

Hopefully someone can post how to get it ordered as a 'vulnerable person' (or whatever they call it), AFAIK then it should be set up for him and fully explained.