Moved House, Lost Full Fibre & Landline—Zen/CityFibre

Hey folks, need some advice. My grandad (mid-80s) moved house on Feb 23rd—so two weeks without internet or landline now. They had 500/500 Mbps with Zen through CityFibre at the old place, and CityFibre is in the new area—there’s even a Toby box by the footpath.

But Zen says they can’t provide full fibre now due to network challenges. They’re offering a slower FTTC line (estimated 23-36 Mbps down) or a cancellation fee (£238 for 7 months left). Damien from Zen confirmed no timeline for when full fibre will be available, but digital voice will work on FTTC.

They’ve lost their landline, which is crucial for them. I got them a SIM with unlimited data as a temp fix, but it can’t run their WiFi mesh I got them so wifi isn't the best and I am trying to get their security cameras hooked up.

The other complications is their landline was the only number registered for banking so cannot verify any new direct debits, I am trying to get online banking sorted in the mean time to add their mobile numbers I have had to recently get them.

Any tips on pushing CityFibre or Zen, or sorting landline issues ASAP?

Just to note I am also with Zen through CityFibre and it's great, just a shame their move has been such a pain.

Cheers!

Edited by benrb7 (Sun 08-Mar-26 19:06:21)

In reply to a post by benrb7:

Hey folks, need some advice. My grandad (mid-80s) moved house on Feb 23rd—so two weeks without internet or landline now. They had 500/500 Mbps with Zen through CityFibre at the old place, and CityFibre is in the new area—there’s even a Toby box by the footpath.

But Zen says they can’t provide full fibre now due to network challenges. They’re offering a slower FTTC line (estimated 23-36 Mbps down) or a cancellation fee (£238 for 7 months left). Damien from Zen confirmed no timeline for when full fibre will be available, but digital voice will work on FTTC.

They’ve lost their landline, which is crucial for them. I got them a SIM with unlimited data as a temp fix, but it can’t run their WiFi mesh I got them so wifi isn't the best and I am trying to get their security cameras hooked up.

The other complications is their landline was the only number registered for banking so cannot verify any new direct debits, I am trying to get online banking sorted in the mean time to add their mobile numbers I have had to recently get them.

Any tips on pushing CityFibre or Zen, or sorting landline issues ASAP?

Just to note I am also with Zen through CityFibre and it's great, just a shame their move has been such a pain.

Cheers!

I don't want to stereotype, but my first guess is that your grandad and family are unlikely to be using the connection to the extent that 23-36 Mbps is unviable for their usage.

We are on a FTTC connection and have been forced to move to a VoIP connection but have had no problems once the tech was sorted (ATA or new router). If they wish to retain their landline number rather than just landline then they need to make sure that any changes take place within the framework for the 14-day window after a cessation event before the landline number may be lost. This of course also asks the question about whether you have had to get them to sign up to mobile contracts when FTTC would have saved them that additional charge.

There are still lots of people in the UK still on FTTC so please don't let the improved experience using FTTP cause your grandparents to automatically write off FTTC. In due time they will (hopefully) be able to upgrade.

Edited by GonePostal (Sun 08-Mar-26 22:06:58)

This exactly. Take the FTTC, get them up and running, and then the FTTP upgrade if and when it becomes available.

I reckon FTTC with Digital Voice from ZEN would work fine for them. I recently went this way - no issues, ZEN did the work quickly and efficiently.

Thanks for the responses.

My concern is that they will have four cameras sending footage back over the network. Previously, with a 500/500 Mbps connection this was fine, but with the new FTTC the upload usage will only be around 6–8 Mbps.

They also receive a fair number of visitors, meaning multiple people may be using the internet at the same time again spreading the limited connection speed.

I know Virgin Media have also been touting for business in their area and have said they can provide a much faster speed, but that will come at the cost of the ERC

Given the issue with losing the landline number, it seems they will need to switch to FTTC for now and then move to FTTP once it becomes available.

Edited by benrb7 (Mon 09-Mar-26 12:03:19)

I think that there may be a limit of 1 month to port a landline number, so you may have time. Perhaps accept Zen's FTTC option temporarily together with a digital landline using the old number. Then upgrade as soon as you can obtain full fibre.
If this could work but Zen cannot offer continued phone line you might consider a Voip provider such as Voipfone.

Edited by AlanSpringett (Mon 09-Mar-26 13:14:49)

I am currently with Community Fibre who are charging £10 for the VoIP calls package - which only gets used like once a month.
I have initiated a number Port to Andrews and Arnold - https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/
Its a one off fee of £12 and around £2 a month thereafter.
They and CF confirmed that you have 30 days of terminating with one provider to complete the port to another provider if you want to retain the number.

I should add that I plan to either unlock the existing Grandstream ATA that CF have provided or just buy a new one if I have to - so that the existing landline DECT phones continue to work.

Edited by umernalla (Mon 09-Mar-26 14:48:43)

I suspect that switching to A&A may just involve inputting their setup settings to the ATA. I doubt yours is actually locked, just set up to suit your existing Voip provider.

Thanks - yes I am hoping the same- save me 50 quid on a new one.

Edited by umernalla (Mon 09-Mar-26 16:12:57)

I was unable to change the settings on a Grandstream ATA supplied by TalkTalk, as I had GS Wave on mobile I just use that now.