Potential new Zen customer

It’s looking likely that I will be migrating my parents to Zen. They haven’t switched ISPs for over ten years, and nor have I, so I am not familiar with current best practices.

They are currently on FTTC with Plusnet, who also provide their landline, with their contract running out next month. FTTP is available, and my parents will be getting the VoIP option as well because they want to keep their landline number.

Is the sensible thing to do to order with Zen now, with an install date a week or so before the Plusnet expiry? I’d like to minimise the double billing period and also avoid Plusnet’s out of contract charges if possible, but equally I don’t want them to have a break in Internet service beyond anything which is absolutely necessary. It’s an overhead drop wire for the current copper cable and there are no anticipated issues with the ONT install according to the BT checker.

They have a “big button” wired BT phone (unsure of the exact model) in one room, plus also a cordless (Panasonic I think) base station wired into another room. Will both of these be able to easily work with Zen straight out of the box or will I need to buy/do anything extra?

Thank you in advance for anyone who can help.

>>Is the sensible thing to do to order with Zen now, with an install date a week or so before the Plusnet expiry?

Yup - fibre is installed separately so you can have an overlap to try things out first; obviously you will be paying for the service.

In reply to a post by Sponge35:

>>Is the sensible thing to do to order with Zen now, with an install date a week or so before the Plusnet expiry?

Yup - fibre is installed separately so you can have an overlap to try things out first; obviously you will be paying for the service.

I thought once you requested porting the land line number that causes a cease of the PTSN, and other services on that land line?

In reply to a post by HealthNut:

Is the sensible thing to do to order with Zen now, with an install date a week or so before the Plusnet expiry? I’d like to minimise the double billing period and also avoid Plusnet’s out of contract charges if possible, but equally I don’t want them to have a break in Internet service beyond anything which is absolutely necessary. It’s an overhead drop wire for the current copper cable and there are no anticipated issues with the ONT install according to the BT checker.

The one touch switching switching process should cease the existing PSTN + FTTC services when the FTTP + Digital Voice go live, so aim for an install date as close to the Plusnet expiry as possible. If the switch happens before the Plusnet contract expires you will have to pay early termination charges, if it happens after you will just pay Plusnet out of contract pricing until the switch date.

They have a “big button” wired BT phone (unsure of the exact model) in one room, plus also a cordless (Panasonic I think) base station wired into another room. Will both of these be able to easily work with Zen straight out of the box or will I need to buy/do anything extra?

The Zen Fritz!Box has a RJ11 socket and BT socket adapter to connect wired phones, if the phones are in the same room as the router will be just plug them in. If you want to use existing extension wiring in the house it will have to be disconnected from the master socket and a connection to the router fangled, there are various options if you search for voice reinjection.

You may be able to deregister the DECT phones from the existing base and register them with the DECT basestation built in to the Fritz!Box, it depends on how compatible they are - certainly various Siemens Gigaset handsets work OK. You may also have to replace the existing base with a charging-only one as some main bases seem to reregister the phone placed in them.

The only issue of note with the analogue phone interface on the Fritz!Box is that it doesn't generate a line break signal when the caller hangs up which can lead to problems with call screening boxes or answering machines.

I may be misinformed, but I believe that PlusNet require a 1-month notice period, even out of contract, for termination, so depending on the overall timing, you may well be double-billed for a period of time.

It all depends on how foolproof you want things to be.

The way with least risk of a gap in service will require a short period of double billing but should give your parents security of service. They can also retain their existing landline number if they go to a VoIP provider other than Zen which will give them much more flexibility if they ever fall out with Zen. It may also be cheaper than the Zen option.

The safest route in terms of resilience would be to:

1. Order a new Zen installation for FTTP and broadband only.
2. Take on a VoIP contract with one of the providers like A&A. They will get a number from the provider which they can use for testing.
3. On installation of the Zen FTTP, plug their phone into the phone port on the Zen router and see if it connects using the number supplied by the VoIP provider.
4. Once they are happy that things are working, only then make a request to transfer their existing phone number to the VoIP provider. This will automatically cause the termination of the Plusnet contract.

If you cancel the Plusnet service there may well be a notice period. With one touch switching the losing provider is not permitted to have a notice period, the only additional charges they can apply are for early termination if you are still in contract. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/switch...

Managing the switch manually is often recommended for migrations of PSTN + FTTC to different voice and broadband providers as migration of either usually ceases both (certainly porting out the phone number will cease FTTC, and many larger providers will cease any voice service if you cancel their broadband), and the one touch switching process doesn't include any mechanism to link the migration of the two services to different providers so they happen at the same time. Switching both services to a single provider, be it from an existing single or different suppliers, is not an issue.

Using a separate provider for the VoIP / Digital Voice service is often less expensive if only a few calls are made, but you will have to configure and manage it yourself. There are some posts in the forums regarding settings on the Fritz!Box for the AAISP VoIP service, for example.

In reply to a post by tdw42:

The only issue of note with the analogue phone interface on the Fritz!Box is that it doesn't generate a line break signal when the caller hangs up which can lead to problems with call screening boxes or answering machines.

My mum's biggest complaint is that the dialling tone is now different...

I've been through just about the same with my mum from BT/Plusnet to Zen. It all went very smoothly (it did take a day or so for the number to port).

My mum also had a wired phone and a couple of cordless ones. I was in the process of messing about connecting the old BT master socket into the Zen router, when I asked her "do you actually ever use the wired phone".

The answer was no, so I just wired the cordless base station into the Zen router.

While the OpenReach sub contractor did a good thoughtful and neat job with the fibre install, he was totally clueless about anything else related to home phone stuff. I was asking him if the BT master socket and the extension wiring would be intact after the fibre was installed.

He had no idea what I was talking about, I'm not sure he even understood the concept of a copper phone line extension. He'd clearly just been trained up on the fibre install and nothing else.

As far as I can tell he didn't touch any of the copper wiring in the house.

I also fitted a small UPS for the router and the phone base station, so that if the power goes out in the house she can still make calls on the landline for a few hours (mobile is lousy where she is).