Full Fibre - Losing my landline

[#1]

I started to upgrade to Full Fibre and got a message about losing my landline.  After that the explanations sounded a bit uncertain. Before I go further I'm left wondering...

1) I don't mind 'losing' my landline if I keep my landline number.  Will all the people who use my current landline number still get routed to the same place using VOIP without noticing the difference? 

2) My house is quite large and has very thick walls.  It has copper wires routing the landline phone to handsets in five different locations. Will these still work?  The help pages just vaguely mention needing 'adapters'.  Tell me more???

3) The house size and thick walls mean a single WiFi transmitter won't work.  I currently have a 'powerline network' using ethernet over the mains electrical cables to attach two wifi extenders in other parts of the house.  Will they still work?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[#2]

@pfurness 

1) People phoning you should not notice any difference.

2) Whole world of pain with this one. You do need an adapter between the PN router and your phone. As to using existing wired connections I did read a good while back it was possible though I can't really remember details. Only thing that comes to mind is the incoming BT cable needs to be disconnected from the Master socket. You need to do some research on this.

3) Power line units should continue to work. Depending on what FTTP speed you go for you'll need to check the units can handle faster speeds.

Brian

[#3]

The “lose your landline” warning is literally “it will be gone” the number returned to the number pool to be allocated to someone else.

If that’s ok, proceed.

You MAY be able to retrieve it with a VoIP service but I wouldn’t count on it.

Landlines, Plusnet and FTTP is a complex subject. You can move to BT who do have a landline over FTTP and if the number has value that’s probably the best bet

[#4]

@markhawkin Not strictly true, the number has to remain in a suspended state for 30 days to allow for transfer to a VoIP provider of your choice, should you wish to use such a service.

[#5]

@pfurness 

"It has copper wires routing the landline phone to handsets in five different locations. Will these still work?"

In the "old" days, (I did my BT apprenticeship over 40 years ago!), telephone "instruments" had a REN, (Ringer Equivalence Number). A basic dial phone had a REN of 1 for example - other phones had different values. ISTR that the maximum REN on a line, (the sum of all the RENs of the phones connected), for reliable operation, was 4? Depending upon which phones you have, you may be just lucky that 5 connected still work OK?

The power to make your phones ring at the moment comes from the telephone exchange. If you move to Full Fibre and have an "adapter" for VOIP telephony, this ringing power will have to come from the adapter.

I haven't seen REN quoted in a 'phones specs for a long time - is it still a "thing"?

https://www.britishtelephones.com/ren.htm

[#6]

If you want to keep your five extensions working, you could try feeding them from the output of your VOIP adaptor.

How to Connect Landline Phones / Extensions to VOIP on Fibre Internet - YouTube

The diagram of the basic idea is at 5:22

[#7]

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@Mr_Paul wrote:

@pfurness 

I haven't seen REN quoted in a 'phones specs for a long time - is it still a "thing"?

---

Grandstream quote a REN of 3 for the HT812 and 2 for the HT814. I haven’t checked their other offerings.

It all depends on the REN of modern phones. Again I haven’t checked but suspect manufacturers simply round up their specs to 1.

[#8]

Thanks.  I was aware of the REN limit, but when I connected five it worked!

In fact I can cope with just three, but they are in different parts of the house so the question is how to use the wires that are embedded in the walls.  It sounds possible...

[#9]

@pfurness 

Do all 5 plugged in phones actually have to ring?

I'm wondering if it is possible to turn off the ringer on at least one of the phones? Will you still be able to hear ringing in all parts of the house?

That might, (or might not!), reduce the REN - if you do find that you need to do that.

[#10]

Are all the phones just plugged into the phoneline, or do any of them plug into the mains as well?  I'd guess if they are mains powered then they will take little of the power from the phoneline.

[#11]

All our phones have their own mains power supply.

But that's not now my main problem.  I just phoned PlusNet support and it sounds as though even if I manage to keep my landline number it will require a different VoIP supplier (and a fee) and there will be a connection delay (how long???) while the landline number doesn't work.  I was told the only way to avoid that is to change to an internet provider that also does VoIP, such as BT.  But then I'd lose my PlusNet email address.

Oh dear.  This needs more research. Why can't life be made simple?

[#12]

What's more, checking the internet for VoIP suppliers they mostly seem to regard their market as businesses, not domestic users.  That will surely change by 2025 when the landlines are turned off!  But for now, can anyone recommend a good (and cheap) domestic VoIP supplier?

[#13]

https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/

[#14]

@pfurness

I entirely agree with your comment “Why can't life be made simple?”

It seems to have been a BT policy decision that Plusnet doesn’t provide landlines (essentially once the traditional landline “stop sell” happens).

You come down to a tricky decision of which of your phone number or your email address is most valuable.

A complete guess, but I wouldn’t give the email service too long either.

[#15 · Accepted solution]

@pfurness 

Have a look at the thread  "Successfull FTTP upgrade and landline port out" on the My Order board.

Brian