Help for elderly

[#1]

This costs me A  lot of money any help available I am 88 and airband shortly available in Burrowbtidge I want to ,keep my wired phone and email as it is  Any advice

[#2]

If you make any change to your phone/broadband package you are likely to lose your land line phone - but you should be able to move to a VoIP phone connection and keep your existing land line phone number (if you're careful). The only real difference is that the phone won't work in a power cut (without a backup battery).

However, Plusnet don't offer VoIP, so either you have to move to another provider for both broadband and phone, or use different providers for each.

You mention Airband - they do offer both broadband and VoIP, and have a range of speeds (and prices) available.

However, if you are eligible for any benefits on top of your pension, then you could be eligible for a social broadband tariff - they are a lot cheaper than other deals, and just as good. I moved a family member to a £15pm deal with BT which gives them 40Mpbs FTTC, VoIP phone service (BT call it Digital Voice), and 700 minutes of anytime calls to UK landline or mobile. Only a few companies offer social tariffs (Plusnet don't), but there are still a good few available.

[#3]

@stathe 

You mention Airband - they do offer both broadband and VoIP, and have a range of speeds (and prices) available.

They do!  https://www.airband.co.uk/broadband-packages/airband-talk/

and email as it is 

be aware that if you leave Plusnet , you will lose your <account>.plus.com email addresses!

[#4]

So where do I go to keep my plusnet email and my bt telephone number when I take advantage of Airband  services and if I do  Still not sure have had email and numbers for years   Subscribe to both I hasten to say Airband not yet available

[#5]

@stathe If you leave Plusnet - for any other ISP, you loose the email, the phone number will have to be transferred to a VoIP provider.

[#6]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Broadband to Everything Else

[#7]

If you leave Plusnet you will lose your e-mail address. They used to allow you to keep the e-mail address, but that is no longer allowed. E-mail is no longer available to new customers and it is likely that Plusnet will withdraw all e-mail support at some point in the future - they are becoming a broadband only provider.

You can keep your phone number - but it will become a VoIP number. That can be done with a number of providers but not Plusnet.

You may want to look at getting a new e-mail account (free ones are available from Google and Microsoft Outlook etc.) and run them both in parallel for a while until you get all your contacts updated with your new address.

[#8]

@corringham Just as an aside, there are currently no plans to withdraw the email service for those members who already have it, but as you correctly say, new subscribers and those leaving, don't have one.

[#9]

@jab1 I agree with you - I did say it is likely rather than it is planned because there is no announced closure of e-mail. However, they are getting rid of everything else that isn't broadband - mobiles, phone accounts, web hosting, business accounts etc. I can't believe they will keep e-mail long term. 

[#10]

Not much help for the elderly then just pay two firms !!!!     My e mail is important

[#11]

If the email is important, then, yes, you eventually will have to pay two suppliers.

[#12]

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@stathe wrote:

Not much help for the elderly then just pay two firms !!!!     My e mail is important

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If e-mail is important to you then I'd recommend getting an e-mail account that is independent to any ISP. That way you will not held hostage by an ISP through fear of losing your e-mail.

I'd do this by getting an independent e-mail address, and gradually migrate all your contacts over to using it. Once you have very little traffic on your Plusnet account you'll be able to drop it. That will allow you to follow the best deals, save money, and not have the stress of being held hostage.

[#13]

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@stathe wrote:

This costs me A  lot of money any help available I am 88 and airband shortly available in Burrowbtidge I want to ,keep my wired phone and email as it is  Any advice

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1. What do you define by 'a lot of money?

2. Are you surrently in a contract or are you paying th out of contract price?

3. Which service are you on, ADSL Fibre, Fibre Extra ot Full Fibre?

4. What is your motivation to move to Airband? It's not mandatory.

You can extend your current contract with Plusnet by ringing the Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632 telling them that you wish to keep your phone numbe. This will take you up to late 2025. If you do this then nothing will change until this contract ends.

If you leave Plusnet you will lose your email service and if you use IMAP protocol all your sent and received emails will be deleted. Also, currently, it is quite complicated to stay with Plusnet but transfer your phone number to a VoIP provider.

My personal view is that unless you have a pressing need for the extra speed available from Airband then your best bet is to extend your contract with Plusnet until they give you notice that they can no longer provide you with a landline service, probably autumn 2025. By this time hopefully the ability to port landline numbers to third party VoIP providers will become simpler and more reliable.

[#14]

around 40 pounds a month and our broadband is very slow have a look at Burrowbridge I am signed up for a year or so How about if I asked to be put back on BT phone?? or would they penalise me more  assumed they gave me a good deal Maybe not Twist the oldies No fibre yet

[#15]

yes