PSTN Switch Off and Contract Renewal

[#1 · Accepted solution]

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@Schiehallion wrote:

Might stick with Plusnet for FTTP. And use either A&A or Virtual Landline for VOIP.

.. ....

Also been quite happy with Plusnet over the years. The only significant issue has been with Openreach.

If you are happy with Plusnet, then this option is good and you can stick with what you know.

The advantage of this route and selecting an independent VoIP supplier (rather than a bundled supplier that provides locked down 'digital voice'), is that you can use choose to use any equipment you like, giving you the freedom to upgrade or make changes to your setup in the future, as your circumstances and requirements alter over time.

Another advantage of VoIP is that you can choose to use your smartphone as another handset, so you can answer calls to your home while you are away, as calls to your VoIP can be made to 'ring' both the phone home and the smartphone.

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@Schiehallion wrote:

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Or, move phone and Broadband to BT, SKY or Zen

Not sure which is the best option. Going for BT/ Zen? SKY means he doesn't need a seperate ATA (and power supply) as the phone plugs into the router.

All three of those suppliers don't require a separate ATA for the phone using their 'digital voice' BUT you will be forced to use their supplied router - which might not have all the features you need, either now or in the future.

If I had to choose between those, Zen is BY FAR the best option for many reasons, and I would avoid ever going to BT.

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[#2]

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@Schiehallion wrote:

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Might stick with Plusnet for FTTP. And use either A&A or Virtual Landline for VOIP.

Or, move phone and Broadband to BT, SKY or Zen

Not sure which is the best option. Going for BT/ Zen? SKY means he doesn't need a seperate ATA (and power supply) as the phone plugs into the router.

Also been quite happy with Plusnet over the years. The only significant issue has been with Openreach.

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The Zen router also has a built-in ATA

[#3]

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@jab1 wrote:

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The Zen router also has a built-in ATA

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All three have a built in ATA.
I have recently installed an EE hub (supplied to a BT customer) for a friend. On request this came with a remote wireless adapter so that the phone could be plugged in in a different room to the hub. I then installed a mesh setup in WAP mode and turned off the EE hub wireless. Surprisingly the phone adapter still worked, Whether this works over a DECT link? No other WiFi channel apart from the mesh was showing on devices.

[#4]

Fair enough, @Baldrick1 . I only commented re: Zen as that was the only kit in that list I have experience of .

[#5]

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@Baldrick1 wrote:

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I have recently installed an EE hub (supplied to a BT customer) for a friend. On request this came with a remote wireless adapter so that the phone could be plugged in in a different room to the hub. I then installed a mesh setup in WAP mode and turned off the EE hub wireless. Surprisingly the phone adapter still worked, Whether this works over a DECT link?

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BT's wireless Digital Voice adapters & phones certainly use DECT frequencies (1880-1900 MHz) - for example...

Page 7 here... BT-Digital-Voice-Adapter-User-Guide.pdf

Page 33 here... BT-Essential-Digital-Home-Phone-UserGuide.pdf

...so the hubs/routers effectively act as DECT bases of sorts - but I don't know whether their system is 'proprietary' BT/EE only interoperable. 

[#6]

Maybe try someone like Phonely? You can keep your existing broadband and then pay £9.97 a month for the landline. You can keep your easting number with them too! 

[#7]

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@jab1 wrote:

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The Zen router also has a built-in ATA

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Which model John?

I have spent the afternoon (today) fighting with a Fritz!Box 7530 KP - that does have a DECT base station and a FON port but not a straightforward phone port as might be expected on an ATA.

I hoped to plug the existing base station into a phone port, but instead had to fiddle with the DECT registration interface to get the hand sets registered.  Some worked fin in the blink of an eye, others I needed to re-register multiple times.

[#8]

Mine is a plain 7530, @Townman  - I just plugged the base station of my Gigaset C430 into the rear FON socket via the supplied adapter.

[#9]

via the supplied adapter

I am sure that the documentation which came in the box described that as a filter, so I ignored it!! 

[#10]

Yep, I seem to recall it being called a 'filter' - wrongly - but when they SOGEA'd me, I followed the instructions, which called it an 'adapter' - correctly. 😉

[#11]

Thank you for the reassurance that I read the documentation as written correctly!!!