Will plusnet provide a voip landline service?

[#1]

Just for those who think those of us who are clinging on to the landline for as long as possible, are latter day Luddites :-

1.   I live in a black hole for mobile reception - we have tried Vodafone ,EE and O2 and none of them give reliable mobile reception downstairs. Incoming calls get missed including recently from a hospital consultant.

2.   Wifi calling would seem to be an answer BUT I'm alarmed by the number of people who seem to have difficulties in getting wifi calling to work when they pair up Handset A with SIM card B on broadband network C. Just about to buy a new mobile to use when PN mobile ceases so......

3.   As posted previously, we suffered a power cut recently and the local tower went down with the result that we couldn't even make a call on the mobiles, wherever we were in the house or garden - I tried !!

[#2]

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@corringham wrote:

The bottom line is that Plusnet can no longer offer any product that is appropriate.

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I sympathise but it appears that this is the way it is. I have little doubt that whilst it possibly needs a change/extra hardware that the Careline can be used on a digital service. This can be fitted with a UPS to keep it going for a time during a powercut.

If it were me I would be talking to the BT agents who deal with vulnerable customers..

[#3]

Careline and similar seems to be something that is largely being overlooked in the decommissioning  of PSTN - while it is possible to provide a UPS, it need UPS for the device itself, the router, ONT (if FTTP), and all cabinets on-route to an aggregation point. While PSTN was powered from the exchange, each cabinet (other than  FTTP joint boxes) now need power. Back-up batteries in cabinets seem to last a couple of hours at very best. Unfortunately some power cuts last longer.

As previously mentioned, cell tower backup lasts even less (our only usable signal comes from a cell tower that lasts 40 minutes in a power cut).

Of course, Plusnet don't have to worry about UPS as they don't offer any service that needs to be available in a power cut.

Regarding BT's social tariff, we are indeed speaking with them... 

[#4]

I believe careline works by when the button is pressed,  it dials careline service phone numbers from the equipment using the old analog phone system.

As things are you could get a voip service and have an ATA (analog telephone adaptor) to provide the old fashioned style phone connection your Caroline would plug into.  Now we're moving away from the old fashioned system, more and more Internet providers are supplying routers with an ATA built in.

You might also find careline could supply a WiFi enabled base system - worth asking.

[#5]

I am aware of the technical solutions possible - and the associated problems (I worked on the development of digital PSTN equipment over 40 years ago). The big problem is that each end user has to arrange a combination of services (broadband, WiFi, VoIP, ATA, Careline, UPS for each etc.) which will be operational even in a power cut, rather than the underlying communications product being robust in and of itself.

The people that need these services are not on the whole people that are capable of sourcing such equipment.

Even if they can get everything set up, it still isn't as robust as PSTN was as it relies on power to any cabinets - and as mentioned previously the backup batteries have a limited run time. 

[#6]

@corringham 

"it still isn't as robust as PSTN was as it relies on power to any cabinets - and as mentioned previously the backup batteries have a limited run time."

I think that only applies to FTTC?

I raised similar concerns on these and other forums a while back, and was assured that with FTTP, all of the external equipment,(eg optical splitters), between home and "exchange" is passive, ie no power required. With the "exchanges" having the same backup batteries and generators that they have always had.

[#7]

Most of this stuff seems to work on 12v DC ... very tempting to get a single 12v 'burglar alarm' battery linked to a charger of the right rating to power it.

[#8]

@peterhr 

"Most of this stuff seems to work on 12v DC ... very tempting to get a single 12v 'burglar alarm' battery linked to a charger of the right rating to power it."

That is basically what I intend to do when the time comes for us. I will be using a "leisure" battery pack that we already own, that has a built in car cigarette lighter type socket. I think that I calculated a while back that it should have enough power for a couple of days or so.

I think that the power connector on the PN Hub2 is an unusual size, (?), but I have a few old BT  power supplies that I can cut the cable and plug from.

[#9]

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@Mr_Paul wrote:

I raised similar concerns on these and other forums a while back, and was assured that with FTTP, all of the external equipment,(eg optical splitters), between home and "exchange" is passive, ie no power required. With the "exchanges" having the same backup batteries and generators that they have always had.

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That is true for Openreach FTTP. It isn't true for most Altnets. And don't forget a lot of people will end up with VoIP over FTTC where cabinets do still require power (although Openreach are better than most at providing backup power).

[#10]

@corringham 

Which part are you saying "isn't true for most Altnets"?

That their external equipment is not passive, (and therefore requires power), or that the "exchange" buildings they use do not have battery backup and standby generators? (Or both?)

[#11]

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@peterhr wrote:

Most of this stuff seems to work on 12v DC ... very tempting to get a single 12v 'burglar alarm' battery linked to a charger of the right rating to power it.

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I think a single 12v backup is a good option - but be careful to get a system that is happy with being permanently powered (until a power cut) as a lot of battery systems don't like being over charged.

One option is the Eaton UPS but that only has a 2200mAh battery.

[#12]

There was an article a while ago on thinkbroadband.com about using usb power banks as a means to stay online in a power cut:
https://www.thinkbroadband.com/guides/how-to-stay-online-if-uk-experiences-rolling-power-cuts

[#13]

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@Mr_Paul wrote:

@corringham 

Which part are you saying "isn't true for most Altnets"?

That their external equipment is not passive, (and therefore requires power), or that the "exchange" buildings they use do not have battery backup and standby generators? (Or both?)

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Most Altnet's don't have "exchange" buildings. Their cabinets (or underground chambers) are powered (there are often also unpowered drop boxes that have passive connections). My local Gigaclear cabinet supplies up to 250 properties or so (currently far less) and backup power is "up to 3 hours", although hasn't been "tested" for more than an hour yet.

[#14]

@corringham 

Very interesting - thanks.

It does seem to contradict what I had been previously told though. My local Altnet is CityFibre, so I don't know if their network is designed differently and would explain the differing advice?

[#15]

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@Mr_Paul wrote:

It does seem to contradict what I had been previously told though. My local Altnet is CityFibre, so I don't know if their network is designed differently and would explain the differing advice?

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I don't know how CityFibre's network is built - since they are in urban areas it could be that all their fibre goes back to data centres or "exchanges" without intermediate powered cabinets - much the same as Openreach.  They may use some of Openreach's infrastructure through PIA.

Certainly in rural areas cabinets are commonly used to reduce the distance for individual fibres, with the cabinets then connected with a high(er) capacity backhaul fibre