VOIP - Why all the misinformation?

[m0ffy]

My 2012 Panasonic has no switch or alternative socket and the manual says nothing about it being VOIP-ready (or not). I also have an unpowered handset bought as a safeguard against power cuts before I had a mobile. Both work without any adjustment with the new EE router using the analog socket; other routers may be different. There may be antique handsets which won't work but it seems unlikely.

The phone itself doesn’t care if it’s plugged into an ATA or an analogue exchange. It’s only interested in whether it can see the appropriate voltage. The ATA (whether separate, or built into the router) only cares about whether the phone can go off hook/on hook and send DTMF tones. Every cordless phone can do this, so can all wired push button phones.

 

[jfollows]

The misinformation I do have a problem with is all the happy-clappy installation instructions. Now, to be fair, I was a computer networking specialist back in the day, so I'm reasonably au fait with the technology, but separately from BT and Virgin they supply "simplistic" instructions which make little sense to me, and what I wanted in both cases was a single clear diagram of what went where, of the kind that an installation engineer might be supplied with I guess.
I worked it all out, but it was a bit frustrating, having to search the Internet for some of the answers, but I really didn't like the "instructions" I was sent.
As others have said here, some of the guff is irritating when it's imprecise or just wrong.

 

[najaB]

New systems don't support pulse-dialling, so if you have one of those phones and tried plugging it into a router then it wouldn't work. You do get converter boxes if you're desperately attached to your old rotary dial phone.

Interestingly, I was able to get a rotary phone to work with a BT Broadband Voice router supplied as recently as 2015. No idea what's happened since as I left BT in 2017 but I wouldn't be surprised if some routers still supported pulse dialling, even unofficially.

 

[sor]

Interestingly, I was able to get a rotary phone to work with a BT Broadband Voice router supplied as recently as 2015. No idea what's happened since as I left BT in 2017 but I wouldn't be surprised if some routers still supported pulse dialling, even unofficially.

None of the BT/EE routers which support "Digital Voice" can do pulse dialing. There aren't that many VoIP ATAs that can do it either, certainly the Sipura/Linksys/Cisco line (which is popular and is used by BT themselves for business phone services) never could.

Another pitfall is the lack of a bell wire on some equipment which means old phones won't ring (including virtually anything that needs pulse dialing). Not a problem for the BT supplied kit, but others who use American-spec equipment have not realised this. RJ11 to BT plug adapters can regenerate it but not all ISPs supply the variant with built in capacitor, likely because it costs a bit more

 

[Devonian]

The truth of the conflation of the digital switch off with fibre roll-out depends on where you live. In some areas, where there is a 'stop sale' on all copper-based services, then if a fibre connection is possible, it will be the only option for either new connections or changes of supplier - or even recontracting with the same supplier in some cases. In other areas, both full-fibre and part-fibre services may be available depending on your supplier of choice. Existing fibre to the cabinet (part fibre, FTTC) services will continue over copper wires to the home in many areas, not least in areas where there are no current plans for full-fibre at all.

There is already a nationwide stop-sale on new traditional PSTN phone lines - but I have a feeling that you might just be able to get a few LLU/MPF services installed in some areas.

This thread is throwing up some interesting points, so a summary of some myths that are reflected in this thread:

Myth 1: If you have extension sockets/bells, they can't be made to work

My Farther has 3 extensions that I wired in for him. So these won’t work once he’s potentially been upgraded .

Extensions can still work if you want them, the wiring just needs to be connected to the router/adapter rather than the exchange line master socket. The safest way to do so is to fit a 'slave' phone socket next to the existing master socket (but not connected to it) and transfer only the extension wiring to the slave, then use a double-ended phone cable (ie with a BT plug at both ends) to connect the slave socket to the router/adapter. There are other methods of varying degree of bodge - search for 'VOIP voice reinjection'.

Myth 2: You must get a special 'Digital Voice phone'

My mother-in-law was notified by BT back in January and she had her FTP line added in April. She, too, had to buy a digital landline phone.

Any phone with * and # buttons should work with digital voice (and indeed almost any British phone made since the 1920s will work with a pulse-to-tone adapter). If a new phone is needed, it does not need to be a proprietary 'Digital Voice' phone. I have managed to get all sorts of phones from the 1930s to the present day and extension bells happily working on VOIP.

Most ISPs will supply a router that has a phone socket at the back for the phone service: some will supply (or require you to buy) a separate Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA - such as the Grandstream mentioned by Lucan). Both provide a socket that simulates a landline - though some have US-style RJ11 sockets that need an adapter (with a ringing capacitor) for BT plugs.

Older phones may not ring when plugged into some non-BT Digital Voice sockets. If so, they usually just need an adapter with a ringing capacitor - an old broadband 'filter' should do the trick.

There are two cases for dedicated digital phones: if your 'digital voice' is actually a standard SIP service, then a dedicated 'digital' VOIP SIP phone can be used instead of plugging a phone into an ATA; and BT's Digital Voice phones connect to their router directly.

Myth 3: If you don't have broadband, you'll lose your phone or need to get broadband straight away
Helpfully busted by philjo...

BT then switched us over to Digital voice. There is no change to the landline - the same phone works on the same cabling. It still works in a power cut as the phone has no power source at this end.

... who is the beneficiary of SOTAP for Analogue/pre digital phone line, the 'temporary' voice-only service that works just like a PSTN landline.

However, these are due to be around only until 2030. Otherwise, the intention is to provide a low-speed broadband connection and associated equipment good enough for calls only, at the same cost as a landline-only contract, as noted by m0ffy.

Myth 4: All remaining landlines will be switched off in January

As traditional copper networks face decommissioning by 2027 due to The Big Switch Off [Moneypenny]

As m0ffy notes, it is the BT PSTN exchange network not the copper network that is being closed. But even that is not the end of all landline services.

What is often forgotten is that many people (over 3 million) get a phone service from the exchange that is not provided by the BT/Openreach equipment that is being retired, and which is not necessarily being withdrawn in January. These "Local Loop Unbundled" services run over Openreach "Metallic Path Facility (MPF)" copper cables (available until 2030 at least), and are operated by companies such as Sky. They have their own, different, deadlines for withdrawal. Always check with your own provider!

Almost-certainly-a-Myth 5: you'll need a new number
Number portability is regulated, so it should be possible to keep a number. Any number that started on a BT line should be fully portable (even if it's a five- or four-digit number); others may be trickier but should not be impossible. If all else fails, porting the number to a separate VOIP service (eg A&A) may be possible, up to 30 days after 'losing' a number. In theory, numbers are no longer tied to exchanges on digital voice/VOIP either, so if you move house you should be able to keep the number.

Common assumption: A landline is a waste of money

Always puzzled me why society or the older generation have had mobile phones for years and still beem so obsessed with keeping a landline which is duplication.

I'm not ancient and I have a landline number over VOIP with fixed phones. My "older generation" parents also keep both. Why?

• It doesn't cost much to keep a landline number (less than £2 a month with my provider)
• It provides a number for the whole household rather than only one person
• It provides a number that people do not expect to be answered all the time
• It provides a 'local' number for business purposes which still looks more professional/permanent
• Some of the numbers date back decades, so are in countless address books/contact lists, and directories
• The Ageing Parents' hearing aids work better with the inductive couplers in the fixed phones
• Fixed phones never get lost/accidentally migrate to one room in the house (something that became apparent when one of the APs ended up in a heap at the bottom of the stairs with all the phones upstairs - fixed phones were swiftly put back afterwards!)
• Fixed phones don't 'go flat' (before anyone asks, yes, I have long battery back-up for the VOIP)
• And, blast it, the mobile signal is unuseable here.

 

[Lucan]

Good information in this thread, much better than I have managed to find in the general media. My own ISP/phone provider (UNO) has given about zero advice apart from a recent email telling me I need to change to VOIP soon. They recommended I buy a Grandstream HT801 v2 as a ATA adaptor when I asked about it. Admittedly UNO are a more professionally oriented and expect you to know these things.

 

[Devonian]

None of the BT/EE routers which support "Digital Voice" can do pulse dialing. There aren't that many VoIP ATAs that can do it either, certainly the Sipura/Linksys/Cisco line (which is popular and is used by BT themselves for business phone services) never could.

The Grandstream HT8xx series still do - though they are more fussy about the dial speed than the PSTN.

 

[gg1]

Common assumption: A landline is a waste of money

I'm not ancient and I have a landline number over VOIP with fixed phones. My "older generation" parents also keep both. Why?

• It doesn't cost much to keep a landline number (less than £2 a month with my provider)
• It provides a number for the whole household rather than only one person
• It provides a number that people do not expect to be answered all the time
• It provides a 'local' number for business purposes which still looks more professional/permanent
• Some of the numbers date back decades, so are in countless address books/contact lists, and directories
• The Ageing Parents' hearing aids work better with the inductive couplers in the fixed phones
• Fixed phones never get lost/accidentally migrate to one room in the house (something that became apparent when one of the APs ended up in a heap at the bottom of the stairs with all the phones upstairs - fixed phones were swiftly put back afterwards!)
• Fixed phones don't 'go flat' (before anyone asks, yes, I have long battery back-up for the VOIP)
• And, blast it, the mobile signal is unuseable here.

Two more:
When someone leaves a message on a landline answerphone you're hearing their message live so if it's someone you actually want to speak to, you can pick up there and then. With a mobile where you listen to the message after the event you have to call them back.
No power supply required, so if you live in an area with both poor mobile reception and prone to power cuts (like the bungalow my dad lived in for 13 years), you still always have a phone. Sadly VOIP loses this advantage.

 

[sor]

No power supply required, so if you live in an area with both poor mobile reception and prone to power cuts (like the bungalow my dad lived in for 13 years), you still always have a phone. Sadly VOIP loses this advantage.

BT and others will provide a free battery backup unit to customers that they know to be vulnerable. This is sufficient to ride out the typical power cut. Anyone whose property is "prone" to power cuts should be demanding that their local electricity company sorts things out.

BT and Virgin can also provide a phone that can switch to a mobile network if the landline goes down. It has its own battery backup. These units have an external antenna so may perform better than a typical mobile phone would in areas with otherwise poor reception.

 

[edwin_m]

No power supply required, so if you live in an area with both poor mobile reception and prone to power cuts (like the bungalow my dad lived in for 13 years), you still always have a phone. Sadly VOIP loses this advantage.

It's certainly true here and I believe it's universal, that the routers have battery backup, and if the mobile is registered with the home WiFi it will use that instead of the mobile signal. So you'd need a prolonged power cut to lose contact.

 

[gg1]

BT and others will provide a free battery backup unit to customers that they know to be vulnerable. This is sufficient to ride out the typical power cut. Anyone whose property is "prone" to power cuts should be demanding that their local electricity company sorts things out.

BT and Virgin can also provide a phone that can switch to a mobile network if the landline goes down. It has its own battery backup. These units have an external antenna so may perform better than a phone would in areas with otherwise poor reception.

That's good to know.

In the case of the power cuts, they weren't specific to the property but affected the whole village. My dad's theory was the mains infrastructure hadn't been upgraded for decades and was unable to cope with modern demand (he lived there between 2000 and 2013).

 

[WH241]

I recently called Sky to get a better deal as my broadband contract was ending. They moved my phone line across to internet calls and cut off the old copper call part of my landline so now the phone is plugged into the router. My broadband is part fibre so still uses copper into the property.

 

[Devonian]

It's certainly true here and I believe it's universal, that the routers have battery backup, and if the mobile is registered with the home WiFi it will use that instead of the mobile signal. So you'd need a prolonged power cut to lose contact.

Most customers' home routers do not have any battery back-up: they will shut down if a power cut lasts more than a few milliseconds, and take time to reboot after power comes back.

Some people manage to persuade telecom companies to supply battery back-up units (with a back-up time of one hour only as a minimum), but most people will have to buy their own if they want them, or want a longer back-up.

FTTC cabinets have some battery backup - but not very long; many (but not all) mobile masts and repeaters have a limited back-up; traditional phone lines and direct-from-exchange full-fibre connections have back-up to last days at the exchange and are the strongest links in the chain.

 

[najaB]

Most customers' home routers do not have any battery back-up: they will shut down if a power cut lasts more than a few milliseconds, and take time to reboot after power comes back.

Some people manage to persuade telecom companies to supply battery back-up units (with a back-up time of one hour only as a minimum), but most people will have to buy their own if they want them, or want a longer back-up.

While that is true, backup batteries for routers are not expensive. You can get one that will provide an hour or two of backup power for under £30, which would be enough to get you though most power outages. Naturally, prices increase in line with capacity.

 

[Friary Yard]

I had a lot of pressure from BT to change telephone equipment saying that my existing extensions would no longer work and that I must have a DECT Phone

I moved my internet to SKY and plugged my old telephone system into their hub without any problems at all including answering machine and several telephone extensions.

All my telephone equipment is over 10 years old.

 

[sor]

I had a lot of pressure from BT to change telephone equipment saying that my existing extensions would no longer work and that I must have a DECT Phone

I moved my internet to SKY and plugged my old telephone system into their hub without any problems at all including answering machine and several telephone extensions.

All my telephone equipment is over 10 years old.

They're not completely wrong. BT does not recommend that you try to use your existing extension wiring and has no official way for you to do this. There's nothing stopping you DIYing it if you have the skills and can ensure that the outside line is completely disconnected from your extension wiring first.

Their preferred approach is to provide a "digital voice adapter" which plugs into the mains and can provide a phone socket anywhere it is needed, though they suggest this is better for devices that can't be plugged directly into the back of the hub such as a telecare device or wired phone that needs to be in another room. The DECT phone mentioned has its own advantages as it can make "HD voice" quality calls where available (such as to other digital voice users or to mobile phones).

I would be surprised if Sky are any different (though they won't supply any equipment other than the hub)

 

[Friary Yard]

They're not completely wrong. BT does not recommend that you try to use your existing extension wiring and has no official way for you to do this. There's nothing stopping you DIYing it if you have the skills and can ensure that the outside line is completely disconnected from your extension wiring first.

Their preferred approach is to provide a "digital voice adapter" which plugs into the mains and can provide a phone socket anywhere it is needed, though they suggest this is better for devices that can't be plugged directly into the back of the hub such as a telecare device or wired phone that needs to be in another room. The DECT phone mentioned has its own advantages as it can make "HD voice" quality calls where available (such as to other digital voice users or to mobile phones).

I would be surprised if Sky are any different (though they won't supply any equipment other than the hub)

All I did was unplug from the BT Linebox and plug in to the sky Hub

 

[Cloud Strife]

I'm reading this thread with some amusement, because here in sunny Poland, most people living in new houses/estates can't even get a landline even if they wanted to get one. The former Telekomunikacja Polska (now Orange) hasn't installed new copper lines for years, and while they're rolling out fibre based on a nationwide programme, this doesn't include the possibility of getting a landline. In fact, their website doesn't even mention landlines, only mobile phones.

I have fibre through a different provider, and they also don't provide any sort of landline phone service.

Full fibre / FTTP networks are far cheaper to operate, far more reliable, are not subject to all kinds of issues that the copper has, and yes - it can provide the faster speeds that many people want even if you don't. That is why it is happening and not just in the UK (other countries are far further ahead than we are)

One other thing I'd add about fibre is that it's also much easier to provide redundancy, while it's also very cheap to provide that redundancy.

 

[sor]

All I did was unplug from the BT Linebox and plug in to the sky Hub

If you had that type of extension then it would indeed be that easy, but most people have it hard wired into the master socket.

I'm reading this thread with some amusement, because here in sunny Poland, most people living in new houses/estates can't even get a landline even if they wanted to get one. The former Telekomunikacja Polska (now Orange) hasn't installed new copper lines for years, and while they're rolling out fibre based on a nationwide programme, this doesn't include the possibility of getting a landline. In fact, their website doesn't even mention landlines, only mobile phones.

This is also true in the UK. Openreach policy has been to roll out full fibre / FTTP to any new build estate of any real size, and they work with developers to get it all installed so that the new resident doesn't need another visit when they order a service. No new copper in these areas. This includes estates in areas that have themselves not been upgraded yet.

Openreach also has a "stop sell" in areas where FTTP coverage has reached at least 75%. Premises that can get FTTP are then unable to take any kind of copper service including FTTC broadband. This doesn't affect existing copper services until the customer wants to make a change, but ISPs have additional incentives to get people to upgrade so often it is required if trying to re-contract.

There is one more national stop sell specifically on Openreach landline phone services. This means new customers must take "digital voice" or go without phone service. This doesn't affect the ability to get the same service from Sky or TalkTalk using Openreach copper but in practice they are following the same policy.

Where the UK is an outlier is in how much handwringing and whinging is going on about this change while other countries seem to have just got on with it. You'd think everyone gets power cuts twice a day, no one can get a mobile phone signal and that the old network never ever went down. People also forget that cordless phones are often used and those needed mains power anyway.

One other thing I'd add about fibre is that it's also much easier to provide redundancy, while it's also very cheap to provide that redundancy.

Most PON networks don't have any real redundancy as you share a fibre with a number of your neighbours and a JCB can take that out just like it can with copper. It will make restoration much easier though, since they'd only need to splice a small number of fibres as compared to hundreds of copper pairs, and they know instantly that there are no crossed fibres. Since there is no equipment in the street that needs power (for Openreach anyway) that's a reliability improvement, as is having it built from 1000 exchanges with resilient power and on-call staff instead of 5500 exchanges including lots of sheds in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Ediswan]

I live in one of the many houses built as part of the original Stevenage New Town. Some months ago I received a letter from BT saying they would be implementing Digital Voice on my landline without the need to change my equipment. They did not say whether the analogue-VOIP conversion would take place at the exchange or in the cabinet. If I recall correctly, the only significant change would be loss of 'local' dialling, without the 01438 prefix. I also had Plusnet FTTC/VDSL broadband.

All good, but I took the opportunity to cancel the landline service, it was not being used. BT assured me that my broadband would not be affected. They were wrong. When the landline ceased, so did the broadband. After some failed 'fixes', the only way Plusnet could find to restore the broadband was to cancel the current contract and start as if a new customer. That whole process took about two weeks.

As I had cancelled the landline, I cannot report how well the 'no new equipment' Digital Voice switchover would have worked.

 

[Lucan]

I took the opportunity to cancel the landline service, it was not being used. BT assured me that my broadband would not be affected. They were wrong. When the landline ceased, so did the broadband. ...

As I had cancelled the landline ...

The mistake was "cancelling the landline".

A landline is a solid physical link to your house, and its connection at a local cabinet, that is either copper-core wire or fibre optic, and can carry broadband, analog voice, digital voice (VOIP), or any two or all three of the above. A physical link to your house, in a trench or on poles, is still a landline even if it only carries digital signals. The only commonly used data connection to the outside world that is not a landline is a radio link over the ether, like a cellphone, or by Sky satellite dish etc.

Unfortunately the terminology has been utterly garbled by the popular media, including by the BBC and even by some of BT's public statements, because media and PR people don't generally have a very good grasp of technology. The cessation of the analog phone service has nothing directly to do with the change from copper to fibre optic. The latter is virtually all complete at trunk level but will take years more to reach all premises, if ever. The analog phone service on the other hand will stop suddenly on 1 Jan 2027.

Maybe someone at BT took your "cancel my landline" to mean switch off its connection at the local cabinet, even if not removing the physical link to your house for now. Maybe not the same person who assured you that your broadband would not be affected. It would have been better to have told them "cancel my analog phone service and replace it with Digital Voice" ("Digital Voice is BT's brand name for VOIP).

BT saying they would be implementing Digital Voice on my landline without the need to change my equipment. They did not say whether the analogue-VOIP conversion would take place at the exchange or in the cabinet.

We don't need to know what happens at the exchange or in the cabinet : that is all upstream of the user and internal to BT. All we need to know is that the analog service will cease throughout the BT system on or by 1 Jan 2027 (with some minor exceptions). You would not have needed to change any equipment unless you had an antique phone lacking the * and # symbols or even having a rotary dial (some people do for fun) because those are pulse dialers, not tone dialers. My understanding of recent BT routers (I don't have one myself) is that they have socket for an analog phone which goes to an analog-to-digital converter inside, in addition to ethernet sockets which would accept a modern digital phone built for VOIP (like the BT Digital Voice handset mentioned below). So you could just unplug you analog phone from BT's master socket and plug it into the green socket on the router instead; job done.

Here is a quote (scroll down) from https://bestbroadbanddeals.co.uk/broadband/providers/bt/routers/

The [BT] Smart Hub 3 supports Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), a digital standard for landline phones. You can connect BT Digital Voice handsets or plug analogue phones into the green phone port

 

[jfollows]

The BT Hub 2 has a socket - originally taped over in my case - BT431A or BT 631A into which traditional phones can be connected.
The BT Hub 2 is also a DECT base station, so cordless phones can be registered and connected to it. Older handsets may only have basic functions, whereas a more modern DECT handset designed for the BT hub will be more “functional” - the “BT Digital Voice handsets” retail for under £20.
An existing DECT hub unit can be connected to the BTx31A socket on the BT Hub 2, and then other existing phones in the house will continue to work unchanged. Or the connection can be reverse-engineered into existing multi-phone wiring in the house so that existing wired phones can continue to work unchanged as long as they aren't pulse dialling.
I am not aware of any VOIP ability using the allocated telephone number with either Ethernet or Wifi connections.
The “BT Digital Voice handset” is a DECT handset and not a VOIP handset. DECT is the standard for wireless telephony (https://www.rfwireless-world.com/tutorials/dect-tutorial#google_vignette) which does not use IP but which has been provided for a number of years now by plugging a “base station” into the telephone network and connecting remote handsets to it. The BT Home Hub 2 is a DECT base station.

I have a BT Hub 2 but I’m not aware of differences in the BT Hub 3 in this area.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Today at 14:43 ==

The reason I said above that I don't like the happy-clappy instructions in isolation is that they don't say any of what I've said just above. I had to work it out for myself. So, yes, "misinformation" abounds.

 

[JamesT]

The mistake was "cancelling the landline".

A landline is a solid physical link to your house, and its connection at a local cabinet, that is either copper-core wire or fibre optic, and can carry broadband, analog voice, digital voice (VOIP), or any two or all three of the above. A physical link to your house, in a trench or on poles, is still a landline even if it only carries digital signals. The only commonly used data connection to the outside world that is not a landline is a radio link over the ether, like a cellphone, or by Sky satellite dish etc.

Unfortunately the terminology has been utterly garbled by the popular media, including by the BBC and even by some of BT's public statements, because media and PR people don't generally have a very good grasp of technology. The cessation of the analog phone service has nothing directly to do with the change from copper to fibre optic. The latter is virtually all complete at trunk level but will take years more to reach all premises, if ever. The analog phone service on the other hand will stop suddenly on 1 Jan 2027.

Maybe someone at BT took your "cancel my landline" to mean switch off its connection at the local cabinet, even if not removing the physical link to your house for now. Maybe not the same person who assured you that your broadband would not be affected. It would have been better to have told them "cancel my analog phone service and replace it with Digital Voice" ("Digital Voice is BT's brand name for VOIP).


We don't need to know what happens at the exchange or in the cabinet : that is all upstream of the user and internal to BT. All we need to know is that the analog service will cease throughout the BT system on or by 1 Jan 2027 (with some minor exceptions). You would not have needed to change any equipment unless you had an antique phone lacking the * and # symbols or even having a rotary dial (some people do for fun) because those are pulse dialers, not tone dialers. My understanding of recent BT routers (I don't have one myself) is that they have socket for an analog phone which goes to an analog-to-digital converter inside, in addition to ethernet sockets which would accept a modern digital phone built for VOIP (like the BT Digital Voice handset mentioned below). So you could just unplug you analog phone from BT's master socket and plug it into the green socket on the router instead; job done.

Here is a quote (scroll down) from https://bestbroadbanddeals.co.uk/broadband/providers/bt/routers/

I note @Ediswan mentioned Plusnet. They may be owned by BT, but they don't offer exactly the same services. Notably, they do not offer Digital Voice. They do offer broadband without the landline service, which you would have thought would be what you would be switched to if you ask to cease the landline, but clearly some wires got crossed.

 

[najaB]

They do offer broadband without the landline service, which you would have thought would be what you would be switched to if you ask to cease the landline, but clearly some wires got crossed.

Or uncrossed...

 

[Ediswan]

The mistake was "cancelling the landline".

Don't take that too literally. I don't recall the exact words used. The conversation with BT was about stopping the landline number 01438 ******, but retaining the broadband service over the same physical connection, which happens to be aluminium, not copper.

Plusnet said the problem was with the way the service contracts were set up, not technical.

 

[najaB]

Plusnet said the problem was with the way the service contracts were set up, not technical.

That sounds about right. There would be an automation in their system that triggered a cease against the line rather than a conversion. The two-week delay was likely because there was then a tag left against the line.

(This is based on almost decade-old understanding of BB provision, but I doubt that much has changed).

 

[Ediswan]

That sounds about right. There would be an automation in their system that triggered a cease against the line rather than a conversion. The two-week delay was likely because there was then a tag left against the line.

(This is based on almost decade-old understanding of BB provision, but I doubt that much has changed).

That adds up. I do recall part of the delay being a wait for a flag in the Openreach system to expire before the new Plusnet order could be placed.

 

[sor]

If the phone is with BT and BB with Plusnet then it makes sense. If the landline is ceased in the usual way then any associated broadband is ceased by Openreach.

It is possible to achieve a seamless switch off of the landline service - BT has to do it when moving a BT or EE broadband customer to digital voice - but it's not triggered by simply asking BT to switch it off. This will repeat itself with customers who kept a phone service with BT and broadband with someone else (whether or not the ISP is also owned by BT).

As a point of comparison, I had a BT phone and broadband service that I moved to EE full fibre broadband and digital voice. This of course was handled correctly. Once EE saw that Openreach had installed their equipment and I had plugged in the router, the old broadband line was immediately ceased and the phone number moved to EE. The old phone service was still "there", in that dialtone was on the line, but it had a new number and could not make or receive any calls. I assume 999 would still work but of course I didn't test it. After a few weeks that died too.

The parents moved their BT landline to BT digital voice. Full fibre is not available so this was all on the same copper line which already had BT broadband. Again, literally seamless, it came to life a few minutes after midnight on the appointed day. If they had chosen not to retain a landline then I would have expected it to be just as painless.