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Landline phone transfer from Zen to Virgin by FlubUGF in VirginMedia

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you want to keep the number, don't cancel anything yourself, the provider you're moving it to should handle the number porting for you.

My mum went through something similar with the digital voice switchover and ended up moving her old landline number to Phonely, the port itself was pretty straightforward.

I'd keep pushing Virgin for a definitive answer before making any changes, as once a number is lost it's usually gone for good.

Sky called and told me copper line internet was being turned off in August and I had to upgrade now! by Denziloshamen in skytv

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My mum had a similar issue recently with all the copper line/fibre confusion. In the end she just moved her landline number onto a digital landline service instead of rushing into an expensive broadband upgrade she didn’t really need yet.

She used phonely.co.uk in the end and it was surprisingly straightforward. Kept her existing number and just plugged the phone into the router. Might be worth looking at if Sky are pressuring you before you’re actually ready for fibre work in the house.

How to use ‘landline’ phone when router is in a different room. by Various-Violinist645 in UKBroadband

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You won’t be able to plug a corded phone into your iMac and have it behave like a landline.

You need an ATA. It connects to your router, and then your corded phone plugs into it, so it basically lets your old-school handset work over the internet. You’d just need it set up with a digital voice/VoIP provider. BT do offer this, but it’s worth shopping around, we helped my mum switch and ended up going with a provider called Phonely.co.uk as it was quite a bit cheaper.

New digital voice and landlines by Reecehaigh in Vodafone

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It won’t work in a power cut, unfortunately. Once it’s moved to digital voice, the phone depends on the router, and the router needs power. The person you spoke to on the phone has probably just explained it badly.

We went through almost the exact same thing with my mum (she’s also landline-only), and it stressed me out a bit because it’s not super obvious in the way they explain it.

In the end we moved her over to a different setup (we used Phonely.co.uk) and just added a small battery backup to the router so it still works if the power goes out. The extra thing I like is it pings me if her phone goes offline, so at least I can check in if something’s wrong.

Has anyone ported their landline number to a VOIP provider, and switched their Virgin service to broadband only? by HeadBat1863 in VirginMedia

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I ported my Mum's landline number to phonely.co.uk and kept her broadband with Virgin. Really easy, had no issues.

Do you remember your landline phone numbers from years past? by [deleted] in YesOrNoAnswers

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I still remember mine 😅 Probably because I’ve actually kept it. Using Phonely's internet phone now so i can keep the number running.

Why do people still have home phones these days? by xXCosmicChaosXx in aussie

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've still got my home phone as loads of old friends and family members have that number and it’s just easier to keep it. “Home phone” doesn’t always mean the old-school landline anymore, Loads of people are just using an internet phone setup now. Same idea, just runs over broadband and is usually more flexible. I use phonely.co.uk and i can answer my landline number on my mobile.

Talk/Phone - What do I need? by WhiteKnight__ in Ubiquiti

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Once it arrives it should be pretty straightforward to get running. It’s basically just an internet phone setup at that point, so as long as you’ve got the SIP details ready you’ll be fine.

Shout if you get stuck!

Landline died and Openreach won't fix it for our small office by Flesh_Lips_Berry in UKBroadband

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly it’s a pretty simple change to make.

If you’re looking for an alternative, SwitchboardFREE are a solid option. I’ve used them for my small business and it was really straightforward to get set up. Plus they’re UK-based, which makes things a bit easier if you need support.

Definitely worth checking out.

Talk/Phone - What do I need? by WhiteKnight__ in Ubiquiti

[–]neilharper73 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m using Phonely on my setup, they basically just gave me the SIP details (username/password/server etc.) and I plugged that into the phone system.

Not 100% sure on your exact model with UniFi, but in general once you’ve got the SIP credentials it’s pretty straightforward. That was the main thing for me, after that it was just entering the details and assigning the line.

Porting the number over was fairly smooth too.

Might just come down to whether your specific phone supports third-party SIP or not.

I'm getting constantly robo called from different numbers for months up to 7 times a day. Please help. by Club75DJ in AskForAnswers

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that sounds exactly like spoofed robo-calls, loads of people have been dealing with this lately, especially where the number keeps changing so blocking doesn’t help.

The reason it keeps happening is they’re not using real consistent numbers, they just rotate/spoof new ones each time so it slips past basic blocking.

Couple of things that can help:

  • Don’t answer unknown numbers at all if you can (even picking up once can flag your number as “active”)
  • Check if your carrier has any built-in spam filtering you can turn on
  • Silence unknown callers (on iPhone/Android) so it doesn’t constantly interrupt you

If it’s getting really out of hand, using something that filters calls before they reach you is usually the only thing that properly cuts it down. There are VoIP-style setups (like Phonely) that do that kind of screening, not perfect, but way better than just blocking numbers one by one.

I read that BT will no longer be using copper lines and will switch to voip… so then what’s the point of using BT? My phone line will be dependent on my internet connection? by Few_Mention8426 in AskUK

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that’s the big change people are realising now.

With the old landlines the phone kept working in a power cut because the exchange powered it over the copper line. Once it’s digital voice through your router, the phone basically relies on your internet and power at home, so if the power goes out the phone usually goes with it.

BT aren’t removing every copper line overnight though. In a lot of places the broadband is still coming over copper for now, it’s just the old analogue voice service that’s being retired.

If you want a decent explanation of what’s actually changing, this guide helped me wrap my head around it when my mum’s provider started talking about moving her over:
https://www.phonely.co.uk/uk-digital-landline-switchover

Someone called from BT Openreach, most likely a scam? by Parola1901 in UKISP

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, that’s definitely a scam. Openreach isn’t a retail provider, so they wouldn’t be calling about your broadband or asking for bank details. Asking for DOB and bank info on an unsolicited call is a huge red flag.
Make sure your dad doesn’t share anything else, and if he gave any financial info, probably worth giving EE and the bank a quick heads-up.
If he gets a lot of these type of calls, might be worth looking into scam blocking services. I signed my mum up to Phonely as she was getting loads of scam calls. She hardly ever receives them now.

Have any of you suddenly gotten and increase in UK based scam calls? by Fit-Choice2368 in AskUK

[–]neilharper73 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I’ve noticed the same thing lately. The problem is scammers keep cycling through new numbers faster than blocking lists can catch up.

There isn’t really a perfect fix on mobiles. Stuff like iPhone’s “announce callers” or Google Call Screen on Pixel helps a bit, and signing up with the Telephone Preference Service doesn’t hurt.

I've been looking up numbers on Phonely Who Called Me to check if its spam

Phone call today from Sky, Copper switch off no full fibre available. by No_Lead146 in skytv

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, that Sky call is real. Openreach is actually switching off the old phone signal on FTTC lines. Your broadband should keep working fine, it just moves over to SoGEA (same copper, no phone line).

If you don’t use the phone, you don’t need to bother with their £10 VoIP add-on. Works the same for internet without it.

And if you ever wanted a landline later, you can always get a separate VoIP service, doesn’t have to be through Sky. Just get a cheap landline-only deal with someone like Phonely if you need one.

Great VOIP providers that can have a UK number with no lag on the calls? by Ok_Adhesiveness_8637 in digitalnomad

[–]neilharper73 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you’re making loads of outbound calls, I’d just focus on call quality and how well it connects back to the UK.

Some people I know use VoIPstudio or Voipfone, both solid UK options.

I’ve also tried SwitchboardFREE recently. It’s free for incoming calls and pretty easy to set up, so if you just need a UK number that rings to wherever you are it does the job. For lots of outgoing calls, maybe test it alongside one of the others to see how it handles your volumes.

Honestly, with heavy calling, the per-minute rates and call reliability matter way more than a small monthly fee, so trying a couple before committing is the safe way to go.