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[w3526602]

Hi,

I woke up this morning to find no internet connection, no email, and no TV ... virtually everything connected to Sky. "Oh the pain!"

During the day, they all came back ... one at a time.

602

[Alan Drover]

Oh, the problems of modern times.
Mechanical reigns supreme!!

[The Shed]

I feel your pain.
We have been looking for a new broadband provider, currently with Talktalk and reasonably happy now, following past issues but much cheaper deals are available.
Found Voda' fitted the bill so went online to order, online as cashback was offered. At checkout I read that the standard landline would be lost in the change to full fibre and if that was a problem call 033... Mrs Shed is a Nurse and has to be contactable so losing landline due to internet going down or power cut is not an option.
So I call 03... and, no we can't help call 03... line dead ! I tried live chat, almost 30 minutes later, yes you can have standard line and fibre but you have to call 08... at this point my day was gone, so looking forward to continuing on Monday 

[Worf]

I feel your pain.
We have been looking for a new broadband provider, currently with Talktalk and reasonably happy now, following past issues but much cheaper deals are available.
Found Voda' fitted the bill so went online to order, online as cashback was offered. At checkout I read that the standard landline would be lost in the change to full fibre and if that was a problem call 033... Mrs Shed is a Nurse and has to be contactable so losing landline due to internet going down or power cut is not an option.
So I call 03... and, no we can't help call 03... line dead ! I tried live chat, almost 30 minutes later, yes you can have standard line and fibre but you have to call 08... at this point my day was gone, so looking forward to continuing on Monday 

I have just renewed with Plusnet and actually cheaper than last time. Can keep the landline and calls to all mobiles from it are free.
You can also usually speak to someone that understands English (well Yorkshire anyway)

[The Shed]

I have just renewed with Plusnet and actually cheaper than last time. Can keep the landline and calls to all mobiles from it are free.
You can also usually speak to someone that understands English (well Yorkshire anyway)

Thanks or that, I will give them a look. 

[Peter Holden]

They look to be the sensible side of BT, my sister has been with them for years.  We are with NOW, it seems a good deal for us at the moment

Peter

[w3526602]

Hi ,

Thanks everybody. I wish I understood (in depth) what you were telling me.

I have found that anytime I change anything to do with computers, I sink to yet another depth of ignorance. This forum is about my only source of knowledge about depths yet to be reached. My daughter seems able to fight her way through, but being some sort of elite bank manager, working from home, virtually non-stop, I am low on her priority list. Apparently my grandson is worse than I am.

Nil Ilegitimo Carburundum. (sp?)

602

[crumbly65]

I’m under the impression that landlines will be done away with over the next few years?

I’ve read or heard it is intended the country will move to  Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), meaning that your mobile phone(s) will be your only phones, and will initially connect through your home internet, or failing that, the 4G or 5G mobile signal.

Given that we’re being told to expect power cuts and blackouts this winter, meaning your router could (will?) be down?   And that not all of us have a reliable or indeed, any, mobile signal (we most certainly don’t!), this hardly a giant leap forward…..

[jonhutchings]

Not 100% correct, you can still have a "land line" post dec 2025 but underneath it will use VOIP technology, rather than analogue, so yes will not be a guaranteed service in quite the same way,
 
With fibre replacing copper cabling from most cabinets (the green boxes) in the past few years as part of the faster broad band roll out, many voice calls are actually carried over the fibre as VOIP now.  My understanding was that the original deal with Openreach was that the cabinet had to have a battery backup to keep the phone part working, but in the push to get things rolled out more quickly, this condition was relaxed, and so many are rolled out without as it's significantly cheaper and lower ongoing maintenance costs.

AgeUk have quite a good summary
 https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/consumer-issues/changes-to-landline-telephones/

[Wittsend]

Frankly getting rid of land lines will be a big leap forward.
No more cold call calls selling scamming schemes 
Worth it just to stop them.

We junked our land line a few years ago and it's been peace and quiet since.

Get very few if any, maybe 2 in 4 years junk phone calls on my mobile/text messages.
And then I can just block the number.


 

[Gibbo103]

Just read the age uk guide. Not sure what happens if you don’t have broadband - openreach offer us a guaranteed minimum speed of zero.!

[LN11AAB498A]

I like the landline, it has it`s use`s. I keep mine for incoming calls & emergences only and I don`t get charged. After all, why pay extra for a calls package when I have the mobile.

My BT phone allows callers in my directory to come straight through, but holds all others. The phone will either send unknown numbers to the answerphone or allow them to announce their name & put on hold to see if I want to speak to them. Occasionally, for example, it might be the garage calling me on a number not known to me. I have set the phone to block all International calls. I believe the phone technology can identify known scam calls and simply block them. Timewasters will either hang up or I will ignore them, while automated calls can`t deal with the system.

I have been with BT for many years, with their landline, mobile, broadband, and an extensive TV package. And that's not to say I don`t shop around.
At the end of the contract I always negotiate/haggle and have never failed to get a better deal. Sometimes, even cheaper than the previous contract.

[Alan Drover]

I've got the same, any numbers in the phone's memory are allowed, others have to state who they are and I have the option of accepting the call. The number of one ring calls is getting less.
I can also bar numbers on my mobile. Anyone I don't know who rings and doesn't leave a message is automatically barred by me.

[The Shed]

Something similar for us. We use BT call blocker which comes with the handset, not the provider.
Very few scam and marketing calls get through. Any made up numbers are blocked and others not in the menu have to announce their call via answer system.
I not sure how they make up numbers, in the past when I have checked some of the scam numbers can be quite strange. Such as 11111 or 12345678. How do they do that 

[Rustandoil]

I use one of these at work... Brilliant bit of kit