BT phone landlines changing to IP technology

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Oops, just noticed the age of this thread!

Ours was changed over a few months ago, we don’t use the landline very often but kept it because the hospital use it occasionally.

I had to change over, it costs more to get less, like not using home phone.

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Today Engineers installing new cables for LIT optic fibre… never heard of this provider- any views on LIT - there seems to be new providers putting in new cables everywhere!!

We've been on the new system for quite a while, we have the back batteries etc. only problem is we can - and have had - power cuts of 3/4 days. Batteries don't last that long plus we're in a very poor signal area for mobile connection so we're totally stuffed if power is out and we need emergency services, or even just to let family know we're ok. After storm Arwen we had to drive around until we could find a signal, something you're not going to do in an emergency. Carrier pigeon anyone?

We moved over a couple of months ago. As far as equipment in the house is concerned nothing much has changed.

The base station is now in the study not the hall and we have telephon extensions in the hall and living room, before the extensions were in the study and hall.

The one problem is that we have a large chimney in the centre of the house and this makes it difficult to get a voip signal if the chimney is in the direct line between phone and base station.

I discovered that I'm already on this when I called Sky because my landline kept going out. It turns out that if you have a poor wifi signal you can't get calls either.
I'm actually giving up my landline soon, no point in paying for it.

bear1 Sky is my provider and have been trying to get thru to them all last week.. am out of contract very soon and searching for alternatives- ?NOW broadband which is cheaper but partly owned by Sky.. and not sure if they charge £5.00 monthly for keeping landline open to receive calls -

Bijou yes we had 1 phone box down the road and always a queue for it…also we had another phone box outside Woolworths which everyone used!

I have a different concern about the changeover.
The internet cuts out frequently here for a few minutes at a time. It doesn't matter much on the laptop as I just wait for it to come back but if it cuts out in the middle of a conversation, it will be much more of a nuisance.

I do use my mobile a lot but some people call me on the landline and it is useful having a phone up and down stairs - you can only have one mobile and it's often not near me indoors. This may be the time to get rid of the landline.

Pittcity

I think the "Over 70s" bit in the Age UK info meant that younger people would be the first switched and would be more likely to be sent equipment to install themselves.
Your provider should offer help to older people and provide a free connection for those without internet and battery backup if there's no other means of communication. Everyone will be switched eventually but you should insist on help to do so without paying for it.

Yes. I think your interpretation of the 'over 70' point is right but they probably think most of us will have died off by the time they get around to us!

we are with sky and can never get to speak to anyone or get any communication from them we live in an area where mobile signal is hit and miss so have a landline for emergencies so we could end up in dire straits during a power cut which we tend to have quite a lot

Oopsadaisy
Same here and they updated our connections last year. It’s better now but occasionally I have to wander around.

Nandalot that was very useful thankyou.

The last sentence concerns me, we have a very bad mobile signal in our Village, I have to walk down the lane to use it, not good if we need an Ambulance because one of us is ill.

For those of you concerned about your landline extensions elsewhere in the house, I didn’t have a problem with mine after the changeover. I was sent a small adaptor to plug into the router and the landline base phone plugged into it. It came with clear instructions and it was easy to do. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my upstairs extensions continued to function as normal.

My concern is that my mobile signal wavers between poor and non existent and my mobile requires WiFi calling in my house. So internet failure means no mobile connection. I live alone and it’s on my to do list to contact Virgin to enquire about emergency battery back up for my landline in the event of breakdown.

Sloegin it might be worthwhile speaking to your phone provider with your concerns about being left without a phone connection if your internet fails. As Pittcity mentioned upthread, you will hopefully be provided with a battery back up arrangement for your landline if you have no mobile phone signal for emergency use.

The volume on my mobile is so faint that I can't hear what anyone says unless it's pressed - uncomfortably -right against my ear (& yes, DS has looked at it and can't get it any louder) so I always use my landline because I can have that on speaker and chat to callers while I'm cooking or doing other tasks.
I had read about this change, but haven't had any information from Talktalk so far... As I have two landline phones (upstairs and downstairs) and my router is nowhere near either of them, I'm somewhat apprehensive..! 😯

We live in N.ireland where BT have started to roll it out in some areas, but also a company called Fibrus won a contract with the government to install this in rural areas. My husband and neighbour were keen to get it and, whilst Internet is faster, I haven't been happy with the phone set up. Previously we had 3 cordless phones around the house with the base plugged in in the hall, but we also had a lovelely genuine 1940s dial phone which had been adapted to plug in too. It had a wonderful loud ring, looked lovely and was a back up if a power cut- not unusual in the winter in our rural area. Now we can only have base for cordless phones plugged into router and no back up when Internet goes down. This has happened frequently and a particular worry for us as my husband is unwell and would be a problem if I needed to call an ambulance or GP. Mobile phone reception is poor in the house. A friend has been switched over by BT and that seems more reliable.

I did not understand a word of that. You are all so clever!! I am a total Luddite. This is all a bit scary. I don't have a moby. I do not want one, as I do not need one. Why is this being forced upon me?

This may be a blessing in disguise for me, though I didn't know about it! I only have 2 people who ring my landline - most calls are junk or scammers. I get less scam calls on my mobile and now I have a decent smart phone with a contract, that is the number I generally give. I only keep my landline phone for those 2 people really. I used to use it when I had a basic pay as you go mobile. I certainly won't be investing in any new equipment to keep my landline. The 2 people who use it have my mobile number but ring the landline as it is cheaper for them, though one now mostly emails. The other can't read emails so I'll simply have to tell her to use my mobile - she can afford it!

knspol

Never heard anything about this. I have a mobile and a landline but the mobile signal is not good and I have difficulty hearing people on it so always ask people to use landline so I can put it on speaker. Have several landline phones spread throughout the house for ease of answering so having just one plugged into the router will be more than a nuisance especially as the router is in a very awkward position.

You'll still be able to use multiple digital handsets. Your provider should be able to help you set them up.

alig99 this thread is not about resistance to change...