Number redirection - what does this mean?

[gb2010]

Hello folks,

I'll be upgrading to FTTP soon but for now, staying with the standard line rental will cost me £18 a month and I was wondering if there was anything I can do about that. I think I will have to pay it for now, in order to keep my number and then switch to VOIP when I upgrade but my attention was caught by the "Number Redirection" service which says:

"The simplest way to transition from traditional phone services that are being phased out. We will host your number in the cloud and simply redirect it to any UK landline number (starting 01 or 02) or UK mobile number (starting 07). No physical phone or app is required"

I've re-read this several times but I don't get it. How is it you don't need a phone?

I'm sure this is perfectly simple but I wonder if someone could explain it to me.

Thanks!

[Simon]

Have to admit, it does sound a little contradictory.  It makes sense if you want to divert all your landline number calls to a mobile, but surely you'd need a physical phone to use a landline number?  Perhaps they mean you don't need your own physical phone, if the landline number you choose to divert to is, say, a work number?   

[gb2010]

Well, I phoned Idnet and it's no good for me. It has to have fttp, I can't do it with my current adsl broadband. I thought it was too good to be true.

And of course I can't cancel the line rental and just have adsl broadband, I need both.

Out of interest Simon I agree with everything you've been saying elsewhere on the forum about the complexity and cost of upgrading to fttp. I'm also perfectly happy as I am. I know I will have to upgrade sometime but I'm going to hang on to my cheap, no-longer-offered 50GB adsl package with Idnet for as long as I can. Then when I must, alas, I'll be off to BT's home essentials package for people on benefits which is £15. This is a pity because I really like Idnet but I can't justify paying an extra £30 a month just to stay with them.

[Simon]

All I will say, GB, is that if you're still on a legacy ADSL package, you will certainly notice the difference when you eventually move to FTTP. 

As I understand it, you've got until Jan 2026 at the moment, until BT are intending to pull the plugs on copper phones lines, in which case, your ADSL connection would cease, assuming IDNet will continue to provide the legacy service up to that point. 

I would also guess that as FTTP becomes more widespread, competition will rise and consumer prices may fall.  What isn't a given is that the current offers of free installations will continue, but who really knows which way it will go?

[nowster]

All I will say, GB, is that if you're still on a legacy ADSL package, you will certainly notice the difference when you eventually move to FTTP. 

At my parents place the primary benefit was reliability. The secondary one was a 12x improvement in speed.

[zappaDPJ]

I would also guess that as FTTP becomes more widespread, competition will rise and consumer prices may fall.  What isn't a given is that the current offers of free installations will continue, but who really knows which way it will go?

I think it'll go the way of every other service provider excluding the waterboard of course, switching to a new provider every year or two to take advantage of cut-price deals.

Our area is currently festooned with engineers up telegraph poles and none of them are from Openreach. The number of overhead cables is actually becoming quite shocking in places.

Right now I could easily save £12 a month doing a like for like swap.

[Simon]

Our area is currently festooned with engineers up telegraph poles and none of them are from Openreach. The number of overhead cables is actually becoming quite shocking in places.

Right now I could easily save £12 a month doing a like for like swap.

The problem is, you don't know if reliability will be like for like until you make the jump.  We have other providers here who I could have gone with, probably without all the drama of my Openreach fiasco, but I've heard very mixed reports from local residents as to the reliability of the alternative providers. 

[zappaDPJ]

I agree, a lot of research is called for but there are so many providers offering low cost packages in this area now it's got to be worth considering.

[nowster]

One thing to be aware of with some of the new ISPs is what sort of networking they do. It's rare that you get both native IPv4 and IPv6 like you do with iDNET. I've heard reports that some are doing CGNAT with IPv4 and may not offer IPv6 either. This makes gaming difficult and running servers nigh impossible, and can make VoIP unreliable.

[zappaDPJ]

I've heard reports that some are doing CGNAT with IPv4 and may not offer IPv6 either.

That's certainly something I wouldn't want.

[Postal]

That's certainly something I wouldn't want.

Unfortunately it is the norm with many of the new suppliers (and even existing suppliers who are running out of IPv4 addresses).  The new network provider currently fibreing our village does not provide IPv6 (it is in the plans, honest) and uses CGNAT for IPv4 unless you pay £5 extra per month for a fixed IPv4 address.

However, even on an ADSL/VDSL package there is no need to retain the landline telephone.  You can just transfer the number to one of the current VoIP providers and then use the providers app to set up how you want to receive or make calls.  This could be a traditional handset type phone wired through an adapter to your router, your mobile with the app set to receive the calls to the old landline number or whatever.  Going down this route gives you the freedom to control your own destiny rather than having the number tied to an ISP with all the hoohah of contracts tying together phone and broadband; this is the equivalent process to having an independent e-mail address (gmail, hotmail etc or your own domain) so that you do not have to reset all of your internet accounts with banks, utilities, businesses etc each time you move ISP.

The big caveat to doing it with your existing connection is a further complication of the way that phone and broadband are packed together by the suppliers.  Moving the phone away automatically ceases the whole broadband/phone package.  If you do it at any time except the end of the current contract term you may be hit with termination charges.  You will also need to create a new broadband only contract with your existing or a new supplier.

We will certainly be splitting out our phone from our broadband when fibre arrives and new contracts are needed so even if we stop with IDNet they will no longer provide our phone.

[zappaDPJ]

The big caveat to doing it with your existing connection is a further complication of the way that phone and broadband are packed together by the suppliers. 

That's one issue we won't have to face. We stopped using a landline phone a couple of years ago and the only question it raised is why we didn't do it twenty years ago.

I know some people still rely on it but for us there was really no downside.