Broadband & landline - utterly bewildered

[NetZeroZealot]

My elderly parents have just had their broadband cut off. They were with John Lewis who have discontinued the service. They also previously had their landline through them.
Rather than sign them straight up to Plusnet who are the alternative provider, and who can't provide a landline, I thought I'd check the various deals available and have just gone down many rabbit holes.
They are utterly dependent on their landline. My Mum has a mobile which she uses quite a lot but Dad does not have one and makes quite a lot of calls on the landline.
He also has a wearable alarm provided by the council, I'm trying to find out if it's compatible with a digital phone line.
Are they better off with a combined broadband/phone service, or separately?
Some seem to include calls, some are just line rental and you pay extra for calls.
Has anyone had to do this for their parents and got a good recommendation. I think they can get fibre where they live.
They both use the internet quite a lot, but mostly for online shopping and research, not for watching movies or anything like that.
Utterly bewildered by it all and wondering if we shouldn't just go to BT (but they don't get good reviews)

"They both sue the internet quite a lot"

Good for them. I think more people should do this. The internet has a lot to answer for.

Seriously though, one thing to be aware of with a digital landline is consider power cuts and internet outages. In those circumstances the digital landline won't work (and now will the emergency alarm) unlike the copper landlines which continue to work and are generally much more reliable. Unfortunately they will be switching everyone's off soon so ultimately there's no way out of it, but you can very battery packs to keep the line running for a few hours in the event the power goes down. It might be possible to get them one for free as they are vulnerable.

I'm with Now Broadband and still have a copper landline which I will hold onto as long as possible (our last power cut went on for over a day and we lost mobile signal at the same time as the mast also went down so I'd have no way to contact anyone (including emergency services had they been needed)) but I don't know if they offer a line still to new customers. When I last renewed my contract it was hard to find providers that still offered a separate copper landline as part of the package.

My DSis got our elderly DM signed up with EE for a deal which includes landline, broadband and an iPhone. I know other people who've said this is a good deal - but you do have to visit an actual EE shop and my DSis said it took hours! It's being set up on Monday so don't know yet how well it will work. DM can't hear the bloody iPhone ringing and seems to have reset lots of functions by randomly pressing things.

If you do speak to EE stress the digital alarm

There are a lot of necessary changes in voice services and the providers need to know about the alarm so they can make sure it keeps working

I think you should check with the alarm provider whether it must be a landline. When my DSis sorted out a wearable alarm for DM earlier this year, we had to pick the most expensive subscription because it was the only one compatible with VOIP telephones.

@Papyrophile Yes, am trying to do this. But getting a sensible response from the council is almost impossible. I've emailed them but not holding out much hope.

Excellent advice from AgeUK

Good link, but I'm still bemused. As John Lewis can no longer provide their land line, are they able to switch back to a non-digital landline from BT.
I guess I'll have to call BT.
My Mum is getting increasingly distressed about having no broadband and keeps suggesting ridiculous reasons, like it's because the roof was repaired.
No! It's because she ignored the emails from John Lewis telling them they were discontinuing her service!

Just a couple of things I've learnt from supporting my late mum with this:
It's probably worth contacting the Council who will provide the personal alarm service to check if they need a landline to operate.
We made the switch to mobile only (mum was getting stressed by relentless scam calls, and despite signing up to BT's screening service, that never seemed to work). When it came to installing a personal alarm service , we assumed it wouldn't work with a mobile, but fortunately it did. The LA said they'd had to adapt because increasingly people don't have landlines. You might be lucky with the LA.
BT- this probably isn't that helpful, but if there are any alternatives, I'd recommend you look. In our experience they are expensive and it's really difficult to speak to a human being.

Thanks, good info about BT.
The alarm is my Dad's, he can't use a mobile but I guess if it goes to my mobile and my Mum's that doesn't matter.
I've emailed the council. There's no number to contact that department.

I have to say you can always speak to a person at Plusnet and they have been extremely helpful so far.

If you need a new provider, look at Zen. They’re a bit more expensive, but very reliable, and they provide a landline. Ours is still a genuine landline, they may only be willing to provide VOIP to new customers, but ask - Zen’s big advantage is you can talk to the techies and can get answers to questions that aren’t on the call centre’s crib sheet.

Everywhere will be going VOIP in a year or so.

It is appalling that these companies do this to older people without helping them to transition to an alternative. The OPs parents are lucky to have family to help them to navigate this but imagine people who don't have this support. DH recently offered to help an elderly neighbour who was left sobbing in despair after trying to get his phone back in place. It is so sad to see and makes me so angry.

If they use the landline a lot then line rental, broadband and free anytime calls sounds best.

If you're concerned about compatibility with the life line service, contact their local councillor to get the information.

Agree. And AFAICS there isn’t a back up for telecare type devices.

I have been with Plusnet for years and have found them very good. Their mobile service has moved to EE and I understand the BB will move eventually, but their Broadband, landline and free evening and weekend calls is £30 per month. We have 2 people working from home and we have various online streaming services.

The drive towards fully fibre optic is causing huge issues.
Some providers offer a battery backup for medical alarms, but I have not bee able to get anyone to vouch for whether they work when there is a power cut.

It seems to be something that has been ignored by companies.

Im with BT. There FO broadband and landline, is £20 a month unlimited. If your on UC or pension credit.
It doesnt work with my councils, helpline though.
The drawback is if your router goes down, that you loose everything.

Regarding your dad’s alarm, check with the provider. My mums fall alarm has a SIM card and connects to the mobile network - nice and simple, can put it anywhere in the house as long as it’s near a power point.

I can't answer your question but would agree that Zen is an excellent provider and very easy to actually speak to a real person.

If you're concerned about compatibility with the life line service, contact their local councillor to get the information.

The councillors may have this information. If not, they will be able to find out. IME council officers are more responsive to councillors than to members of the public.

Hi funnel

are you able to say more about how this works please? Mum is currently on a system where a person talks to her through a box downstairs, though it can hear her if she's upstairs. It's really good and the thought of losing it is very worrying.

Yes mums box has the same capability. If she activates the alarm or presses a button on the box it connects to the call centre of the alarm company. If she falls too far from the box and the microphone don’t pick her up they’ll assume she’s unconscious and send someone out (they have the code to the key safe) and also call me.

It’s all done via the mobile phone network rather than the landline. No problem with call quality or reliability. So I assume the choice of equipment is down to the service provider, and they should be able to talk to you or your mum about whether they have the SIM card connected equipment. Mums looks like this.

Thanks funnel really appreciate that, pic looks exactly the same.

I have talked to BT and all I got was "it will be fine" with no explanation of how. It's so poor that they couldn't supply the info you've just given.

I was EmmaEmerald so you know a bit about my situation....mum is finally trying to take the load off me so said she'd handle this one but in reality, she won't be able to.

So thank you, I now know what we're looking for. (I try not to talk to her directly about this stuff as she thinks she understands but doesn't and gives me wrong info).

Thanks again.

There are carve outs for certain groups that don't want a VOIP home phone in case that's useful, including the elderly and people with care alarms

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/consumer-issues/changes-to-landline-telephones/

I’ve just moved to full fibre and my internet is rubbish. Ironically it was far better with my 15 year BT router and fibre to cabinet only. A word of warning that once you’re on full fibre, there’s no going back to the old phone line system. Mine is hanging sadly across my garden reminding me of better times….