UKC

We currently have a landline provided by Virgin Media, but it's basically only used for phone calls to/from our parents (who are, lets say, from an older generation). For everything else we use mobiles/whatsapp. We're paying > £120/yr just for line rental, which seems rather wasteful and could be spent on climbing gear instead.

I'm wondering whether a consumer-level internet/voip service might be a cheaper way of retaining a landline number: does anyone have any suggestions/recommendations? Or has anyone in a similar situation gone mobile-only and, if so, did it work for you?

I'm aware that landlines are more reliable in an emergency or power-cut, but we live in a large city so those scenarios seem fairly manageable to me.

Thoughts?

I don't understand. Why do you need a landline number? Won't your parents call a mobile unless you fool them into thinking it's a landline?

I genuinely don't know anybody who has a "home" phone these days. I've got a landline into the house, it comes with the interwebbynet package, but I have no idea what the number is!

And I would have thought that a mobile was just as much use in a powercut with, y'know, a battery and all...

I'd like to keep a landline number but lose the physical landline.

I'm not interested in "fooling" them. As far as voip goes I'm asking about alternatives that provide a landline number that costs landline rates to call, but doesn't involve us paying rental for a physical phone line when we already have very reliable high-speed broadband.

Our parents are just of a generation that is used to using landlines and view making long calls to mobiles as wasteful. We live long distances from our parents and phone calls are our main way of keeping in touch. They're not interested in email/whatsapp/etc. and I have no wish to try to make them do things they're uncomfortable with. Its about courtesy to them and avoiding he need for them deal with technology that they have no interest in using.

Yeah, its a bit like admitting to having your own telex machine...

((( As an aside, since I'm not much bothered about the "emergency" aspect:

A hard-wired phone (not cordless) is powered by the telephone exchange, which has redundant/backup power supplies and very high resiliency, and in a power-cut is therefore highly likely to still work. We use dect cordless phones on our landline, but have an old-style wired phone in a cupboard somewhere for emergencies. Given our urban location this seems like a pointless precaution nowadays. Also, mobile services can be quickly swamped if large numbers of people attempt to make calls at the same time. Eg in some "emergency" affecting a locality. )))

I'm not sure what it costs but people can ring me on Skype in the usual way. I.e dialling a number on a phone. Works fine. I only have it ring on my work laptop mind but I gather you can get it to ring on your mobile too. 

Edit: you can't ring 999 from skype. So if you cut your landline you'd only able to do it from a mobile phone. 

I am confused. Given that you need the line for your broadband connection won't you still have to pay the rental even if you ditch the landline?

You don't need a landline with virgin and they sell packages that are internet only. Though I doubt they are £120 a year cheaper. It presumably costs them nowt to provide a phone via their cable? 

There are some smaller local internet providers that do this depending on where you live.

No, the broadband and the landline are physically separate connections. The broadband is 100+MB/sec docsis cable from a Virgin wiring cabinet in the street. The landline is old-style copper-wire-on-telegraph-posts coming from Virgin's equipment in the BT telephone exchange down the road.

I don't want to pay for the physical landline when I could just have a cordless phone that uses the broadband connection and is associated with a landline-style number (which is basically what voip is).

Tell people to enter the 21st century and phone you on your mobile if they wish to talk to you.

My parents are old fashioned and still use their landline.  That doesn't mean I have to have one.

Yes, I am also confused.  I recently ditched my landline phone as it seemed pointless to have anymore when the mobile is more flexible.  However, I still need and pay for a landline as this is how I get broadband - the landline cost is part of the broadband package.  So I have a landline number but no phone connected to it.  My parents were the only people who used my landline number but I have just told them to phone my mobile (it is free to call mobiles from their landline supplier).  I don't see it makes any difference what number they call - it is just a number.

As part of all this I also updated my mobile contract.  Things have changed a lot in the 4 years since my last contract started.  I had not realised calls and texts were now all free and it is really just about the amount of data you want.  So, the other benefit is now all my calls are free (when they had not been on my old landline).

Thanks. I know that.

The phone doesn't use Virgin's cable, it uses BT's "local loop" cables (see my answer to tlouth7) which is presumably why it's relatively expensive: part of the line rental that we pay to Virgin get's kicked-back to BT.

Just ask them to give you a missed call and ring back using your unlimited free minutes as near enough every single mobile contract now includes (as so few actual telephone calls are now made using mobile phones that none of the networks give a monkey's about them).

See my answer to tlouth7. The landline and broadband are physically separate. we don't get our broadband over the phone line.

I'm not interested in "telling" them to do things they don't particularly want to do. See my earlier comment on courtesy.

It's the 21st century.  There is really no reason to put yourself out by a considerable financial sum (and lack of convenience by only being able to take calls at home) when there is no disadvantage to the other party of using a modern method of communication.  If cost is an issue, ask them to give you a missed call (i.e. one ring and hang up) and call them straight back, which is what I do for my parents.

Hi Andy

I was in a very similar situation to you with elderly relatives and opted for a "virtual" landline number from Sipgate. It was easy to setup using a client app for an Android mobile and it allows folk to call me by dialing (and paying whatever their rate is for) a landline number.

It cost me nothing to setup or to receive calls (I don't make calls using the service) and includes voicemail for missed calls, which I have emailed to me as attachments. Assuming I have an Internet connection I can answer calls to my "landline" wherever I am.

(Sigh) I get all that. But (a) you're answering a question I didn't ask, and (b) neither you or I get to issue ultimatums to my parents or my partner's parents. We could try to do so, I guess, but it would irritate them and and I want to avoid that.

They have mobiles, we have mobiles. They just prefer a landline for home-to-home calls: presumably because they feel that they (as a couple) are phoning us (as a family).

It wasn't an ultimatum, it was just a statement of fact.  "I've got rid of my landline, ring my mobile if you want to talk to me, or if you want me to ring you back just give me one ring and I will so it won't cost you anything."

I don't see how that could cause upset, and if it does the cause is entirely on their side and they'll get over it.

It was a statement for fact for you.

They're old and set in their ways, but why force unnecessary complications on old people when there are simpler alternatives that can adapt to them? For example ag17's suggestion.

Sorry. That's really all I have to say.

Thank you! That's pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I'll check it out.

Disconnect your landline.  If they want to talk to you, they'll call your mobile from their landline and still feel that sense of nostalgia. 

If you call them from your mobile, do they refuse to talk until you're on your landline?

Dear god... just let it go will you.

Look, forget the relatives.

How about we pretend I need a landline number at home for "business use" but live in an area where landlines are mysteriously somehow not available, so I'm asking about "landline over the internet" type solutions for that reason. Can we run with that?

I think the point we are making is that landlines are completely unnecessary for any purpose and will in due course go away.  At least one country has already decommissioned its infrastructure.

I suspect that in my case the parents may well "go away" before the landline infrastructure.

Look, you're about fifteen years younger than me. When you're my age and your parents insist on using their "completely unnecessary" Android v27 smartphones to "call" you using their actual voices, while everyone else is communicating using their completely efficient Google quantum signalling device linked directly to their brainstem, then you make sure you come back and check out this thread ok?

Snippy much? You asked for recommendations, whether anyone had gone mobile only (err, pretty much everyone) and peoples thoughts.

Well, people have given you their thoughts and you don't seem to like it much.

The thing about a forum is, it's a discussion. Just because you start a thread doesn't mean you get to dictate how it goes...

I'm hearing "You don't wanna do it like that ..." in the voice of Harry Enfield

With two exceptions, pretty-much all the responses were variations on "tell your parents to do (something)" or "I don't understand". I was just hoping for some actual recommendations.

Lets call it done.

It might be worth ringing Virgin and asking what they offer in this regard. I found an article from 2017, at which time they were trialling VoIP for FTTP customers, but they may have expanded it to DOCSIS customers by now.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2017/01/virgin-media-begins-deploymen...

Thanks for that. I had a quick look on their site earlier but found nothing except standard landlines. Will have a more detailed look later.

My Dad is 85 and recently got a basic mobile, he still has a landline but we all use his mobile number and he doesn't really use the landline anymore. He is not tech savvy at all, maybe your parents might surprise you?

I can't help you with your question I'm afraid, but I just don't understand how anyone has the gall to tell Andy what he should or shouldn't tell his parents to do regarding them using a landline or not. Have some respect people.

Richard Branson is not someone I would help in anyway possible after taking was it 100 million from the NHS? and his totally suspicious part in a gig for Venezuela.

Sorry can't help with your prob I just seen his company name and reacted. I used to be with Virgin as its fastest but I got rid of it for the above. 

I agree with your opinion of Branson. But Virgin Media was bought outright by Liberty Global back in 2013, and even before that Branson only owned a small stake and wasn't even on the board.

In general I try to use ethical companies, and I wouldn't knowingly use anything Branson-owned, but I can't be expected to validate everything to the nth degree: life is just too short. Also, despite living a few hundred metres from a BT exchange, VM was the only fast broadband supplier for my street last time I checked.

I've got a landline, I've not got a mobile and I'm not that old. Sorted in every regard.

That's possible but then I'd have to keep (and pay for) the landline, which is what I'm trying to avoid in the first place.

If someone stuck a mast up near us, the village would have a mobile signal, untill then it is expensive landline for us and our few calls we make.

Sorry, can't offer any advice - but at least you have a choice!

Not necessarily, you can usually migrate the number to a VoIP provider.

Ok, and that's basically what I asked about iny initial question. But it doesn't necessarily involve my mobile. Could be a box that my cordless phones base-station plugs into and which connects to the router.

So. Got any suggestions for VoIP providers?

We have a VoIP system at work, a couple of hundred phones share a fast internet connection, and it works just like a landline. Good sound quality, built in answerphone, lots of features like transfers and forwarding which are great for business.  All Mitel kit, but I had a quick look and I don't think they offer anything suitable for home use. Other than that I don't have any experience of VoIP beyond the usual skype etc.

For a while my cousin had a landline number which forwarded automatically to a mobile.  Cost a few quid a month I think, and worked well. That might be an alternative, depending what part of calling your mobile they actually object to.

Yes, we've had a similar setup for about the last ten years. I work 40% remote and at various times I've had mobile apps and laptop apps that could connect into the system to allow me to make calls. Very useful. There doesn't seem to be much in the home-space though.

Skype is Voip and as I recall you can have an actual Skype telephone number which is a local number with area code etc.  So if your parents are ok with you having a new phone number - it can look just like a usual landline tel.  Maybe speak to Skype and tell them your situation and it might be possible to 'use' your original landline number if its no longer in use as such.  You can buy voip handsets too if you prefer.

I use two tin cans and a ball of string

Given that the poor reception in my house means that voice calls on a mobile phone can only be made from the two rearmost rooms (kitchen/back bedroom) maintaining a landline is close to an essential for me (yes I live in a city). My ex (who I have to communicate with regularly) is actually worse off reception wise and always phones me from the landline. Technology is great when it works...

My Mum is on a package from Virgin and her landline comes in via the same cable that brings in the broadband. She has no separate landline connection via a copper wire etc.

I would probably go with AAISP - I've not used their VoIP service but they have provided my internet service for about 10 years.

If you want a "physical" phone search for "SIP phone" on Ebuyer or similar - there are a range of models at a range of prices - I can't offer specific recommendations but AAISP have advice on configuring some to work with their service which may be useful.