This topic

Porting BT phone number

Fumbledore — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 17:47:53 GMT

Has anybody managed to port their BT phone number to another VOIP provider without losing their BT FTTP Broadband service?

Re: Porting BT phone number

Fumbledore — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 20:56:20 GMT

Further to the porting request I have just heard from BT that they are sorry I am leaving!! That is totally not the point - all I want to do is port the number. I certainly do not want to terminate the Broadband. All I am trying to do retain my phone number after DV migration. Has anybody else managed to succeed at this? It’s getting expensive as each migration attempt loses me the non refundable fee from the new VOIP provider.

Re: Porting BT phone number

Keith_Beddoe — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 21:19:16 GMT

@Fumbledore

Your phone number is linked to your account, so if you try to port your number out, then that would close your account.

Its treated as a request to move to another provider, that is why you get the leaving message. You cannot separate your number from your broadband service. That applies to all of BT Broadband services.

If you were a new customer, and opted for a broadband only connection, then you would be free to use a VOIP provider, but you would have to use the number they gave you, you could not request a BT Retail number.

Why are you trying to port your number out, as what you are trying now, is likely to result in the permanent loss of your number, as if your service is ceased then re-provided, you will be given a new number, and your old number would be lost.

Re: Porting BT phone number

Fumbledore — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 22:34:42 GMT

I have been informed of the forthcoming migration of my phone to DV which after several calls to BT would have a negative affect on my Telephone and Broadband use as I do not use the BT hub for Broadband. Since BT now offer Broadband only availability, then it occurred to me the simple solution would be to port my number to a VOIP provider and then re-grade to Broadband only. Seems somehow it isn’t that simple - all I’m trying to do is keep my landline number which I have had for 30 years plus.

Re: Porting BT phone number

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 05:43:47 GMT

@Fumbledore

I cannot see any way you can keep your landline number. You will have to find a way of using the BT Smart Hub 2 as the primary router, and modifying your network to suit. You can turn of the DHCP server on the home hub, and use your own DHCP server to allocate lAN IP addresses, as it the home hub DHCP server that seems to give most issues.

Re: Porting BT phone number

Fumbledore — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 07:14:39 GMT

Thank you for your reply. I have unfortunately come to the same conclusion. Are there any articles in existence from anybody who has successfully used their BT hub as a phone connection and still used their non-BT router to continue suppling their broadband connection?

Re: Porting BT phone number

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 07:35:37 GMT

@Fumbledore wrote:

Thank you for your reply. I have unfortunately come to the same conclusion. Are there any articles in existence from anybody who has successfully used their BT hub as a phone connection and still used their non-BT router to continue suppling their broadband connection?

Yes, there are posts on this specific board, but you still have to use the BT Hub to provide PPPoE authentication, and NAT, so your own network has to come off a LAN port on the home hub.

Re: Porting BT phone number

iniltous — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 07:42:32 GMT

There was discussion on another forum on a similar theme, apparently it is possible to port a number to a VoIP provider without losing the broadband service that is associated with the phone number , in basic terms the ‘wholesale’ order type is a renumber and port , your current ‘line’ is simply renumbered to a random number ( which won’t be needed , but is there ) and the wanted number is ported to the VoIP provider, this maintains the broadband connection, but it’s the VoIP provider that ( as the instigator of the change ) that needs to arrange it, if your chosen VoIP provider either won’t, cannot or doesn’t know how to do this, that’s really an issue for them.

Re: Porting BT phone number

licquorice — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 08:32:58 GMT

@Keith_Beddoe wrote:

@Fumbledore

I cannot see any way you can keep your landline number.

There has to be a way going forward or there will be a lot of disgruntled customers out there.

Re: Porting BT phone number

Keith_Beddoe — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 08:42:56 GMT

@licquorice wrote:

@Keith_Beddoe wrote:

@Fumbledore

I cannot see any way you can keep your landline number.

There has to be a way going forward or there will be a lot of disgruntled customers out there.

Its always been the same, even with the analogue phone network, if you port your number away, its assumed that you are moving to a new provider, and ceasing your BT retail service.

Re: Porting BT phone number

licquorice — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 09:49:33 GMT

Yes, but that needs to change. Just because it has always been the case it doesn't mean it always has to be. The world has moved on and the telecoms operators need to move with it and update their systems to cope.

Re: Porting BT phone number

Fumbledore — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 17:06:08 GMT

Well I’ve had to bite the bullet. After many calls to BT who have been as helpful as they can be under the circumstances, I am now going ahead with the porting. This will inevitably involve the loss of my Broadband from BT, but should result in my phone number in the hands of my VOIP supplier. Then I rejoin BT on a new Broadband only contract for another 2 years and hopefully I will then be able to connect my phone with existing number to the new BT Broadband connection. I know this will involve the loss of Broadband for a while, but so be it. Maybe there is a way to get a SIM card modem to use in the interim!
Seems a laborious procedure, but I see no other way under the current BT system and it saves me having to setup my BT router to work with my Netgear Mesh system in AP mode.

Re: Porting BT phone number

licquorice — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 17:18:44 GMT

BT really do need to get a grip with this!

Re: Porting BT phone number

Fumbledore — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 16:30:44 GMT

For anybody who is interested, I have bitten the bullet and Ported my BT number to a VOIP provider to retain it after transition to BT Digital Voice.
As quoted earlier, Porting your phone number from BT to a VOIP provider means losing your complete BT service (Phone and Broadband) even though the two are currently provided on separate routings (48 volt Copper cable and Fibre cable).
I was given a disconnect day with the normal 'we are sorry you are leaving us' messages and the the day of Porting arrived. Around midday I received a message from my VOIP provider to say that the Porting had taken place and as planned, testing my phone line showed that my phone connection was now via the VOIP service.
I then called BT to start a new account which was Broadband only and a very helpful BT agent went through all the usual details for opening a new account. A few hours later I received a message from BT with a joining date and service commencement date, 2 weeks ahead. (Not sure why a re-establishment of an existing working service takes so long!). Actually my Broadband connection stayed 'live' for about 5 days so the actual disconnect time was 9 days. I used a SIM powered modem for the interim to provide some Internet connection and Telephone continuity.
On the designated connection day, sure enough the Fibre Modem became active and the MESH network started connecting again. It took a while with some connection problems, but after a couple of re-boots I had a reinstated Broadband network with a Telephone service via a VOIP circuit.
A lot of hassle for what should be an easy process, but ultimately successful. Now to deal with BT billing and charges to complete the exercise!!

Re: Porting BT phone number

licquorice — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 16:33:56 GMT

Thanks for the update. What a faff for something that should be extremely simple to achieve.

Re: Porting BT phone number

Fumbledore — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 17:14:49 GMT

Hmmmm. Exactly.

Re: Porting BT phone number

jimrudd75 — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 10:17:06 GMT

Sorry for jumping on this thread

Im in the same boat and wanting to port my DV number to a VOIP provider and not lose my FTTP connection - is there a port and renumber option so that when the port request comes in from the new VOIP provider the existing DV service is given a new landline number?

Dont want to have to cancel my contract and pay termination fees as still in contract and then have to rejoin and have loss of service

Re: Porting BT phone number

Fumbledore — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 13:56:47 GMT

Hi. It sound as if you are in the same situation as I found myself. Sadly after many calls to BT as to possible solutions to what is fundamentally a simple problem, it always fell back on the fact that cancelling part of your BT service terminated the whole contract even though there is a data only contract option.
I bought a data only SIM card modem to offer me some data connection and of course, a connection for the VOIP phone line. In my case the data connection stayed operational for about 5 days after termination so if you undertake this process then try to reduce the transition time between termination and renewal to as short a time as possible. My reconnection happened as schedule and all my previous connections and routings worked as before.
Sorry not to have an option to simplify this process, (even the re-numbering possibility wasn’t available), but having been through the transfer it wasn’t as bad as I thought it could be and I have achieved my existing phone number being available to me via VOIP.

Re: Porting BT phone number

canders1212 — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 10:58:02 GMT

Hi, thanks for posting. It is very helpful to know that it is possible to port a DV number to a third party VOIP provider.

I found myself stuck in this situation when I signed up for BT FTTP, and didn't realise that I would have to be tied into using the HomeHub as the router in order to make calls.

Please could you let us know which VOIP provider you used to make the port? I understand that some providers are better than others at doing this.

Thanks

Re: Porting BT phone number

Fumbledore — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 11:41:58 GMT

Hi. I am using Sipgate Basic, a German company which works well. They take care of the Porting request and costs £30, taking about a week although you have to build in the time for termination and re-establishing your BT FTTP data only service. There is no monthly charge with Sipgate, but their call costs per minute are very slightly higher. If you are interested, their website is www.Sipgate.co.uk

Let me know if you need anymore information.

Good luck.