Potential move to BT Infinity...

[Wallace]

I work for BT and am entitled to unrestricted BT Infinity FOC. I have not been able to get it until very recently as they have only just dropped the FTTC (RDLSAM) into the ground and enabled my PCP.

I have been more than happy with VM since I moved to then in 2003. However, it's a no-brainer really. Even taking into account the BT land line rental, I would be saving a mint each month and have unrestricted Broadband without any caps/TS (AFAIK !)

My other half is out of work and relies on the Internet/phone for job searching etc. so I cannot afford to be without either at the moment.

If I call BT and ask to be migrated over, will they contact VM and then VM will disconnect my Broadband and phone? Or will the VM Broadband still work but just the phone line will migrated back to BT? At that point they can apply Infinity to the new BT land line.

I hope that the VM BB will remain for a while as I am sure that there is a time when I will have the BT land line working but waiting for Infinity to be connected. While that is the case I will still be able to use the VM Broadband.

Anyone else been in a similar situation that can offer any advice?

Thanks.

edit: Apologies if I have posted this in the wrong forum.

[craigj2k12]

the broadband should stay :)

[Sephiroth]

I am still a VM customer. But I also have Infinity which replaced O2 ADSL.

I obtained a MAC code from O2 so that I could transfer the broadband connection back to BT. They then connected me to Infinity. The outage time was limited to the physicals associated with the changeover. So a couple of hours tops - 40 minutes in my case.

Now, for O2 read VM and get the MC code from them

[Wallace]

So if I understand you correctly, the VM Broadband will be unaffected by the phone line migration. That is good. I know that it will result in me paying both BT and VM for a short while but it will be worth it in the long run.

Another question now pops into my mind...

I migrate over my land line, leaving my VM Broadband unaffected, will VM consider that a change of contract and tie me in for 12 months with their Broadband only package? I don't mind paying for both BB in the short term but I obviously don't want VM BB & Infinity to run together for any longer than necessary. The whole idea is to save money!

[ferretuk]

Some info required before any advice can be given (including that from the previous two posters!)

1. Is your Virgin broadband ADSL or Cable?
2. Who supplies your telephone service?

If your broadband is cable and your phoneline is supplied by Virgin then the broadband element is independent of any phone connection so will not disconnected until Virgin cancel your account. If you wish to retain your Virgin landline number then there will be some disruption as the number port occurs. Don't forget that you'll also be paying for a BT landline installation, even if you physically already have a suitable unused line, unless they're running any offers or you get free install being staff...

If you're a Virgin ADSL customer then you'll have a BT Openreach supplied landline already already so you just need a MAC from Virgin. A PAC is for porting mobile numbers between providers.

[arcimedes]

I think there may possibly be some confusion.

You say you have VM broadband and phone but is it the cable service of the national ADSL service?

If its cable then the phone service is not running through the BT lines and so could not be micrated as you need to have a usable BT line ( which you may have) You can move the number though.

Or if you have the national service then presumably the broadband would cease when the Virgin phone line is reconnected back to BT?

I note ferretuk beat me to it by a minute!

[Sephiroth]

So if I understand you correctly, the VM Broadband will be unaffected by the phone line migration. That is good. I know that it will result in me paying both BT and VM for a short while but it will be worth it in the long run.

Another question now pops into my mind...

I migrate over my land line, leaving my VM Broadband unaffected, will VM consider that a change of contract and tie me in for 12 months with their Broadband only package? I don't mind paying for both BB in the short term but I obviously don't want VM BB & Infinity to run together for any longer than necessary. The whole idea is to save money!
As I've read your original note:

1/
Your previous BT telephone line was moved to VM under the LLU rules. That line still terminates on the BT exchange.

2/
On top of that line you have VM National Broadband running.

When you migrate the line to BT you might also wish to make sure VM understand that you are cancelling your ADSL broadband, because that could still continue over the BT line. Or you might wish to continue it.

3/
I now understand why you said you wanted to ask a technical question. I take that question to be: Can VM ADSL and BT Infinity run at the same time over the common link to the PCP. I don't see why not because AFAIK there is no frequency clash. Others might care to comment on that.

But as I said earlier, if you cancel the whole VM thing (I recommend), your broadband outage will be less than 2 hours.

[Wallace]

I have CABLE VM Broadband and telephone. Currently BT have no involvment at all. IE. There is no connectivity from my house to anywhere else. The dropwire from the DP (Pole) is disconnected.

[kwikbreaks]

I don't see why not because AFAIK there is no frequency clash. Others might care to comment on that.I haven't checked what VDSL uses but ADSL2+ uses 25KHz to ~ 2MHz and I really can't see VDSL only using higher given that it is the low frequencies that suffer least attenuation on twisted pair (as well as coax).

---------- Post added at 14:41 ---------- Previous post was at 14:39 ----------

I have CABLE VM Broadband and telephone. Currently BT have no involvment at all. IE. There is no connectivity from my house to anywhere else. The dropwire from the DP (Pole) is disconnected.In that case you can have both running together. You will need to cancel the VM service. If you want to port the phone number then it has to be live on the day it gets ported to BT. That will not affect the VM broadband at all as it is a totally separate circuit.

[Ignitionnet]

3/
I now understand why you said you wanted to ask a technical question. I take that question to be: Can VM ADSL and BT Infinity run at the same time over the common link to the PCP. I don't see why not because AFAIK there is no frequency clash. Others might care to comment on that.

Although not relevant to this thread especially no they cannot run at the same time over the same copper pair as there is a complete frequency overlap.

ADSL runs over 25.875kHz - 2.2MHz, VDSL 2 has an upstream frequency band between 25.875kHz and 138kHz, a downstream frequency band between 138kHz and 1,104kHz then the rest of the range up to 17MHz split between upstream and down.

[Wallace]

In that case you can have both running together. You will need to cancel the VM service. If you want to port the phone number then it has to be live on the day it gets ported to BT. That will not affect the VM broadband at all as it is a totally separate circuit.

Thank you. That's what I wanted too know.

Will I be tied in to VM for another 12 months for varying my contract?

[ShadowTD]

Just to throw my tuppence in, I did the same thing - had a two week overlap where I had both VM and Infinity. But I didn't port my landline number as only 3 people use it, so no hardship giving them a new one. So neither company knew a thing about the other!

[kwikbreaks]

Will I be tied in to VM for another 12 months for varying my contract?Surely you aren't varying it you are completely cancelling it. You can cancel the phone service as soon as it has ported and the broadband at any time you like.

If you felt confident that BT would stick to their install date you could give VM advance notice in advance but it's a lot safer just to do so once the BT services are up and running OK as either company could screw up and you'd be left with nowt.

[qasdfdsaq]

Thank you. That's what I wanted too know.

Will I be tied in to VM for another 12 months for varying my contract?
No. I did exactly the same thing recently. Ported my telephone line over, then cancelled the broadband a month later once I was happy with the new (BT Infinity) service's stability. There is no extension or change in contract, both phone and broadband can be cancelled separately and independently.

[Wallace]

Thanks all for deciphering my post! I know what I want to say, but always struggle trying to get my point across in text form.

You have told me what I needed to know.

Thanks again.

[Wallace]

Well, you can see from my sig. I have stayed with VM and upgraded my BB from 10M to 60M.

I have checked the potential speed in my area from a neighbour, they get about 22M with BT Infinity.

I know I could get that free, but I would still have to pay for telephone line rental.

The deal I got from VM was very good IMHO. £28, free local/national calls weekdays after 7PM and all weekends, caller display and 60M BB free SH.

I reckon I am paying about £10 for the privilege over what I would be paying for 'free' BT Infinity.

Also the hassle of changing was a worry for me. Even as a staff member it would have been a nightmare. Especially as I don't already have a BT land line.

I hope the 60M will be as reliable as the 10M has. So far so good.

[Sephiroth]

As you know, I've got both Infinity & VM50. I keep them both so that I'm never without, but occasionally I switch to Infinity if the boy complains about games lag.

Despite the high upload speed on Infinity, I prefer the VM service for no explainable reason.

If your neighbour only gets 22 Meg on Infinity, then it's the old copper to the cabinet distance thing intertwined with the generated or inserted noise. So, on the face of things, you have made the right choice. You did with the Airport Express and Airport Extreme (like I've got)!

Hope it keeps well for you.