How to know if I still have a copper landline

[Chloe226]

hiya. 

I've got a dilemma, I will need a landline plugged into my house at times where the WiFi is switched off in case of emergencies so that my FIL can contact us if there are any issues whilst looking after my daughter. He can't use the phone if it's connected through the internet (health issues). So I need to know if we have a copper landline to use. How can I find this out? 

[Mark39]

Does your phone plug into to a wall socket? Or does it plug into your broadband Hub? Do you have a separate fibre optic cable to ypur home? 

[TimmyBGood]

@Chloe226 

As @Mark39 indicates, if your telephone handset or cordless phone base-station plugs into the rear of your Sky Hub then you no longer have PSTN voice service (or phoneline electrical current) at the address: there's now not any option to revert to a traditional 'landline' once this transition has happened.

If the handset or base-station plugs into a passive Openreach wall socket resembling one of those illustrated below then the property is still being supplied with PSTN and a telephone will function without an internet router.  Be aware that this will cease if you choose to switch ISP or change broadband speed.

 

 

However, note that PSTN is currently scheduled to be discontinued nationally at the end of January 2027, with all terrestrial voice telephony necessarily migrating to running over broadband before then: it's unclear how this is actually going to be implemented.