Keeping a home phone when you switch to Starlink

Starlink's UK contract summary says the service is "receivable with a Starlink dish, Wi-Fi router, power supply and mounts". There is no phone handset, no phone number and no phone socket in that list. Starlink's help centre article on router ports describes Ethernet (network cable) ports only, with no phone socket on any Starlink router; our guide to Starlink with your own router, mesh or Ethernet sets out the ports on each.

That matters for a home phone: an ordinary phone can't plug straight into a Starlink router. To keep using your existing handset you need a VoIP adapter, or a VoIP phone, connected to a LAN port by network cable. The Router Mini has only one LAN port, and the older Gen 2 router has none, so it needs Starlink's Ethernet adapter first. If you need more ports, Starlink's advice is to plug an Ethernet switch into a LAN port.

One more point from Starlink's own terms shapes everything in this guide: the services are "not suited or intended as a mission-critical or safety-of-life service", and the UK contract summary says uninterrupted use is not guaranteed. That is Starlink being clear that you shouldn't treat it as your only way to get help in an emergency.

You can combine two of these, for example a VoIP number for the people who still ring the house, with a charged mobile as the emergency back-up.

A separate VoIP provider supplies the number, the calls and features such as voicemail, and Starlink simply carries the data. How to choose a provider, the equipment options and the general porting rules are in our guide to getting a home phone from a separate VoIP provider, so we won't repeat them here. These are the Starlink-specific things to check.

Speed, delay and dropouts

ISPreview's 2022 guide to home VoIP said less than 100Kbps (0.1Mbps) up and down should be enough for a good-quality call, and that latency (the delay as data travels) is more of an issue, mainly on older satellite links where extreme delays could make calls go out of sync or disconnect. Starlink's satellites operate in a low orbit around the earth, according to its UK Residential page, and its UK contract summary gives latency of 25-50ms on land for its Residential plans (advertised, checked October 2026). Our guide to latency, ping and jitter explains what those numbers mean for calls.

The bigger risk for calls is the view of the sky. Starlink's installation advice says the dish must be "100% unobstructed for best performance", and that an object such as a tree branch, pole or roof can cause intermittent outages and dropped sessions. It adds that some obstructions may not be noticeable, depending on how you use Starlink, so a set-up that seems fine for browsing can still cut calls off. Before you fix the dish in place, use the app's Check for Obstructions tool. Once the dish has been online, Starlink says it records actual blockages and builds an obstruction map in the app (tap OBSTRUCTIONS in the main menu), which can take up to 12 hours to complete; if calls drop, look at that map before blaming the VoIP provider, and Starlink's advice for a highly obstructed view is to move the dish. Our guide to installing Starlink covers choosing the spot.

CGNAT and port forwarding

Starlink's help centre says its default IPv4 set-up uses CGNAT (carrier-grade network address translation, where your connection shares a public internet address), that this default policy does not allow inbound traffic, and that Starlink's Wi-Fi routers do not support port forwarding. ISPreview's VoIP guide mentions port forwarding on the router as a fix when a strict firewall blocks calls reaching a handset, and that fix isn't available on a Starlink router. So before you sign up, ask the VoIP provider directly: "Does your service work on Starlink's default CGNAT connection, without port forwarding?" Our guide to CGNAT, static IPs and IPv6 explains the background, and our router and Ethernet guide, linked above, covers adding a third-party router.

Register your 999 address

ISPreview said in 2022 that registering your address for 999 is often part of signing up for VoIP and is mandatory under Ofcom's rules. Do it on day one, and give the address where the Starlink dish actually is; our separate VoIP home phone guide covers the rest of the set-up.

If you'd rather not keep a home phone at all, your mobile can take over, and Wi-Fi Calling helps where signal indoors is weak. EE, for instance, says Wi-Fi Calling lets you make and receive calls and texts over Wi-Fi even without mobile network coverage, and that you only need a phone that supports it and a Wi-Fi connection in the UK. Our guide to Wi-Fi Calling covers which networks offer it and how to switch it on.

Three things are specific to doing this over Starlink:

• It only works while Starlink does. Wi-Fi Calling needs the dish, router and power supply running. In a power cut, or if the dish is obstructed or Starlink has a network problem, calls fall back to whatever mobile signal you have.
• 999 still works, with a caveat. EE says you can still call 999 with Wi-Fi Calling, and that it will try to send your location but this is not guaranteed. Be ready to tell the operator your address.
• Test it during the trial, and start straight away. Starlink's UK Residential page says you can try Starlink for 30 days and get a full refund if you're not satisfied, but its help centre and its GB terms give different start dates for those 30 days, so start testing the day the kit arrives. Use that time to make and receive Wi-Fi calls in the rooms you use, at busy times, on every phone in the house. Our guide to cancelling Starlink explains how returns work for bought and rented kit.

Going mobile only means giving up your landline number unless you move it to another phone service, such as VoIP, first. If people still ring the house number, our guide to diverting a home phone to a mobile explains how calls to it can reach you.

You can keep your current phone provider for calls and use Starlink for the internet. If you want to end the broadband part of a broadband-and-phone bundle and keep only the phone, our guide to keeping a landline without broadband explains the phone-only options and what to ask. Ask your current provider in writing what the phone-only service will cost, whether ending the broadband changes the price of what's left, and whether it means new equipment that needs a mains plug.

This option has a clock on it. The government's connectivity timeline (updated 29 July 2026) says the old analogue landline network, the PSTN, is being replaced by digital services, and that all users of the Openreach PSTN will need to be moved to new services by 31 January 2027. ISPreview reported on 24 September 2026 that about 1.2 million UK lines were still to move, and that consumer lines won't face a hard disconnection on that date: a temporary Emergency Voice Access service will act as a limited, last-resort phone service for those who haven't moved, which ISPreview describes as temporary, limited and more expensive than digital alternatives. That is a safety net, not a plan. Our guide to the digital landline switchover explains how the change reaches each home.

So keeping the old line suits you if you want time: to test Starlink properly, to port your number calmly, or to sort out an alarm before anything changes. It is unlikely to be a long-term answer on its own.

GOV.UK explains that digital landlines can't carry power, so handsets and routers won't work in a power cut without a back-up such as a battery or generator. A Starlink home is no different, and the Starlink kit itself needs power: Starlink's help centre puts a Standard 4 or Standard 4 X kit (dish, Wi-Fi router, power supply and cables together) at an average of 75-100W, and Starlink Mini at 20-40W (checked October 2026). A battery back-up has to run that plus the VoIP adapter or phone base. Our guide to how much power Starlink uses shows how to size a UPS or battery and what Starlink suggests for outages, and our guide to digital landlines in a power cut explains what back-up phone providers should offer and to whom.

Back-up power can't help when the fault is in Starlink's own network. ISPreview reported that on the evening of 24 July 2025 a failure of internal software in Starlink's core network caused an outage of about 2.5 hours affecting all terminals. Voipfone, for example, warns that emergency calls over its VoIP service may fail if you have a power cut or your broadband fails, and says to keep a second way of reaching the emergency services, such as a mobile.

That makes a charged mobile the simplest back-up. GOV.UK says telecoms companies recommend a mobile as the back-up for most people, and that national roaming is enabled for emergency calls in the UK, so you can call 999 on any network that has signal. Ask your VoIP provider what back-up it offers, and tell Starlink too if anyone at home relies on the phone. Our guide to a separate VoIP home phone explains who is responsible for back-up when the line and the phone come from different companies.

If someone in your home wears a personal alarm or pendant, or you have a burglar or fire alarm that calls out, speak to the alarm provider before you move to Starlink or cancel the old line. Citizens Advice's advice for England is that you shouldn't be switched until your telecare and home phone providers are confident the alarm will work on the new line. On Starlink there may be no engineer and no phone line at all, so ask the alarm provider these questions directly:

• Will this unit work on a VoIP service running over satellite broadband, through an adapter on a Starlink router?
• Does it have its own mobile SIM, so it can call out without the internet? GOV.UK suggests that when buying a new alarm you check it is compatible with VoIP or can connect to mobile services such as 4G.
• How long does its battery last in a power cut, and does that cover the Starlink kit if the alarm depends on it?
• Who gets the alarm call, and can you run a test call once everything is set up?

Given Starlink's own wording that its service isn't intended as a safety-of-life service, an alarm that can call out over the mobile network is worth asking about. Our guide to telecare and alarms after the landline switch-off covers the checks in more depth. To tell Starlink, its UK Vulnerable Customer Policy lets you raise a support ticket with the subject "Vulnerable Customer Request"; support is considered case by case and can include nominating a trusted person, such as a family member or carer, to deal with the account.

1. Decide which of the three options you want, and whether you need to keep the number.
2. List everything plugged into a phone socket: handsets, answerphones, alarms, pendants, door entry.
3. Set Starlink up as soon as it arrives: use the app's Check for Obstructions tool before fixing the dish, look at the obstruction map once it has been online, and test calls within the 30-day trial.
4. If you're going VoIP, ask the provider about CGNAT and port forwarding, sign up, and register your 999 address.
5. Speak to any alarm or telecare provider before anything changes.
6. Port the number before the old line ends, keeping both services running until the port completes.
7. Plan your 999 back-up: a charged mobile, and back-up power for the Starlink kit if you rely on it.
8. Ask your current provider about exit fees and notice, then end the old service and keep the end date in writing.

If you're still weighing Starlink up, you can compare Starlink's plans at your address on our Starlink page, which shows live prices from our comparison partner. If having a phone included matters more to you, and a fixed line reaches your home, our broadband and phone deals show packages that include calls. You can also browse the broadband providers we cover, see broadband deals by area, and run our broadband speed test on your current connection before you decide. Our guide to satellite broadband in the UK covers whether satellite suits your home at all.