LineKeeper guides
UK router backup, digital landline and power cut guides
Clear, checked help for choosing a router UPS, keeping a digital phone working and protecting someone who relies on their connection.
Start with the situation that brought you here. Each guide gives a direct answer first, explains the checks you can do at home and links to official guidance where it matters.
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Featured guides
These answer the questions people most often need to settle before choosing a backup.
Digital landline in a power cut
Why digital home phones stop when the electricity fails, and the practical ways to keep a line available.
Read the guideUPS for router: what actually works
Compare provider units, office UPS systems, mini UPS devices and a purpose-built 12V hub backup.
Read the guideBattery backup for elderly parents
A plain-English checklist for families helping a parent keep their landline, Wi-Fi or alarm connection available.
Read the guideBest UPS for a router in the UK (2026)
A router UPS (uninterruptible power supply) keeps your broadband hub on when the mains fails, so your Wi-Fi, landline and any pendant alarm keep working. This guide compares the 4 types honestly, explains the 6 things that actually matter, and ends with a clear verdict.
Read the guideTelecare and pendant alarms in a power cut
Most alarm units have their own battery. The weak point is the phone line they call through, which now depends on a powered hub.
Read the guideComplete library
Browse all LineKeeper guides
Every guide below is free to read. Choose a category, then open the answer closest to your home or concern.
Find your broadband provider
Check how a power cut affects your provider's digital phone service, which hubs use 12V, and what support you may be entitled to ask for.
- BT hub battery backupSince home phones moved onto broadband, a BT landline goes dead the moment the power fails, because the hub switches off. Here is why, what BT customers are entitled to, and how to keep the line working for hours.
- EE hub battery backupSince home phones moved onto broadband, a EE landline goes dead the moment the power fails, because the hub switches off. Here is why, what EE customers are entitled to, and how to keep the line working for hours.
- Sky hub battery backupSince home phones moved onto broadband, a Sky landline goes dead the moment the power fails, because the hub switches off. Here is why, what Sky customers are entitled to, and how to keep the line working for hours.
- Virgin Media hub battery backupSince home phones moved onto broadband, a Virgin Media landline goes dead the moment the power fails, because the hub switches off. Here is why, what Virgin Media customers are entitled to, and how to keep the line working for hours.
- TalkTalk hub battery backupSince home phones moved onto broadband, a TalkTalk landline goes dead the moment the power fails, because the hub switches off. Here is why, what TalkTalk customers are entitled to, and how to keep the line working for hours.
- Plusnet hub battery backupSince home phones moved onto broadband, a Plusnet landline goes dead the moment the power fails, because the hub switches off. Here is why, what Plusnet customers are entitled to, and how to keep the line working for hours.
- Vodafone hub battery backupSince home phones moved onto broadband, a Vodafone landline goes dead the moment the power fails, because the hub switches off. Here is why, what Vodafone customers are entitled to, and how to keep the line working for hours.
Choose the right router backup
Compare the main backup options, understand voltage and runtime, and avoid buying a power supply that cannot run your hub.
- UPS for router: what actually worksCompare provider units, office UPS systems, mini UPS devices and a purpose-built 12V hub backup.
- Best UPS for a router in the UK (2026)A router UPS (uninterruptible power supply) keeps your broadband hub on when the mains fails, so your Wi-Fi, landline and any pendant alarm keep working. This guide compares the 4 types honestly, explains the 6 things that actually matter, and ends with a clear verdict.
- Mini UPS for a Wi-Fi routerMini UPS units are small, cheap and everywhere online. Some work brilliantly. Many don't fit UK hubs at all. Here's how to tell.
- Router UPS vs power bankBoth store power in a battery, but only one is built to keep a broadband hub running without interruption.
- An alternative to the BT battery backup unitIf you're not eligible for a free unit from BT, or you want longer than the 1-hour minimum, here's how the options compare.
Prepare for a power cut
Understand what stops working, what can stay connected and what to test before bad weather or a local outage.
- Digital landline in a power cutWhy digital home phones stop when the electricity fails, and the practical ways to keep a line available.
- Digital Voice battery backupThe UK is moving every landline onto broadband. It's a good upgrade, with one catch: no power means no phone. This guide explains what changes and how to keep the line on.
- Landline not working in a power cut?If your home phone went silent last time the lights went out, you're not alone. It's a side effect of the digital switchover, it isn't a fault, and it's easy to fix.
- Keeping Wi-Fi on during a power cutMobile data is patchy and expensive in an outage. Keeping your hub powered keeps Wi-Fi, video calls and smart alarms online. Here's how.
- The digital landline switchover: a simple checklistEvery UK landline is moving onto broadband as the old copper network is retired. Here's what to do so nothing catches you out.
Help for parents and vulnerable customers
Practical guidance for homes that rely on a landline, weak mobile signal, telecare or a personal alarm connection.
- Battery backup for elderly parentsA plain-English checklist for families helping a parent keep their landline, Wi-Fi or alarm connection available.
- Telecare and pendant alarms in a power cutMost alarm units have their own battery. The weak point is the phone line they call through, which now depends on a powered hub.
- The digital switchover for vulnerable and elderly peopleFor someone who relies on the landline, a power cut after the switchover can mean being cut off. A few simple steps prevent that.
When a backup may help
Keep the hub on when the mains goes off
If your digital phone, Wi-Fi or alarm connection depends on a 12V broadband hub, LineKeeper can keep that hub powered automatically. If someone depends on the landline, first ask the provider whether they qualify for a free backup solution under Ofcom guidance.
- 4+ hours on a typical hub
- Fits in about 60 seconds
- Free tracked UK delivery
- 90-day money-back guarantee
How we check our guides
The LineKeeper team writes in plain English and checks important claims against Ofcom, Openreach, GOV.UK and provider guidance. We explain where LineKeeper is useful, where it is not, and when speaking to your provider should come first.
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