Combined landline and internet packages

nabowla

At the moment I subscribe to BT Together Option 2 (free evening & weekend calls) and BT's Surftime package (unlimited standard internet at evenings and weekends). The total cost (including line rental) comes to around 25 pounds per month. However, now that I've started to explore MSE, I'm thinking that this might not be the best deal around.

I did try OneTel a while ago. I had a combined package of free eve/weekend calls + unlimited internet which looked cheaper on paper than BT. In reality it was actually more expensive than BT as I had to pay line rental to BT on top of OneTel's charges, so I switched back to BT.

My question is 'How can I save money' on my phone & internet?! If I pay line rental to BT and use one of the really cheap phone companies (1899???) for calls, will I be able to combine it with a cheap internet package? I'm a bit nervous about shopping around as my last attempt actually ended up costing me more, not less. Has anyone here had similiar experiences?

ohit

I recommend you do this:

Pay BT Option 1 basic line rental - I think this is £10.50 a month by direct debit.

Sign up to a combined landline and broadband package from https://www.talktalk.co.uk This is assuming you can't get ADSL where you live. It's very cheap £20/month for free off-peak calls and unlimited 512kbps internet. Free modem/connection as well.

Then also use 1899/18866 alongside TalkTalk for cheaper calls during the day and to mobiles etc.

The TalkTalk service is very good. I have a relative on it for the past week with no problems at all (so far).

Please do remember to get TalkTalk through a referal from someone on here. No extra cost to you and it benefits everyone (I believe you get extra credit on your bill too).

All this works out at about £5 more than you currently pay, but you'll have broadband so you get much more for that little extra increase.

Edinburghlass_2

I wouldn't necessarily recommend putting all your eggs in one basket with any provider. Mainly because at the moment you can get broadband for £20 from a few ISP and TalkTalk Option 2 free for 12 months anyway. Should you take the combined option for 12 months you would probably then be looking for a similar product cheaper in a year where if you keep them separately you can change your telephone supplier when a better offer comes along.

I personally am with TalkTalk for my calls and Tesco for broadband but I will be looking for the cheapest option for my calls in 12 months time unless TalkTalk have another offer when that time comes.

edit: sorry I started posting this 1/2 hour ago and had to answer the phone, probably a bit rambled now!

ohit

There's no reason not to put eggs in one basket with TalkTalk - there's no 12 month contract.

Thing is, either way, 1899/18866 are still probably the cheapest around for calls and they can be used with anything.

The other broadband providers at £20 either have bandwidth caps or are just rubbish. TalkTalk's IP backbone is very good.

Edinburghlass_2

So is Tesco, its the same as TalkTalk ;D

There is actually a 12 month contract with TalkTalk broadband and my fear with combined calls and broadband is once the 12 months is up and you change just your calls to a better offer then the broadband goes up by £2 a month.

However you are right, for daytime calls you can't beat 1899 or 18866, yet!

babybimbles

We're with NTL and need 24 7 unlimited calls (peak) and I was looking into homecall (£24.99 for 512kbps broadband and unlimited calls but you'd need line rental with BT so that would be around £35?), but can anyone suggest something much cheaper!!!

Im not familiar with talktalk or this 18886 so please put links!

thanks!

Edinburghlass_2

You can use 1899 and 18866 with NTL although it is slightly dearer than if you have a BT line.

http://www.call18866.co.uk

http://www.call1899.co.uk

To use TalkTalk you also need to have a BT line, as you do with most CPS.

I have a BT line and use TalkTalk for my evening and w/end calls and use 18866 for my daytime, International and mobile calls.

http://www.talktalk.co.uk

HTH

nabowla

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

I've gone with TalkTalk for the phone calls and had another look at OneTel for the internet. They now do an evening/weekend package (non-broadband) for just 9.99 per month. It's cheaper than the package I used to have with them and cheaper than BT, so I've gone for that. Overall I've just saved around 10-15 pounds per month on my phone bill. Thanks MSE'ers

joeo2000

HOMECALL BROADBAND EXTRA(512K)

unlimited usage,free modem ,free connection ,5 email ,webmail,125mb webspace,anti-spam
plus unlimited free local and national calls up to 90 mins per call
calls to 15 destinations (usa,australia,france,spain,only 5p per min)
cheaper calls to uk mobiles
£24.99 per month

http://www.homecall.co.uk

babybimbles

HOMECALL BROADBAND EXTRA(512K)

unlimited usage,free modem ,free connection ,5 email ,webmail,125mb webspace,anti-spam
plus unlimited free local and national calls up to 90 mins per call
calls to 15 destinations (usa,australia,france,spain,only 5p per min)
cheaper calls to uk mobiles
£24.99 per month

http://www.homecall.co.uk  

I read that you need a BT connection line with this that is around £10 a mth - right?

allthatmularky

I read that you need a BT connection line with this that is around £10 a mth - right?

Yes - the TalkTalk package telephone and internet or TalkTalk and Tesco BB both beat this by £5pcm (BT 10.5 +20 against BT10.5 and 25).