Advice...Fresh beginnings, no phone line, no internet!

Rickton

Morning Ladies & Gents,

I'd like to begin my forray into the moneysaving world with a question.

This week, i have moved out of my parents home and into a flat with my other half, and this is the first time either of us have lived independantly of our parents, so everything is very new!

Now, the previous tennant, who is also our landlord, had internet access, but obviously cancelled all of that when he moved out.

My question is how do i go about getting phone/broadband etc

My understanding thus far, is that i need to contact BT in order to get our landline sorted, ie. line rental & evening/weekends, which i think is about £13 p/mth.

On top of that, i then need to either discuss with BT a Phone & broadband package, or enquire about a standalone broadband package with another company.

Ideally, we would like to incorporate Sky TV of sorts into a deal in the future, but for the time being, we have freeview through our TV.

I was hoping to keep the bill to £30 p/mth.

Any advice from you people in the know would be greatly appreciated, as im sure most of you are aware, moving is pretty stressful, and i am afraid to say my brain has pretty much given up and is in need of a rest!

Many thanks
Rick

spiro

Before you go down the BT route you need to check if cable TV is available in your area as this is another source of a phone line, internet etc without the need for a dish.

Rickton

spiro wrote: »

Before you go down the BT route you need to check if cable TV is available in your area as this is another source of a phone line, internet etc without the need for a dish.

There is already an existing sky dish and connection running to the flat from a previous tennant, would this effect the installation cost etc from Sky if i went down that route?

One would expect it to, but would Sky want to make their money?

Before i pursue enquiries down the Cable route

Rickton

Mozkowitz wrote: »

You dont need to nessesary go through BT to install your landline if there is one there already. It might actually save you more in the long run if you get some all inclusive package from sky to include everything as well.

Do i not need to speak to BT to confirm either way if there is an existing landline? Or is that something that alternative companies could determine from their own checks?

Rickton

Right, brief update, spoke to BT to reactivate the phoneline at no cost, which was handy, and got the basic BT package while i was there.

So all i need now is a broadband package, i am an orange mobile customer, so i could benefit from their discounts, but i am unsure as to the quality of their service/packages?

Can anyone provide an opinion on the above or perhaps suggest a better alternative provider that i could look at?

The only LLU provider in my exchange is Talktalk with an 8mbps service.

Many thanks
Rick

utilitybroker

Rickton wrote: »

Right, brief update, spoke to BT to reactivate the phoneline at no cost, which was handy, and got the basic BT package while i was there.

So all i need now is a broadband package, i am an orange mobile customer, so i could benefit from their discounts, but i am unsure as to the quality of their service/packages?

Can anyone provide an opinion on the above or perhaps suggest a better alternative provider that i could look at?

The only LLU provider in my exchange is Talktalk with an 8mbps service.

Many thanks
Rick

1. Orange still have a lot of problems.
Visit: http://www.orangeproblems.co.uk

2. To get your broadband (LLU) from Talk Talk ,you would have to move your line rental and pay BT a cancellation fee of £70.

3.http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cheap-broadband worth a read if you have not already read it.

Rickton

utilitybroker wrote: »

1. Orange still have a lot of problems.
Visit: http://www.orangeproblems.co.uk

2. To get your broadband (LLU) from Talk Talk ,you would have to move your line rental and pay BT a cancellation fee of £70.

3.http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/cheap-broadband worth a read if you have not already read it.

The LLU service isnt of great importance i must admit, as 1 / 2MB would certainly be sufficient for our needs, thanks for the 2 links as well, will give them a read over the morning!

saintlyboy

If you are a low user and there aren't many unbundled offers in your area then you might be better off getting a mobile broadband service, Orange do one as do the other major networks.

Usually you would expect to pay £15/month for a service with 3GB of monthly usage. If you are a light internet user and just want e-mails and browsing then it's definitely worth a look. If you are an IPlayer fan or like watching lots of Youtube stuff then forget mobile broadband. Depending on your 3G coverage you will probably get about 1-2Mbps with mobile broadband.

If you are a REALLY light user then there are PAYG deals too starting from £2 per day so that might suit you better, especially if you use internet at work.

If you have taken BT line rental then you can still get cable broadband as well but when you don't take Virgin line rental, Virgin's broadband packages are much dearer.

Good luck with that anyway.

billsavings

Rickton wrote: »

The LLU service isnt of great importance i must admit, as 1 / 2MB would certainly be sufficient for our needs, thanks for the 2 links as well, will give them a read over the morning!

This might be of interest.In MSE,s latest newsletter. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips/08-10-2008/

"Until 19 Oct, get a year’s contract with the current cheapest standalone broadband provider Plusnet via comparison site Uswitch* and you get the usual £9.99/month deal plus a free 4-port wireless router (worth c. £50). Plusnet regularly tops user feedback polls. There’s a 2GB download limit, which is fine for most e-mail & web users"

Rickton

I have actually seen the Plusnet deal on one of the links provided earlier in the thread, and i must admit it looks extremely appealling, £9.99 p/mth!

My one query, is there any indication anywhere as to how much bandwidth XBOX Live usage requires, as that is another potential issue that i had forgotten about until now !

billsavings

Their is also Virgin Media Unlimited Broadband only if your in a cable area.
http://allyours.virginmedia.com/websales/product.do?id=227

Averages out over first year at £13.50 a month.

£65 cashback i believe at www.cashbackkings.com