The UKs Cheapest Home Phones Solution Article Discussion Area

DaveO

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but I logged onto my broadband provider which is Plus Net to check what if any penalties I would incur by leaving for TT.

Lo and behold they are launching a similar service to TT in July which coincidentally is the same month TT are estimating broadband would be available to me.

The cost is the same at £20.99 a month and they have a comparison on their web site to TT in that the contract with Plus Net is a 1 month one instead of 18 months for TT and £20 to leave as opposed to £70.

However the £20.99 package uses their "basic broadband" package which is only suitable for light use.

I am on their "broadband plus" package which if bundled with the phone option comes to £29.99 a month. It would actually cost me £29.49 as I get a discount from referring a friend to Plus Net but that cost isn't much different to what I pay using BT for phone and Plus Net for broadband which is a total of £30.99 - so I'd save £1.50 a month going that route.

Comparison here

For others however the £20.99 might be enough so I thought I would mention it as an alternative to TT.

Dave

Heinz

DaveO wrote:

However the £20.99 package uses their "basic broadband" package which is only suitable for light use.

You're not kidding about light use:

Broadband Usage - 50MB then pay 0.224p per MB

creddish

Heinz wrote:

AIUI, CPS providers cannot stop you using 1899 and the like because inputting the prefix bypasses the normal CPS routing at the BT exchange (i.e before the call reaches the CPS provider's system).

I agree that they cannot physically stop you from routing your calls through BT but they could refuse to continue to offer you service or withdraw the offer of free calls to other TT customers or apply other terms and conditions to your account if you did so. Of course they would need to find out that you were in fact bypassing their service, which I'm not sure they could do easily. I believe there was (may still be) some clauses in the TT CPS T&C's which alluded to such restrictions.

Colin

creddish

DaveO wrote:

Not sure if this is the right place to post this but I logged onto my broadband provider which is Plus Net to check what if any penalties I would incur by leaving for TT.

Lo and behold they are launching a similar service to TT in July which coincidentally is the same month TT are estimating broadband would be available to me.

The cost is the same at £20.99 a month and they have a comparison on their web site to TT in that the contract with Plus Net is a 1 month one instead of 18 months for TT and £20 to leave as opposed to £70.

However the £20.99 package uses their "basic broadband" package which is only suitable for light use.

I am on their "broadband plus" package which if bundled with the phone option comes to £29.99 a month. It would actually cost me £29.49 as I get a discount from referring a friend to Plus Net but that cost isn't much different to what I pay using BT for phone and Plus Net for broadband which is a total of £30.99 - so I'd save £1.50 a month going that route.

Comparison here

For others however the £20.99 might be enough so I thought I would mention it as an alternative to TT.

Dave

I think the crunch question is what the quality of broadband service will be in the future comparing Talk Talk and Plusnet. With the expected large increase in the number of TT Users this could be a potential problem. In the past Plusnet have received higher ratings than TT according to ADSLguide here

DaveO

Heinz wrote:

You're not kidding about light use:

According to a plus net representative on the support forum many customers use less than 1 gig a month.

If you cost that up it means a broadband cost of £12.23 a month so added to the basic £11 phone package you are up to £23.23 a month compared to TT's £20.99.

That may be attractive to people who don't want an 18 month contract or to have a £70 exit fee hanging over them if they meet that sort of usage profile.

Plus Nets broadband packages are limited bandwidth ones but have peak and off-peak usage with the off-peak not counting toward your monthly limit. I could not find anything about that arrangement applying to the broadband basic package but if it does (thay have not launched the basic product yet), it might make it more attractive.

Dave

leeegglestone

Can I have Talk Talk Phone first. I am getting a house and want Talk Talk phone, do i have to connect to BT and pay them first for 6weeks or something and then switch?

hurrah

leeegglestone wrote:

Can I have Talk Talk Phone first. I am getting a house and want Talk Talk phone, do i have to connect to BT and pay them first for 6weeks or something and then switch?

You have already asked the same question before,and got an answer.


See : http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=186837

stevemcol

Hello

Talk Talk

They state in my case that I'd get a phone connection in three weeks and Broadband by end of June. Would I be able to continue using my wanadoo connection in the interim (essentially now through a talk talk controlled phone line). I've emailed TT but no answer yet.
Also, does anyone have an enquiries phone number. I can't find it on their web site.

Cheers

Steve

britters

I can recommend a cheap solution for broadband, at least for light users who don't download a lot of data. Lixxus (http://www.lixxus.co.uk) offer a broadband service with no monthly fee and charges only per Mbyte of data downloaded. Connection fee is £60 (mostly to BT of course) plus the cost of an ADSL modem if you don't have one (mine was £22), but you should get all this back in savings in a fairly short time. I've found this very cost effective, as I spend a fair amount of time away from home and resent having to pay a monthly fee for something I'm not using. My last bill was £0.00, as I was away for a month on holiday. For those who download loads of music, movies or software etc., this may not be the best, but that could depend on the download limits imposed by other providers.

As for cheap international calls, I've found that dialling 08444 395858 is the cheapest, and there's no need to sign up. Just dial the number and the cost (advised before connection) is added to your normal bill.

With all these options available to us now, I wonder how long BT can keep up their exorbitant charges. :laugh:

Heinz

britters wrote:

As for cheap international calls, I've found that dialling 08444 395858 is the cheapest, and there's no need to sign up. Just dial the number and the cost (advised before connection) is added to your normal bill.

That's a 3p/minute number (from a BT landline) so is obviously NOT the cheapest to many destinations.

Using the MSE Internsational Callchecker is far better.