Phone line installation and broadband - Help needed!

tavyabe

I have moved house. the new house has no phone line and never has. I spoke to virgin who said they would install cable for me so I ordered through quidco for the £150 cashback. 3 weeks later, Virgin came round to install it and said that they could not because my neighbour would not give them permission to put a cable across his land. I have been without internet for too long! I am currently studying full time and the course is heavily dependant on online resources.

I need to get a phone line installed. my target is 'broadband for the cheapest possibel cost on a 12 month contract'

Can anyone advise me of the cheapest option for having a phone line installed and then getting non-cable broadband. I am an O2 customer and a member of quidco.

I have searched the forum but what i have found is generally not applicable or out of date.

I would really appreciate any advice you are able to offer.

csj_2

Without a phone line one of your few options is to go mobile broadband. This is very easy to install but gets mixed reviews. I have 2 of these contracts with 3 mobile broadband at £7.50/month for a 5GB/month maximum download. I am reasonably happy with it - it works very well most of the time in Devon (where you'd expect it to be not-so-good) and have even managed speeds up to 3Mbps since they've updated their service, but is much more variable in Nottingham (especially at night when too many people presumably are logging-on).

My £7.50 was through a Quidco offer over a year ago and I'm not sure that anything like that offer is currently available. You could try it as a PAYG for a short while and, if you#re happy with it, then switch to the contract version.

tavyabe

Thanks cjs. I have considered a mobile broadband but I have decided that I do not want one because (at the risk of starting a debate and reducing the chances of an answer to my first question) of the unknown health effects of the mobile dongle.

Ideally I would like a new phone line installed and then take out the O2 option but I presume that it is cheaper to go with the provider who installs the line (apart from BT who seem to be charging in monopoly money!).

Any advice would be a great help. (I have been using my mobile phone as my internet but it is worse than 1990's dial up!)

Clark80

If you have an o2 mobile I think you can get their internet service at a discount? That would in theory mean you just need to get a line installed?

tavyabe

Thank you both for your replies.

I have not been able to find any 'free BT installation' information that is not out of date and I would be very grateful if anyone has information on this?

I can get O2 for £7.50 per month but I need a phoneline first and to pay line rental, so really it will be around £18-19 per month plus the new installation.

BT charge £124.99 for the installation and it seems that Virgin offer it for £30 installation and £21 per month (I am not sure if this includes line rental or not, but for that price one would hope it does!)

Does anyone know of a deal that would be cheaper for me than the Virgin one?

jem16

tavyabe wrote: »

I have not been able to find any 'free BT installation' information that is not out of date and I would be very grateful if anyone has information on this?

http://www.serviceview.bt.com/list/public/current/Notice09_boo/2-FrameworkImpl337855.htm

tavyabe

Jem16, you are an absolute star! thank you! I note that it requires a minimum term contract and 30 calls must be made per quarter - but this is easily complied with. I will take this option coupled with O2's service and report on here to let you know how it works out.

Many thanks again!

tavyabe

I have spoken with BT who have confirmed the offer. One last question for you money savers...

Does anyone know of any cashback offers for a new installation + unlimited weekend plan with BT?

thanks again

jem16

tavyabe wrote: »

Does anyone know of any cashback offers for a new installation + unlimited weekend plan with BT?

As you have to phone to get this free installation deal you won't be able to use any of the cashback sites such as Quidco.

tavyabe

I ordered the phone online and have had £15 tracked on quidco. I made the order online and then followed it up with a call to confirm what I wanted. further update will follow re install and o2.

tavyabe

Just as an update, I got a £15 cashback on the new phone line which quidco tracked as a broadband order, plus a £50 cashback on the o2. So it would appear that if you are ordering a new phone line you should do it through quidco as it may track it as a broadband order like it did for me