Phone and broadband

linc_3

Hi, I'm moving to a new house in a few weeks and want to cut down my expenditure on utilities. I currently pay the standard BT phone line rental - around £12 pm and Tiscali broadband £14.90 pm. I had hoped to get Virgin Broadband with no line rental at my new property but it's not in the fibre optic area.

I therefore need a phone and broadband package for as cheap a cost each month as possible. I know the house I'm moving too currently has virgin broadband and that the current tenants have a landline which I assume may either also be Virgin or BT.

I need to know the best package, how much any set up fee would be and the monthly cost. There are so many around that it's a mine field. I was considering Mobile broadband but that seems even more complicated and possibly more costly.

Also want to know about the Quidco thing and whether I can save money through there. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lin

macman

What exchange are you going to be on, and what LLU options do you have? These will be the cheapest deals.
https://www.samknows.com, then exchange search.
You also need to advise what sort of broadband and phone facilities you are looking for. Bundles are not necessarily the cheapest way.
Yes, Quidco can be used with certain ISP's to gain cashback.

linc_3

Thanks macman,

The exchange is Salisbury and seems on checking the LLU I can opt for BT, Tiscali, Talktalk, AOL or Plusnet.

Do you know if they all will charge a connection fee on top of the monthly rental? I will only use broadband for emails, facebook and some Itune downloads and generally only at weekends and evenings.

Will hardly ever use the landline. Would prefer not to have one at all but that's not an option. The only calls I get on my landline now with BT are cold selling and automated things which I'd asked not to receive when I initially subscribed to the landline.

macman

linc wrote: »

Thanks macman,

The exchange is Salisbury and seems on checking the LLU I can opt for BT, Tiscali, Talktalk, AOL or Plusnet.

Do you know if they all will charge a connection fee on top of the monthly rental? I will only use broadband for emails, facebook and some Itune downloads and generally only at weekends and evenings.

Will hardly ever use the landline. Would prefer not to have one at all but that's not an option. The only calls I get on my landline now with BT are cold selling and automated things which I'd asked not to receive when I initially subscribed to the landline.

Your only LLU options there are Orange and TalkTalk (AOL and Tiscali are both part of CPW/TT). BT and Plusnet are not available LLU-not sure where you read that from?
Cheapest option will be TT Essentials package at £6.49 for broadband and basic call package (evening and weekend calls, £4 more for unlimited anytime calls). This will mean moving your line rental to TT (same price as BT) for an 18m contract. £30 sign up fee.
If you'd rather not go with TT I suggest you look at Plusnet Value broadband, on your Market 3 exchange you can get this for £5.99pm, no sign up fee, 12m contract. They also do a calls package which can be bundled in. 10GB monthly limit and they do practice traffic shaping at peak hours. £28 Quidco cashback at present.
http://www.plus.net/

linc_3

Thanks again - i was just checking out Plus net and it seems I can get the broadband and phone as a package at £16.49 pm which is an absolute bargain. If I order it through Quidco then I assume I just sign up with them, buy it online through them and then at some stage I'll get the £28 back? Sorry if I sound dense but I've never done this before.

:j

macman

That is excluding the line rental (Plusnet or BT).
Yes, sign up with Quidco, log in, click through to Plusnet and sign up as normal. The cashback will then track a few hours later and payout in about 2 months (minus your £5 annual subscription which is deducted from the first payout over £5).
or you can sign up through Broadband Choices and get the first 4 months broadband free, details are in this weeks MSE weekly email.
PS: Quidco payout for phone and broadband sign up is currently £38 not £28.

linc_3

Hiya, I phoned Plusnet and they told me that the £16.49 is for everything (landline and broadband) and that I don't need to pay anything at all to BT. They could apparently check the existing line on the property I'm moving to. I asked several times if the £16.49 was all in and that I wouldn't have to pay anything to BT and the lady I spoke to confirmed that this was the case.

Do you think that she has made a mistake and that I would have to still pay for line rental to BT on top of the £16.49 to Plusnet?

macman

No, she appears to be (almost) correct, as the online bundle price is £5.99 for broadband and £10.95 line rental, total £16.94 which includes weekend and evening calls and line rental. Anytime calls adds an extra £5.
Sorry, I wasn't familiar with the bundle prices.
Bear in mind you have to use DD and online billing or there is probably a surcharge. The wireless router is free but they do charge an annoying £6.99 P&P. Otherwise it's a good deal, even better through Quidco.

linc_3

Thanks so much macman. I was getting a bit worried that I'd been misled then. I would always opt for DDs and online billing anyway and the £6.99 p&p is worth it taking into account the overall cost. I'm currently paying nearly £27.00 for a BT landline which I hardly use and broadband through Tiscali.

Will sort it all out via Quidco when I move.

This website is so good for providing information and thank you once again for taking the time to help with my query.

Lin :T