Switching from BT to Primus - will I lose my free orange broadband?

EHL123

**Posted in home phones section too - wasn't sure of best place!***

I have a free 'home starter' broadband package from Orange which I signed up to a few years ago along with my mobile phone. It's a great deal - up to 20MB speeds, a 10GB download limit and a livebox. They don't offer the package anymore and now charge £7 a month for their basic package, so getting it for free suits me fine

I've been paying BT £11.54 a month for my line rental but considering they're hiking their prices up again I'd like to go elsewhere. I don't use the phone for calls at all, it's literally just for broadband (don't even have a phone plugged in), so the cost of the line rental is all that matters. I also want to be able to pay monthly instead of quarterly, but BT's minimum monthly payment is £12 (rising to £13 once the increases come in - they only take whole pounds) and this is more than my line rental so I'd constantly be building up credit which I'd never get back.

I can get Orange line rental for £10.50 a month but I'd need to sign up to one of their new broadband packages as they come as a bundle, so this would cost me more each month instead of less. I can get Primus for £8.99 a month so I'm leaning towards them instead, but I've checked the terms for Orange's new version of the 'home starter' package and it says "only available on telephone lines provided by BT", so I'm guessing this will apply to my existing plan as well. But as I already get my broadband from Orange, will they even be aware of the change? I know BT Openreach will still own the line regardless of who I pay my line rental to, so will switching to Primus make any difference from Orange's point of view (i.e. will someone write to them to tell them)? I don't want them to use the change as an excuse to 'review' my account and move me onto one of the new packages because this one is obselete (it's no longer under contract so they can withdraw it whenever they like). Especially as I'd then be tied into Primus for 18 months and would have to pay someone else for broadband anyway. If it's going to happen I'd be better sticking with BT and just accepting the price rise and quarterly payments.

The other option is to switch to Sky and pay £11 a month including their basic broadband, but that has a £60 set-up fee which I want to avoid - has anyone had any success in getting this waived?

harley1

Hi.

This never even crossed my mind. I switched to primus on June 7th and as far as I know nothing has changed.

I've not yet had any request for money from Orange for my broadband, and the line is still a 'BT' line even though I now have to pay Primus.

As a word of warning though, BT are under the impression that they can keep you on a rolling 12 month contract and, unless that contract is up, will try to charge you a cancellation fee.

I'm not sure if they can legally do this as I assumed to have a contract means you have to sign something and I haven't signed anything new with them for over 10 years. I did manage to convince them that they shouldn't charge me the £50 they wanted but whether you would have the same luck I have no idea.

I hope this helps in some way, although I may have confused the issue completely

Harley x

CrabPaste

Home Starter was launched in late 2008, is upto 8 Meg and includes a Siemens router, not a Livebox (unless the Siemens was out of stock).

Free broadband packages ceased long before 20 Meg packages were introduced. 20 Meg broadband packages launched in late 2009.

So, I'm not sure which package you believe you have? I'd imagine it's Broadband Plus price £0.00 Livebox Wireless and Talk.

They can also withdraw/change a package, whether you're in contract or not, but you'll have the option to cancel.

Orange will receive notice of a transfer, and may contact you about it if you have landline calls in your package (if you really do have Home Starter). If it's still a BT line, and not unbundled, then nothing should change as far as your broadband in concerned.

EHL123

Sorry my mistake, just dug out my log in details so I could check and it is only 8meg (I don't get anywhere near that though)

It says I have "Home Starter - with your Orange mobile phone - £0.00 a month, up to 8 Meg speed, wireless router, 10GB usage allowance and inclusive evening and weekend landline telephone calls". I already had the livebox from the previous package I had before switching to the free one (have been with orange BB since about 2006 I think). They didn't send me a new router so I still use it, and it still allows online gaming etc.

I didn't know I had the calls package as I've never used it, so that's a bit of a pain. Looks like I'll have to stick with BT then, and then change to a new supplier if/when Orange eventually cotton on to my freebie and cancel it

CrabPaste

EHL123 wrote: »

Sorry my mistake, just dug out my log in details so I could check and it is only 8meg (I don't get anywhere near that though)

It says I have "Home Starter - with your Orange mobile phone - £0.00 a month, up to 8 Meg speed, wireless router, 10GB usage allowance and inclusive evening and weekend landline telephone calls". I already had the livebox from the previous package I had before switching to the free one (have been with orange BB since about 2006 I think). They didn't send me a new router so I still use it, and it still allows online gaming etc.

I didn't know I had the calls package as I've never used it, so that's a bit of a pain. Looks like I'll have to stick with BT then, and then change to a new supplier if/when Orange eventually cotton on to my freebie and cancel it

Having calls with Orange doesn't stop you from moving them elsewhere. As you don't have a phone plugged in you wont know who charges for the calls. The only way to find out would be to ask either BT or Orange. If you have calls with Orange and move them to another provider, technically you should move from your current package to the Home Select package which is broadband only, and chargeable.