Student Help: New Build Apartment Bills - Internet, Phone Line etc.

evo1

Hi all,

I need help (yet again) with moving into a new build apartment with two other students. As we are the first people to live in the apartment we need to firstly set-up a phone line (I think) in order for us to get wi-fi and I was just wondering how we went about that? Would it be cheaper for us to get a BT line, then go with another company for the internet or perhaps use 3G dongles? (Though we all seem to use the internet a lot). Also, I doubt we will be in the apartment for 12 months which seem the minimum contract lengths, is there anyway around this?

This is all new for myself so sorry if I sound a bit dumb, but I hope you can help. :money:

Xan245

I'm sure I read that Virgin Media do 9 month internet contracts for students, not sure if any other ISPs do this, I use a 3G dongle on the laptop at work and while its good for browsing the web I wouldn't want to play any games online or do any big downloads on it, depends on how you use it

StudentMoneySaver

A new BT line costs an arm and a leg to install but they should allow you to pay off the installation costs monthly over 6 months (I think). You also have to pay line rental every month, you can reduce that cost by opting for online billing. You could be paying £30-40 pm just for the landline for the first 6 months.

Do any of you have an O2 sim (contract or payg)? If you do, O2 broadband is (imo) the best provider (£7.50 pm for 8mb) and you can get cash back (Quidco offers £50) which you could put towards your BT installation charge.

An alternative would be to get a MiFi on Three. It is a mobile broadband wireless router so you can share the mobile broadband (and associated costs) between the 3 of you. A 1 month rolling contract is £15 pm for 5gb and £39.99 for the MiFi or if one of you is willing to keep it after you move out, you could get the 18 month contract for £22 pm with gives you 15gb (no charge for the MiFi). I believe cash back is available with Three too but I cannot find amounts.

churchrat

We rent a new build apartment and have used Ask4.com as an internet provider without having a phone line put in, I think its about £19 per month, we pay monthly and are not tied into a contrct. Having said that, I'm not entirely sure that the whole building uses it thro the managment company. My oh, who lives there during the weeek says its fine.

Bongedone

BT may also want a deposit in case you run up a huge bill.

The BT line will already be installed but they still like to charge full connection fee.

If by apartment you mean a flat then that will likely rule out cable as the management agent/landlord will not likely allow it to be installed.

elfen

I think (if there's not a Virgin Media shop near you) that Phones4U (or some branches do) offer 9 month contracts for students.

evo1

Thank you all so much. I'll look into each one of your suggestions and see which one would suit us the best.
:money: