Questions about bb - confused!

sallytheteamonkey

My boyfriend and I have just moved into a flat. The previous occupants had a BT line and this has been disconnected. BT says they can reconnect not problem.

We want unlimited BB or if not then up to 40GB per month. However we have no use for a landline and don't want to pay to have one. My boyfriend thinks he may have heard of a discount if you effectively have the landline cut off, so calls out can't be made but it can still be used for BB? Does anyone know about this?

Also we are looking at packages and O2 say we'd have to pay £86 to switch to their home phone plus BB package. I switched to O2 in a previous flat and didn't have to pay then - why now? Anyone know if we can get round this? I'd like to go through a cashback site if possible so don't want to have to call them. But online keeps saying we'd have to pay to switch...

Also, would we always have to have line rental PLUS BB? Or is it possible to have BB with a disconnected landline?

Thanks for your help

Sorry for all the questions!

macman

Your boyfriend is misinformed. If you want ADSL broadband then you need an active landline. An active line requires the line to be reconnected and a contract entered into for line rental.
How do you expect the broadband signal to be received without an active line?
If there is no dial tone on the line, then a reconnection charge is payable, this may explain the O2 charge-it's not a 'switch' charge.
The only alternatives are VM cable broadband (if available in your area) or mobile broadband via a dongle.

sallytheteamonkey

Thank you macman. I think the line has been disconnected so guess we will have to pay the charge.

kwikbreaks

Check with BT - they may be content with just a minimum term contract and no charge. I'm pretty sure one place I moved into had no dial tone and I didn't have to pay. It certainly had no number as I got issued with a number that had been a fax machine in the past and kept getting spam fax calls on it which took a while to get sorted. That was 10 years ago though so it may be different now. Don't be tempted to take their broadband.

If you do have to pay for reconnection there are cheaper options than BT.

Jake'sGran

You do need to have a landline but once that is sorted have a look at Primus UK. The come top of the pack for their bundle of BB, line rental and phone calls. I am considering changing to them but am worried about my email address having to be changed on the many sites I use. I have used Primus for phone calls for many years and get very cheap monthly charges - last month it was £5.00 approx. (We are low phone users but Primus don't charge for calls after 6pm etc)

espresso

Jake'sGran wrote: »

You do need to have a landline but once that is sorted have a look at Primus UK. The come top of the pack for their bundle of BB, line rental and phone calls. I am considering changing to them but am worried about my email address having to be changed on the many sites I use. I have used Primus for phone calls for many years and get very cheap monthly charges - last month it was £5.00 approx. (We are low phone users but Primus don't charge for calls after 6pm etc)

Still using AOL? see this thread here

Jake'sGran

Hello Espresso and thank you for that. I will change to Primus now. They come out well in comparison checks. It's not just the price either; I have always liked them since I switched my phone to them.

JamesU

Jake'sGran wrote: »

Hello Espresso and thank you for that. I will change to Primus now. They come out well in comparison checks. It's not just the price either; I have always liked them since I switched my phone to them.

Hi Jakes'sGran, I would hold back on Primus as a whole package until you are absolutely sure about the implications based on what I have read up on this part of the forum this week. Just search on Primus before deciding on them for definite.

Broadly speaking non-inclusive Primus phone costs have increased significantly now due to daytime connection fees of 10.5p for non-inclusive numbers and when using overide numbers for e.g 0870 and 0845 and international calls (I am still with PrimusSaver option 2, happy for two years, billed monthly, but where monthly costs have now doubled in recent months without notification), various OPs have mentioned pitfalls of switching BT line to Primus, Primus T+Cs are now moving to "auto-renew" so that it becomes more difficult to change contracts on services if need be. And as far as any technical problems with broadband and phone line are concerned, their customer services are very difficult to deal with. So plenty to consider and search on beforehand. Not trying to put you off, this is just my general feeling at present. Initial costs look enticing but good to look at the overall picture in the longer term.

JamesU

Jake'sGran

Hi James, I will hold off as you suggest. I must have missed the posts you refer to. Maybe I could just add line rental to the phone calls if they offer that. I did ask them a few months ago about the possibility of them using their own engineers if anything went wrong with the line but they said it would be BT engineers who would deal with it. Thank you again.
Di

JamesU

Jake'sGran wrote: »

Maybe I could just add line rental to the phone calls if they offer that.

I found communication with Primus incredibly arduous recently, and personally would not let them anywhere near my line to save a few pounds. Some recent discussions on their services here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/40202044#Comment_40202044

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/39085030#Comment_39085030

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/39852708#Comment_39852708

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/40202476#Comment_40202476

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=40233976&postcount=1 :eek:

And some more specifically on Primus line rental:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/411399

And loosing your phone number:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=39372538&postcount=25

And how Primus costs charged vary and are not clear:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=40103226&postcount=606


JamesU

macman

Jake'sGran wrote: »

Hi James, I will hold off as you suggest. I must have missed the posts you refer to. Maybe I could just add line rental to the phone calls if they offer that. I did ask them a few months ago about the possibility of them using their own engineers if anything went wrong with the line but they said it would be BT engineers who would deal with it. Thank you again.
Di

Primus do not have any engineers, they are just resellers, Any local fault on your phone or broadband is dealt with by BT Openreach on behalf of your telcom or ISP-whoever they are.