Existing BT internet connections

BuBBubs

Sorry if this is a daft question.

I'll be moving into a house as a tenant this September and the owner already has a BT phone line for his home phone but he doesn't have internet connection.

I was wondering (as I'll be needing an internet connection for my studies) if I can only get a home broadband deal through BT if I was to use his phone line. I'm asking because I noticed all home broadband deals using a landline appears to have a landline fee on top of the monthly quote. I am not really after a package with call allowances etc. as I only need the internet and mobile broadband is out of the question as the signal is terrible in that area.

Any ideas?

Mark_In_Hampshire

If you're renting the house from the owner and they're moving out then I presume that they'll cease the account and you'll need to sign up so there won't, actually, be a line there to piggyback onto.

On the other hand if you're e.g. "sharing" and the line remains active then I don't see why it won't work.

However if the owner fails to pay their bills, for instance, and the line gets cut off, then so does your broadband. There are also some types of fault which require the customer to report the problem to the line rental provider, and therefore you'd be relying on their goodwill to do somethng about that and help you.

BuBBubs

So basically, I can go for any other broadband deal and possibly have another phone number on the same line (which I assume is what will have to happen as all the deals seem to ask for line rental on top of the monthly broadband fee) and it wouldn't affect his BT telephone account.

But if I sign up for a 12 month contract and only stay for 10, for example, would I be able to transfer the remainer to wherever I move to or would it be stuck to the fixed address/line?

Mark_In_Hampshire

The ADSL will be provisioned on the same telephone number. There won't be a new number. However it won't affect the phone service.

Some providers will permit a home move within a contract, believe O2 used to, but not many. If staying for a short time is likely then you might like to look at month-to-month providers who do not insist on 12 or 18 months+ and weigh up the costs of those (typically higher priced, but usually among the best - which is why they don't need to lock people in) against the early cancellation fees of the others (which you can check).

iniltous

You should at least ask the person who rents the line if its ok for you to order broadband on it, I dont know if you order broadband the job would fail because the name would be different on the broadband account to that on the line rental account (but it might)..