Short term broadband

cinereus

Moving into a new place in a week and need to get set-up with broadband ASAP for working from home. Preferably need unlimited or at least 100GB/month but for only 6 months so no 12 month or 18 month contracts.

So far the best line rental I can find is Post Office at £12.25/month with no contract.

Then I need ISP. There are a few options -

PlusNet Value is short-term contract but only 10GB and £32/month for six months.

3 mobile broadband is an option but I need to know how fast torrenting is. Any experiences?

O2 all rounder can work on PO phone. For existing customers it's £12.50/month + line rental + £30.63 no contract making it £39.11/month for 6 months. A bit too much and they cripple torrents so I'm not even sure if it's usable.

BE unlimited is £25/month + £25 connection + line rental which comes to £41/month which is again too much.

Alternatively I could get Virgin Media L but I'm not sure if there's a socket in the flat. That's £50 connection, then £16 for the first 3 months and £21 for the next three. Plus early disconnection charge of £54. Making a total of £35.83/month. Again, it must be possible to do it cheaper?

Anyone have any bright ideas?

macman

Is there already a BT line installed in the property or not?
A monthly rolling broadband contract is no problem (though more expensive), but there are few line rental suppliers who offer less than 12 months, the PO being the main one, as you've already identified. You''ll probably end up paying the full £130-ish line install cost if no current line exists.

kwikbreaks

There's also the £40 or so ADSL install and £25 termination OpenReach charges too - the ISP won't be absorbing them so they'll either appear as one-offs or be rolled into the price in some way.

Short term ADSL will be expensive.

With VM there are cashback deals on offer plus the install is usually free although I'm not sure how long the minimum term is or where you got the early disconnect number from. I thought VM would cheerfully take the full outstanding minimum contract term amount.

cinereus

I'm getting a BT line installed soon with the PO for ~£12/month. So what are my options? Any chance of cutting a deal with VM if I give them a call?

steve1980

Minimum 12 months, check the small print to make sure you're not liable for any disconnection fee from BT.

cinereus

I'm not with BT, I'm with PO with no contract.

I know it's usually 12 months with VM but is it worth asking if they will make a deal?

Are there really STILL no short term options for less than ~£40/month?!

kwikbreaks

cinereus wrote: »

Are there really STILL no short term options for less than ~£40/month?!

Pretty much no. This question is a regular here so a search may throw up something that hasn't been mentioned but both ADSL and cable involve physical setups and so charges to cover that work. 3G BB could work but it's not cheap either if you want anything more than trivial download caps and hit and miss on whether you can get acceptable speeds.

cinereus

Yeah, I've read all the old threads on here about it. Was hoping that things might have changed.....

What do you mean there are physical set-ups? Surely there's nothing needed for ADSL only a cable box for cable?!

kwikbreaks

ADSL requires wires to be connected from your phone line to the ADSL equipment at the exchange end (called a DSLAM if you want to look it up) - by default they will only connect to the phone system. BT OpenReach charge the ISP about £45 to do that.

deklan99

Have a look at these, all provide adsl via multiple wholesalers, CPW, C&W, Be, BTw -
http://www.vivaciti.net/internet/1/home-internet/14/unbundled-services-llu
http://www.adsl24.co.uk/
http://aquiss.net/home-broadband.php
http://www.idnet.net/solutions/home/broadband/
http://www.xilo.net/adsl_broadband/#pro
All offer monthly contracts and variety of usage limits with very little traffic management but support wise all better than the bargain basement bunch.

cinereus

deklan99 wrote: »

Have a look at these, all provide adsl via multiple wholesalers, CPW, C&W, Be, BTw -
http://www.vivaciti.net/internet/1/home-internet/14/unbundled-services-llu
http://www.adsl24.co.uk/
http://aquiss.net/home-broadband.php
http://www.idnet.net/solutions/home/broadband/
http://www.xilo.net/adsl_broadband/#pro
All offer monthly contracts and variety of usage limits with very little traffic management but support wise all better than the bargain basement bunch.

These all look fantastic! But I've never heard of any of them - what's the catch and why is it such better value than any usual ISPs?