Cheapest Home Phones Provider discussion area

Hunnymonster

Only worthwhile if the quality is acceptable.... pointless having something for nowt if it doesn't do the job.... or did I miss something ?

Albiwobble_2

If you want cheap phone calling you could log on to https://www.skype.com and you will get FREE calls to most countries and throughout Britain at all times to anyone with an internet connection and very cheap calls to all landline and mobile phones. I just used it to phone a mobile in France and it cost me 0.13p for two minutes. Was that cheap enough???? There are provisions to connect a digital phone to the system and use it as you would your normal landline phone.There are over 2million users worldwide.

bigbandman

The phone bill from 18866 is an XL spreadsheet. By copying to XL you can SORT all your calls to see just how much you spend on mobile and 084** and 087** numbers. It makes interesting reading. It certainly puts the 084** and 087** rip off into perspective.

colin_tomlinson

Martin has previously mentioned free weekend calls via Onetel and to use them for these calls only (as well as free directory enquiries for Onetel registered customers on 118111).

Seems they have teamed up with British Gas, and the free weekend tariff now extends to evenings as well. The published tariff is 0p/minute with no connection charge for calls to 01 and 02 numbers.

http://www.house.co.uk/cgi-bin/house/house/general/redirection.jsp?BV_SessionID=HHHH0454963293.1112612629HHHH&BV_EngineID=ccccaddefiimlehcefecfngdfhidgjg.0&_strType=AD&_strURLType=INT&_intOID=1073771773&_txtPageRedirect=/house/general/editorial.jsp&channelId=-8383&_txtName=crm_March05_Freecalls&intCCNumber=06006113

If you register for this, still use 18866 for 01 and 02 numbers during the day Monday to Friday and 1899 for calls to mobiles. If you can't find an alternative to an 0845/0870 number on www.saynoto0870.com use BT for calls to 0845 numbers (using the prefix 1280) and the British Gas Talk tariff for 0870 numbers.

[Why?: 0845 are 3.6p/1.2p/1.2p per min during the day/evening/weekend with British Gas Talk, 3p/1p/1p with BT. British Gas and BT charge the same for 0870 numbers (7.51p/3.75p/1.5p), but British Gas's minimum charge is marginally less (4.8p vs 4.935p) ... it will only make a difference on short calls, but also means you don't need to remember to dial the prefix.]

For international calls the battle seems to be ongoing between 18866 and 1899 with no others coming close.

dpf2005

See my post 23 for inclusive minutes to 0845 and 0870 numbers. Save all the time hunting around for the geographical equivalent numbers or worrying about being kept on hold.

coco99

Was Gotalk one of the companies you checked when you decided on those that you include in your list of cheapest providers? They charge 4p a minute to Spanish landlines, although they are 22p per minute to Spanish mobiles. I wondered how you found their charges for UK calls?

andy88_2

coco99 wrote:

I wondered how you found their charges for UK calls?

I looked on their website. 3p per minute, same as BT.

None of their international call prices look brilliant either

Some of their rates for access from international free phones look a bit interesting - slightly cheaper than my Alpha Telecom account, but now my mobile is cheaper anyway.

LionKing

Hi,

Just recently moved and need to get a new landline installed in my house.

Previous place had BT Option1 and CPW FREE evening and weekend calls which worked well.

Is there a similar deal available on CPW or another carrier (eg OneTel)? I still have a few month on the CPW contract...can i transfer this to my new home?

I really only need the landline for internet access. Any suggestions on alternative land line rentals for Berkshire area?

Edinburghlass_2

LionKing, probably best to stick with BT for your landline as even if you just need it for internet, you will get a greater choice of supplier if your line is with BT.

I assume you would keep your TalkTalk contract if you were keeping your number but if you are moving out of the area and have to change your number I guess you would have to start again. As TalkTalk have stopped their long time offer of free year of w/end and evening calls your best bet now is Onetel for free evening and w/end UK Calls for one year.

Mind you I would try phoning TalkTalk as they may wish to keep you as a customer and make you an offer?

Mortphilio_2

It's a shame Albiwobble's post regarding www.Skype.com got such little response. I'm an avid user of Skype and use it to calls friends and family worldwide at absolutely no cost! A 30 minute phone call to the Philippines costs nothing (as opposed to 1899's £1.50, 18866's £2.70, or BT's weekend-rate charge of £17.99)!

Another brilliant point is that the clarity of the calls is better because Skype transfers the whole acoustic range - not just the 300Hz to 3kHz range you get on a normal land-line. You can actually hear the difference between a spoken 'f' and 's'.

In addition the ability to transfer files to the person you're talking to means that I can also swap the latest rounds of snapshots with the family as well!

A clear winner in my book.