Can you help me lower my telecoms bill?

Jolly_Roger

Thanks for all of you that have given positive feedback on this one, particularly Gonzo.

If anybody else has any others ideas, please keep them coming.

The Consumers' Association really rates Be and Zen as broadband providers, but interestingly neither of these two has been mentioned thus far. Does anybody have anything positive to say about them?

The box I use is provided by CGI Com. Really, I just pick up the phone and dial normally, but don't wince when the bills come in. However, this company never seems to feature AT ALL on any comparison sites that I have used. Does anybody else use them? If so, do you think they are value for money, too?

In respect of broadband, it is the P2P aspect that concerns me most. Dropping to a lower broadband speed might produce an even worse service than I get with VM. But will this necessarily be the case?
I really don't abuse my broadband, but seem to want to use it in the evening and at weekends to watched streamed material, which VM doesn't seem to like - although they would be happy if I did so after midnight!! I switched from phone to cable broadband some time ago, when Sunday evening viewing became almost impossible. I was told that cable wouldn't leave me throttled. Ha ha, not true.

gonzo127

Be and Zen are very good, however i have not suggested them for the reasons below

Be have not got a FTTC (fibre to the cabinate) service so rely on ADSL2+ so can only offer upto 24mb down and 1.3mb up but this is heavily reliatent on the distance to your telephone exchange - although going back to samknows if you click on the option at the side (once you have put your details in)under BT ADSL it will give you some estimates of what you can expect from a adsl2+ service and the BT FTTC button will give you an estimate of your 'infinity' or Sky Fibre speeds so you could consider them if you are happy with the speed estimate

otherwise Zen have got a FTTC offering however their service is more expensive than infinity or Sky by quite some margin as their 100gb usage limit one is £29.50 +VAT so is actually about £35 a month for 'only' 100gb usage when compared to infinity which is unlimited for £26 and Sky unlimited for £20 it makes it harder to recommend

also do you do P2P as in torrenting? as that is the only thing that is traffic managed by BT infinity, so this will not effect such as Netflix iplayer etc as these use different systems which are not managed by BT

as to the box and the phone calls - dont know anything about the box, but i would suggest doing a 'audit' of who/where you call and have a look at the 'included' packages with the phone deals, BT being 30 countries and Sky being 20, and see if you have actually called anyone outside those countries in the last 6-12 months (guessing you have itemised billing?) because to me it would seem expensive that you could be calling and paying 'per min' countires that could be covered by a £5 call bundle - however part of the 'audit' would be seeing how long you spend calling against any terms ond conditions of those bundles

Notmyrealname

Jolly_Roger wrote: »

I'd rather have nothing to do with Sky, thank you!

Why not? They have amongst the best broadband in the UK for cheap as chips.

By all means stick to principles but be aware you'll pay handsomely for it.

Notmyrealname

Jolly_Roger wrote: »

In respect of broadband, it is the P2P aspect that concerns me most. Dropping to a lower broadband speed might produce an even worse service than I get with VM. But will this necessarily be the case?

Virtually all ISPs throttle P2P when it is busy. One of them who does not, is the cheapest for the whole package and has one of the best peak time speeds you won't touch.

I don't know how to help you because you want to save money but don't want to go with the one company that will do exactly what you want at a level of service you're wanting.

Jolly_Roger

Gonzo in particular, thanks for all your very interesting advice. When switching ISPs, I like to talk to locals to see what they say, too. Hence Talk Talk has a poor reputation in this particular area. However, Plus Net is well thought of. Is it true that they are owned by BT? If so, I wonder whether you think they have a similar product to BT Infinity. They are on Quidco, too, I notice.
Many thanks for your continuing help and sorry for the delay in continuing this thread, but I have had to go away on business.

gonzo127

well plusnet are generally well though of, and yes they are owned by BT and yes they do have a fibre to the cabinate offering (simular to infinity) however there are differences

plusnet offer a small (compared to BT and Sky) limit of 40-120gb peak usage however counter this with a unlimited 'off peak' allowance running from midnight to 8am and there packages range in price from £16.50 to £25 a month

their phone line charges are also cheaper than BT at £12.99 a month when paid monthly or £9.50 when paid a year in advance but their included calls package might not be as good for you as it does not include 'free' calls to other countries instead it offers a 25% discount if you get their added bundles

Jolly_Roger

Just to let you all know, I am cancelling my Virgin cable account and have signed up for a BT Infinity package.
Many thanks for all of those who have given positive advice. It is really much appreciated.

A.Penny.Saved

santer wrote: »

How does the box compare with sites like 18185 and 18866 etc

http://www.18185.co.uk/index2.php

http://www.call18866.co.uk/index2.php

I'd 2nd those, the prices are very good plus there is no subscription fees and very low national calls, only a connection fee.

1899 is another which is related to those two. You could probably stop the BT call package entirely if you use the above services.

VOIP is another option and would allow multiple phone line capability if needed. Gigaset make some very good VOIP phones with the N300 IP base station being the home version with a business version available. There is a version with answerphone/recording called the N300A IP.

http://gigaset.com/hq/en/product/GIGASETN300IP.html

It might be worth comparing what you pay ATM for phone calls with what the above services charge, remembering that the above services don't charge any service or rental fees.

Other phone line services are cheaper although they tend to offer very poor service which wouldn't be ideal for business.

WilliamO

Jolly_Roger wrote: »

Many thanks for all of those who have given positive advice.

Who gave negative advice? Reading this thread I feel, probably like many others, that everyone in this thread was trying to help you. It's not anyone's fault they did not know you don't like Sky or TalkTalk - They are not mind readers!

Without sounding rude; Your comments come across as negative and ungrateful. Please respect the people who are trying to help you and more importantly remember you are on a public help forum and not a "I only want positive/helpful replies" forum. Meaning, people will come with varied replies that are not always necessarily "positive or really that helpful". This is usually because real people are on this forum and talk/help in their own unique way!

WilliamO

andy2004

and no ones mentioned skype? why.