Free setup; short contract - any?

ajbaker

Can anyone suggest a company doing broadband with free setup and a very short contract period (1-3 months). I am a new broadband customer, want a 1mb service. It seems more sense to get broadband this way then migrate to a decent provider than pay the setup fees intially. Migration fees are often cheaper or free.

nbt

virgin.net do free connection, free broadband modem and a monthly contract. £17.99 per month

I've been with them for three weeks now with no problems, but am looking at moving now I have had my phoneline upgraded

Lucie_2

nbt wrote:

virgin.net do free connection, free broadband modem and a monthly contract. £17.99 per month

I've been with them for three weeks now with no problems, but am looking at moving now I have had my phoneline upgraded

Me too. So far so good. The lack of 12 month contract was a big draw, just in case I didn't get sufficient use out of broadband.

ely

Having read the above. I'm now interested in Virgin broadband but I'm getting different info from different sources.
Is there any set up fees ? on the u switch site, it says there is a starter kit required £9.99 then the monthly fee £17.99, but on virgins own website cannot find anything on this, except that a starter pack is sent to you!!

Any ideas?

Ps I'm not on broadband at the moment, still on dial up!! (if that makes a difference!)

darkpig

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nbt

the starter ktcomes free, as ong as you order it as part of the sign-up process

ajbaker

The only concern I have with Virgin is the majority of their connections use Datastream connections, whereas the majority of IPSs use IPStream. Neither is tecnically better, but the implementation of Datastream is quite poor by most cheap ISPs (read Virgin).

Also, the biggest problem with Datastream is that it is not currently possible to migrate from Datastream to IPStream - you will need to cancel your ADSL connection and reconnect (at the full connection charge £60 levied by BT) to use an ISP that use IPStream (read most).

People may want to be careful joining Virgin with the intention of migrating very early on. This could be the reason they are offering free connection and short contracts.

BT are currently running trials to migrate customers from Datastream to IPStream. However these trials with MetroNet et al ran into problems - no word as to when it will be finally possible.

This information is correct to the best of my knowledge. Anyone able to spot a mistake?

andy88_2

It sounds about right. I think you should decide on the decent provider you want, and not mess about; there are enough tales here of people having difficulties leaving providers they'd come to dislike.

Connection and equipment fees will be included in many deals anyway. Others have lower rental and charge connection.

If or when I move to broadband, I'll feel that trying too hard to find a £20 saving in the first year is quite likely to be a false economy.

ajbaker

Now that's the most rational thing I have heard all day; all week in fact. Thanks andy88.

Am I alone in thinking better regulated privatisation would prevent such stupid things occuring in the first place? (Sorry to bring the election into this!)

ely

I've decided to go with the Virgin broadband & also found that if you do it via the cashbag website, there is also £10 free cashback !!! RESULT !!!


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