Needing Broadband Quickly

Vin2300

I am moving house on Wednesday and have not yet got any broadband sorted out. My existing provider, TalkTalk, say they cant move me until 7th January. From what I can gather looking around a few others providers, the absolute best is 5-7 working days, which with Xmas more than likely ends up not being until the new year.

Frustratingly I did try to do a ‘home move’ on TalkTalk’s website a couple of weeks ago, but it kept crashing just before the payment page, so I gave up, thinking I would try again another day, but been so busy with the move it just slipped my mind.

I don’t actually know if the new place has an active phone line. There is a standard phone socket (with Telewest written on it). Then there are a few tv cables hanging out of the wall. I know the previous people had Virgin Media. Does this mean we wont have an active phone line?

I really don’t want to be without the internet over the next three weeks.

What are my options?

I did read that 3g dongle for a month might be an idea. I don’t really know much about them, but assuming we use about 5gb a month then what is the cheapest way of doing that?

kwikbreaks

If the socket has Telewest on it then that's a cable phone and no good for ADSL type broadband. Check Virgin Media to see if they can get you installed before Christmas. The chances are nobody will be able to get you sorted out with a BT phone line and broadband now until the new year as Openreach have to do the work and they move at their own sweet pace.

macman

Typical BT line install lead time is 3-4 weeks, and obviously that will be extended over Xmas, so you've left it far too late,
Instead of guessing if there's an old BT line there already (as well as cable), why not ask the vendor? If so, you only require a reconnection, which may be quicker or not, depending on the work required.

Pincher

The current Plusnet offer through MSE gave 23rd December AM as the ONLY slot available before Christmas for my area.
I would just get the deal you want, and hope they have a cancellation.

MorMac

I moved house four weeks ago. I knew there was an old BT line here that needed to be reconnected, so about a month before I moved I booked a reconnection date. BT came three times but couldn't get it to work. I'm now at the mercy of Openreach, which means I could be waiting for quite some time, possibly up to three months from what I've read about them. With offspring home from university, it's particularly frustrating. I hope you don't have to wait as long.