Is a landline required to connect to broadband?

Legacy_user

Is a landline necessary to get a broadband connection?

that

maybe, it depends what is available in your area - google samknows

Neil_Jones

All internet that comes via a BT line requires a phone line which automatically means you have to pay for it in the form of the line rental.

Virgin do do an offering where you can have broadband on its own but it is usually cheaper just to have a line and internet. You don't have to use the line or even plug a phone into it.

You get better deals if you can commit for up to 18 months, but note that if you move house they will attract termination fees. No contract options are available but again you pay more for the flexibility of not having a contract.

twhitehousescat

virgin , internet only approx £19 a mth , 12 mth min

debitcardmayhem

pēn zi or some such

unforeseen

Virgin seems to be the only option.

assuming Virgin is actually available to your house.

dj1471

When I had an empty house I used a little 4G mifi router with a PAYG SIM (I used iD Mobile as they were cheapest per MB at the time), the routers are cheaply available on eBay and easily unlocked. There are some decent contract deals available if you need lots of data (I managed fine with a security camera and Nest thermostat on PAYG).

Frozen_up_north

Have you thought about using a mobile phone, or “MiFi” device?

Three are currently offering a 12 month contract SIM for £20/month which has unlimited 4G data, unlimited tethering (use your phone as a WiFi hotspot with typically up to 5 devices simultaneously connected), unlimited calls and texts to most UK numbers. 4G speeds on my iPhone are around 20 to 60 Mb/s download and 6 to 20 Mb/s upload. A test a couple of minutes ago gave 38.8/9.71 on a “1 bar” strength signal.

For some odd reason, data only SIMs appear to be more expensive than phone SIMs... or at least on Three they are.

wongataa

gabriel73195 wrote: »

I've got an empty house and I need to get a wifi package. There was a Sky TV bundle with telephone and an internet package which has now run out.

I would like to go for a pay as you go option from somewhere like Plusnet but do I need to pay for a landline option.

So do I have to pay for a telephone subscription to get Plusnet

For all internet services provided over Openreach infrastructure (BT/Sky/TalkTalk/Plusnet/etc.) you need to pay line rental. This is included in the price. You do not need to pay for a phone package or even plug a phone into the line.


For Virgin Media you will pay their equivalent of line rental regardless of whether you have the phone option or not. The price is included in whatever the price they charge for internet access.


To get internet via a physical line the price you pay will include line rental for usage of the physical line. It won't be separately listed in the bill unless you decide to pay for it separately.

Frozen_up_north

gabriel73195 wrote: »

Would that allow you to have a mobile phone you can walk around using and then have the wifi hub at home using unlimited free data? It probably wouldn't be enough for the entire house though as I'm assuming it would have some kind of cap but I'll look into it, thanks for the suggestion.
That's blistering fast and I assume that you are talking about 6 to 20 megabits per second as I always get the two confused and I think megabits is less than megabytes so on that slowest number you're getting 5 x the speed I currently get right now and the speed I get is fast enough to play games online and to watch netflix on an HD setting I think

I use a mobile phone all the time as I’m a bit nomadic spending time split between 2 houses. If I were to have a landline/broadband in each, plus the mobile, it could cost upwards of £60/month.

There are currently no limits on data/tethering use on Three with that £20/month SIM. There is nothing to stop Three changing their T&Cs in the future, if they do you can always change to another provider. Also, it might only work in a phone, as opposed to using it in one of those MiFi units.

The “unlimited” data is just that, except that as a shared resource on the local phone site the data rate will vary depending on others using their phones/tablets to watch videos and download software, etc. If you are near a caravan park on a wet weekend it could be painfully slow.

Cisco001

gabriel73195 wrote: »

Yes Virgin is available at least. I originally tried Virgin but I had a devil of a job to get it to work but the biggest problem was customer service which was so appalling that I went for the Sky deal

Thanks! I'll look into that. I've known people who've just used data sims that were quick and fast

Would that allow you to have a mobile phone you can walk around using and then have the wifi hub at home using unlimited free data? It probably wouldn't be enough for the entire house though as I'm assuming it would have some kind of cap but I'll look into it, thanks for the suggestion.
That's blistering fast and I assume that you are talking about 6 to 20 megabits per second as I always get the two confused and I think megabits is less than megabytes so on that slowest number you're getting 5 x the speed I currently get right now and the speed I get is fast enough to play games online and to watch netflix on an HD setting I think

You can talk on phone and share WiFi hot-spot at same time.
If you go down this route, you need to get a three sim to test the speed first.
It is location dependant.