What is the cheapest basic broadband option if I move to hull?

cashmonger

I have been enjoying the cheap £12-15 per month broadband offers for a few years now as gathered from the offers on MSE, I really will miss that if I move to hull and there are no good alternatives.

I just looked on their website and they seem to be deliberately be hiding their basic broadband offer. I saw it in the small text in search engine with some text about adsl but when I get to their site you seem to get locked into circular clicking which only gives you 30mbs (fibre I presume) at £40 a month!!

I have no desire for such an overkill package like that. What is their cheapest adsl offering if it can be unearthed? since they are hiding it so well on their site.

I work online but I don't need a fast connection. I just need a slow stable connection and I can connect to servers (outside the hull area) for any work I would need to do with a faster connection. That is what I do already anyway, Kcom or no Kcom. I have the cheap bb deals and just do the intensive internet stuff on fast rented servers.

So is the state of affairs the same as when I was thinking of moving to hull a couple of years ago in that the only way to get something other than them is some sattelite or mobile 4g type of deal?

The main thing to find out is what their 'hidden' adsl prices are first of all. Since my requirements are very modest but the price I am sure will not be a tasty as those cheap bb deals but for an extra tenner a month or so it would be doable but £40 a month is ridiculous for a connection I would only use about 1/3rd of bandwidth wise.

I think when I looked last time the satellite etc options were somewhat competitive at around £20 a month or so if I recall correctly.

On the other hand the cost of living overall is probably slightly cheaper in hull than central yorkshire where I am now so maybe it will balance out .

Chino

cashmonger wrote: »

I have no desire for such an overkill package like that. What is their cheapest adsl offering if it can be unearthed? since they are hiding it so well on their site.

I don't know the answer to your question, but I came across a pro forma agreement on KCOM's website by which KCOM would allow resellers to offer KCOM's ADSL broadband to customers only if a customer cannot otherwise get a fibre-based service:
https://www.kcomplc.com/regulatory/kcom-wholesale/broadband/connect-broadband-adsl-residential/

This suggests that KCOM will not sell ADSL to a customer if they can instead sell a more expensive fibre service to the customer.

Ain't monopolies great? (albeit a de facto monopoly in this case)

DigForVictory

Check the Precise postcodes & move to not quite Hull but outside the monopoly area? That way you get most of the cost of living benefits & competitive broadband...

coffeehound

Satellite and 4G modem have significant up-front costs in the hundreds. Satellite delay is annoying too.

If you have unlimited data on your mobile contract, then tethering is a potential option, though.

cashmonger

DigForVictory wrote: »

Check the Precise postcodes & move to not quite Hull but outside the monopoly area? That way you get most of the cost of living benefits & competitive broadband...

Na I like to live centrally where everything is within walking distance so that is not for me. I will find some work around as I really am sold on Hull now believe it or not. I like how it is out int' middle of nowhere at the 'end of the line'.

£40 per month is a real 'kife'!

I'm sure I saw one of those gps type ones which had no startup costs or in line with highstreet ones and about £20 a month. Will have to look around. I can't remember what the technology was to search for it off hand but it was for people who live in very rural areas and such who would not otherwise have access to broadband and so would be possible to get in Hull too.

I'll start searching again.

From what I remember it was like a long distance wifi type of technology where the signal would go through the air from certain masts around the country.

Here it is! https://home.purebroadband.net/packages

And only £15 a month now that is in my price point! Though the data usage is going to really throttle me :P. I will find some workaround for that though. Could just hire a cheap commercial server outside of the area (only a couple dollars a month usually as I already work online and use them for work) for intensive things.

Just getting online at an affordable price is the main thing!

coffeehound

Yeh the rural broadband schemes for satellite and installed 4G systems are subsidised by the government, so the user doesn't have to pay the hardware and installation fees. Doubt K-u-H would qualify Yes I like Hull, too; it's got soul.

cashmonger

coffeehound wrote: »

Yeh the rural broadband schemes for satellite and installed 4G systems are subsidised by the government, so the user doesn't have to pay the hardware and installation fees. Doubt K-u-H would qualify Yes I like Hull, too; it's got soul.

Can you expand on what you said? I didn't really understand any of it. Went right over my head .

Why would they be subsidied by the government? and I have no idea what K-u-H is. Oh ye I see what it means now

EDIT: oh.. doing the calculations purebroadband turns out even worse when you factor in the £99 installation fee and £40 router. Not impressed by those 'hidden costs' of theirs. They only mention those in the small print.

Kcom ends up £1 cheaper. I asked them on live chat and their cheapest offering is £25 per month vs £26 with purebroadband with all the additional costs.

coffeehound

Kingston-upon-Hull

Sorry, yes: the rural broadband schemes are only for remote locations where even the copper phone lines are so bad that they can't support basic broadband. Therefore I don't believe Hull would qualify for the scheme.

So if you did want a permanent 4G installation (special antenna + router), or a satellite dish installation, then you would have to pay out £100s up-front for the hardware and installation.

Perhaps you were looking at the mini 4G 'mifi' hotspot routers? They would be a lot cheaper, and might be okay if you can get a good 4G signal.

However, if you were able to just use your existing phone data, and tether to a laptop or desktop computer, then that might save you the purchase price of the mini router. So that would be down to what your data allowance is, and whether it would work out cheaper than a Mifi router + SIM contract.

I'm currently using a Three PAYG add-on costing £90 for 3 months unlimited data usage, and tethering phone to laptop. It's entirely fine for everyday usage

cashmonger

coffeehound wrote: »

I'm currently using a Three PAYG add-on costing £90 for 3 months unlimited data usage, and tethering phone to laptop. It's entirely fine for everyday usage

I don't have a smartphone so there is that.

Never felt the need for one.