Home Broadband + Mobile SIM

RezUK

Hi all,

I am currently paying way over the top for my home broadband and mobile phone services at the moment, and wanted to get some advice on the best way to go...

My current setup:
Home: Virgin 100MB, Talk Weekend, Player TV - £54.50
Mobile: Unlimited Data & Texts + 200 Mins - £20.00

Some caveats are; For home, I only use my broadband. I don't own a phone and don't watch TV. For Mobile, I usually average around 10GB data usage per month, and I am starting to go over 200 mins, so a few extra minutes would be helpful. I own my phone outright, so I just use SIM-Only.

Is it usually more affordable if I try and combine both Home and Mobile together? Or should I be tackling my home broadband, and my mobile SIM separately?

I have been considering calling up Virgin and asking them for a better deal that only gives me broadband and will also give me a mobile SIM. What do you think?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated

Thanks,
Rez

[Deleted User]

You may be able to negotiate a better tariff with Virgin for internet only. MSE quotes £24 per month (with £75 cashback for new customers) which is a lot better than £54.50. Otherwise Now broadband has some reasonable deals at the moment eg Fibre for £25 incl free calls (which I know you say you don't need).

For mobile, you could consider something like GiffGaff which does 10GB + unlimited texts + unlimited calls for £12 per month and no fixed contract.

Total cost around £37 per month instead of your current £74.50 - something to use to negotiate with Virgin or actually take up.

RezUK

Hi Anactuary!
Thanks for the post
Some very helpful suggestions! I used Giffgaff a good few years back and really thought they were great - that’s an awesome deal, so I might have to go for that!

I’ve been noting down broadband deals so I have some negotiating budge when I enevitably call Virgin. Do you think it’s worth mentioning, when I call them, that I am interested in getting a Mobile SIM as well? Or would it be more likely I’ll get a deal separately?

Probably a difficult question to answer unless you work in retentions...

I’ve been looking at mobile sims for a while, and I’ve managed to completely miss out Giffgaff - so maybe I’ll go with them and just try and negotiate my bill down with Virgin so I only have broadband with them.

[Deleted User]

RezUK wrote: »

Do you think it’s worth mentioning, when I call them, that I am interested in getting a Mobile SIM as well? Or would it be more likely I’ll get a deal separately?

Probably a difficult question to answer unless you work in retentions...

In short, I don't know. I generally prefer to keep things separate as it's easier to see how competitive each part is in isolation, with the only exception being phone & broadband which pretty much come as a package now. Maybe play it by ear when you call.

cranford

The VM web site currently quotes £13 a month for a 5000 mins, unlimited texts and 15GB data for its sim.
Also quotes for new customers £35 a month for M100 BB only, no phone, with £35 fee but £50 cash back. Rising to £42 after 12 months.
M50 BB is same deal but £30 a month rising to £37.
I don't think VM will give you a new customer deal and without leaving and joining at least 3 months later. So you could reduce to £55 or £50 without any haggling.
If you change sim if you are happy with the reception VM is on the EE network. BT Mobile, Plusnet Mobile, Asda Mobile all use this network.
You could get a BB deal from one of the BT Open reach line companies starting form around £22 a month but you will need a BT line, the advantage being that once you have this working live you will easily be able to switch in the future rather than being tied to one company.

Biggus_Dickus

OP,
I’ve was a Virgin Fibre broadband customer (Broadband only, no Phone ,TV or Mobile) for 8 years;...I was on the Virgin Media M100 Fibre Broadband package @ £42/month until recently.
Fed up with their ever spiralling prices :mad: I gave Virgin 30-days notice and cancelled my contract. I then purchased a ‘Three’ Homefi 4G router with unlimited data on a 24 month package (£20/month);...it turned out to be a poor decision.

Because I’d bought the ‘Three’ 4G router online (as opposed to High street shop) I was able to cancel the ‘Three’ contract within 14-days.

I managed to negotiate a new (cheaper) broadband deal with Virgin but it meant dropping my speed to the M50 package, which suited me fine. I’ve never really needed 110Mbps download speed,...55Mbps download speed is more than adequate for me.

My new Virgin (18-months) Broadband M50 deal is: £19/month for 12 months, then £24 for 6-months;

....then £37/month.... or re-negotiate!