Looking for a Broadband Provider who won't charge extra to reconnect an existing BT line

Molly4

JJ_Egan said:

Yes you move from Open Reach network to VM network . Better to negotiate a better price .

I did negotiate with with Virgin Media but their lowest price was still to high and more than I am paying now. Also my Virgin Media service has been rubbish for months now. 

bill888

fwiw, to get any decent retention deal out of Virgin, you had to give them 30 days notice and cancel all services.  Then if you are lucky, their 'Outbounds team' would phone you within a week and make you an offer.  Customers cannot contact Outbounds team.    eg. VM100 for say £25 or less.

When  you say Virgin has been rubbish, are you referring to the 'wifi' signal, or the incoming broadband/internet connection to the pretty awful Virgin Hub 3?  Are ethernet wired devices affected ?

Molly4

I use wireless so I do not know if ethernet wired devices are affected. I keep getting "server unavailable" browsewr freezing and websites telling me I am not connected to the internet. Things like iPlayer keep being disconnected, again no signal and I have to keep resetting the router. 

bill888

When one of your wireless devices loses internet, are all the other wireless devices affected too?

I think you need to connect something to the hub with ethernet like a laptop or smart TV for example if you wish to identify if loss of internet is confined to just wifi devices, or Everything.

If both wired and wireless devices are affected, an engineer visit is likely required as it is the incoming cable to your property probably at fault.

If only wifi devices are affected, the issue is with the hub, and sadly it may involve some expenditure if a replacement from Virgin doesn't fix the problem, such as buying a new 3rd party router from Argos/Amazon/Currys etc.

fwiw, I don't believe BT charge reconnection fee if you take both phone and broadband.  But they are expensive.  If you are taking superfast fibre, I thought I read Vodafone stopped charging new line connection fees.  Perhaps consider NOW Broadband as they are part of Sky and so may have a lower connection fee.

Molly4

I've had Virgin for just under a year. Initially it was great. Then the problems started when there were national problems a few months ago. 

JJ_Egan

Again if its wifi then its not the incoming service from VM   usually  .

Molly4

JJ_Egan said:

Again if its wifi then its not the incoming service from VM   usually  .

I have less than a month left with Virgin and as the faults are intermittent then I can put up with it. 
Going back to my orgininal post about finding a Broadband provider at a reasonable cost. What I also found with a lot of providers is that you have to pay more to actually be able to use your landline for outgoing calls (a call package). This is on top of your line rental, line connnection or replacement fee and broadband amount. So for me personally BT was the best so far. No connection charge whether my line works after a years break or needs replacing and no additional costs to use my landline for incoming and outgoing calls.

JJ_Egan

Calls package is usually for a better price than standard call charges  .

BT free weekend calls with BB  or Anytime package or 700 mins at £xxx pm . Really depends upon what you spend on calls pm .

Chino

JJ_Egan said:

BT free weekend calls with BB  or Anytime package

Are these plans available to new customers?

bill888

molly57. said:

So for me personally BT was the best so far. No connection charge whether my line works after a years break or needs replacing and no additional costs to use my landline for incoming and outgoing calls.

fwiw NOW currently offers free Anytime calls for 12 months with their fibre products.  All for £23 pm.

Does the BT package include (outgoing) Calls?
Unlimited Minutes call plan  £15 pm extra.
I think their 700 mins call plan costs £7 pm extra.
'Pay As You Go' for all calls.
I didn't think BT offered free weekend calls any more, but I could be wrong.
(There is no charges for taking incoming calls)