John Lewis offer: £49.99 additional charge when openreach router already in property?

GervisLooper

Just John Lewis a ring and they told me the same as macman said. I don't remember that ever happening in the past when I switched from sky to plusnet or vice versa for example...oh, is it because I was still living there and the line would be live but in this case the line has been ceased? I presume that is the case as the reason for the discrepancy in my mind. Helps my understanding to have that cleared up.

The support fellow said that it costs them £100 to reconnect the line but that they only charge £49.99. It eases the decision making process to know that the line activation is mandatory which I was not clear on before (thought it was some kind of error having seen the router and presuming it was not needed).

But it looks all companies are much of a muchness now in terms of price. Either £18 per month with no cashback and lower/waived activation fee or £49.99 and cashback.

I don't like the idea of an engineer having to come in the house however I work from home so gotta have internet.

matelodave

In most cases you dont need an Engineer visit, however in the even that one is required you don't really have too much of a choice if you want the service.

However, the obvious work around it to see if a 4g solution would satisfy your requirements. It doesn't need any wiring, the modem or Mifi unit can be put where ever you get the best performance and you can install an external antenna to improve it. You just need to ensure that you've got a decent 4g/5g service where you live - http://www.three.co.uk/store/broadband/home-broadband/affiliates or https://shop.ee.co.uk/broadband/4g-home-broadband

Farway

GervisLooper said:

JJ_Egan said:

Have a look yourself  some do not charge .First three i see for my postcode  say  no setup charge .

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/

Though OP puzzling with mention of Open Reach router   makes me wonder if its an Open Reach ONT box not a router .

 Has something drastic happened in the last 12 months since the last time I came to do this stuff?

Hopefully this was tongue in cheek?

GervisLooper

matelodave said:

In most cases you dont need an Engineer visit, however in the even that one is required you don't really have too much of a choice if you want the service.

However, the obvious work around it to see if a 4g solution would satisfy your requirements. It doesn't need any wiring, the modem or Mifi unit can be put where ever you get the best performance and you can install an external antenna to improve it. You just need to ensure that you've got a decent 4g/5g service where you live - http://www.three.co.uk/store/broadband/home-broadband/affiliates or https://shop.ee.co.uk/broadband/4g-home-broadband

I plan to use a dongle for a month on pay as you go just til I get the wired connection but 3/4g all the time I am paranoid about it the health implications; sure I have read all the research that it is safe but I am hypochondriac. The only thing that might put my mind at ease I thought is to buy one of those wifi detector devices and see if there is any increase vs usual background when dongle is on vs not on but just hadn't got around to making that test. Besides that, wired is always best due to no packet loss.

Regarding then engineer there was a gas inspection which my current flat foisted upon us only the other month so I suppose it would be no worse than that.

Farway said:

Hopefully this was tongue in cheek?

Lol, did not cross my mind when writing but just cos that happened doesn't mean it was the cause of the hike, correlation does not equal causation.

--

Can the cashback sites get any gains on deals where there was otherwise no gift card offer?

or maybe a black friday deal? will keep looking.

dolcelatte

JJ_Egan said:

Have a look yourself  some do not charge .First three i see for my postcode  say  no setup charge .

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/

Though OP puzzling with mention of Open Reach router   makes me wonder if its an Open Reach ONT box not a router .

Plusnet seem to be separating a "setup charge" from "installation fee" that they fail to mention in advertising but sneak in when you place the order.  It's sharp practice and shouldn't be allowed. 

GervisLooper

dolcelatte said:

JJ_Egan said:

Have a look yourself  some do not charge .First three i see for my postcode  say  no setup charge .

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/

Though OP puzzling with mention of Open Reach router   makes me wonder if its an Open Reach ONT box not a router .

Plusnet seem to be separating a "setup charge" from "installation fee" that they fail to mention in advertising but sneak in when you place the order.  It's sharp practice and shouldn't be allowed. 

Having checked a few of the comparison sites I see now how sneaky this is because they and John Lewis (which I hear is also Plusnet reseller) show £0.00 setup fees on the comparison site and it is only deep into checkout that the £49.99 is slipped in at like the last page before confirmation of order.

macman

It's already heavily discounted at £49.99: the BT rack rate for a line install is £140. 
But anyone paying that is obviously not a frequenter of these forums...

mohammed1111

NowTv don't charge for a new line

chainwheel

John Lewis are always out of stock , Sunset business now.  Stick with Bt and Voda they have decades of service behind them .

AlfieWilko1950

Most internet providers who piggy back on the BT network have their own equipment installed in the BT exchanges so whilst there might not be the need for an engineer visit there is sometimes external switching to do or occasionally a visit to the exchange.
It isnt just  a case of there already being a line there.