Broadband without a long 12/18 month contract - NOW & Cuckoo

Jeff_Dee

I'm moving into a rental for 6 months only and I need a broadband connection without a lengthy 12-18 month contract. The house already has a BT phone line and the line is live. No need to transfer an existing phone number, it's in a different area anyway.
I haven't had to investigate the broadband market for many years so I'm completely out of touch with recent developments, but in the old days you had to have a BT line and pay them a rental. Also you had to have a phone service, even if you didn't use it.

Looking at the market for a 1 month rolling contract I found NOW (and Cuckoo offering a similar product, but NOW is cheaper).

1) Would this really cost just the setup (£60) and the monthly fee (£22) without any extra costs, i.e. any extra cost to BT for the line? Seems too good to be true!

2) Would I have to also sign up to a NOW TV package as well or is that optional?

3) How long typically does it take from the order beng placed to the service going live?

biscan25

Have you considered three if you are in a strong 5g area? It has a minimum term but you can take it with you.
Other providers may also allow you to port, or you can cancel if they are not in your new area (famously not with Virgin).

Now use Openreach, the cost of connection to the line will be included in the £60. Seems a good deal overall.

neilmcl

Jeff_Dee said:

I'm moving into a rental for 6 months only and I need a broadband connection without a lengthy 12-18 month contract. The house already has a BT phone line and the line is live. No need to transfer an existing phone number, it's in a different area anyway.
I haven't had to investigate the broadband market for many years so I'm completely out of touch with recent developments, but in the old days you had to have a BT line and pay them a rental. Also you had to have a phone service, even if you didn't use it.

Looking at the market for a 1 month rolling contract I found NOW (and Cuckoo offering a similar product, but NOW is cheaper).

1) Would this really cost just the setup (£60) and the monthly fee (£22) without any extra costs, i.e. any extra cost to BT for the line? Seems too good to be true! 

2) Would I have to also sign up to a NOW TV package as well or is that optional?

3) How long typically does it take from the order beng placed to the service going live?

1) The line rental cost is included in the total monthly charge to your ISP.
2) Now Broadband is a totally separate service so no, you don't have to take their TV offering.
3) There's a minimum 14 days until you're service can go live I believe.

Also, one thing you may want to consider is if you use a cashback service such as Topcashback or Quidco you may get £90 cashback but I don't think this will work in tandem with your £60 up front (no contract fee) but it may be cheaper in the long run if you have the service for 6 months or more.

Jeff_Dee

Thanks Neil, looks like some rare good news then. And Biscan, the mobile broadband looks like a useful option to cover the gap between moving in and going live with the wired service. 

The ultimate option would be Elon Musk's Starlink which has had some good reviews, and at some stage he reckons it will be portable, and not locked to a specific geo-location. Very expensive though compared to the others at the moment, but good if you end up in the sticks with no fast wired or mobile coverage.