Process for getting broadband when I move home

bigpat

I've been with Virgin for a long time and haven't had a landline in about 10 years, so I've forgotten how some things work. 

I'm moving house fairly soon, to an area where Virgin is not available, so I'll need a new provider. How long will it take and what arrangements - if any - should I make before the move? I'm told that there is currently good WiFi at the house I'm buying, but who owns the equipment?

• If the equipment is left behind, is it just a quick job to sign into/connect to whatever new package I get?
• Or do you need a whole new installation when you move? If so how long does it take?
• Or can you somehow take over the existing supply from the vendor and keep it for a month or so while you sort things out?

Thanks

Neil_Jones

If you're currently in contract with Virgin and you move to an area they don't supply early cancellation fees will apply.

Its more likely than not that your new house will have a phone line, just not connected.  Pick a BT based provider, bash your address in and they'll sort it all out for you.  If a new physical line is required the provider will sort that out.

"good Wi-Fi at the house" only applies a) where the router is, and b) based on what's there now.  Doesn't guarantee you'll get good wi-fi.

bigpat

Neil_Jones said:

Pick a BT based provider, bash your address in and they'll sort it all out for you.

Any idea how long "sort it all out" will take and when I can start? Ideally I'd like broadband on day 1 or 2. I work from home and can't take much time off.

Neil_Jones

Depends what needs to happen at the house and what state it's in now.  If the existing homeholder is still using their connection and will continue to do so until they step out the front door on the morning of moving, you're pretty much stuck.

Back in 2010 when I moved in where I am now it took 17 days as it just needed reactivating at the exchange and then "ordering".  Timescales may be different now.  If somebody from Outreach needs to come could be a bit longer.

Remember you'll have 14 day cooling off as well, so that's automatically a wait of at least two weeks assuming you pick somebody on Day 1 when you get the keys.

Look into mobile broadband as a temporary measure.  Yes it'll cost more without a contract but if you get decent signal (at the new house) and you can temporarily absorb the costs it'll probably tide you over.

southsidergs

Neil_Jones said:

Depends what needs to happen at the house and what state it's in now.  If the existing homeholder is still using their connection and will continue to do so until they step out the front door on the morning of moving, you're pretty much stuck.

Back in 2010 when I moved in where I am now it took 17 days as it just needed reactivating at the exchange and then "ordering".  Timescales may be different now.  If somebody from Outreach needs to come could be a bit longer.

Remember you'll have 14 day cooling off as well, so that's automatically a wait of at least two weeks assuming you pick somebody on Day 1 when you get the keys.

Look into mobile broadband as a temporary measure.  Yes it'll cost more without a contract but if you get decent signal (at the new house) and you can temporarily absorb the costs it'll probably tide you over.

That's a bit dramatic, op if you have a moving in date & the existing occupier is using the openreach (not outreach) network & they've not placed a cancellation order you can just place an order to take over with whatever supplier you want from the day you move in (or after if too close to move in date) This will then cancel the existing occupiers service automatically as well. There's usually a 2 week timeframe for this working line takeover so the more notice you can give the better. The same 2 weeks would be a good guideline at least if there's no openreach line for an engineer visit but that depends on engineer availability in that situation

On the other hand though if they're using an openreach  & have placed the cancellation for their broadband that usually causes issues & means you have to wait until their service stops before you can place an order, you may luck in & get activation in a few days in that case as the bb supplier may know there's a line there already but it's too difficult to say if that would be the case upfront

Mister_G

Neil_Jones said:

If you're currently in contract with Virgin and you move to an area they don't supply early cancellation fees will apply.

Is this not true then?

Virgin Media O2 UK Scraps Exit Charges for Off Net Home Movers - ISPreview UK

Neil_Jones

Mister_G said:

Neil_Jones said:

If you're currently in contract with Virgin and you move to an area they don't supply early cancellation fees will apply.

Is this not true then?

Virgin Media O2 UK Scraps Exit Charges for Off Net Home Movers - ISPreview UK

https://www.virginmedia.com/legal/fibre-optic-services-terms-conditions/early-disconnection-fees seems to suggest otherwise.

Mister_G

Perhaps someone who has left Virgin recently because of moving to an unserved area could let us know?

HaroldWren5

bigpat said:

Neil_Jones said:

Pick a BT based provider, bash your address in and they'll sort it all out for you.

Any idea how long "sort it all out" will take and when I can start? Ideally I'd like broadband on day 1 or 2. I work from home and can't take much time off.

With some Broadband providers, you can set your "start date" when you are signing up. This is usually within 14 days from when you are ordering with Full Fibre (with an Openreach Broadband supplier) for instance. There is usually a list of dates when you sign up to choose from for when the new line will activate. So you'd want to get that closely aligned with whenever you want Day 1 to be at your new property. You can even make it Day 0 (the day before) if it's available on the list. 

Check if you can get FTTP (Full Fibre) as well. Especially if you don't need a "phone" landline. 

bigpat

HaroldWren5 said:

bigpat said:

Neil_Jones said:

Pick a BT based provider, bash your address in and they'll sort it all out for you.

Any idea how long "sort it all out" will take and when I can start? Ideally I'd like broadband on day 1 or 2. I work from home and can't take much time off.

With some Broadband providers, you can set your "start date" when you are signing up. This is usually within 14 days from when you are ordering with Full Fibre (with an Openreach Broadband supplier) for instance. There is usually a list of dates when you sign up to choose from for when the new line will activate. So you'd want to get that closely aligned with whenever you want Day 1 to be at your new property. You can even make it Day 0 (the day before) if it's available on the list. 

Check if you can get FTTP (Full Fibre) as well. Especially if you don't need a "phone" landline. 

Thank you, very useful information here.

The estate agent agreed to pass my number on to the vendor and we've actually had a friendly chat today. He's going to leave his broadband connected when he moves out, giving me a time to decide whether the existing service he has with BT will be OK, or whether I want to go with another provider. I offered to pay his April bill (£39) but he says just buy him a drink when I move, as he's not going far. Top bloke!!

I've checked the new address on https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/ and I'm getting various packages starting from £17.95. BT are offering one called Fibre2 with "Full fibre promise" i.e. upgrade when it's available. But it's £32.99.

The website is a bit puzzling though. 

• OneStream Fibre 80 £17.99 Average speed 67Mb, but underneath it says "Our speed checker shows you should get speeds between 73Mb and 74Mb."
• BT Fibre 2 £32.99 Average speed 67Mb, but underneath it says "Our speed checker shows you should get speeds between 79Mb and 80Mb."

Are the speed checks done at that exact address? (I did put in the postcode and actual house number) and if so are they likely to be more reliable than the "average speeds" ? If that's the case, then nearly double the cost for and extra 6-7Mb doesn't seem worth it.

I can't seem to tell whether either of these are FTTP though. But that's a good point because I have no need for a landline. I currently pay for one (it's cheaper that way for some reason) but haven't had a handset plugged in for years!

HaroldWren5

bigpat said:

HaroldWren5 said:

bigpat said:

Neil_Jones said:

Pick a BT based provider, bash your address in and they'll sort it all out for you.

Any idea how long "sort it all out" will take and when I can start? Ideally I'd like broadband on day 1 or 2. I work from home and can't take much time off.

With some Broadband providers, you can set your "start date" when you are signing up. This is usually within 14 days from when you are ordering with Full Fibre (with an Openreach Broadband supplier) for instance. There is usually a list of dates when you sign up to choose from for when the new line will activate. So you'd want to get that closely aligned with whenever you want Day 1 to be at your new property. You can even make it Day 0 (the day before) if it's available on the list. 

Check if you can get FTTP (Full Fibre) as well. Especially if you don't need a "phone" landline. 

Thank you, very useful information here.

The estate agent agreed to pass my number on to the vendor and we've actually had a friendly chat today. He's going to leave his broadband connected when he moves out, giving me a time to decide whether the existing service he has with BT will be OK, or whether I want to go with another provider. I offered to pay his April bill (£39) but he says just buy him a drink when I move, as he's not going far. Top bloke!!

I've checked the new address on https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/ and I'm getting various packages starting from £17.95. BT are offering one called Fibre2 with "Full fibre promise" i.e. upgrade when it's available. But it's £32.99.

The website is a bit puzzling though. 

• OneStream Fibre 80 £17.99 Average speed 67Mb, but underneath it says "Our speed checker shows you should get speeds between 73Mb and 74Mb."
• BT Fibre 2 £32.99 Average speed 67Mb, but underneath it says "Our speed checker shows you should get speeds between 79Mb and 80Mb."

Are the speed checks done at that exact address? (I did put in the postcode and actual house number) and if so are they likely to be more reliable than the "average speeds" ? If that's the case, then nearly double the cost for and extra 6-7Mb doesn't seem worth it.

I can't seem to tell whether either of these are FTTP though. But that's a good point because I have no need for a landline. I currently pay for one (it's cheaper that way for some reason) but haven't had a handset plugged in for years!

That's great with checking out the existing service. The other option is to go for a 30 day rolling contract with Cuckoo (an Openreach broadband provider) and see how the speed/connection is. In very general terms, it's the same Openreach line, so you're choosing between various companies for customer service/billing/price. Another option would be also 4G internet (Mobile broadband) with a little Mifi device from Vodafone, O2, Three etc with Unlimited Data SIMs as either broadband, or a backup. 

Yes, I think you can check the comparison sites for prices, but perhaps to check the speed either check the Wholesale checker, or go to a broadband provider's own website and use the address checker on those to see what speeds they offer. The check is for the actual address. The speed will be variable for FTTC (effectively Copper from the property to a Cabinet) and more susceptible to external factors such as distance, weather, number of people connected on the Exchange etc. Thus the speed is sold to you as "Up to". The actual speed may vary. The general average speed is usually more accurately stated on the Openreach Wholesale checker (it will still say up to). 

The products you mentioned are FTTC. They call them (incorrectly) Fibre, or Superfast in general. FTTP is usually marketed (more correctly) as Full Fibre, Ultrafast, Gigabit etc. 

With FTTP, then it's a whole new ball game. It's Full Fibre all the way to the property from the national network (via nodes, or the exchanges). So the speed is more guaranteed all the way to the property (to the router). And more reliable/constant and less dependent on outside factors. The Wholesale checker will say "FTTP is available" if it is, and generally Broadband provider's websites will show a full range of FTTP products once available. (The exception being Vodafone who have infamously not consistently provided all FTTP speeds via Openreach despite others choosing to do so, although they do via CityFibre).

One other thing is to check in the local area whether any "alternative" FTTP suppliers are building - such as (but not limited to) CityFibre (via Vodafone), Youfibre, Hyperoptic etc etc. And yes, generally speaking once you can get Full Fibre, it's well worth it!