is it possible to have telewest and bt lines?

jimbob_3

my mother has a telewest package at home covering phone and tv, however they are very expensive for the internet and unable to allow her to get broadband.

So i have 3 questions?

a) Is it possible to install a separate additional line ( which i would presume would have to be BT at least initially) to be used primarily for the internet and would there be a limit on how many sockets she could have in the house, (obviously she would like at least one socket upstairs where she has her computer)

b) How much would the installation cost ? (she did used to be on bt)

c) Once installed, would she then be able to switch to other providers and have access to all the usual isp packages etc

Thanks

Heinz

a) Yes, of course it is. As many sockets as wanted but only devices with a total REN value of 4 can theoretically be plugged in at any time (most phones and modems are REN1).

b) If a BT line has been in the house at any time in the past, connection should be free of charge (although additional sockets would be extra - £50 per socket IIRC.

c) Yes. BT are required by their licence to allow access to other service providers even if the subscriber only rents the line (£10.50 per month by DD) from them.

Woby_Tide

bear in mind that she'll then be paying 2 sets of phone line rental even if the 'new' BT line was for internet only

It is possible though, I have an NTL line installed and also reactivated the old BT line that was in the house when I moved in for ADSL

gazroe

the cost of a new line if no equipment is there is £75.
if you prevously had a bt socket and you removed it the cost would as be £75.
unless the telewest engineer removed and then it would free of charge
hope that helps

andy88_2

It sounds a lot of effort to spend all that on line rental, just for internet access. Are you sure that there are not other ways? Do they block other ISPs access numbers?

How much do ordinary calls cost, are some bundled in the package, and is it possible to use cheap calls providers like 1899 via their 08081 free number?

jimbob_3

yep ...

unfortunately weve tried all other possibilities and this will work out cheaper even with initial outlay, unless there is a way to use a cheap isp that i havent come across yet.

she does use 18899/ 18866 but i cant seem to get net by using these ... any suggestions?

andy88_2

jimbob wrote:

yep ...

unfortunately weve tried all other possibilities and this will work out cheaper even with initial outlay, unless there is a way to use a cheap isp that i havent come across yet.

she does use 18899/ 18866 but i cant seem to get net by using these ... any suggestions?

If you can find a geographic-type number for your ISP then you should be able to do it, but it may be that 18866/1899 recognise some numbers and block them, as has been discussed here before.

Some people have gone for US or German ISPs but I don't think you can expect the chances of free from 1899 to these to be as sustainable as UK numbers. Presumably you're not tied to any particular ISP at the moment, and could sign up with any?

But some monthly ISP acounts have free 08089 calls; doesn't Telewest like these?

bbb_uk

andy88 wrote:

It sounds a lot of effort to spend all that on line rental, just for internet access....

I agree with Andy. How about your mother switching to BT for her line rental and ditching Telewest? She would benefit from a lot cheaper calls and it then wouldn't be a waste of money having to pay line rental twice. This is assuming your mother is outside her minimum term contract.

andy88_2

bbb_uk wrote:

I agree with Andy. How about your mother switching to BT for her line rental and ditching Telewest? She would benefit from a lot cheaper calls and it then wouldn't be a waste of money having to pay line rental twice. This is assuming your mother is outside her minimum term contract.

depends how much the bundled in effective line rental is

don't give up the 1899 idea though, as this is possible

bbb_uk

andy88 wrote:

depends how much the bundled in effective line rental is

Telewest always charge normal price for line rental regardless of any 'bundle' you have. I think NTL do free line rental when you have certain bundles though.

What Telewest do though is reduce the monthly cost of the tv if you have their telephone as well. I discovered this recently when we transferred our telephone to BT. They wanted to charge us £4 extra for our TV (because we didn't have their telephone). I rung them up and said cancel that then as well as we can switch over to Sky and pay less and cancel the broadband as well. In an effort to keep us, they offered to price match the TV with that of Sky's including the extra box we had (normally £15 on telewest but only £10 on Sky) and put me on 512k bb for £17.99 which at the time £17.99 got you only 256k bb but after I said it wasn't worth it and a lot of other companies are doing it less (AOL included) they proceeded to 'up' my speed to 512k for same price (effectively price matching AOL, etc). Since then though they have upgraded all existing customers who only had 256k to 512k for same price.

I believe NTL go more out of their way to keep you as a customer than Telewest. This may change though, if they do become one company.

andy88_2

now I'm confused; it sounds like being with Telewest but cancelling all the parts of the deal :rotfl: