Phone & broadband for elderly relative

Thecreative

Hi all, hoping someone can give us advice, we have an elderly relative coming out of hospital shortly, shes currently on virgin for a non subscription tivo box and unlimited home phone calls 36.00 per month which will rise to 42.00 over next 24 months.
She uses her home phone a lot & ideally wants to keep the number in case anyone shes not in regular contact with calls.
We want to put broadband in so we can work from there and give her extra care however Virgin are being really unhelpful and wanting silly money for everything.
Hoping there is a better package available elsewhere, online comparison is deceptive as they don't add the phone till the end & its digital & very expensive.
Would we be better keeping the virgin and just going elsewhere for the broadband or does anyone offer a good value phone line?
Thanks 

QrizB

How long do you expect to need broadband for?

If it's only six months or so, it might be simpler to use mobile broadband and leave the Virgin service as it is 

Thecreative

Sadly open ended due to condition im afraid, 6 month- 2 years 

JSmithy45AD

With unlimited phone calls included that doesn't actually look disastrous TBH, Sky charge an extra £17 a month for the same. It's only £8 for Virgins.

If you can speak on their behalf then ask them to cancel the TV side of it only, not the phone line as that will lose the number.

That should prompt them to offer something better although they can offer better deals on TV, broadband & phone packages. Virgins slowest BB presumably should be fast enough for you.

iniltous

TBH , what is your price expectation, as landline telephony , especially compared to mobile telephony isn’t cheap ….BT offer a ‘deal’ for landline only customers (although this probably will not of interest as you state you want to get  broadband as well ) but the deal is to reduce the landline cost from £30 to around £15 for not having broadband, and the ‘unlimited’ calls plan from around £18 to £12 (that’s available to anyone prepared to haggle) so around £27 , this has to be bought  ‘over the phone’ , presumably in part to check no broadband from other providers is being used , once broadband is added , the costs with most providers won’t be massively different, cheap BT broadband with Unlimited phone (needs to be negotiated) can be around £38 but goes up each March , 24 month deal , Sky is  £42 (£25 broadband, £17 unlimited calls)  , but that may also  may be negotiable …you won’t really find much cheaper unless you go down the VoIP path , a third party VoIP provider , buying the extra equipment and porting the number out to one of these, but then you definitely need broadband .

TBH , if calls are the main requirement for your relative , then a mobile will probably be much more cost effective, you can get some phone instruments that look like a traditional phone but have a SIM in them ….you then pick whatever standalone broadband provider you want ….as far as TV , chances are Freeview+ will be very similar to the VM TiVo service .

JSmithy45AD

iniltous said:

TBH , what is your price expectation, as landline telephony , especially compared to mobile telephony isn’t cheap ….BT offer a ‘deal’ for landline only customers (although this probably will not of interest as you state you want to get  broadband as well ) but the deal is to reduce the landline cost from £30 to around £15 for not having broadband, and the ‘unlimited’ calls plan from around £18 to £12 (that’s available to anyone prepared to haggle) so around £27 , this has to be bought  ‘over the phone’ , presumably in part to check no broadband from other providers is being used , once broadband is added , the costs with most providers won’t be massively different, cheap BT broadband with Unlimited phone (needs to be negotiated) can be around £38 but goes up each March , 24 month deal , Sky is  £42 (£25 broadband, £17 unlimited calls)  , but that may also  may be negotiable …you won’t really find much cheaper unless you go down the VoIP path , a third party VoIP provider , buying the extra equipment and porting the number out to one of these, but then you definitely need broadband .

TBH , if calls are the main requirement for your relative , then a mobile will probably be much more cost effective, you can get some phone instruments that look like a traditional phone but have a SIM in them ….you then pick whatever standalone broadband provider you want ….as far as TV , chances are Freeview+ will be very similar to the VM TiVo service .

I was going to mention a mobile myself but they specifically say "ideally wants to keep the number in case anyone she's not in regular contact with calls."

JSmithy45AD

A  sad consideration but given the circumstances, make sure any contract is in their name as it simplifies matters when the time comes.

Thecreative

Thanks, she has a mobile I think her concern would be if anyone hasn't rung her fir a long time then they would lose contact.
Ideally use the mobile & leave the rest would as commented be at a lot easier.

Regards
Jamie

iniltous

There is (I believe) creative ways to get a landline number answerable on a mobile …basically port the number to VoIP , then set the VoIP service to automatically divert incoming calls to the mobile number …the caller is unaware , as they call the landline number in the same way as they they always have , it’s diverted automatically to the mobile number , the downside is potentially is the diverted part of the call charge is picked up by the VoIP account to be paid from the persons VoIP account, so the receiver of the call pays part of the call cost , even though it’s an incoming call .

littleboo

To add to the above, if you ported the number to Andrews and Arnold, and I'm sure with others too, you can set the call to be immediately answered by a custom voicemail message, advising the caller to redial using a new number

Or, use a VOIP client on a smartphone to receive the incoming calls from the ported number

Vitor

Look at Virgin/O2 'Volt' deals that bundle broadband/mobi/cable TV, could be worth it even if she needs to migrate mobi number to O2

IIRC Virgin offer a 'social tariff' called Essential Broadband so the relative may be eligible for that, check requirements

-  they don't add the phone till the end & its digital & very expensive. -

Has the relative already been moved to what Virgin brands "Fibre Phone" where handset plugs into back of router?

- We want to put broadband in so we can work from there and give her extra care -

If she’s coming home from hospital and needs “extra care”, that suggests her situation fits the criteria for receiving Attendance Allowance either at the Higher rate (£108.55/week) for help needed both day and night or Lower rate (£72.65/week) for help needed during the day. AA isn't means tested.