Broadband Advice for first flat

jazzybadger

Hi there

First of all, any advice is greatly appreciated - thank you!

My partner and I are moving into our first rented home.

We are looking at broadband packages. Ideally we would be on a monthly rolling contract but these packages are much more expensive…

Does anyone have any advice? I am worried about taking a 12-24mnth contract incase we have to move. Do most of these contracts have a moving clause or would we be forced to keep paying or incure a huge fee?
We need good WiFi for WFH so want to avoid 5g packages.

Feel confused by what I’ve read online so far and what’s the best choice

cheers

flaneurs_lobster

Do you have any idea what infrastructure is already installed to the flat? FTTP, FTTC, Virgin, none?

Very likely that anything that involves an "install" will need the landlord's permission.

If having to move is a reasonable risk then look for a broadband supplier that has a "if we can't supply at your new address we will cancel" clause (I think BT/EE have this) but others will enforce stricter clauses.

Cisco001

You either go for the bb with 12 months contract and prepare to pay the cancellation charge when move out.

Or 5G mobile data and purchase own router.

Your mobile phone need to be on different network with high data allowance as back up. If the 5G data home broadband not work, hotspot from mobile.

For example, home use Three, your mobile use EE, your partner use O2

Giffgaff has monthly rolling based on virgin cable network. £29 per month. I think it is acceptable if you want the flexibility.

iniltous

As stated , major ISP’s generally will allow you to effectively take your broadband with you to a new address to avoid early termination charges , should you leave the current address while inside a minimum term , the larger ISP brands all tend to use Openreach who have the largest network availability of all , so taking a 12 or 24 month minimum term if it’s an ISP on Openreach is likely to be risk free , Virgin supposedly let you cancel without penalty if they can’t supply service to the new address , but this needs proof, something like a utility bill in your name for the new address so they can check if they have service there or not , that presumably means you pay early termination then get it refunded if the address is outside their network coverage , but as you are not likely to have a utility bill in your name for the new address before you quit VM at the current address , so that may be less attractive than Openreach who don’t need utility bills , they can see if the new address is served, and in most cases it will be .

Smaller networks are less likely to be available at both addresses so they are more likely to make you pay the early termination charges should you leave before the minimum term expires at the old address .

If you rent ,obviously another concern is if the new landlord (should you have to move ) is awkward and the network operator wants to install a new line for yiur existing ISP , because FTTP is available for example and the landlord refuses to allow it , that may be complicated as the network is available but it’s not being allowed , and although it’s not your fault (it’s the landlords fault ) you may end up on the hook for early termination charges in that event .

MikeJXE

I cancelled my sky broadband which had come to an end after 24 months

Because I will be moving in March I have taken on mobile internet

Asda rolling month £22 includes

Unlimited data calls and texts

I do browsing, news sites, here, banking, not tried YouTube yet

Speed a bit slower but I can live with that

iniltous

The OP states they want to avoid mobile broadband.

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82136182#Comment_82136182

This is hot-spotting from your phone?

Are you intending to do this for the next 6 months?

Not usually recommended to run a phone this way for an extended time, tends to run hot and add wear to the battery and components (even if on charge).

Well worth considering a cheap 4G MiFi for under £20 from eg CeX (rather more for a 5G version) and run a separate SIM just for data.

Cisco001

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82136182#Comment_82136182

£22 per month a bit too expensive.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ee-monthly-rolling-1000gb-data-unlimited-callstext-25gb-eu-roaming-wcode-4975261

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/three-1000gb-preloaded-5g-data-sim-per-month-loaded-each-month-until-july-2028-with-code-business-ps253-effective-per-month-4954297

If you don't have spare phone, you probably can get an old Asus router and do usb tenthering.