New flat - no landline but internet ready

[Joonyer]

Hi all -

Sorry if this is a question answerable by searching but I simply don't have time at the moment! Just moved into an apartment that has no phone line but is "internet ready" if that makes sense.

Basically here's what me and the mrs need: Unlimited ideally, or 40gb DL allowance at minimum. Gaming/ping/packet loss is irrelevant as I don't game and never plan to. Cheap and cheerful will do nicely - something always on.

O2 are doing a nice package for £12.50 a month at the mo - that one sound good?

Any recommendations highly appreciated Oh and we don't plan on getting a lane line!

Cheers,
/J

Hello

How is it "internet ready" without having a phone line? None of the fixed line providers offer broadband without you having a phone contract (a concept that is known as naked DSL).

Can you post more details on how this internet ready system works?

[Joonyer]

Well apparently the guy in there before us had internet access but didn't use a land line... perhaps he has a phone line enabled but just used the internet? I'm not at the flat at the mo so I'll ring the letting agent in a bit then get back to you in a couple of hours - thanks

/J

Most interested to hear how the previous tenant managed fixed line broadband without a telephone contract.. many people want this, but it's just impossible in the UK at present!

[Joonyer]

Yep you're right, I was misinformed, which is my fault for believing what I was told by the mrs!

Apologies for misleading you all, but at least we have an answer now - the guy before us did indeed have a landline. Will I be able to have internet access without paying the monthly line rental for the BT line? Because that's gona be like a tenner on top of the internet which is a bit annoying... We have no intention whatsoever of using a land line, we just don't need it ,but we need internet access so if that's what we need to do then so be it!

Any recommendations then please?

Also, why can't we just have dedicated broadband lines without having to get a BT phone line installed? Seems a bit old fashioned!

Cheers again,
/J

[Admin]

Hi Joonyer

The other replies are correct, you can't get fixed line broadband in the UK without having a phone contract as well.

What is your postcode? The best deals very much depend on where you live, you may be able to get an unbundled deal that covers the phone rental in the deal.. but ultimately yes, you need to add around a tenner to all the quoted broadband prices to cover line rental costs as well.

The other option you may want to look at is mobile broadband which will give you broadband internet access without the need for a fixed phone line, how good it is depends upon you being in a good signal area though.

Thanks
Admin

[Joonyer]

Hi again, thanks for the detailed response

I think it's stupid that we can't have dedicated broadband lines without a phone line, but hey ho, that's life I spose.

I've spoken to the other half and she doesn't want mobile broadband, for various reasons, so we're gona need to get a full connection.

We're in the CV37 area, does that help? Like I say we're not even remotely interested in a landline, so can you please recommend an ISP who will just include line rental in with the fee? I don't want the extra paper work to be honest, but will if need be!

Cheers again,
/J

[Admin]

Hi Joonyer

Thanks for the postcode area. You are going to have to get a phone line and contract on BT first for every single provider except Virgin Media Cable (if Virgin Media Cable is available on your street, they are present in the CV37 area, but it may not be to every property).

I think that the providers you should look at are:

Virgin Media Cable - as they have a low setup cost and will provide good speeds and good value running costs, no BT line required.

O2 Broadband - requires a BT line, but provide good speeds and great customer service, they are especially cheap if you are an O2 mobile customer (you get a £5 per month discount).

Plusnet - requires a BT Line, they are a standard ADSL provider so don't offer deals with such great speeds as O2 and Virgin, but of you are not heavy users then they can work out quite cheap, no long minimum term contract, excellent customer service, and they provide an option to roll in the telephone line rental into their hands.


Hope these give you something to think about

Thanks
Admin

[Joonyer]

Absolutely superb mate thanks - will chase those up now!

Much appreciated,
/J

[Joonyer]

Hi again - sorry to bump this topic but better than starting a new one!

I'm confused. Again.

Please accept my apologies, I'm really unsure how this stuff works. Now, in my 2nd year of uni we lived in a flat where there had never been a phone line of any sort, so we would need to pay like £75 to get a BT landline connected or something like that - we declined.

I presumed the situation in my current flat would be similar, except that the guy in here before us did have a phone line (and the connections are still here).

I just rang Virgin and the woman kept insisting that I need a BT landline before I can have their broadband. Does this mean I need to ring BT, and tell them to activate my landline, so I'm paying them monthly line rental, then get broadband on top of that?

If I ring plusnet, will they be able to take BT out of the picture for me, by just paying the line rental to them from my monthly fee? I don't want any landline calls and don't intend to have a phone connected, I JUST want internet access.

I'm unsure of what to do - plusnet seem to be my best option, but when I ring up, no one seems to understand what I'm getting at. I'm sitting in my flat staring at a wall socket where a phone would plug in, thinking "I just wana plug my modem-router in there and be online".

How can I do that? Oh and for the record I'm using one of those weird dongle things at the moment that I borrowed off a friend. I don't want one though, they're a bit ****.

Thanks again,
/J