New Phone line and Broadband help!

[T16GEM]

Ok so I am having a nightmare, DH and I moved into a new house about 2 years ago and we have never bothered to have the phone line installed or anything as we both have mobiles with free calls and I use the net at work and at DMs house.

Now my job has given me a laptop to work with from home some days so I will have to get connected at home, BT have quoted me £75 just to switch us on! all in all its going to cost about £50 per month for broadband and the phone line, DH says that we can't afford this, we both have new cars and what with being first time buyers etc we are already stretched. WOrk will not pay for the connection, so I wondered if anyone knows of a cheaper way to get connected?

I noticed an add for AOL today saying that they give unlimited broadband for £19.99 - is this really unlimited?

I need to DIS at home!! (well actually don't tell anyone I just want to DIS in the middle of the night when no body is around, I think I might find the tag fairy lurking!!!! )

Gems

 

[Miffy2003]

Hi Gems,

I have AOL "unlimited" for which I pay £24.99 per month but there is also an AOL package "unlimited" for £19.99. This is a little bit slower than the £24.99, and there is also a £29.99 per month package which is the "best"

I also have to pay my telephone rental and cost of calls to BT on top of this.

Does that help??

Karen

 

[TraceyL]

BT line rental cocts approx £10 per month if you pay by direct debit

Broadband costs from £17.99 upwards (think Wanadoo have recently launched a service at this price?) So pick your price

 

[tennisfan]

I have just switched over to Wanadoo broadband which is going to cost me £17.99 a month. The modem & connection is all free.

 

[TraceyL]

Wanadoo/Freeserve Broadband prices & services

 

[rhysd2]

wannado tend to have bandwidth limits for the month though.

BT's service comes with no email webspace or any frills.

AOL's service is great provided you arent adverse to the AOL program.

TBH i did a whole bunch of research a few months back before i got mine and AOL is the best value for money by far.

their service is 100% unlimted. you can surf any time of day or night for ever and ever without ever incurring any extra charges. plus you get your email and AIM all in one window which is handy. the new spam controls on their emails nice too and if you plump for the 24.99 a month version you get a personal software firewall and spyware checker thrown in(at least i did when i signed up)

one thing i will say is i live in a area where i cannot get NTL or cable and wireless services so be sure to check them out to just in case.

all in all it costs me about 35 pounds a month for phoneline AND my broadband. thats just a plane old bt line and the 24.99 aol connection.

i purchased a router too so that both my wife and myself can use the broad band connection at the same time. its magic

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Why dont you see if anyones doing wireless broadband in your area.

Its not as good as proper broadband, and is hopeless for network gaming, but should suit your purposes very well.

 

[AlanUK]

Hi Gems,

I think whatever broadband package you opt for you will still have to have the phone line connected by BT and subsequently pay them the rental charge + call costs

One thing to bear in mind when you look at the broadband packages would be how much control you are ultimately going to have over the laptop. For example if the AOL package requires it's own software, then will you be able to install it and will your work accept that you have this software installed on their machine.

Also whatever package you go for you will have to have either a modem (which will require installation) or a router which will require the laptop to be auto-configurable by the network.

These are all important things for you to get straight with your work before you commit to anything.

I am happy to answer any specific questions you might have about this.

Alan.

 

[Hilary]

Not wishing to gate-crash Gem's thread, but I'm interested to read all the replies as it saves me from asking the same things again later!

On the question of package costs, does anyone have a BT broadband package? I'm trying to find out whether there is one subscription package which would include the b/band connection and the phone line rental and the call charges for internet connections. Or is this a stupid question? - I'm not even sure whether there are any call charges for internet connections if you have b/band which is always connected!

My current BT Anytime package is great for including the ISP and phone charges for internet calls, and I'd hate to lose that if I swtiched to b/band when it comes to our area and find myself having to pay for all the bits separately.

 

[T16GEM]

Hilary, you have just asked some of the questions that I forgot to ask!
As for the AOL software issue etc, my boss said to me that "it will be good because you can use it at home and book holidays and stuff" so I presume that he is ok with having the software on the laptop.

 

[rhysd2]

as far as im aware theres no official "complete" bt package that includes both but they tend to change their mind on a daily basis so might be worth asking.

Hilary/gem

there are no call costs for using broadband. your effectivly perma connected for a flat price.

HOWEVER. some companies like wannado have a montly bandwidth limit. IE your allowed to use 1.5gb a month or something like that. once you go over this limit they will charge you per extra unit you use.

Last i checked though BT doesnt have a bandwidth limit and AOL definetly doesnt.

 

[tennisfan]

According to the advert BT have a 1GB allowance for the £19.99 package. Wanadoo is going to be 2GB for £17.99 or you could pay more & get a higher bandwidth limit. but at the moment they have stated they are not adhering to it at the moment. But when you read how much 2GB allows you, it would be surprising if you reach that amount each month.

 

[rhysd2]

eh i beg to differ. i download things on a regular basis. and visit sites that are very bandwidth intensive. a few hours of surfing plus more at the weekend or a few large downloads and your at 2gb. better to go for a non restrictive service IMO.

that way you never have to worry about it or think "oh i'd like to download this or watch this or look at that but i cant"

 

[TraceyL]

SOme examples of how much your 2GB will buy you here Hope it's of some help.

I've just switched from an unlimited 512Kbps service to a (cheaper) 6Gb 1Mbps service - hope I've done the right thing now

 

[Cochise]

I am with Nildram, it is £22.99 pcm but there are some great extras with that. Excellent newsgroup access is the major plus point here and they are so reliable, good cust services when things go wrong caps it all.

You can grab all you can with Nildram with no limits

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Originally posted by Cochise
I am with Nildram, it is £22.99 pcm but there are some great extras with that. Excellent newsgroup access is the major plus point here and they are so reliable, good cust services when things go wrong caps it all.

You can grab all you can with Nildram with no limits

I also find Nildram to be very good as an internet service (although their customer service leaves a lot to be desired). There is no competitor that can come close to the usenet provision Nildram include.

I would also never dream of using a capped service. My DAILY downloads are about 5Gb !

 

[Cochise]

Hi TRON[ADS] Pleased to meet you...

What on earth do you d/load in a day for 5gb?