Land Line

[emmie]

you have to have a land line to run the internet, i am assuming that is the case, i am concerned that i am paying a small fortune to the ISP for line rental alone, that is without the few calls i make, is there no way to circumvent this, or perhaps find a much cheaper supplier. I have a landline/broadband package, with after 7pm and weekend calls free, but my last monthly bill was close on 30 quid, which is now a lot of money i am having to find... i don't use the mobile much for calls..
supplier is Talktalk...

[sandyRoe]

I don't know, Emmie, but I'll watch this thread with interest. I have a phone line I never use.

[emmie]

thing is the monthly line rental is now 15.45, that is without calls, so it's not cheap, and i will have to start saving some money somehow.

[LochNessMonster]

They are all the same dude, got us with the short and curlies. I'm in the same boat as you.

Nessie :(

[Old_Geezer]

You need some kind of connection. Phone/copper wire is usual but cable is an option. Point is that the Internet access supplier need not be the same firm as who provides the physical connection. Directly or indirectly BT probably supplies your connection.

Given that you need one, it's best to accept the cost would be much the same however they chose to split it between voice or data. If they made calls free the data connection cost would rise, and if they made data free line rental for the calls would rise.

Aside from going to comparison sites to see what is available in your area, I'm unsure what to suggest. You can only go for the best deal at the time of looking.

[VHG]

>>>you have to have a land line to run the internet

Not true.

You can buy a "dongle" from most of the mobile phone companies. Look under "mobile broadband".

The dongle plugs in to your USB port and gives you access to the internet via the "mobile phone" signal.

However not sure if it will be any cheaper.

Examples here (but all the mobile phone companies do them)

http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-broadband

http://www.vodafone.co.uk/shop/dongles-and-mobile-wi-fi/index.htm

[pixie373]

Same for me. I don't have a landline phone, as use mobile and hate cold calls. But have internet. £33 a,quarter.

[VHG]

Forgot to add, you can get a "pay as you go" dongle (rather like a pay as you go phone).

You get the dongle (often free) and add so many minutes to it (for £10 or whatever).

Then you use those minutes, and when they are all gone your add more (you can do this online).

That way you are not paying a fixed amount each month, you pay as and when you use it.

[factor-fiction]

My phone line rental is £8.72 + VAT= £10.46 per month with YourCallsNet. I get things such as free local calls in the evening and as I make very few calls (as I tend to use my mobile in the day) my bill is typically £12 a month.
So it may be worth you shopping around.
I do wonder though what would happen if I cancelled- would my line (which was installed initially by BT) get cut off or might I continue to receive my Sky broadband.

[pixie373]

And i get charged £5 a month for NOT having Talktalk. How does that work?!

[Old_Geezer]

True, you can use mobile for connection but that means you have to pay for data connection from a mobile company. I don't use that as I'm on PAYG and just use my WiFi for data, so I'm unsure about speed on G3, but you do have the option of G4 now. I guess if you already pay out for a contract mobile account with so called "unlimited data" then it may work out for you.

[emmie]

i would like to keep the land line phone for home, it's more useful to me than mobile, which as i said i really don't use much, so how does that work if you buy a dongle... is that just for the broadband?

[emmie]

originally with BT but they turned into a joke that wasn't remotely funny.

[emmie]

their charges have increased quite dramatically in the last year.
i was paying roughly 20 quid a month... now it's almost 30 quid.

[hc4361]

Consider changing supplier - there are some good deals to be had, such as this one.

http://www.plus.net/offers/juice9/unlimited/?affiliate=broadbandchoices&WT.mc_id=aff_003bpd

[bazwillrun]

You will see that as all these companies are now in fierce competition, as the price of the BB goeas down so the line rental will steadily increase.
Average used to be about £10pm now around £14-15pm !

there are a couple of them that offered a reasonablel reduction in the line rental cost if you paid for the whole year upfront.

As it stands they have everybody by the short and curlies, until decent and affordable 5G and further comes along they know we need their line rental.

This is where they are making a lot of their money.
BT owns just about every copper cable that was laid down all those years ago and until they reduce the wholesale costs to the other ISP's not much will change.