Help with broadband/phone packages

The difficulty broadband providers have is that, unless they have fibre into an area, they have to use copper telephone wires which already carry the landline. The broadband connection is shared with the landline, the broadband signals are just carried at higher frequencies along the landline wires.

If you have cable (such as cable TV), broadband can also be carried over that but you are as unlikely to get cable in a rural area as optic fibre.

There are some options offered by mobile phone providers but they are likely to be expensive too. For example BT offer a 4G antenna that can be put up on your house, they cost about £60 per month but there is also an installation charge. Your home phone package is more expensive than ours but we have reasonable access to networks and telephone exchanges.

Have you tried other providers or talking to your phone provider to see if you can get a cheaper package using your landline? I'm afraid it may take a while before rural areas catch up.

Many thanks for your reply. We will be trying bt who are our provider at present to see if we can negotiate a better package, DH has looked online and they are offering a broadband/phone package for £24.95 for new customers so maybe we can shame them into a better one for existing loyal customers. We’ve both just retired and I only have state pension and DH state plus small company one so are desperate to cut down our monthly outgoings. We’re asking around friends to see what they have too so hopefully we can cut it down. Thankyou again for your reply.

If BT won't give you a much better deal (you are paying way more than you should) then switch supplier. If you look on one of the comparison sites you will find the best one for your area. I have landline and broadband with Plusnet (owned by BT).

Janweb65
I am with BT. You must call them each year (depending on contract length) just before the contract ends to renegotiate the cost of the new contract or they will automatically put you on the highest rate contract which it looks like you are on. I am paying half what you are paying and I have my SIM card with them too. My contact ends next week and I will call them on Monday and either keep the price I am currently getting, get it for less or look elsewhere.
Tell them you can only afford to pay no more than about £35 what package can they offer you. You hopefully will get your current package for that price.

Ok didn't know about plusnet will certainly look at that . Good to know you agree we're paying too much so hopefully we can get a better deal.

I transferred my landline and broadband from BT to Plusnet, having used several comparison websites to see what was available in this rural location. I switched using Broadband Genie and got a £50 Amaz0n giftcard as a reward.

I'd been with BT for many years, and on the odd occasion I'd switched elsewhere I always went back to them. The last round of price increases took my payments to £65/month for a landline that I never use for outgoing calls, and fibre broadband but it's only to the 'box', a mile away in the village centre, so the broadband speed here at home is never going to be superfast. I pay about £7 a month to Plusnet, on an 18 month contract, and I paid the year's line rental in advance. Plusnet is owned by BT anyway, I still have the answering service 1571, caller display, everything is the same except the price.

I rang BT when they emailed the price increase and they offered to change my package to one saving just a few pounds a month. I rang them again when I got a firm price from Plusnet and they wouldn't budge further. Three days after I'd committed to Plusnet and BT had notice that I was leaving them, one of their retentions team rang me to discuss all the options, they still wouldn't have matched it but in any case it was too little, too late, and they'd had multiple opportunities to tempt me to stay. It's such a shame that the best deals are for new customers, not loyal ones.

Good luck OP, I'm sure you can do very much better than the package you're on at present.

Usually ringing up your provider and saying you want to leave inspires them to make you a better offer. However, if you are serious about leaving do remember that you may have to pay the balance on your contract.

We live in a rural area and the broadband speed is so bad we cancelled the land line package. We now get our internet through 4G, our provider is EE, but you would need to check which company gives you the best coverage. The 4G is very reliable and gives us fast speeds without needing a landline.

Many thanks to all who have replied to my advice query. Looks like we have a few options and will pursue these. I'll report back when we've received a better deal. Thanks again ?

I was with BT and paying, like yourselves, well over the odds.

I have been with Plusnet for 5 years +, rarely pay more than £16 a month and I get "free" calls for an hour 24/7.

I have talktalk who I am very satisfied with. I pay £28 a month which includes line rental, any time phone calls except for premium priced numbers and broadband. Each year when it needs renewing a deal had been sorted for me. My son who is with BT has a similar deal and pays about £48.

Really interesting Thankyou so much.

Hi all Thankyou for all your help. We’ve been back to BT and re negotiated our package so down from £70 to £37! Extremely pleased with it, don’t know why we didn’t do it before. Thanks again everyone xx

Well done Janweb, be prepared to haggle again when your contract finishes.
The same goes for insurances on house or car too.

Thankyou yes definitely will now. X

This has been very interesting. BT prices have just gone up and I'm debating about switching. The trouble is that BT do give a good service and, whenever there is a problem, they are quick to sort it out. Virgin are a waste of time. I shall take a look at Plusnet.

Be interesting to know what plusnet offer.

JuneS With your TalkTalk contract do you get anytime broadband or do you have a limit as to what you use,can you still keep the same telephone number and email address,I am so slow when it comes to techi stuff,but I really need to lower my monthly bill as it is slowly creeping up with BT.

Same experience as Twiglet77. I could not get a bettere BT deal so I went over to Plusnet. Paid by credit card.
Next day a call from BT with a ridiculously good offer, Plusnet were very gracious and gave ma a full refund.
Sometimes you have to take BT to the limit but generally you can get the best deal there. Currently on VDSL2 ( no fibre in the village apart from fibre to the cabinet) and get aroun 76Mbps, unlimited usage and anytime phone calls. Price per month is £16 after the annual line rental is paid in advance of £198 Works out to £32.50 a month.

John Lewis is currently the best cheap deal for light to medium use over copper.