I'm currently with BT and feel I perhaps pay more than I have to.
I also want to move to fibre so this is an ideal time to look into this. This is for landline and broadband only.
BT have a number of freebies that I enjoy, such as free caller ID.
I also have the option of using a PIN to lock the phone and stop premium numbers. Few providers give this options and can save more than any of BT charges.
Do any other providers give the same features or should I simply stick with BT.
Fredxxx formulated the question :
Fibre may be limited to which companies have gone past your address.
You can buy phone sets which pin restrict which numbers can be dialed, BT8500 does that and can block nuisance callers too. Some ISP's charge £1 for caller ID, some give it free, but what matters is the overall cost of your desired package rather than what you get for free. Some allow you to pay an extra fixed cost for unlimites UK calls. I pay an extra £8 which includes 2000 minutes of free mobile calls per month.
In article , Fredxxx scribeth thus
Have a look at Zen Internet had no problems with them and they do phone lines, and best of all no further contact with Bee Tee and their call centre is in Lancashire not some tinpot far east outfit:)
surely the sure-fire way of avoiding the costs of premium rate numbers is never to dial a premium rate number?
tim
I can assure you I don't, and have never dialled a premium rate number. That really is not the point.
As I said, anything that limited premium rate calls would pay for itself on the first attempted call.
Zen are not cheap and I would too recommend them for a business premises but the premium is OTT for residential.
Also everything is an add-on and broadband is capped unless you pay lots more. I want a means of stopping premium rate calls.
Phone sets can be unplugged and others fitted without my knowledge.
This has to be a service provided call barring.
All Isps apart from Virgin use BT fibre.
Fibre as in FTTC or FTTP? I'd assume FTTC, if that cabinet is more than about a mile (as the line goes) away don't expect too much...
Why not stick with BT for the landline provision, this will keep the features you like. It also means you have a contract with BT to fix the physical line when it fails. If you pay some one else the line rental you're stuck with their customer service kicking BT. Some providers won't let BT get away with anything, others barely know who BT is...
Buy your broadband from some one else, Zen, Plusnet, Andrews & Arnold (depending on your useage). It might be worth a cursory look at Sky or Virgin but they are more interested in selling a "triple play" (TV/Phone/Internet) or "quad play" (add Mobile) rather than just broadband.
Buying landline only from BT and broadband from elsewhere may result in a £5/month line rental reduction (and similar reduction in the Line Rental Saver option) next year if Ofcom have their way.
Who would attempt this call?
It doesn't work quite like that. Your BT contract is with BT Retail who provide the phone and broadband service but physical maintenance of lines and exchange equipment is handled by BT Openreach. They're both separate entities in the BT Group, BT Retail are in effect just a customer of Openreach in the same way as any other ISP.
Sadly this is true for some ISP's but a few of them (e.g. A&A) are apparently more persistent in getting Openreach to fix things than BT Retail are.
I never had problems like that when I was with Demon.
Sky do, but only if you have other services from them. If you want cheapskate, try talk talk. Brian
Another option is to go VOIP for landline, assuming you use it. Then you're free to pick whatever broadband provider you want and it doesn't matter that their calls rate is astronomic (as they often are these days). You can optimise just for broadband, and transfer the VOIP to whatever broadband connection you have. Typically VOIP providers have all the extras (1571, caller display, call waiting, etc) included, not as chargeable options as BT likes.
If you're going VOIP, it's also worth thinking about PAYG options. If VOIP calls are 1p/min and your phone company's 'anytime calls' bundle is 5.99, do you really make 10 hours of calls every month? (out-of-bundle BT calls are
12p/min + 21p setup charge, for reference. Wholesale is about 0.5p/min)Theo
Other's occupying the house.
>In message , charles writes
Neither did I when I was with Demon before the Vodafone debacle.
Plusnet have been fine so far, and dealt with a line fault (loud hum on the phone) extremely quickly and efficiently in their usual Yorkshire accent.
I just hope BT don't try to make them "more efficient".
BT's Caller ID is, of course, not free. They always charge substantially higher line rental, and then offer "free services".
The important factor to look at is the TOTAL price of the package that you are after.
Except I'm not able to ask their sales team a question using a webform without knowing my user name and password.
I think they already have.
So far no one has indicated anyone other than BT who can provide the service I want.
One no-name company that does!
Who??
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