New Line installation... tiscali best?

[Smasher]

I'm actually asking on behalf of someone, in a student house in London.

Virgin Media don't serve the area for broadband so their only option for internet is BT.

BT quoted £124.99 for a new line plus a 12 month contract... not much good for students finishing term in June!

So I called a few places, including Tiscali, who are willing to do it for just £30 plus a 12 month contract. The contract is no big deal, between 5 people that's just £3 a month to pay off, so a whopping £9 from each come June.

Is there anywhere else you peeps would recommend looking, just in case Tiscali's amazing deal can be beaten?

[mightymouse]

check sky and bulldog too cuz i think they might do the installation cheaper than BT but not sure about tiscali. sky might be better dependent on their usage and i remember sky have started to remove a lot of restrictions on their AUP but will have to check on that

ohh yea and o2 too, if you have o2 mobile phone contract then you will pay even less

[smargh]

The Post Office - £110 for a new line, I don't think there's any minimum term but I think 15-days notice required. Call their sales line to double-check. The PO is basically a rebranded BT service.
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/p...diaId=19800178

Then go with O2/Be for broadband.

[TAKTAK]

does it actually need a new line, or does the line just need reconnecting?

[Smasher]

I looked at O2 but they require a BT line to start with, which brings us to the £124.99 installation fee. Tiscali are happy to roll that into the 12 month contract, so it's no wonder really that they're doing so well!

TakTak - BT say there is no line in the property (I find this hard to believe) and say the fee covers an engineer laying the line at the exchange and property! :/

[TAKTAK]

check sky and bulldog too cuz i think they might do the installation cheaper than BT but not sure about tiscali. sky might be better dependent on their usage and i remember sky have started to remove a lot of restrictions on their AUP but will have to check on that

sky have totally dropped the FUP for their sky max service

TakTak - BT say there is no line in the property (I find this hard to believe) and say the fee covers an engineer laying the line at the exchange and property! :/

aah righty, i just though i'd mention it as i think it is free to reconnect a disconnected line...

try sky as they are trying hard to get new customers and may subsidise the cost... (if sky is available to you that is...)

[Smasher]

aah righty, i just though i'd mention it as i think it is free to reconnect a disconnected line...

try sky as they are trying hard to get new customers and may subsidise the cost... (if sky is available to you that is...)

Thanks - only prob is there is no TV, no communal room and I can't see anyone wanting to pay for a TV licence either! Otherwise that would've been a good option... could call and ask for broadband without TV but their whole marketing seems aimed at free broadband with sky tv

[TAKTAK]

Thanks - only prob is there is no TV, no communal room and I can't see anyone wanting to pay for a TV licence either! Otherwise that would've been a good option... could call and ask for broadband without TV but their whole marketing seems aimed at free broadband with sky tv

aah, good point, i forgot about needing sky tv for sky broadband

have a look at be/o2 then... as i wouldn't have thought the smaller ones would even look at subsidising it...

also if you factor the cost of the new line out by month then it comes to ~£12 a month, so it may be worth looking for the cheapest broadband available and adding £12 to the monthly total, and seeing if it comes out around tiscali's yearly price. as that may work out cheaper.. you never know...

[smargh]

I did some research a while ago - the cheapest would be a Post Office landline for £110 (BT-rebranded) with virtually no contract, and choose either O2 or Be for internet depending on which is most appropriate.....

You really should go with only BT, or a rebranded version of their service like the PO, for the line itself. The PO is still £10.95 rental per month though.

You REALLY don't want to choose Tiscali for anything. Utterly crap customer service for their phone stuff, and when Eclipse changed over to Tiscali as their ADSL provider it was attrocious.

[Smasher]

Thanks again TAKTAK

I've done a quick comparison, and Tiscali at £9.99 then £14.99 after three months are way cheaper. They even include the line rental, nobody else comes close. I wonder if they can see a line at the property hence only needing activation thus no major installation work needed. That would mean BT told me a load of rubbish about no line at the place, which wouldn't be a surprise, BT are generally awful and more expensive than they need be!

[TAKTAK]

Thanks again TAKTAK

I've done a quick comparison, and Tiscali at £9.99 then £14.99 after three months are way cheaper. They even include the line rental, nobody else comes close. I wonder if they can see a line at the property hence only needing activation thus no major installation work needed. That would mean BT told me a load of rubbish about no line at the place, which wouldn't be a surprise, BT are generally awful and more expensive than they need be!

it really wouldn't surprise me if BT were wrong TBH... (they still say it is impossible for me to have broadband, despite me having for over a year now...) they just don't keep their database updated...

do you have any other cables apart from the electric cable, entering the accommodation? (or mebbe a phone line inside )

[smargh]

Tiscali is probably just giving a quote based on the postcode, not the property itself.

Try calling BT again and see if a different agent gives a different answer. Worth a try.

[Smasher]

I called BT about three times and it's been the same every time. Good point about the postcode, I think I gave the house number too but I've called so many telcos it's hard keeping track

I remember though when I was in a student house a couple of years ago BT said the same thing, until I was insistent there was a BT plug in the property at which point they waived the fee. Still, Tiscali is trumping them on cost (though I think almost every supplier is cheaper!)

[TAKTAK]

I called BT about three times and it's been the same every time. Good point about the postcode, I think I gave the house number too but I've called so many telcos it's hard keeping track

I remember though when I was in a student house a couple of years ago BT said the same thing, until I was insistent there was a BT plug in the property at which point they waived the fee. Still, Tiscali is trumping them on cost (though I think almost every supplier is cheaper!)

i've got a feeling the tiscali fee is the one off setup fee to enable broadband on a line that is allready there...

i think it would be the price of the line + £30 + a 12 month contrat with tiscali... but it is worth clarifying with tiscali... and getting it in writing if possible...

[danroyle]

i went through this same issue last night 67 mins on the phone to bt to get them to put a line in our new flat, they were prepared to waive the fee if we joined them for there top broadband package at about £26 a month for 8mb. which works out about £180 more than our 16mb sky package so we decided to skip that and just pay for the line.


downside is the lady said its £124.99 subject to survey and dependant on time after the £124.99 its £90 and hour if it takes him too long to do. it is bloody criminal how they can charge that much for a cable.

[s_kinton]

Smasher - Shouldn't your landlord be paying for the line connection? I've had many of these arguements in new builds I've rented!