Broadband /mobile advice

[Mikey D]

ok so I haven't had home broadband for years just used mobile data .....

But am moving house and new place there is no EE signal and no phone line connected ....

I'm sim only , so have ordered a few SIM cards from various providers too see which is best ...

But I intend to get home broadband , there's a phone pole nearby , any recommendations please
I'm thinking plusnet ?
Allso can you use the home broadband to boost your mobile signal ??? Using wifi ?

I'd Allso like the broadband to reach to the garage /garden which is separate the house walls are thick about 2' and 10 m to the garage , would prefer a wired connection as I want to run electric /water /drainage to the garage so would be digging a trench anyway .
Do u use telephone cable or cat 5 ??

I really know very little about the above subjects so any advice welcome , cheers Mike

 

[hotponyshoes]

If there is no line to the house you might find you need to sign up to BT for a couple of years for free/cheap line installation unless its I'm a town where virgin etc. would connect fibre

Wifi phone calls work fine. I dont know if the internet supplier needs to be the same as the phone through? Ie. My mobile phone is on EE and so is my broadband.
I dont think I can use wifi calling if I go to a mates house and log onto ee broadband there but I have never tried it?
Obviously Skype/facetime calls work on any wifi.
Main downside is if I'm making a call in the house and walk out side ot will disconnect then there is a delay until it switches back to the mobile network.

Run cat5 cable to any outbuildings/sheds and put wireless access point(s)at the end of it.

 

[voipio]

For mobile coverage, use Ofcom's mobile signal checker:

https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage

A possible alternative to using a mobile as a WiFi hotspot, it might we worth considering a Teltonica RUT955 or similar. It's a "commercial" grade mobile router, and it's possible to mount the antenna high up outdoors. The mobile signals received will be much stronger.

Might be worth running several lengths of Cat5/Cat6 to the garage. It can also be used to send video signals, security cameras, and the like.

Is the place really remote? If so, there just might be fibre, courtesy of the rural broadband initiative.

 

[qwakers]

If there is no line to the house you might find you need to sign up to BT for a couple of years for free/cheap line installation unless its I'm a town where virgin etc. would connect fibre

Wifi phone calls work fine. I dont know if the internet supplier needs to be the same as the phone through? Ie. My mobile phone is on EE and so is my broadband.
I dont think I can use wifi calling if I go to a mates house and log onto ee broadband there but I have never tried it?

yes it will work with any network and supplier.

Obviously Skype/facetime calls work on any wifi.
Main downside is if I'm making a call in the house and walk out side ot will disconnect then there is a delay until it switches back to the mobile network.

Run cat5 cable to any outbuildings/sheds and put wireless access point(s)at the end of it.

 

[Parm]

As pointed out check for coverage and performance first.

If the situation allows my vote is for Plusnet, it is now owned by BT but that doesn't seem to affect how they work.

If there is a problem, you can speak to a human being in the UK who doesn't work of a script with pointless stupid questions.

Where I live the broadband isn't good. They have guaranteed a minimum line speed and its never ever dropped below that

Dunno if its the cheapest option for me, but the competition is rubbish in terms of line speed at home. I get 40 MB while all my neighbors using BT, sky, etc etc never seem to get above 10

And, whatever you do don't ever go for Talk Talk !!!!

 

[R-D-R]

I can recommend Andrews and Arnold excellent service both technically and on customer care. They kick openreach up the back side and hold them to account very well from what I have seen. They had open reach come to my house 5 times and finally sling a brand new drop wire across the road to the house to get the best performance they could.

If you don’t have a line they may well offer to organise it for you.

 

[fizzy]

In my house there is no signal with EE. Outside a little better. I mounted an external aerial out of a window just under the eaves. Using broadband router I get a reliable 89mb down and 8mb up. Unlimited data on EE for about £30 a month. Live in the middle of nowhere so the only real option.

You are doing the right thing - test out a few cheap sims and see which is the best.

 

[tlovatt]

For Wifi Calling you can only use certain mobile providers and often the cheaper ones do not allow it e.g. Plusnet mobile, smarty etc.

If you can get a good mobile signal from 3 you could actually skip the fixed line broadband, 3 are offering unlimited data (I think there is a fair usage cap at 1TB per month) which includes unlimited calls at £16 per month all in. If you buy the correct broadband router you can plug an ordinary phone in to it and use it as you would a landline.

If you do get a landline broadband connection some providers can also provide a little booster box that creates your own local signal - but I have always found them a bit useless.

 

[pedrobedro]

And, whatever you do don't ever go for Talk Talk !!!!

See, you will get different advice from different perspectives. We've been with Talktalk for about 8 years now and are now on their faster fibre (around 38mb down and 10mb up) and can honestly say we have never had any problems. I got a cheap sim deal with O2 through them on mine and wife's phone as well so quite happy about that too.

 

[Parm]

See, you will get different advice from different perspectives. We've been with Talktalk for about 8 years now and are now on their faster fibre (around 38mb down and 10mb up) and can honestly say we have never had any problems. I got a cheap sim deal with O2 through them on mine and wife's phone as well so quite happy about that too.

Strange isn’t it. I would never recommend them after the experience I had with them

 

[duncans]

a friend of mine lives in Sheffield they moved from virgin to sky the internet is rubbish as with it being an old house the walls are quite thick in there kitchen the signal is crap I've got virgin and I took my MacBook about 50yards to my neighbor to show him summat on my laptop it was still a great signal as for others like PlusNet you will have to see the signal strength I would think its no good with no broadband like if they guarantee the signal strength you cant loose

 

[Ashley Burton]

Plusnet is fine if it works, But believe me I had alot of agro to get my broadband working & countless phone calls. Pulling teeth reminds me of the experience

 

[Parm]

Plusnet is fine if it works, But believe me I had alot of agro to get my broadband working & countless phone calls. Pulling teeth reminds me of the experience

Strange isn’t it?

They must pick who has a good or bad experience

I will never recommend talk talk, but plus net have been ace

 

[duncans]

I had PlusNet at the other house I had a few yrs back and it was good nuffink bad to say I had a package where I could ring the USA at that time chat for an hour put the phone down then ring back no charge I think u may be able to do it with skype these days not 100percent sure thou

 

[Ashley Burton]

@Parm luck of the draw!

 

[badabec]

We use Vonage for VOIP (voice over internet protocol) phone calls. My cheapskate package is £10.40 per month. Mine is set up so that if I don't answer the 'land line' phone, it gets transferred to my mobile (free). It transfers wherever you are in the world, providing you can access a wifi signal. We were able to keep our old phone number as well. But Vonage doesn't work in the event of a power cut.

We are in a rural location, twisted wire from local exchange gave a top speed of 5mb/s. Moved over to Gigaclear fibre, my PC is hardwired with Cat6 and I get 300mb/s download, 220mb/s upload. My wife's tablet gets about 60mb/s. It does cost £45 per month though. Cheaper packages are available.

Now I need a solid state hard drive and faster computer to take advantage of it

 

[rtcosic]

See, you will get different advice from different perspectives. We've been with Talktalk for about 8 years now and are now on their faster fibre (around 38mb down and 10mb up) and can honestly say we have never had any problems. I got a cheap sim deal with O2 through them on mine and wife's phone as well so quite happy about that too.

Same here. TalkTalk cheapest and the Faster Fibre delivers nearly as promised - low 30s down and high single digits up. Bit ticked there is only one cheap 02 SIM in the package. I had to splash out on a £3.99 a month iD SIM contract for my mobile.

Another advantage of TalkTalk is that following their data breach they gave existing customers all the landline addons for free. Caller ID and caller screening is very useful.

 

[addjunkie]

We use Vonage for VOIP (voice over internet protocol) phone calls. My cheapskate package is £10.40 per month. Mine is set up so that if I don't answer the 'land line' phone, it gets transferred to my mobile (free). It transfers wherever you are in the world, providing you can access a wifi signal. We were able to keep our old phone number as well. But Vonage doesn't work in the event of a power cut.

We are in a rural location, twisted wire from local exchange gave a top speed of 5mb/s. Moved over to Gigaclear fibre, my PC is hardwired with Cat6 and I get 300mb/s download, 220mb/s upload. My wife's tablet gets about 60mb/s. It does cost £45 per month though. Cheaper packages are available.

Now I need a solid state hard drive and faster computer to take advantage of it

Sadly they dont cover here, neither do the other options so Im stuck with copper from the exchange, bypassed by the fibre because we are on the wrong side of the river. Quite frustrating when government preach broadband for all, but they have bypassed hamlets all over the shop!

 

[garethp]

I think now you're just as well signing up for any broadband and then swap once the contract runs out to get a better price and/or voucher to spend somewhere.

All the providers are fighting to get to the lowest price so things like support are done as cheaply as possible.

I used to rate plusnet and used to recommend them to friends, family and clients. Support started to go downhill when BT bought them and they werent bothered when I started asking why I could get better speeds and prices elsewhere. Then when I moved my own adsl they totally screwed up and I ended up with letters from a debt collector before they admitted THEY actually owed ME money!

Ive used BT, O2, Vodafone, Plusnet and TalkTalk support and they're much the same now. It helps if you know what to do and say, have patience with the support person and remember they're on a poor wage and probably dont actually know anything about internet connections apart from how to read a list of questions from a screen.

 

[qwakers]

got it in one garathp.