LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I've spent this whole morning looking through my online household "general" bills such as EE mobile, BT and energy/electric.

The one that strikes me most is BT landline charges WTF?! I haven't paid any attention to it up until now because when I first signed up to BT last year in my new build farmhouse they screwed up big time getting the services here so gave me about £200 credit and a couple of other things for free... Anyway, the phone bill for August £38.83! The phone bill for July was £23.02, September 2014 was £65!!! (which came out of the credit BT had given me) ...and they all vary between £15-65... It's a £16.99 phone rental fee just to actually have the line and then whatever phonecalls you make added on top. It's free calls between 7pm-7am and I pay an extra £3 a month for free weekend calls, but the majority of the calls are done during the day and we hardly even use the landline! One call cost me £11 to an 08 number but I get 08 numbers completely free from my mobile! BT only do free 0845 numbers and even then it's got to be between 7pm-7am.

Overall, a complete scam it seems? I pay £40 a month on my EE 4G mobile for unlimited calls to landlines, mobiles and 08 numbers. Another thing to add, the actual BT twin handsets completely suck too. They're so quiet you can hardly hear the person talking even when turned up max and they only ring for about 10 seconds until going to answerphone and you can't change the delay on it.

Needless to say, I'm going to see if I can cancel my landline now. What a rip off. How much do you guys use?

Peedee

iTrader: (4)

On the same subject but a slightly different aspect, I think landline phones will be a thing of the past in the not to distant future. There are literally 2 people that phone our landline....annoying sales people that we don't want, and my nan, who is still stuck in 1992 and doesn't ever turn her mobile on.m

Turbohot

I only have my telephone landline for Internet's sake. I'd love to get rid of mine, if I could just have the Internet connection without having to have the land fekking stupid line.

JackClark

I haven't had one for 20 years as I'm in a Virgin cabled area, that's a lot of money. In a rural location I'd be looking for a WISP, Wireless Internet Service Provider. Speeds and distances covered are massive now.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I'd say so; Its also a waste of infrastructure; If the frequency bands in teh phone lines that are used to trunk our voice call was changed to a VOIP style system at the point it enters the property, that extra bandwidth probably could support 100 or more voicecalls, or faster internet connections.

We've had another bug tax bill at work so I've been looking over our accounts to see where we can cut overheads (why its always me doing this, I don't know; I had the same with the gas and electric because nobody could be arsed to check the billed rates ) , Four landlines that's costing £75 a month just on rental alone.

If we could sort out the ADSL so it was fast enough or reliable (which it is neither - 3Megabits on a good day with multiple drop-outs), or better still switch to cable (just had virgin rn a cable into the offices next door ( ). I reckon, by getting fibre internet and getting rid of the three landlines and swapping them to VOIP possible with the right package could save us a £1000 a year; if so; that'll cover the costs of the new switchboard (ours is fecked anyway...I've made clearer calls to Australia).

JACK; we use WISP in Spain (well, PTMP ); best thing since sliced bread, highly recommended if there is a decent provider in the area and have good line of sight to the mast.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Looks like I need my landline to gain access to my whopping 1GB broadband speed. Researching wireless providers now.

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

I have the same argument with BT every year. I don't need or want a landline but I have to get ripped off so I can have internet access.

Just found this and will definitely be making more enquiries.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/isp_list/...t_Wireless.php

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I don't know if I'm looking at the right thing but satellite broadband is very expensive abliet it will provide me with 20mbs.... But £80 a month and a £250 to buy a dish and setup fee is steep. Plus it's not unlimited internet either. Yawn.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

No its not satellite. That uses a dish.

WISP is basically a very large/long distance wifi hotspot, it typically uses the same technology as your home wifi, but instead you have a directional Wifi aerial on the roof like this (this is the model we have:http://www.msdist.co.uk/product_Mikr...NT-G-5HPND.php) its about the size of a medium Pizza, which points to a mast in area thats in range. Usually a telecoms mast for mobile phones, or a TV/radio transmitter; ours is about 5Km away by the looks of it on google maps - the aerial on the mast usually looks the same too, but not always.

Paben

iTrader: (5)

Virgin cable where I live for tv, superfast internet & wifi and a decent price. Strangely it costs less to have the Virgin landline than not to have it, so it's there but never used.

Ooperbum

BT Openreach have been trialing tech called G-Fast which is fibreto the distribution point on the pole and then a copper cable to the building. They have achieved brilliant speeds apparently.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.fa...t_standard.svg

sprigeteer

iTrader: (9)

We are very rural and rely on mobiles and wireless broadband. The neighbours link in to a Wildcard wireless mast and get superb speeds:

http://www.wildcardinternet.co.uk/#services

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I've only found one wireless provider in Gloucester who looks like they will be able to cover my area; http://www.loopscorpio.net/index.php

£30 for 250GB per month with a 6-12mbs download speed and £50 one off installation cost. Will give them a ring tomorrow!

JackClark

Do it. Dump BT.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Over in France all my calls are via internet, ALL free to anywhere in the world landline any time any day and NO line rental.

We are being ripped off here again.

PaulC72

I can answer this in one word:


Yes.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

The only thing that keeps me on a landline is the few usually important things that require a landline for registration/signing up to. Sods law depicts that I can't even remember those off my head now

JackClark

Get a VOIP phone for peanuts.

ericooper

G.Fast is going to be capable of silly speeds apparently but its a good way off, 5 years for even big cities due to the on going fibre to the cab work

warrenm2

BT are mainly going to be using g.fast to avoid the crosstalk problems they are increasingly getting. I suffer from it, when I first started I got 34Mb, I'm down to 24Mb now because of crosstalk. They see it as a way to get everyone up to the 80mb range, rather than as a way to increase the top speed. Other developments are as mention, fibre to small dps on top of posts nearer the consumer

dpb

Older customers just don't like calling mobile numbers

JackClark

I can get you a phone number for any dialling code that transfers to your mobile. I'll do it for a pound cheaper than your line rental, other places may offer significantly better deals.

dpb

Iv got a mate who has the virgin cable, he lives middle of town cos that's only place you can get it, and he spends way more than me watching 10x as much crap with frequent outages

JackClark

That's a shame, I've been with NTL/Virgin for coming on for 20 years and don't recall an outage in that time, couple of reboots maybe.

My 50mb internet is £20 a month with no line rental. Might see if I can drop down for less money as I don't need that capacity.

Ooperbum

Depends where you are. Here in Wales they are deploying it end of 2015/2016 to properties that couldn't get FTTC. Here they are dumping FTTP as G. Fast is less expensive and you get greater speeds.
They have made trials with G.Fast in Swansea and they achieved a combined speeds of 1Gig. When I say combined it's both Download/Upload

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

This is what I don't get. BT and every other national service provider keep on and on and on focusing on the towns and cities but continue to completely ignore the countryside. When will the majority of the countryside get 40mbs minimum? I guess in a few more years and by then the cities and larger towns will be on 500mbs-1gig speeds? It's completely stupid IMO. There isn't even any need for that sort of speed. Sort out the rest of the country first! It's one of few things that really bugs me as most of us out here are on 1-2mbs maximum. My mobile phone 3G network out in the fields is faster than my home connection for christs sake.

Ooperbum

Here in Wales It's the farms and people in the sticks that's getting G.Fast first. But saying that, the Welsh Assembly has pumped millions to the ''Super Fast Broadband'' so I guess Openreach have to cater for all.

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

I thought it was a human right to have a landline?


Here is a good idea, cancel BT and stop whingeing.

salsa-king

rubbish mobile signal at our house so need a land line.

my tesco mobile. is only £10.21 a month.. unlimited data, unlimited text and 500mins calls. sim only
then buy a £100 phone when the battery starts acting up.



I too looked at my BT bill last week, £35pm (infinity broadband, free any time call package, ex directory, caller ID)+ the land line charge i paid upfront last year £15
so £50

And thats not including any TV





I rang them and got put through to retentions, where for another £8 a month, they've now given me. Unlimited inifinty BB and now I'e got the Ultra HD tv package, with all their BT Sports in HD, AMC in HD and a BT Sport in 4k HD


just waiting for the Ultra HD tv box to arrive today

dpb

I can't see it being reliable enough yet to go pure WiFi , even in town