Need New ISP, but have no BT line.
 

Hi all.

Virgin have cut me off after a long battle with them about money and them overcharging me allot this year, so I have no internet at home now.

I am looking at getting just internet but the main problem is I have no BT line... Is it possible to get another ISP without a BT line? And how much does it cost to get an ISP to install a connection they need or even how much does it cost to get a BT line? (which I don't think is possible in my area as I live out in the sticks )

I use the internet for work and as a hobby for my race team so it's vital to have it at home, but I am worried that without a BT line I don't have any choices. I also don’t have loads of money to splash out to pay extra money for getting a line installed.

I just need stable internet, I would be happy with 1mb down, 250kb/s up at least as long as it’s stable.

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Done a bit of reserch and it seems I dont have many options?

If I have no BT line, it's either Virgin or Wireless Broadband?

For a BT line I have to pay £125 for it to get installed on top of contract with the dreaded BT for 12 months.

Do Tiscali use a BT line? Heard they use their own phone line not sure.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

I'd say your only option is a mobile dongle with 3, O2 etc. I have one for my laptop and its not much different to my Virgin cable for web browsing etc, suppose it depends on what area you live in though.

BT is fine, just don't use their ISP


go to http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php and enter your postcode and see what is enabled at your exchange, I would suggest Be or O2.

Thanks for the reply.

I have had a look at and i currently have a contract with orange so i guess i could give it a try as they will send the dongle for free. I checked if i can use it in my area and am in a very good area to use it, Just have to hope the speeds will be good,

Got this: http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/EMKIRKB

I entered my post code but it changed it to an area quite close to me with different post code, dont make much sense to me.?

I'm in the same situation at the moment, even though I'm living in central frigging london! Its a new build flat and it's taking ages for BT to plumb us in to the rest of the grid (luckily the landlord is taking care of that)

Your best bet, if it's possible, is to get a landline with the post office, often they will connect you for free (if the property has ever been connected to BT before) and even if it's not then they charge £107 - still less than BT.... on top of that, their standard phone tariff is £11.75 p/m but on a 30 day rolling contract.

So that would be the phone line, and if you can get it, the best way of getting internet is with o2 home broadband (might be a problem if your living way out there) but their cheapest tariff is £7.34 p/m if your an o2 customer and £12ish if your not. Which is 8mb down and 1mb up and has a very good reputation, currently they are doing a deal where you get 2 months free and if you use quidco you can get £60 cashback... therefore in the best circumstances, you can effectively get 12 months o2 broadband for £13.40

How close is it in km? That exchange is Be/O2 LLU enabled, I would go with spoon's suggestion and go with O2, however find out how far away that area is, its possible your immediate area doesn't actually have a telephone exchange.

but even if you can only manage 4-5Mbps O2 is still a good choice (very high download limit and no traffic shaping or throttling)

If you have an O2 mobile dealer near you, ask for advice in getting o2 ADSL but not wanting to pay the connection fee, you may be able to haggle something. (if you do this you can not use quidco though)

The speeds will be good, the 1000ms ping will not be good..

You can get a BT line installed for free if you sign up for a 18 month contract instead f 12 months if your going to be staying there then you might as well. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/dea...e-installation

I use when im oot n aboot an orange dongle.

does the job and I have a 3gb limit which so far ive never gone over.

14.99 per month

Yeh and whats the ping like?

Im not really interested in ping cos gaming isn't my thing http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/tongue1.gif

it is reliable tho and I have seen a few mates using it for WOW

Well why even recommend it for someone who said he uses it for games then?

its that phenomenon called skim reading http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/blush1.gif

http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/cry1.gif

Very interesting, going to take a look now, thanks.

Thanks for the info, I will use this as a backup plan, even if I cant game as well at least I can have internet.

i have no phone line and get it through cable with virgin but its expensive that way

So. mobile broadband no good really with the download limits + weak single in my area so would be slow but I have a couple of options.

Go with BT them install the line for £125 + be stuck on their contract.
Go with Sky, £60 to install everything including BT line but have to have SKY tv which makes it £31 / month.
Go with Talk Talk, they install the BT line for £60 odd and I get 40gb per month broadband with phone for around £17 / month + £30 line rental fee.