My Options (Long)

[Death Jester]

Right then. Firstly I need to tell you that I currently have ntl TV (base analog package), Telephone, and BB (512k). I want to get rid of these, and go to ADSL (Maybe Pipex or F2S). Now, the way I see it, I have 2 options:

Option 1:

Get rid of TV, Phone, and BB. Get BT phone line (£11.50 option 1), then get ADSL.

Cost - £35 (roughly - no including £60 for good ADSL modem).
Good Points: Cheap, Easy, Completely got rid of ntl
Bad Points: Will lose TV channels.
------------

Option 2:

Keep TV, therefore keeping the phone line (I think that the phone line is free with stb, isn't it? please tell me if it isn't). Get cheapest BT line there is. Use old ntl line for phones, and use new BT line for ADSL.

Cost: £55 (Roughly - Don't know price of cheapest BT phone line - not including ADSL modem).
Good points: Keep TV channels
Bad points: Expensive, Still on ntl's books.

Does anyone know of any other options open to me?

And please no funny/witty/stupid answers. I left one forum already because the F***WITS (!!!!) there would not answer a serious question properly. Sorry for the outburst.

[MovedGoalPosts]

Sky or Freeview if you want TV?

If you look at the equation overall you need to consider that if you have ntl TV you get the phone line free. Get a BT phone, needed for ADSL by any ISP, then you have the monthly line rental charge to pay, in addition to the ISP based charges.

If your only using / need the 150k bandwidth, I doubt moving to ADSL would be worthwhile. If you want faster speeds then you want to look carefully at all suppliers and bear in mind the ADSL 512k gives usually 256k upload compared to ntl's 600k giving 128k upload. That might be important.

Dont forget to build into your calculations any installation / reconnection costs. And remember that with ntl the modem / STB is hired, so ntl replace / repair if it goes up the spout wheras the BT / Sky systems you are usually buying the kit so if it breask you fork out again.

[Death Jester]

Sky or Freeview if you want TV?

The only channels I watch are Sky1, UKGold, and Paramount Comedy. None of these are available with freeview. Plus Sky is £100 installation, and you get the same channels as I already have with ntl. Nope, if I want the channels, I'm sticking with ntl stb.

If you look at the equation overall you need to consider that if you have ntl TV you get the phone line free. Get a BT phone, needed for ADSL by any ISP, then you have the monthly line rental charge to pay, in addition to the ISP based charges.

I would have to do that no matter what option I choose.

If your only using / need the 150k bandwidth, I doubt moving to ADSL would be worthwhile. If you want faster speeds then you want to look carefully at all suppliers and bear in mind the ADSL 512k gives usually 256k upload compared to ntl's 600k giving 128k upload. That might be important.

I have 600k connection, but its ****e. I'm in the Luton umbrella, need I say more?

Dont forget to build into your calculations any installation / reconnection costs. And remember that with ntl the modem / STB is hired, so ntl replace / repair if it goes up the spout wheras the BT / Sky systems you are usually buying the kit so if it breask you fork out again

BT said reconnection is free, as long as I had BT some time in the past. And remember, im in the Luton area, so its very rare to get them to fix anything properly (usually just press a few buttons and leave).

Ok. I have has a talk with my mum (bill payer ) and I have been reading up on some other threads.

Here is my idea, please tell me if it could(n't) work:

I get BT option 1 phone line.
I make sure I can get ADSL.
I phone up ntl, tell them I want to get rid of their services. They will (hopefully) offer me some kind of deal (Like cheaper TV costs etc.) If the offer is good, I keep ntl TV/phone.
Pay a visit to ITplc (http://www.itplc.com/default.asp) and have my BT line switched to them, thus paying £5 odd a month for the ADSL-only-used line (use the ntl line for phones).

The things I now need to know are:

Would ntl allow this (having BT and ntl lines in the house)? Same goes for BT.
How long do I have to be on the BT line before I can switch to ITplc?


Advice needed

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Death Jester

Would ntl allow this (having BT and ntl lines in the house)? Same goes for BT.

Neither NTL or BT have any say over what lines you have in your house. It's your house (well your Mum's)

[Death Jester]

Thats good.


So... with any luck, I can get reduced costs from ntl (a kind of please-dont-run-from-us bribe), and with ITplc, only pay £5 a month for the BT line.

Now... if only I could think of a way to get cheaper ADSL...


Oh, incidentally, any tips for trying to get an offer from ntl? I'm very non-confontational.

[MovedGoalPosts]

I'd be sure that BT will give you a free reconnection. A lot has changed. Bear in mind that once upon a time Bt knew that rejoining them meant a captive customer, rather like ntl - you had to take their services so BT made money form you of everything. These days you may have BT reconnect but your ability to pay a third party under LLU options means BT have no gurantee of making full profit form you anymore.

Look at Sky again for TV, £100 installation may apply, but they often do offers I've seen ads on the banners for this site for £1, depending on the channels you want.

As for ntl making you an offer, don't rely on it. You may get put through to a retentions office when you phone to cancel (you must follow that up in writing to protect yourself theres too many horror stories on this forum of those who relied onthe phone call), who might make you an offer, but of they call your bluff ...

[Death Jester]

If they call my bluff, then all that would happen would be that I would lose the TV channels. Fine by me tbh.
I will only keep ntl TV/phone if they offer me a deal. I don't need the phone line, but if its free with the TV, then i'll keep it.

And that £1 installation only applies if you have their £40 a month service. I get £40 a week from the JobCenter. Not really affordable atm.

No, its either ntl TV, or nothing. Like I said, if the worst comes to the worst, then i'll have to get freeview, or stick with terrestrial (sp?).

[ian@huth]

How about.

BT phoneline £10.50 per month for option 1 from July

Sky TV £1 install via website and £40 for first month then reduce to Family pack £19.50 per month.

ADSL provider of your choice.

Better than your option 2 in my opinion and you also get rid of NTL

[Death Jester]

I know I keep repeating myself about ITplc, but is it worth doing? nearly £5 cheaper than normal BT, and call charges are better (6p for a minute with BT!!! sheisters!).

Please remember that I get £40 a week with JC. I will have to pay out £60 for ADSL modem as it is. not to mention the £200 I owe on my credit card. I cannot afford pointless things like Sky.


For the final (hopefully) time: If I want to have more channels, I will stick with ntl.

[Chris W]

IMO it is not worth paying for the tv, if you don't have much to spend then just ditch the tv.

My g/f has a bt phone line with option 1 + metronet 512/256 pay as you go ADSL. Total bill (to me of course!) between £25-40 per month.

If metronet is available in your area, because if you don't have much money one month you can reduce your internet usage and save on your ADSL bill. Also it is billed at the end of the month, so you can monitor your usage as you go along, and see how much it is going to cost you. On the other hand if you download lots it is probably not worth paying for PAYG because it will work out at at £23.99 + VAT per month if you use more than 7gb bandwidth in a month.

[Death Jester]

No, not really worht PAYG with me. I have earmarked 2 ISPs for the ADSL line. Either Pipex or F2S.

All I need help now is:

How does the ITplc thing work? (ie: Do I have to be with BT for a set amount of time?)
Anything else I should know about?

I will probably get 512k ADSL, but I wil lask them to make sure I can get 1mb, cause I may want to upgrade in the near future.

As oyu can see, my grammer and spelling is getting bad, which usually means I'm sleepy. I'll read up on this tomorrow.

[Death Jester]

Hehe, nobody replied while I was asleep. Not surprising though, as you probably all were too.

[Death Jester]

Sorry to nag, but the quicker we get this sorted, this quicker I can have ADSL.

[Chris W]

you can get an adsl modem cheaper than £60, check out www.dabs.com, www.ebuyer.com, uk.insight.com for cheaper modems.

I think finding the cheapest adsl provider that you can is the best that you can do.

My g/f has a bt line, i think she has option 1 which means any off peak calls to any number 01 or 02 are charged at 6p for the first hour, then just hang up and redial. This should be a good option for you.

Hope this helps!

[Death Jester]

*cries*

Answer my question about ITplc dammit!

*calms down*

Sorry for that. But you see, the problem is, my mum refuses to get anything until we know all the facts. Which means I am stuck with this crap connection.

So please, don't reply unless it is to do with ITplc.