A lot of people don’t use the home phone anymore and therefore it can be seen as an unnecessary expense when it’s given as standard with your broadband tariff. If you’re someone who doesn’t use it at all there are companies that allow you to take out broadband tariffs, Talktalk and Virgin are both example of companies who offer broadband without line rental. For the most part, however, you’ll find line rental and a phone package included in your broadband package and, generally speaking, you’ll be getting a good deal on both your internet connection and your phone line if you get them together.
If you’re going to be catering to a large household of people who are engaging in bandwidth heavy activates such as only gaming and streaming, you may want to look for a faster fibre internet package of 38 Mbps+. If there’s only one or two of you however and you only use it for casual internet use, namely emails and browsing the web you will be probably be able to manage with a more modest offering of around 17Mbps+.
If you’re someone who will be uploading to the internet, then you should check upload speeds as well. Just because two companies offer the same download speed does not mean the upload speeds will be identical. Some companies will offer upload speeds that are just a fraction of the download speeds and with some companies it will be the same. This information isn’t always as readily available, so you may have to check the small print to find this out.
It’s important to check that any package you receive will have unlimited downloads, if you feel like you might need it. Bear in mind that everything you do online will eat into your download allowance, and so getting an unlimited package is almost certainly a good idea. It is offered as standard by most companies so if you pick a deal without it you will be unnecessarily running the risk of incurring excess fees.
Most phone lines operate on a pay as you go basis with some companies offering free weekend calls as standard. If you’re someone who uses the phone a lot, make sure your getting the right deal to make sure you aren’t paying more than you need to. Different companies will have different deals but most will cover weekday, weekend and international calls with certain options for unlimited calling.
It would make sense to think that the fewer services you’re getting, the cheaper it will be. However, this is not always the case when it comes to broadband and line rental: some companies will be able to offer line rental and broadband for cheaper than some broadband only deals! As always, make sure you shop around and compare prices to ensure you get the best deal. In the past, broadband providers would often hide their line rental costs in the small print of their adverts, but now their obliged to display all costs clearly within the headline price.
This one will vary; a lot of companies have completely waived all set up fees but there are still those who can charge as much as £50 to set up your connection. The cost (or lack of cost) for the set up will always be clearly displayed when you look at the detailed information of any deal you compare.
