VoIP VoIP    FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  Broadband at Home?          VoIP Forum Index -> VoIP View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message ian Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 4:34 pm    Post subject: Broadband at Home? There is an old BT line to my home here, with the line finishing at a junction box outside. I terminated the phone account about 10 years ago. I now want to use broadband, so I assume I will have to contact BT to install a new line from the junction box to a master socket inside the house. However, I don't want a phone account, as the line will only be necessary to carry broadband, and I will be using VoIP over the line for all phone calls. Is this a possible scenario, or will I have to become a BT phone subscriber (paying line rental) as well? Also, as a previous customer at this location, will I have to pay an installation charge? Finally, any recommendations for a broadband supplier? Or warnings against choosing any particular supplier? -- Ian Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Jim Howes Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 4:43 pm    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? ian wrote: Quote: I now want to use broadband, so I assume I will have to contact BT to install a new line from the junction box to a master socket inside the house. However, I don't want a phone account, as the line will only be necessary to carry broadband, and I will be using VoIP over the line for all phone calls. Is this a possible scenario, or will I have to become a BT phone subscriber (paying line rental) as well? No, you will still have to pay line rental. This covers the upkeep of the cabling between you and the telephone exchange. Quote: Also, as a previous customer at this location, will I have to pay an installation charge? Probably, as the line will require an engineer visit to connect. Quote: Finally, any recommendations for a broadband supplier? Or warnings against choosing any particular supplier? Where are you? Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Eeyore Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 5:51 pm    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? ian wrote: Quote: There is an old BT line to my home here, with the line finishing at a junction box outside. I terminated the phone account about 10 years ago. I now want to use broadband, so I assume I will have to contact BT to install a new line from the junction box to a master socket inside the house. However, I don't want a phone account, as the line will only be necessary to carry broadband, and I will be using VoIP over the line for all phone calls. Is this a possible scenario, or will I have to become a BT phone subscriber (paying line rental) as well? Yes you will. You are after all renting a line. They don't charge less because of the frequencies you want to use it at. A BT line has a heck of a lot better voice quality than VoIP too btw and you don't have to pay BT's prices for the calls. I can make international calls over the BT copper for about 3p a minute btw and most VoIP providers are no cheaper than that. Check out 'carrier preselection' and so on. Quote: Also, as a previous customer at this location, will I have to pay an installation charge? Try negotiating. If you had a BT line 10 or so years back what happeend to the wire that came into the house back then ? Quote: Finally, any recommendations for a broadband supplier? Or warnings against choosing any particular supplier? That depends totally on what your expectations, requirements and budget are. Let us know these things. Most of the big ISPs are fairly rubbish/indifferent though and all the really shit hot ones seem to be fairly small and relatively unknown by the public at large. Graham Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor John Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 6:55 pm    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? "ian" <ian@nospam.net> wrote in message news:6zrheKNyMuUGFwnP@nospam.net... Quote: There is an old BT line to my home here, with the line finishing at a junction box outside. I terminated the phone account about 10 years ago. I now want to use broadband, so I assume I will have to contact BT to install a new line from the junction box to a master socket inside the house. However, I don't want a phone account, as the line will only be necessary to carry broadband, and I will be using VoIP over the line for all phone calls. Is this a possible scenario, or will I have to become a BT phone subscriber (paying line rental) as well? Also, as a previous customer at this location, will I have to pay an installation charge? Finally, any recommendations for a broadband supplier? Or warnings against choosing any particular supplier? -- Ian I agree with everything that Jim and Eeyore have said. The only thing that I can add to the pot is that, after 10 years, you will *definitely* have to pay to have a working line re-instated and it's currently around the £125 mark. John. Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Paul Hayes Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 7:23 pm    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? Eeyore wrote: [snip] Quote: A BT line has a heck of a lot better voice quality than VoIP too btw [snip] You obviously aren't using the right VoIP hardware and/or providers then! cheers, Paul. Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Jonathan Pearson Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 7:34 pm    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? John wrote: Quote: I agree with everything that Jim and Eeyore have said. The only thing that I can add to the pot is that, after 10 years, you will *definitely* have to pay to have a working line re-instated and it's currently around the £125 mark. Is 10 years the cut off? BT told me that ours had been disconnected for around 10 years when we moved in (previous occupants used Cable). Although BT sent an engineer round to reconnect some of the pairs it still cost us nowt! jon Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Ivor Jones Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 9:18 pm    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? "Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:4652F555.131E88E9@hotmail.com [snip] Quote: Yes you will. You are after all renting a line. They don't charge less because of the frequencies you want to use it at. A BT line has a heck of a lot better voice quality than VoIP too btw and you don't have to pay BT's prices for the calls. I can make international calls over the BT copper for about 3p a minute btw and most VoIP providers are no cheaper than that. Check out 'carrier preselection' and so on. Hmm. Depends on where you want to call, I suppose. I call the US for less than 2p/minute and there are cheaper services than that. Quality has always been excellent and no different from a BT line. Ivor Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor alexd Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 9:28 pm    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? ian wrote: Quote: Finally, any recommendations for a broadband supplier? Or warnings against choosing any particular supplier? You will find that there are at least as many people who hate an ISP, or spread bollocks about them in public forums, as there are broadband suppliers. Eeyore wrote: Quote: That depends totally on what your expectations, requirements and budget are. Let us know these things. Most of the big ISPs are fairly rubbish/indifferent though and all the really shit hot ones seem to be fairly small and relatively unknown by the public at large. ....and then get bought up and "indifferentiated" by a larger organisation. Although Easynet's support still seem to be fairly clueful post-acquisition. -- <http://ale.cx/> (AIM:troffasky) (UnSoEsNpEaTm@ale.cx) 18:25:09 up 23 days, 20:25, 2 users, load average: 0.17, 0.31, 0.26 09 f9 11 02 9d 74 e3 5b d8 41 56 c5 63 56 88 c0 Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor harrogate3 Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 10:18 pm    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? "Jonathan Pearson" <j.pearson@REMOVEtelco4u.net> wrote in message news:5bggscF2sj239U1@mid.individual.net... Quote: John wrote: I agree with everything that Jim and Eeyore have said. The only thing that I can add to the pot is that, after 10 years, you will *definitely* have to pay to have a working line re-instated and it's currently around the £125 mark. Is 10 years the cut off? BT told me that ours had been disconnected for around 10 years when we moved in (previous occupants used Cable). Although BT sent an engineer round to reconnect some of the pairs it still cost us nowt! jon Ah, you've let it slip. If the previous occupants used cable then you too can use cable and with them you <don't> have to have telephone or TV. What is more cable is much more reliable IMO than ADSL and is generally faster for similar cost. If they used cable then unless you had it removed the likelihood is that the cable will still be presented to your building so there should be little or no installation charge. -- Woody harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Jono Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 10:33 pm    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? harrogate3 laid this down on his screen : Quote: "Jonathan Pearson" <j.pearson@REMOVEtelco4u.net> wrote in message news:5bggscF2sj239U1@mid.individual.net... John wrote: I agree with everything that Jim and Eeyore have said. The only thing that I can add to the pot is that, after 10 years, you will *definitely* have to pay to have a working line re-instated and it's currently around the £125 mark. Is 10 years the cut off? BT told me that ours had been disconnected for around 10 years when we moved in (previous occupants used Cable). Although BT sent an engineer round to reconnect some of the pairs it still cost us nowt! jon Ah, you've let it slip. If the previous occupants used cable then you too can use cable and with them you <don't> have to have telephone or TV. What is more cable is much more reliable IMO than ADSL and is generally faster for similar cost. If they used cable then unless you had it removed the likelihood is that the cable will still be presented to your building so there should be little or no installation charge. .....erm....except you're not replying to the original question asker.... Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Brian A Guest Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 11:57 pm    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? On Tue, 22 May 2007 18:18:11 GMT, "harrogate3" <nospam3@ntlworld.com> wrote: Quote: "Jonathan Pearson" <j.pearson@REMOVEtelco4u.net> wrote in message news:5bggscF2sj239U1@mid.individual.net... John wrote: I agree with everything that Jim and Eeyore have said. The only thing that I can add to the pot is that, after 10 years, you will *definitely* have to pay to have a working line re-instated and it's currently around the £125 mark. Is 10 years the cut off? BT told me that ours had been disconnected for around 10 years when we moved in (previous occupants used Cable). Although BT sent an engineer round to reconnect some of the pairs it still cost us nowt! jon Ah, you've let it slip. If the previous occupants used cable then you too can use cable and with them you <don't> have to have telephone or TV. What is more cable is much more reliable IMO than ADSL and is generally faster for similar cost. If they used cable then unless you had it removed the likelihood is that the cable will still be presented to your building so there should be little or no installation charge. The cost of cable installation isn't as expensive as BT's installation anyway. Yes, if you can go for cable only - no telephone line required. You'll only have a choice of one provider of course. Voip works well on Telewest area cable. Afaik BT reconnect for free unless the disconnection was due to a bill not being paid. Remove 'no_spam_' from email address. Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor GymRatZ Guest Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 1:14 am    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? Paul Hayes wrote: Quote: Eeyore wrote: [snip] A BT line has a heck of a lot better voice quality than VoIP too btw [snip] You obviously aren't using the right VoIP hardware and/or providers then! My thoughts exactly. There's not much cheaper for International calls than FREE. And all (95% at least) of our business incoming calls come via VOIP and for the majority you'd never be able to tell the difference. Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Eeyore Guest Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 1:29 am    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? harrogate3 wrote: Quote: Ah, you've let it slip. If the previous occupants used cable then you too can use cable and with them you <don't> have to have telephone or TV. What is more cable is much more reliable IMO than ADSL and is generally faster for similar cost. Not my experience at all. My ADSL Max connection is provided by Idnet and I normally see downloads (from the usual test sites) at between 5-6 Mbps. Reliably, any time of day or week etc. Of course a lot of that has to do with Idnet. The connection seems rock solid and doesn't go 'iffy' from time to time as most ISPs' offerings seem to. Tempted by the attractive pricing (£8.50 for 4Mbps!) I decided to try Virgin's cable offering since I already had the cable here. It's currently averaging about 1.5Mbps with rare highs close to 4Mbps and regular lows as low as 500kbps and will sometimes completely fail to provide any connection at all to some sites. It 'feels' congested and it obviously is. It's a good thing it's a trial since there's no way I could live with it. I'll be ditching it (even at the killer price) before the trial's up. It's fair value but simply not good enough. Graham Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Eeyore Guest Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 1:33 am    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? Brian A wrote: Quote: Afaik BT reconnect for free unless the disconnection was due to a bill not being paid. I'm sure they used to. They do still seem to be runing their 'come back to BT' promotion. http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayProduct.do;JSESSIONID_ecommerce=GMwJqyxG4gn7Ff7ll9J7LVDZTT94xm0X08SFdMPHhJGS222Xcy6j!-1352813188?productId=CON-16425 It's only £124.99 if your home has never had a BT line before. So it says here. http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayCategory.do?categoryId=CON-NEW-LINE-R1 Graham Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor harrogate3 Guest Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 10:08 am    Post subject: Re: Broadband at Home? "Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:465360BC.EE018851@hotmail.com... Quote: harrogate3 wrote: Ah, you've let it slip. If the previous occupants used cable then you too can use cable and with them you <don't> have to have telephone or TV. What is more cable is much more reliable IMO than ADSL and is generally faster for similar cost. Not my experience at all. My ADSL Max connection is provided by Idnet and I normally see downloads (from the usual test sites) at between 5-6 Mbps. Reliably, any time of day or week etc. Of course a lot of that has to do with Idnet. The connection seems rock solid and doesn't go 'iffy' from time to time as most ISPs' offerings seem to. Tempted by the attractive pricing (£8.50 for 4Mbps!) I decided to try Virgin's cable offering since I already had the cable here. It's currently averaging about 1.5Mbps with rare highs close to 4Mbps and regular lows as low as 500kbps and will sometimes completely fail to provide any connection at all to some sites. It 'feels' congested and it obviously is. It's a good thing it's a trial since there's no way I could live with it. I'll be ditching it (even at the killer price) before the trial's up. It's fair value but simply not good enough. Graham I think it very much depends where you live - and if it was an NTL or a Telewest area. NTL expanded by taking over many small cable companies and it has to be said that the install standards of many of those left a lot to be desired. Here in Harrogate (along with York and much of Leeds) the original work was done by Bell Cablemedia and seems to have been to a high standard. I have been on cable now for nearly six years (or is it seven?) and in all that time I have only had two noticable outages. I'm on a 4Mb feed but if I download in the morning it regularly runs nearer 7Mb. I would agree however that in the early evening - say 1800-2000 - things can get a bit slow, but I suspect that will be the case with many ISPs. We have gone from original feeds at 512K to as much as 8 or 10Mb but no-one has done anything about Contention Ratio. I suppose its like digital cameras: the race for pixels is highly visible, so we started at 1Mp and are now at 8 or 10Mp on compacts, but in many cases the lens is now not up to the job; similarly for CR - the basic infrastructure in the earlier days could handle many users at 512K and give them good feed at a CR of 50:1, but now the line speeds have exceeded the basic capability of the infrastructure. Hence at most times of day with low loading domestic users will realise the benefit of the higher speed line, but get to a congested time in early evening and congestion becomes a serious problem. I once had the advantage of an uncontended 1Mb feed direct onto one PC and it was like lightning: when other users cam on the same feed it could be horrendously slow. -- Woody harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com Back to top   Ads Advertising Sponsor Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         VoIP Forum Index -> VoIP All times are GMT Page 1 of 1   Jump to: Select a forum VoIP----------------VoIP  You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum 140 Attacks blocked Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group