BT Infinity for business & wifi hotspots

I have been using FTTC via fast.co.uk at my office for a couple of years but I am now tempted to switch to BT's service because they bundle access to nationwide BT WIFI hotspsots. As I travel a fair bit, this would be very handy as I find my T-Mobile (EE now) data service patchy and slow.

I have a couple of questions - does the Option 1 service have an off-peak unlimited element like Infinity for home Option 1? Fast.co.uk don't meter the upload channel at all, which is reassuring when synchronising with our cloud backup service.

Our business is small and we simply rent a one room office suite - would BT be happy to install a home package there? Fast.co.uk don't discriminate between home and office. Our phone line is with BT and it's a business number.

Does anyone else besides BT bundle access to nationwide wifi hotspots?

Ian

Edited by deleted (Sat 08-Dec-12 17:25:54)

In reply to a post by ifb_online:

... but I am not tempted to switch ....

"now tempted"? Or even just "tempted"?

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 08-Dec-12 16:35:51)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by ifb_online:

... but I am not tempted to switch ....

"now tempted"? Or even just "tempted"?

Ah! Sorry - yes that should have been 'now' - I have corrected the original post.

And that post may be academic now as I have discovered I probably have national wifi access through my T-Mobile account. They never promoted this option to me! I have downloaded the app and can't wait to try it...

Ian

Our phone line is with BT and it's a business number

I suspect that would make it more difficult to get Retail broadband from BT, as they'll know.

I am reasonably happy with Fast.co.uk although they still don't offer Infinity 2 speeds. They are slightly cheaper than BT so if the T-Mobile free wifi app works out I may well stick with them.

Ian

In reply to a post by ifb_online:

As I travel a fair bit, this would be very handy as I find my T-Mobile (EE now) data service patchy and slow.

I guess it depends where you are in the country, but on a 2012 smartphone with DC-HSPA (often written as 42 megabit support) the T-Mobile network is giving nearly 20megabit/sec downloads at my home! The old Orange network is showing less than 1meg, but most phones now show both as EE its very hard to tell them apart.

Almost certain that BT will not install a Res service. The small extra cost is a small price to pay for the enhanced support.

You will not get BT Residential Broadband on a Business Line.

The way to do this is to make the phone line residential in the name of the boss.' Mr Bloggs trading as ACME Smallco"

But if the firm is a proper business, best off remaining as a proper business line. Especially when a line fault occurs or you want to be in Yellow Pages.

Turning to the Openzone / BT Wifi / BT Fon proposition. Yes this is a fantastic service and one that I use every day. I am constantly amazed at the availability of this service. It is everywhere. If there are houses, there is Openzone.

Sky are getting on the bandwagon with 'Cloud' but it is currently nowhere near the availability of BT.

The Cloud is currently a pure hotspot proposition, Sky broadband customers do not provide connectivity via their home connections like with BT Retail

Thanks. Prolly why I don't see Cloud anywhere. Yet there are a choice of BT Openzone, BT Wifi or BT Wifi With Fon signals on virtually every street.

Edited by deleted (Sat 08-Dec-12 22:14:01)

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by ifb_online:

As I travel a fair bit, this would be very handy as I find my T-Mobile (EE now) data service patchy and slow.

I guess it depends where you are in the country, but on a 2012 smartphone with DC-HSPA (often written as 42 megabit support) the T-Mobile network is giving nearly 20megabit/sec downloads at my home! The old Orange network is showing less than 1meg, but most phones now show both as EE its very hard to tell them apart.

T-Mobile data even with HSDPA+ (I use a Samsung Galaxy Note) is very patchy; no signal when waiting for my trrain home at London Euston, for example - Openzone should be available there I hope. I have had 10Mb down occasionally, but often I don't have decent signal and of course I'm always slightly nervous of using up my monthly allowance (750MB).

Ian

In reply to a post by ifb_online:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by ifb_online:

... but I am not tempted to switch ....

"now tempted"? Or even just "tempted"?

Ah! Sorry - yes that should have been 'now' - I have corrected the original post.

And that post may be academic now as I have discovered I probably have national wifi access through my T-Mobile account. They never promoted this option to me! I have downloaded the app and can't wait to try it...

Ian

Looks like the T-Mobile facility I can get through my phone only supports Public hotspots, not BT FON hotspots which are much more common. I'll see how the public hotspost work out, but it could be that I'll still be switching to Infinity in the end.

Ian

to use openzone one has to enable it at home also to share their connection first?

I seen the option on the HH3.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

to use openzone one has to enable it at home also to share their connection first?

I seen the option on the HH3.

Well, you have to sign up to it but you don't have to offer it at home. BT say it is a benefit open to all customers regardless of the router they use.