Broadband for a neebie pesioner

What I am trying to do is get a housebound pensioner connected to broadband for the first time and to reduce phone call charges. The last quarter's bill for a couple of dozen calls to family was over £80. In a virgin media area and on a EO BT line.

I can't find a package that gives anytime calls and light usage broadband for the less than £49 a month after introductory offers end. Any ideas and suggestions to find something a bit cheaper?

A possible complication is the currently attached medical alarm unit on the phone line.

With thanks in advance.

Which exchange please?

Wroughton Nr Swindon 01793 812xxx

What type of medical alarm? Is it just an autodialler or is it one which relies on "out of band" signalling.

In reply to a post by MHC:

What type of medical alarm? Is it just an autodialler or is it one which relies on "out of band" signalling.

I'm afraid I don't know. I will have to contact Swindon BC on Monday to find out.

I understand what an autodialler is but have no knowledge of what out of band signalling is. Does this device inhibit broadband on the line?

Plusnet Essentials Broadband and calls.

It's a Market 2 exchange so the banner prices apply, not the higher ones hinted at by the "from"s littered about.

ADSLx Broadband £5.99
Line rental £14.50
Anytime calls (UK) £5

Total £25.99pm.
Anytime International is a bit more. Is that required?

Out of Band means that it is above the normal voice frequencies. There is some latitude for them to work but filters may inhibit operation.

However, you will not be the first and many others will have had to deal with this already.

If it is an auto dialler, then it will just need a standard filter.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Plusnet Essentials Broadband and calls.

It's a Market 2 exchange so the banner prices apply, not the higher ones hinted at by the "from"s littered about.

ADSLx Broadband £5.99
Line rental £14.50
Anytime calls (UK) £5

Total £25.99pm.
Anytime International is a bit more. Is that required?

No, just UK calls so it looks ideal; just got to make sure it doesn't upset the working of the alarm on the line. I'll ring Swindon BC on Monday to "get the facts".

Effectively this means that broadband provision won't cost any more than the last bill from BT and comes with the opportunity to make more calls for nothing. I am afraid monies available don't stretch to any yearly upfront line rental saver plans. Of course whole bill DD has been invoked but you can't do anything about the new £2 bill provision if you haven't got broadband!

The BT Broadband checker against the phone number shows WBC ADSL 2+ [with or without Annex M] as being available. I'll check out the web site but in case I can't find what the setup costs are, would someone please enlighten me.

However being as "cheap as chips", will this offering match what it says on the tin to give a hassle free experience?

What was the estimated speed?

Click the Show details button on the product - it says "Free setup, save £25" .

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

The last quarter's bill for a couple of dozen calls to family was over £80.

Why so high for just a few calls? Even now with BT Anytime Calls it would cost £67 per Q; last year even less.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

What was the estimated speed?

Click the Show details button on the product - it says "Free setup, save £25" .

Make of this what you will:

WBC ADSL 2+ Up to 17 -- 10 to 19.5 Available
WBC ADSL 2+ Annex M Up to 17 Up to 1.5 10 to 19.5 Available
ADSL Max Up to 7.5 -- 6.5 to 8 Available
WBC Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available

That's fine. Broadband would perform satisfactorily, i.e. would be worth the money, so long as there aren't any home wiring issues.

If there are such, you and we could probably sort them out fairly easily.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

That's fine. Broadband would perform satisfactorily, i.e. would be worth the money, so long as there aren't any home wiring issues.

If there are such, you and we could probably sort them out fairly easily.

It's a master socket with no extension wiring - it's just the medical alarm we have to worry about for the moment but as noted in the thread, I won't be the first person to have this issue so there should be some sort of guidance notes available.

Good luck.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

it's just the medical alarm we have to worry about for the moment but as noted in the thread, I won't be the first person to have this issue so there should be some sort of guidance notes available.

As MHC has said, the alarm is almost certain to be an auto dialler. So long as an autodialler is filtered, no special steps are necessary.

However, you should check that it isn't using out of band signalling (Redcare or similar), as special measures may need taking in those cases. Googling for the make and model of the alarm may reveal what sort of signalling it uses, especially if you dig up some sort of manufacturer's documentation.

In reply to a post by David_W:

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

it's just the medical alarm we have to worry about for the moment but as noted in the thread, I won't be the first person to have this issue so there should be some sort of guidance notes available.

As MHC has said, the alarm is almost certain to be an auto dialler. So long as an autodialler is filtered, no special steps are necessary.

However, you should check that it isn't using out of band signalling (Redcare or similar), as special measures may need taking in those cases. Googling for the make and model of the alarm may reveal what sort of signalling it uses, especially if you dig up some sort of manufacturer's documentation.

All good stuff inputted with action in hand to follow the advice given. An autodialler is a passive device whereas out of band signalling is interactive. The reception station seem to be aware of equipment malfunction or user issues so my guess is that it is indeed an out of band signalling device.

In that case, what are these 'special measures' that **may** need to be taken to use ADSL on the line? We do have Redcare at the office and it has worked quite satisfactorily on both ADSL and now FTTC without anything special being introduced to run both services on the same line. However it is a pure BT line setup; whether unbundling would upset the applecart is an unknown.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

In that case, what are these 'special measures' that **may** need to be taken to use ADSL on the line? We do have Redcare at the office and it has worked quite satisfactorily on both ADSL and now FTTC without anything special being introduced to run both services on the same line.

Redcare was initially incompatible with ADSL, and the presence of Redcare on the line precluded an ADSL order. Around ten years ago, the equipment used for Redcare was tweaked to prevent DSL on the line from interfering with the Redcare signalling, with all new Redcare installations from July 2003 being ADSL compatible. BT SIN 284 section 3.2.1 states that all Redcare installations became ADSL compatible from February 2004.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Plusnet Essentials Broadband and calls.

It's a Market 2 exchange so the banner prices apply, not the higher ones hinted at by the "from"s littered about.

ADSLx Broadband £5.99
Line rental £14.50
Anytime calls (UK) £5

Total £25.99pm.
Anytime International is a bit more. Is that required?

Or there's TalkTalk Simply Broadband:
https://sales.talktalk.co.uk/product/broadband/simplybb

Broadband £2.50
Line Rental £15.40
Anytime calls (UK) £5.50

Total £23.40per/month

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/SSWGN

I make no suggestion as to which is better, just making you aware of the options.

Edited by deleted (Sun 27-Oct-13 21:20:42)