What are my options - help please

I moved out of my house last October cancelling the BT/Talk Talk line. I did manage to convince Sky to let me downgrade my TV package to the minimum one to keep my TV contract going but cancelled their BB as no phone line.. I am now looking to move back to said house.

What worries me is that because the BT/Talk Talk line was cancelled I am going to get hit with a hafty charge to reconnect to any provider for phone. Is this correct?

I have read numerous things on the web and am a little unsure. I do realise I will enter into a new contract but dont want to pay a connection charge plus a years contract just for the Internet. If thats the case I may look at one of these 3G mobile broadband deals...

Thanks

BT sometimes waive the £100+ reconnection fee if all the have to do is flick a switch their end. You're going to have to pay a £50 broadband setup fee too unless you opt for a long contract. Can you get sky LLU at your exchange?

Edited by deleted (Wed 11-Mar-09 14:27:44)

Yes SKY have LLU as I was on Max before. I think im now looking at mobile broadband as I dont need a home phone and I need to have the option to move in say 6-12 months time without getting into a fight over being in contract.

Now I just have to look at the various mobile broadband deals !

Thanks

You also need to consider very carefully what speeds you are prepared to accept, is latency of over 100ms going to cause you a problem, and is a download in the region of 3-5GB a month sufficient.

Your major choice will be which provider can actually deliver 3G speeds (frequently not much better than 1Mbps) at your location. Don't rely on coverage maps for this because they are pretty much useless for predicting how well mobile BB will work. Use http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/ to find your nearest cell. Anything over 500m away is likely to be problematic.

Mobile broadband is fine for use when nothing better is available but for anything more demanding than a bit of surfing and email can be a PITA unless you are in a good location.

Not that I'm trying to discourage you of course.

Cheers for that, there is a base station approx 30 seconds walk from the house. I just need to be able to surf and get on the works VPN. No major downloads or streaming required so think 3gb may suffice.

Im using dial up at the moment so it couldnt be any worse !!

I use Vodafone 3G. Usually with a cell about 200m away and for that it is fine. From home it is completely unusable and the nearest cell is only 800m away.

Whichever one you go for checkout http://www.quidco.com/ as they all offer generous cashbacks. If you find the one you pick doesn't work well get it returned quickly as most don't give you long before you are stuck in a long contract.