Broadband and Phone not available?
Discussion
I'm trying to change my Mum's Broadband and Phone provider. She's been with NOW for about 5 years, and has been paying £25 per month for broadband (she gets about 10Mb, which is fine for her needs) and phone line/ phone calls.
They have sent her an email saying that the price is going up to £40 per month from April, whis is a big hike for someone on just a pension.
I said I'd sort her out a better deal, but searching all the usual providers, none seem to offer a broadband and calls package any more. I know everything is swapping over to wifi calls, but my mum doesn't have a mobile, so a power cut would leave her isolated and unable to call for help - not ideal.
Whats the best way to get a no-frills, simple package? She doesn't need the 100Mb fibre that they all seem to offer these days.
They have sent her an email saying that the price is going up to £40 per month from April, whis is a big hike for someone on just a pension.
I said I'd sort her out a better deal, but searching all the usual providers, none seem to offer a broadband and calls package any more. I know everything is swapping over to wifi calls, but my mum doesn't have a mobile, so a power cut would leave her isolated and unable to call for help - not ideal.
Whats the best way to get a no-frills, simple package? She doesn't need the 100Mb fibre that they all seem to offer these days.
captain_cynic said:
As the back end is entirely digital these days a power cut would kill any analogue phones.
Just get her a mobile.
Getting a mobile isn't the problem. Just get her a mobile.
Educating a 92 year-old into how to use face recognition, two-factor authentication and suchlike is going to be a bit more difficult (as in, impossible)
Cant you get a broadband deal that has a digital voice setup? https://www.bt.com/help/landline/digital-voice-mig...
I set this up for my neighbour last year sometime, it involved plugging a box into the wall and the router, then plugging his existing phone into the new box. He could have done it himself if he had bothered to look, but plugging stuff in scares him.
I set this up for my neighbour last year sometime, it involved plugging a box into the wall and the router, then plugging his existing phone into the new box. He could have done it himself if he had bothered to look, but plugging stuff in scares him.
Basically you can't get the old style broadband package - they simply aren't being sold. You can get fibre with Digital voice from Zen for about £34 a month or BT will be about £37 a month with a price rise coming. BT have a couple of phones you can buy for £34 or so or you can use your own.
Be very wary if you want to keep her number as it's not difficult to lose it when transferring.
Be very wary if you want to keep her number as it's not difficult to lose it when transferring.
boyse7en said:
captain_cynic said:
As the back end is entirely digital these days a power cut would kill any analogue phones.
Just get her a mobile.
Getting a mobile isn't the problem. Just get her a mobile.
Educating a 92 year-old into how to use face recognition, two-factor authentication and suchlike is going to be a bit more difficult (as in, impossible)
Ezra said:
boyse7en said:
captain_cynic said:
As the back end is entirely digital these days a power cut would kill any analogue phones.
Just get her a mobile.
Getting a mobile isn't the problem. Just get her a mobile.
Educating a 92 year-old into how to use face recognition, two-factor authentication and suchlike is going to be a bit more difficult (as in, impossible)
Shirley she has seen a cordless phone before.
captain_cynic said:
Ezra said:
boyse7en said:
captain_cynic said:
As the back end is entirely digital these days a power cut would kill any analogue phones.
Just get her a mobile.
Getting a mobile isn't the problem. Just get her a mobile.
Educating a 92 year-old into how to use face recognition, two-factor authentication and suchlike is going to be a bit more difficult (as in, impossible)
Shirley she has seen a cordless phone before.
Vodafone were doing some good deals on broadband recently, £23/25 depending on whether you took a Cityfibre or Openreach line, then add on an additional £10 for broadband xtra which covered all your calls plus an Apple TV streamer as a gift. You also got a Tesco/Amazon/M&S gift card. Only seems to be available through the comparison sites. Look for the broadband deal & add Xtra later in the process.
Edit: if you ask a Meerkat, it’s coming up just now as £27, then £30 from April 2026 for 150MB, plus the extra £10 for the calls & Apple thing, with a £65 gift card. That’s on an Openreach fibre line. My parents took that deal with a Cityfibre line and the installation was all sorted out, only unexpected thing was CityFibre’s surveyor coming out a few days earlier to size up the job.
Edit: if you ask a Meerkat, it’s coming up just now as £27, then £30 from April 2026 for 150MB, plus the extra £10 for the calls & Apple thing, with a £65 gift card. That’s on an Openreach fibre line. My parents took that deal with a Cityfibre line and the installation was all sorted out, only unexpected thing was CityFibre’s surveyor coming out a few days earlier to size up the job.
Edited by alangla on Friday 14th March 17:17
Edited by alangla on Friday 14th March 17:19
Just noticed you’re asking about cheaper deals, if you’re in a Hyperoptic area they seem to be doing broadband and phone for £25/month but I can’t see details because apparently they don’t serve my area. Basically if you’re Openreach only you’re probably not going to get much cheaper than that Vodafone deal I think.
I work for Virgin, depending on the area, we still do landlines, and if shes elderly, we can install a home telephone that in a powercut has a sim in it so she would be able to still call emergency services, and will be able to be used for normal calls, but would need topping up for that.
if you let me know the postcode, i can check
if you let me know the postcode, i can check
Mr Pointy said:
The isue is finding a package closer to £25 than £40. How about you post some?
That's not really an issue, but no need to get short.Simple solution is to buy a cheap feature phone (that's what they're called these days) outright and just get a cheap pay monthly plan, then pay for the internet separately.
https://www.hmd.com/en_gb/feature-phones - other brands are available of course. This is just an example.
Any number of plans can be had for £5
Google is your friend ( just doing this to shorten a massive URL)
https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/compare/sim_only_d...
I think the best solution for the OP is someone who can check in on his mum in the very rare event of a power cut though.
Edited by captain_cynic on Friday 14th March 20:18
https://www.avforums.com/threads/question-about-bt...
You seem to have options with bt though it might be hard to find.
You seem to have options with bt though it might be hard to find.
I may be wrong but Now come under Sky's umbrella and Sky use the Openreach network, so safe to assume she currently has a copper / PSTN line for her broadband and phone? Lowest / starting point Openreach FTTP is about 40mbps, so less than the outgoings copper can provide in some cases.
If no packages are available, does that maybe just mean the fibre network via Openreach has not been built in her area yet and if so, until it is she should be able to continue on a copper service until fibre is available? Have you spoken to her current to ask that she continues as is? Given her venerable status, likely there will be provisions in place.
You say she'd struggle with a basic mobile but have you tried? An elderly relative was in a similar position, but sussed out a basic mobile phone very easily - enter number, press the green button then the red one once you've had enough of Auntie Sandra talking about the dogs.
Other option is to look at 4G/5G similar based options though won't really help in a power cut unless you can find one that can support a battery back up system. How often do power cuts happen and is she in the position where the neighbours are on hand to physically check in if one did happen.
If no packages are available, does that maybe just mean the fibre network via Openreach has not been built in her area yet and if so, until it is she should be able to continue on a copper service until fibre is available? Have you spoken to her current to ask that she continues as is? Given her venerable status, likely there will be provisions in place.
You say she'd struggle with a basic mobile but have you tried? An elderly relative was in a similar position, but sussed out a basic mobile phone very easily - enter number, press the green button then the red one once you've had enough of Auntie Sandra talking about the dogs.
Other option is to look at 4G/5G similar based options though won't really help in a power cut unless you can find one that can support a battery back up system. How often do power cuts happen and is she in the position where the neighbours are on hand to physically check in if one did happen.
Edited by Davie on Saturday 15th March 22:48
Edited by Davie on Saturday 15th March 23:14
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband/broadba...
Above should be a link to information about the BT packages I found for the M-i-L.
May not apply, I don't know whether your situation includes pension credit, but thought it worth pointing to as only £15.
Above should be a link to information about the BT packages I found for the M-i-L.
May not apply, I don't know whether your situation includes pension credit, but thought it worth pointing to as only £15.
Thas to everyone for the help, advice and various tips.
With a bit of digging around (they don't advertise it, or even put it on the "normal" website) i discovered that BT (and maybe others) do a basic broadband option for people on various benefits, including pension credits which my mum is on.
So I've signed her up for that – £15 per month for 36mbs broadband and all phone calls included. For now we've decided that in the event of a power cut she will go to the neighbor and ask them to call me. I'll float the idea of a basic mobile in the future, but for now it is all a bit much for her to take in.
With a bit of digging around (they don't advertise it, or even put it on the "normal" website) i discovered that BT (and maybe others) do a basic broadband option for people on various benefits, including pension credits which my mum is on.
So I've signed her up for that – £15 per month for 36mbs broadband and all phone calls included. For now we've decided that in the event of a power cut she will go to the neighbor and ask them to call me. I'll float the idea of a basic mobile in the future, but for now it is all a bit much for her to take in.
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