I'm sooo confused. I'm moving to the UK in a week, and I just don't know what I need in terms of Broadband, TV, fixed line...there are too many choices.
I'll be living in a flat in Oxford, and there will be two of us. We are both going to need internet access for work, my GF will work from home, and I will work 2 miles away, where I will have internet access. We will both travel a lot to foreign lands, Africa and the like. One or maybe both of us will need to access emails whilst travelling in the UK and abroad- I'm thinking about getting a smart phone.
We don't watch a lot of TV, but understand that Freeview is worth having.
The flat we are taking does not have a fixed line, as far as I am aware.
Any help on determining the right solution for the two of us will be very much appreciated. We are not millionaires so cost is part of the equation.
Moving to the UK
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Editor - Matt Powell
Report abuseIt would be unusual for your flat not to have a fixed line installed already, it may just be hidden somewhere. If not you'd need to speak to BT about installation, this would not necessarily cost anything.
May find it's in a cable area as well so you could get phone and broadband from Virgin Media.
If you tell us your postcode we can give you a lot more detail about what's available (you can send a direct message or tweet @broadbandgenie and we'll get right back to you).
Whatever happens I think you will need a proper home broadband connection, rather than relying on mobile broadband or a smartphone, as your partner will be working from home. You don't want to be limited by poor signal or small download cap when using it for work.
If you get a phone line from BT you can go with one of the many providers offering ADSL connections, speed will generally be around 5-10Mb and many offer unlimited downloads. It's not expensive, either, if you take a look at our broadband deals section you'll see a wide range of packages starting at less than £10 per month.
If your flat has cable you'll only be able to go with Virgin Media, but they offer much faster speeds, up to 100Mb in some areas.
For checking your emails away from the home a smartphone is perfect. Can get some very cheap Android handsets (under £100) on either low monthly contracts or inexpensive pay as you go with data included. The main providers are O2, Orange, Three, Vodafone and T-mobile, with others such as Virgin Mobile, Tesco Mobile and GiffGaff piggy-backing on them. Coverage in most parts of the country is generally good with all networks but you may want to confirm signal strength at work, home and other such locations to see if any offers a notably better connection.
I would not recommend using your smartphone to check emails outside the UK, at least for the time being. Roaming charges are very high, sometimes £5 per MB or more, however new rules are coming into force in July which will restrict these costs, initially to 70p per MB. You can use the smartphone Wi-Fi to get online at restaurants, hotels, bars etc, so it may still be of use.
Regarding the TV, freeview will probably be sufficient, it has lots of channels and aside from the TV license won't cost anything. Any new TV should support it without requiring an extra box. However you can get more TV services as a part of a phone and broadband bundle if you go with either BT, Sky or Virgin Media. -
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Matt, that is incredibly helpful. I discovered I can't have Virgin cable because of the lease, but I have got a Sky connection. There are lots of telephone points apparently but no number, but I will call BT as suggested to make sure.
