To not bother with broadband?

[YeaOkay]

AIBU to not bother with broadband?

We are going to be cut off in a few weeks and I can't be arsed to shop around, plus we will need a new bt line installed.

We are with Virgin but our renew price was stupid. We have TV in two rooms and phone, broadband. Renewal was high even for just the internet and phone without the TV it would have cost us more then it does now

Anyway bt lines are all that's left and I can't be bothered. Kids use it for school but it's tough shit really isn't it. Me and DH don't need it for work so, I'm thinking just leave it?

How U am I being to think I can survive without in 2021?

Should say we have mobile data on phones for email.
Kids will have to have paper copies of work.

How old are your kids?

I'd say you were putting them at a disadvantage giving them no access to the internet via anything other than mobile data (which is expensive and runs out quickly), especially when you can get relatively cheap broadband.

But if they're, say, 3 and 5, I don't think you need it. If they were 11 and 14, I'd say you were doing them a disservice (like the kids at my high school who didn't have a telly - it made them seem weird and out of the loop socially. Not saying that's right, but it was what happened).

Do you never stream anything, use Spotify, watch YouTube, use social media, etc etc? These are all big data hogs.

Have you told Virgin you are cancelling (by phone)? Back in September our contract was running out and apparently it was going from £30-something to £50-something. So I rang to cancel and magically they could suddenly keep it at £30-something if we signed up for another 18 months.
Things could have changed since September though I suppose. It is often hard to get through to them so I rang as soon as they opened.

If you can't afford it then you can't I guess, but you could try looking on moneysavingexpert.com (Martin Lewis's website) where you'll find hints and tips about getting cheaper broadband. And lots of other useful financial stuff.

I know it is hard when your struggling (DH just lost his contract for the next few months), but I think that broadband is becoming more and more essential these days. The government seems to expect you to have it just to claim benefits and jobhunt. Also your kids will need it for their schoolwork etc. Best of luck.

Also, how are you getting these paper copies? Downloading and then printing, or having to go to the school? What about if (again, ages permitting) they want to do research for a school thing, or watch something fun on YouTube? Do they/you have enough data for that?

I also got a retention deal with Virgin. It was going to be £50+ but I rang and asked if they had any deals to make me stay and they instantly offered it for £28 pm. However, they've just emailed me and said it will be going up by £3.50 next month, but I can get out of the contract for free, so I might shop around again.

Do you not have any streaming services? I'd be surprised if you can run those economically and reliably on mobile broadband.

How old are your kids? Don't they need broadband for school?

If I could only afford one or the other, I'd ditch the mobile phone and keep broadband.

With schools closed and online learning replacing it for the foreseeable future you will be doing your children a great disservice by not having broadband.

Well...
Let's just say that Vhaving different surnames has it's benefits because apparently I moved out so cancelled the broadband and DH, sorry, the men I have never seen in my life😂 moved in and got new customer offer...

The best deal they could virgin offer was... 2 quid more than I paid....

How old are your children?
How would they get the paper copies of school work?

Sorry for writing in such a rudeness. I'm crap at wording things, always comes across so sodding rude.

Yeah I phoned them and was very nice (I'm much better at speaking in real then how I come across in writing) the lady who I spoke to was lovely. We went through the deals she could give me.

To keep everything as is, was 20 pound more then now and for just the internet with phone was 5 pound more then now. It seems crazy.

I always do the hunting round and ringing around thing but this year I just can't be bothered. Plus having to pay for a new BT line and then have someone here to install it feels such a ballache.

Kids are 13, 9 and 5.

I thought the school would do paper copies? If asked I mean.

I’m curious what job you both do that doesn’t need Internet.
Also do you not watch Netflix or Amazon prime?

Kids are 13, 9 and 5.

Sorry, in this case I think you're being hugely unfair on your 13yo. Their schooling will be online - probably for most of the school year. Not getting broadband is (rightly or wrongly) going to put them a huge disadvantage.

Just contact Virgin and say you're cancelling, then look online for an offer with another provider. You don't even need to ring anyone to get it sorted. When we switched to SKY (and when we've switched to BT in the past), we didn't even need to wait in. They delivered the router and connected us virtually.

Is this thread for real?

They don’t offer the really cheap deals until you book your disconnection. About a week after this you get offered a really good deal. I do this EVERY single time. You have to be prepared to leave though.

We use these and it was painless to swap and a good deal.

www.zen.co.uk/

@Bingowin

They don’t offer the really cheap deals until you book your disconnection. About a week after this you get offered a really good deal. I do this EVERY single time. You have to be prepared to leave though.

I am probably the only person who didn't get cheaper deal even with the cancellation team😂 And I was fucking lovely! Tbf I already had good deal from before so they probably really couldn't go lower

I’m getting broadband installed this month after not having it for the last six years. My kids are 12 & 9. The oldest child has online lessons all day. The youngest cannot access her online lessons as every time my phone rings the hotspot cuts out, the school WILL NOT do paper copies of the work they are doing. Nor will they provide links so I can print it out. In normal times, I’d understand. In the current situation you will be putting your kids at a huge disadvantage.

Virgin is really expensive. There are lots of other cheaper deals. Try Plusnet.

I think you need it.

Unless you are I dire straits I think it's very selfish and unfair to remove internet access from your children at this time. They need it for doing their school work and for keeping in contact with their friends.

I left Virgin and went with Vodafone broadband. Found it really easy and they fitted the bt line for us. I just used money supermarket I think, very easy. I think you will need broadband more than ever this year as it is amazing how much phone data I get through at my mils house with no Internet.

We just have a firestick for TV now

go on topcashback, you can usually get a chunk of cash when you switch

I used mobile data for a year, it was fine - unlimited for £25/month on giffgaff

I can't really imagine how your 13 year old would manage school without internet in normal times let alone the pandemic.

Get a router which uses mobile data; basically gives you broadband.

We used one for a couple of months after we moved in to a new house in July. DH needs broadband for work.

We used Voxy, cost about £10 for 20gb a month with unlimited phonecalls and texts. The router cost £60, got it from Huawei.