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.

No way. Its so easy to "shop around" literally go to money saving expert and use that tool. Vodafone are very good right now
You're 13 your old won't thank you if you cut it off

Also do you not watch Netflix or Amazon prime?

I agree that the children need broadband for school - we had to upgrade ours in the summer, for them, and for the video meetings that now seem essential for my own work and seeing friends, I wasn't able to access them before without dropping out, freezing etc. But I don't think it is so weird not to watch Netflix or Amazon Prime! We just had Freeview for ages and only got Disney Plus in the summer for Hamilton, I am cancelling it again soon!

What you need, for your own children's schooling, is unlimited data for all your devices. Not all mobile phone tarrifs have that. Even if the data is unlimited, tethering and hotspotting might not be allowed, or the 'unlimited' might actually have a 'fair use limit' that's easy to break.

Not providing this will severely disrupt your children's education.

I have cancelled it. It cuts off in a few weeks and they are sending me a box to send my hub back. They don't want the TV boxes back.

Well if the schools are not going to send paper copies out then what?

This seems very unfair on kids who have not got a laptop or internet.
In fact, it's damn right shit of schools! Mine do not work on laptops in school. They have books and paper.

My kids can't use my phone all day and I only get 2gb of internet.
No I don't bother with Netflix or anything like that. We had the TV from virgin and that was it. No prime video, nowtv, Netflix.

Yabu, your kids definitely need it for school. Even if they can get paper copies of some things, they won’t be able to for everything and will need to be able to look things up!

If the cost is an issue, could this help at all:

www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-technology-for-remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19#get-internet-access-for-disadvantaged-children

You have school aged children who need access to online learning.

Yeah, it is very easy to shop around so I don’t think that makes any sense. Go to a comparison site and find the best package deal for you.

Also, check Topcashback - most providers offer a high cash back incentive to get you to sign up (my £110 cash back from my last switch came through last month).

I think the kids need it and it’s unfair during lockdown to take a social, entertainment and learning resource from them.

It is unfair, but you're also in a position to be able to help them - you've just said you "can't be bothered" to ring around.

You don't need to. Just look up other internet providers, find a good deal and set it up online. It takes about 10 minutes. They'll even connect you virtually so there's no need to wait in for anyone or speak on the phone if you don't want to.

But your kids need access to the internet. Virtual schooling will be a "thing" for at least the next two terms, if not longer.

Plusnet.

No need to look any further. They are great. I left them when I moved house and boy, do I miss them.

@YeaOkay

I have cancelled it. It cuts off in a few weeks and they are sending me a box to send my hub back. They don't want the TV boxes back.

Well if the schools are not going to send paper copies out then what?

This seems very unfair on kids who have not got a laptop or internet.
In fact, it's damn right shit of schools! Mine do not work on laptops in school. They have books and paper.

My kids can't use my phone all day and I only get 2gb of internet.
No I don't bother with Netflix or anything like that. We had the TV from virgin and that was it. No prime video, nowtv, Netflix.

Well they could have internet you're just not letting them. You only get 2gb of internet? That won't last long especially if you use Facebook and Mumsnet!

Like I really do not see the big deal in going onto a comparison site? You don't need to call anyone ever

OP, have a read of the MSE website about bb deals (It’s the Martin Lewis site) they basically do the research for you. www.moneysavingexpert.com/broadband-and-tv/

I use giffgaff with a mobile sim router. About £40 on Amazon for the router, and about £20 a month for the data. We run Amazon, Netflix, bbc etc and all our internet off it no issues. Price of broadband with unwanted landline was ridiculous.

I don’t recommend Plusnet though, I’m with them and it keeps cutting out, I can’t get through to customer service either.

Sky might have a good deal?

Absolute madness with 3 kids school age and quite selfish parenting. They need broadband for school.

This seems very unfair on kids who have not got a laptop or internet.
In fact, it's damn right shit of schools Mine do not work on laptops in school.

I'd say it was damn right shit of you as parents given you can afford it, you just can't be arsed.

But I'll never understand parents with so little regard for their kids education.

And I'm surprised they've never need to look something up, use MyMsths, access any of the homework apps or websites, BBC bite size etc.

You're failing your kids frankly.

I can't be arsed to shop around

I'm not understanding why the above is the fault of your dc's school?

There is some support for families struggling to afford internet connection but that isn't what you are saying.

Your dc need your care and this includes access to the internet for their education.

You're going to need Internet for remote learning. I've 5 here and I've top broadband speed for my area, because it's needed and even with that we experience lags and cut outs. There is no way your 2gb will suffice for remote learning.

How can they use copies? How do they get them corrected?

What kind of remote learning is your schools doing? Are they doing live lessons or sending work through the likes of teams? With these you'll need a decent Internet service.

If you are struggling with money you could get the schools to WhatsApp you the work, your child completes it, you take a photo and send it back via WhatsApp.

I'm sure schools will help out best they can. It's only until you have no Internet that you realise how much you need it. It's a great thing to have to look up things, especially for the kids when researching answers.

Last time we had virgin they wanted silly money after our deal ended so obviously I said no and cancelled it. By the time we'd sent our boxes back they had contacted us more than 5 times with increasingly low offers.

Anyway, you don't need to ring round:

www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband/

www.comparethemarket.com/broadband/

www.uswitch.com/broadband/

www.gocompare.com/broadband/

Just because you personally don't use something, it doesn't mean it isn't useful to the other people in the house. What a selfish outlook.

This is a modern age. Most work and education settings are moving towards the benefits the internet can provide to improve services and ways of working. By withholding it from your children just because you can't be arsed to sort it out, or you've taken a personal dislike to it for some reason, is doing them a huge disservice and they will end up resenting you for it.

Also look into the offer some providers are doing for unlimited data allowances for disadvantaged children (no idea whether this fits your circs, please don't feel judged by the suggestion!)

Internet is massively important for education. Even if the schools gives you hard copies of work, they'll still need the internet for research. They'll be hugely disadvantaged without it.

Data is relatively cheap and you can tether laptops / tv etc. You can get 80g of data from giffgaff for £20, if you use very little then it's probably cheaper than broadband.

@Pemba

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.

I did exactly this, this morning. I took the first deal they offered me, but if you tell them your situation, you might be able to get them down even cheaper.

Forget about your kids needing it for school, they NEED it to be employable in the future, 10 years from now when your 13 year old is job hunting they will be at a disadvantage if they are not as technologically savvy as all the other job hunters. They'll have a much lower typing speed and understanding of how to use the internet to research and learn new skills, CVs are probably gonna end up enmeshed with social media at some point aswell, think about the amount of people who get jobs and network through LinkedIn already let alone 10 years from now.

Obviously it's up to you though.