To ask if you’d find it difficult without home internet/Broadband?

[June16th]

I’ve not got home internet. Just Smartphone with VERY limited data. I’m just curious for people’s opinions on this

Absolutely.
4 children relying on it for access to homework.
Banking apps, online food shopping, paying bills.
Streaming services (No TV license for terrestrial TV)
Kids gaming platforms.
Whatsapp calls, no landline and normal mobile reception in this old house is dire so I have to do WhatsApp calls.

Yes. We were without it for a week ( 2 adults). Nightmare

Yes. We live somewhere that has very dodgy phone signal so our broadband is a necessity. We don't have a landline either.

Both DH and I have businesses that are run online to some extent, plus we don't have an aerial so use the internet to watch TV etc.

We can manage without it (and have done for short periods before) but I certainly wouldn't want to be without it long-term as it makes everything much more difficult and time-consuming than it needs to be!

Our cell signal is really poor, so when the landlines eventually go it would be a problem.
Banking would be really difficult. Keeping in touch with family - being able to send photos etc.
Streaming and downloading music I would really miss. We also stream TV, but tbh I wouldn't miss that. We are also quite isolated with few shops, I'd be really stuck without Ebay and online shopping. DS has a thriving Vinted shop.

Yes, because we have almost no mobile signal where we are and I WFH. Also things like banking, checking directions for trips, booking restaurants, online shopping etc.

Plus obviously streaming which is the only way we can get TV as we don't have a working TV aerial and our ancient smart TV is losing its faculties so the Freesat function doesn't work either. But because we have fibre broadband (for £22 pm) then we are fine as we are.

But your situation is likely different so it depends for you why you don't have broadband and only have a limited mobile data service.

If it's down to cost, you can get a functional service for minimal cost, eg several Gb of mobile data for under £10, or if you're on universal credit, home broadband for about £15 pm.

But if you don't have these services because you don't want them and don't find your life limited without them, then that's fine too.

We couldn't be without broadband. We live rurally with absolutely no mobile signal.

Our 4g signal is OK and as we both have unlimited data on our smartphones we'd be OK, but I would start getting very annoyed after a few days I think - we have FTP and get super fast speeds on our home broadband and as we do a lot of zoom/teams meetings and a lot of content streaming it would cause a lot of hassle.

Yes.
1- streaming tv
2- my family and many friends are abroad so via Internet is cheaper - we send loads of stuff like videos etc and video chat
3-wfh

Thanks so much everyone for your responses - I find these interesting

I don’t game
never ordered food online
never shopped online
never used Whatsapp
I don’t stream TV

however -

I have done online banking and booked hotels etc online

I grew up without the internet but couldn’t be without it now.

I work from home so would be inpossible for me, i have unlimited data on my ohone, but the signal is rubbish inside my house.

Same. Then skreeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuussssskkkkkrrrrreeeeeeuuuuu

Heard that sound recently somewhere 😂

I actually do a lot of things on my phone now that a couple of years ago I would have done on my laptop - food shopping, takeaways, banking, tasks, mumsnet 😁...but when I'm at home my phone is always connected to WiFi rather than 4g as its so much faster.

Yes - I did have broadband some years ago and totally agree - so much faster than 4g!

We have no detectable mobile phone signal but we can get 4G with a pretty decent download speed.

On the other hand we have no landline and there aren’t any phone lines nearby to easily connect to.

I'd be interested to know your age!

51

I’m worried how dependent I am on it. I don’t have a tv, I live can’t afford an unlimited data sim on my phone. I do everything online - banking, insurance, pay utilities, nearly all non-food shopping, tv, radio, films, music, book mot, service, travel tickets, keep in touch with family and friends on WhatsApp, talk to family overseas. We had a power cut a few weeks ago and it was like I’d gone back to my 1960s childhood. I’m just relieved I’m retired and don’t need internet for work. Scary.

I WFH 4 days a week, including zoom calls, & there’s no way I could do all that on 4G.

If I was just doing occasional tasks on my phone, as it sounds like you are, I might not bother with broadband.

Actually I have streamed TV in the past - iplayer and the ITV and channel 5 equivalents. But I haven’t streamed TV for at least a year.

I do watch YouTube on a very ancient iPhone - but not via the YouTube app. And j have to watch YouTube sparingly tbh ‘cos of my limited data !

I rely on it for work, leisure and controlling things in my home remotely. Heating and hot water, for example.

We have a physical broadband connection with a 4G backup. Which is actually a lot faster than the wired broadband. Particularly for upload.

I WFH 4 days a week, including zoom calls, & there’s no way I could do all that on 4G

We do everything on 4G with no problem. WFH. Zoom, Teams, uploading and downloading big files, streaming music and TV. Wi-Fi calling gives us a phone connection too.

Wow, really? Is that with unlimited data?

Yes, although I should point out that “unlimited” data is never really unlimited at all. Fair usage policies cap it. Usually at 500Gb a month.

Also, don’t underestimate how much data streaming tv uses. It is our biggest data gobbler.

Edit: User name change fail if you are confused!

I WFH so now I couldn't manage without it but previously had no home Internet and the most basic smartphone and I loved it. Kids would revolt as well though if we didn't have it