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Original poster

How long to get broadband in new house?

29 replies

Glittershoes22 · 28/07/2016 11:17

Just curious how long it took for your broadband provider to get your internet installed and switched on at new house.

Got a little panicky when a friend said it took hers 2 weeks last month, I run a business from home and can probably have a day with no internet but ultimately, no internet no business, I've looked into a dongle but of course we are moving to the middle of nowhere and there is no 3G signal at new house.

When I called Plusnet they said if we give them enough notice they can do it when we move in but Im not sure if I believe them!

Any real life experiences appreciated we can probably give them 3-4 weeks notice of our completion date.

OP posts:
Notyetthere · 28/07/2016 12:07

Yes broadband tend to take a while to come out so your friend's timing seems average to me.

You need to book them in to come out and install it as soon as possible. In our case, we called Virgin on the day we exchanged contracts for them to come out the day after completion.

wowfudge · 28/07/2016 12:10

If it's a brand new house, the address needs to be registered by the local council, royal mail need to update their database and then Openreach have to update theirs before you can get an appointment for connection.

JT05 · 28/07/2016 14:21

BT took 9 weeks! A real saga of mishandling, blaming another department and lies! This was despite being a BT customer and the previous owner already having Broadband at the property!

I wish you luck!

EnriqueTheRingBearingLizard · 28/07/2016 14:24

Any internet service provider (ISP) is at the mercy of BT Openreach to get the installation done for you. Openreach being a separate company from its parent Confused

onadifferentplanet · 28/07/2016 14:24

Ds organised BT Broadband when he moved into new student house on the 1st July. The broadband was up and running on the 25th , they didn't need an engineer visit I don't know if that would have made the process quicker than if an engineer was required.

Twatting · 28/07/2016 14:39

If you for a business broadband line you get the advantages of same day/next day. If not then unfortunately you have to wait

FemaleDilbert · 28/07/2016 14:46

Virgin media were there installing for us day after completion (arranged a week or so in advance)

HereIAm20 · 28/07/2016 14:46

Another one here who had terrible problems with BT - about 2 months. It was a bloody nightmare especially as I had arranged for it to give live the day we moved in 5 weeks earlier!! On the plus side we got a pretty hefty discount for a year but after a lot of phone calls and escalation and threats of going to Ofcom etc

EnidButton · 28/07/2016 15:15

BT took a week here. Had a problem with it a month later, tweeted them in the afternoon, they came out the next morning and fixed it. No problems since and that was about 5 years ago.

wowfudge · 28/07/2016 15:51

We had issues with BT when we moved. I contacted their CEO and lo and behold everything was sorted out in double quick time. BT are bringing 80% of their contact centres back to UK because of all the issues they've been having.

PersianCatLady · 28/07/2016 15:52

Is it a new build house?
When I moved into my new build house into 2013, BT said it would be possible to connect the telephone and internet within a few days, it took 9 months.

Original poster
Glittershoes22 · 28/07/2016 17:15

Thanks so much for your replies, its a very old house but will be 'new' to us!

I have been so badly burnt by BT in the past I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole now!!

Will look into Business broadband, Plusnet business says 5-10 days to get connected, gah this is such a first world problem I just don't know why it takes so long!!!

OP posts:
Owlcat · 28/07/2016 17:37

Next working day after completion with Sky.

PersianCatLady · 28/07/2016 17:39

If it is an old house at least the infrastructure will already be in place.

With our new build house the problem was that 38 houses were built on the site of an old care home and the builders only installed the necessary cables within the houses.

We waited 9 months for the cables to be fed from the nearby street and then each house to be connected as well.

As there were no cables at all we didn't have the option of going with anyone but BT at the time (which I thought was odd) as without the BT cables no other provider could connect us.

(We were in a non fibre-optic area, so that wasn't an option either).

LineyReborn · 28/07/2016 17:42

DD having the BT nightmare. 5 bloody weeks - and that's just the estimate.

mineofuselessinformation · 28/07/2016 17:56

If you can give the company enough notice before you move in, it can be connected on your moving date, but be aware that it will be disconnected at your old house all of that day.
Mine took two weeks after I moved, because my totally bonkers solicitor kept throwing up unnecessary issues until the day before completion, so it was only then that I could confirm my move.

Chillywhippet · 28/07/2016 18:17

Hopefully it will go smoother for you OP as it is not a new build.
We moved into a new build and it took weeks despite it being the show home/office and having had broadband.

Weeks of excuses about problems at the exchange. Meanwhile I was using the free wifi at coffee shop at £15 a go - drinks and cake for DC.

BT now known as the Bastard Telecommunications company in our house.

PigletJohn · 28/07/2016 19:01

If you're in the middle of nowhere, you are dependent on whatever the local infrastructure is. Sometimes lines are available even when you can't see any houses.

If there is a petrol station or a village shop nearby, they are likely to have quite a good BT connection, for the credit card till, and upgraded in 2003 or 2013 for the lottery terminal.

Sometimes Vodafone can provide a broadband connection, especially if you are near a main road, but I don't know the cost. Probably other network operators too.

OhtoblazeswithElvira · 28/07/2016 19:06

6 weeks here - that was 4 years ago though. They wouldn't budge even though they have an engineer living round the corner and we asked if we could get faster service by paying a premium. The attitude was that they were doing us a favour.

It was a 5 minute job.

Still very impressed with BT. Hmm

PersianCatLady · 28/07/2016 19:15

Sometimes Vodafone can provide a broadband connection
A lot of the time if there are no BT cables at all (for example brand new housing estate) other providers can't put in broadband.

Believe it or not standard Sky broadband, and others, actually comes down the BT cables in the same way that EDF, E-On and Southern Electric all use the same cables.

Puppymouse · 28/07/2016 19:16

Moved in 17 June. Broadband on as communicated on 5 July.

JeffreySadsacIsUnwell · 28/07/2016 19:20

A week here, despite having organised it weeks in advance (delayed completion). It was scheduled to start on the day we moved in Hmm.

Sounds like we didn't do too badly though!

PigletJohn · 28/07/2016 19:30

Vodafone - I meant a "radio" connection, like a mobile phone, not resold BT copper.

I formerly worked with a company that used online connection in retail outlets, and also from mobile cabins at County Fairs and the like, and in some cases we used Vodafone until a line could be provided. Also sometimes a Satellite Phone connection, though this was rather expensive.

GrouchyKiwi · 28/07/2016 19:40

In our new build BT took over a month to get it sorted, and it took making an official complaint to have it done.

In our not-new build it was done in a couple of days. That was also BT.

Farfromtheusual · 28/07/2016 19:50

Virgin took almost 3 weeks - I think of you give them enough notice though, they can get it done fairly quickly. It would also depend if your house is cabled up etc - ours wasn't (previous residents were with sky) so they had to come to check the street was cabled, then come back to run the cable from the roadside up the front garden, and then again to actually run the cables through the house.