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Original poster

Moving house and WiFi

30 replies

Thingsthatgo · 02/03/2021 20:23

We are moving next week and we need to have some WiFi up and running as fast as possible so we can work from home.
Can we get it set up in advance? We would like to swap from our current provider because they are rubbish and we are overpaying. We are out of contract with them.
Please can someone explain how we do it? (I am a complete dunce at this stuff). Do we still need a landline? Or is that not a thing any more? Thank you Smile

OP posts:
flakymate · 02/03/2021 20:26

Well right now you can check with all the major providers to see who offers good coverage in your new area. From there you can look at the pricing and see if any are an option. You can also hand in the notice at your current broadband provider if you need to.

You don’t need a landline, no

Alienchannell21 · 02/03/2021 20:40

Check coverage for new address. I know that Vodafone let you do a self install so it should only be a matter of ordering the box and agreeing a switch on date with them. It was pretty straightforward (for my dh!).

NetballHoop · 02/03/2021 20:45

@flakymate

Well right now you can check with all the major providers to see who offers good coverage in your new area. From there you can look at the pricing and see if any are an option. You can also hand in the notice at your current broadband provider if you need to.

You don’t need a landline, no

I think that for most broadband packages you do still need a landline. Maybe not for true fibre, but most of the country can't get that.
murbblurb · 02/03/2021 20:54

what they said - you do need a landline unless you want to pay over the odds for mobile broadband, or if there is fibre. Everyone should have a landline anyway for emergency use; you don't have to buy a call package if you don't normally use it.

get a shift on. You are probably too late to have broadband set up when you move in. Run a comparison and make a choice.

Original poster
Thingsthatgo · 02/03/2021 21:49

Fab. Thank you for your help. Can we order broadband for the new house without affecting their current service?

OP posts:
greengrey · 02/03/2021 22:49

I stayed with Sky when I moved recently as was still in contract and they needed two weeks notice in order to have the switched on the day we moved.

When we then had to change the moving date by a week I couldn't give the 2 weeks and we ended up almost a week without WiFi. Luckily we were off work for the settling in and unpacking we had to do.

greengrey · 02/03/2021 22:49

Order it for the day of the move and it won't affect the current occupants.

mumsy27 · 03/03/2021 00:58

most providers need two week notice.

I have done that, contacted the provider that I'm moving in to new property.
was ON the day we moved in.

MojoMoon · 03/03/2021 08:42

BT are offering a new unbreakable WiFi which switches to mobile data if the wired connection drops - it's 7 or 8 a month on top of the regular fibre essential broadband. They say it will work before the wired connection is activated as well so would give you some connection rapidly. Will see for myself at the end of this week if it works!

Bells3032 · 03/03/2021 09:43

You don't need a landline these days. We got one thrown in with BT. Most require two weeks notice i am afraid. We were supposed to have one put in the day after we moved and then they turned around and said it couldn't go live for two weeks after the previous one was cut off. I'd check what the previous owners have as it may be quicker to just take over the line.

If you have any issues in the meantime speak to your mobile phone provider and explain you've moved, your internet won't be delivered for a couple of weeks and you are working from home. They will likely offer to extend your contract to unlimited for set period of time (mine did for free - EE). Then you can use it to tether TV etc. There's still a limited amount of tethering you can do but for two weeks it should be more than enough!

DespairingHomeowner · 03/03/2021 12:22

@greengrey

I stayed with Sky when I moved recently as was still in contract and they needed two weeks notice in order to have the switched on the day we moved.

When we then had to change the moving date by a week I couldn't give the 2 weeks and we ended up almost a week without WiFi. Luckily we were off work for the settling in and unpacking we had to do.

@greengrey and @Thingsthatgo: thanks for this thread, it gave me the nudge I needed to give Sky notice on mine/book a move (still looks like I will have a gap unfortunately), so thanks other posters for the suggestions
NotMeNoNo · 03/03/2021 12:58

I have to say, all credit to Virgin, I know people have difficulties with them, but on the day after moving in, a box of tricks was delivered, plugged in and working cable/fibre WIFI in a couple of hours. Later the same day the landline phone was connected up. Ok I haven't dared move or change anything but compared to weeks and months of BT disconnecting wrong accounts etc it was a breeze.

MaMaD1990 · 03/03/2021 13:48

Mine was a 3 week wait to get an engineer round to do their thing. I'd call your provider and get it sorted ASAP!

Original poster
Thingsthatgo · 03/03/2021 14:20

Thank you all for your help! I need to get my arse in gear!!

OP posts:
BrieAndChilli · 03/03/2021 15:01

we are with sky and gave them more than 2 weeks notice. turns out as our house had been empty for some months openreach had repurposed the line for someone else so we had to wait for a new one to be sorted. our internet was 2 weeks later than planned. we are with sky for our mobiles so they did give us some free data to use.

DespairingHomeowner · 03/03/2021 15:57

@NotMeNoNo

I have to say, all credit to Virgin, I know people have difficulties with them, but on the day after moving in, a box of tricks was delivered, plugged in and working cable/fibre WIFI in a couple of hours. Later the same day the landline phone was connected up. Ok I haven't dared move or change anything but compared to weeks and months of BT disconnecting wrong accounts etc it was a breeze.
I've just checked this @NotMeNoNo, apparently this is for houses that have had Virgin in the past (its called 'Quick Start')
DespairingHomeowner · 03/03/2021 16:02

My update from spending half the day on the phone with Sky... they use BT openreach engineers to switch the lines from BT to Sky, and as BT are not avail there is a gap.

Frankly, I am going to see whether BT can get me in faster and if so I will cancel the Sky and switch

DespairingHomeowner · 03/03/2021 16:54

Does anyone know how much data I'd need for a day of zooming?

Seems like my options are to bridge a 10-day gap with Sky (who charge me £22 a month which seems cheap, & has been fine for my needs), or to switch to Virgin, which would be fine but is £35 a month, so with an 18 month contract is an extra £234 over that time period.

Seems like quite a lot given I would only be working for 4-5 of the days in the gap. Is mobile broadband/dongle ok for this purpose?

@Thingsthatgo: hope you don't mind my asking the question, situation so similar that it seems duplicating to start a new thread

DespairingHomeowner · 03/03/2021 17:57

In case it helps anyone - it seems that BT have a product that will cover the gap, its the wifi boost piece of equipment referred to by @MojoMoon is the most cost effective thing for me

Thats £25 a month for broadband, £7 on top for the wifi thing (which is cancellable after 30 days), which is very comparable to my 'old customer' price at Sky of £22

I have no idea if BT are any good, but they say I can leave the contract without penalty is speed is not as advertised, which seems fair

LividLoving · 03/03/2021 20:02

We moved house, wanted to take Talk Talk to a house that already used Talk Talk.

Still took two weeks and an engineer visit 🤦🏽‍♀️

DespairingHomeowner · 03/03/2021 20:07

@LividLoving: apparently it’s because everyone apart from Virgin relies on BT open reach engineers which can take a while

Feel like I earned my phD in broadband today Confused

Roselilly36 · 03/03/2021 20:39

We have recently moved, absolute nightmare getting the broadband sorted out, we were sky customer, switch was completely useless,

A word of warning, Sky engineers will not enter your property due to COVID, we were without broadband for a week, cancelled with Sky & switched to Virgin, engineer came in and installed no problem at all.

SpeakingFranglais · 03/03/2021 21:19

Minimum of ten working days due to ofcom regulation for a change, absolutely no good leaving it to the last minute and expecting a better experience from one provider over the other.

If you have a confirmed moving date, get moving one!

DespairingHomeowner · 03/03/2021 22:36

I think lots of people must end up with a gap, as you can’t do anything til exchange, then vendors need to give notice (2 weeks /1 month ) to their supplier, only then can you take over the line...

MojoMoon · 04/03/2021 17:22

Update: my BT hub and hybrid connect device was delivered approx 10 minutes after I got the keys to my new place today. It will be a week before my line gets switched on but the hybrid connect device worked immediately to connect via mobile data and had WiFi set up in under ten mins.

So far, so good! Hopefully BT switch my line on on time as well.

It's obviously not super fast but seems perfectly good enough for regular use. Hard core gamers might notice the difference but work emails are more my thing