Phoneline Activation

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collinsc

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Hi

I have just purchased a property. No-one has lived there for 6 months, so the phoneline has been de-activated. BT say they well re-activate it- but i need to sign up to a 12 month contract.

I do not yet know what internet provider i wish to go with - so i do not want to rush in and get it activated. Can any ISP get this re-activated for me?

Also- is it possible for ISPs to tell me about the potential speed i can get if my phone line is not currently active?


Thanks
 
You should speak to other providers but I presume they will all want a 12 month contract.

Try cable as it might be cheaper. :D
 
most ISPs require a BT line. Only virgin use their cable network, AFAIK. So you'll need the BT line, unless you use virgin.
 
You can have your telephone line through Sky now Steve. We've got the Telly, Broadband and Telephone all through Sky. We used to have just our Telephone 'Calls' through Sky but BT sent us a bill recently which made no sense whatsoever so my wife rang them to try and get to the bottom of it. When she finally got through she spent almost 35 minutes talking to someone with an Indian accent who she said she struggled to understand and that kept saying 'you don't understand what I'm telling you', to which my wife said 'I KNOW I DON'T!' After repeated rebuffs to her requests to be transferred to a Manager she just put the phone down. We contacted SKY (spoke to someone with a Scottish Accent who was totally understandable and very nice), they just took our details and they did all the donkey work in terms of cancelling our BT contract and taking over our telephone line and number. It couldn't have been simpler. We moved the full telephone package to SKY and it's actually slightly cheaper than we were paying anyway! We'll be going back to BT when Hell freezes over apparently! :shock: Not to be messed with my wife! :?
 
That's funny.

That's not what she said when I was round there on Friday... :wink:
 
collinsc said:
Can any ISP get this re-activated for me?
Click to expand...

Yes, they can. Part of the anti-monopoly local-loop-unbundling system we have now means that there is a part of BT who maintains the exchanges, separate from the part of BT who sells you a phone service.

I found this out when BT wanted over £100 to reactivate my phoneline, and couldn't budge on this charge even though it meant losing a potential customer to Virgin.

Also- is it possible for ISPs to tell me about the potential speed i can get if my phone line is not currently active?
Click to expand...

Sort of, and only sometimes. If your line is still connected at the exchange (not a certainty!), then they can perform a "woosh test" which analyses your line's capacity. Additionally, you can find out what technologies the exchange is equipped for (ADSL, ADSL2 etc)

If they turn you down for a woosh test, try asking BT what your landline number would be. They don't seem to reassign these numbers, so you should be able to then put that number into an online postcode checker to see.

Failing that, if you are in a cabled area, consider Virgin. I've found them more reliable than the ADSL I had in my previous place, 2 years and counting.
 
you'll probably find that your phoneline is active, it just doesn't have a number..

mine was "cut off" when I moved in and I just got it "re-connected" after 2 years.
it always had a dial tone, when I plugged the phone in, and a brief e-mail to BT confirmed that the phoneline was still connected but with no number it was blocked from receiving and making calls.. except for 999 calls..
so I left the phone plugged in just in case..
 
Residential lines are usually stopped and left intact when an outgoing customer ceases service. If a residential line is still intact and has any kind of dial tone, it will have a number. Just dial 17070 and the exchange will tell you what that number is. Such a line can generally be taken over and reactivated free of charge. Don't dilly dally if you want to take a line over as a stopped line will get ceased by Openreach if they are running out of spare line plant. Once a line is 'ceased' it's gonna cost to get it back on.
 
There is unfortunately no guarantee of the line still being cables up after a break of 2 years. Although they don't go round disconnecting the lines, the pair becomes free on their computer system and it is quite possible that some part of the line has been used for another provision somewhere.

With regard to the line and ISPs. As long as the line is one that goes to the local exchange (I.e. not a cable line) you should be able to get it from any supplier, not just BT. And the broadband provision doesn't have to be from the supplier of the phone line, though you might get a better deal if it is. I believe that the Post Office offer lines with no minimum contract if the 1 year could be an issue. You will almost certainly get charged the installation fee unless you can fine an offer.

BT are doing an offer at the moment (Until 30th June) for free line installation with an 18 month contract Clicky
 
well the postman and the meter reader were just leaving as I arrived? :shock:
 
Now I come to think of it.... the fridge is full of Milk and the Windows are sparkling! :shock:
 
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