There are many people who would love to get rid of their existing telephone line simply because they never use it and can do without the added cost. Others use their mobile phones for all their telephone calls and then you have some people who simply never use a telephone, but choose to communicate via email. For some, such as students, the long contract term prevents them from obtaining a telephone line, particularly if they are not studying in their home town.
It is possible to find broadband without line rental, but your choices are limited. The infrastructure of the UK is such that ADSL broadband is the most popular option; however, to obtain this service you need to have a telephone line installed.
Broadband without Line Rental Options
The options that are available to you are:
Cable or fibre optic broadband
Mobile broadband
Satellite broadband
Cable or Fibre Optic Broadband
Virgin Media is the leading service provider in the cable broadband arena. They were the first providers of the service and have retained their pole position as their service is now available to 50% of the UK population. BT has entered the fibre optic arena as well; however, their service still requires a telephone line as it is FTTC not FTTH generally.
Fibre optic broadband has several advantages over the traditional ADSL broadband connection, as outlined below:
The connection speeds are superior to ADSL, with speeds of up to 100mb per second being recorded.
The cost of a telephone line is eliminated.
It offers a stable connection.
Some of the disadvantages linked to this type of broadband service include:
The service not being available to everyone. The majority of the urban areas in the country are covered, but not all.
The cost being generally higher than ADSL.
Many people avoid cable broadband because of the costs involved. The cost of fibre optic broadband is generally higher than that of ADSL; however, once you add the cost of the telephone line to the ADSL broadband cost, you may find that there is not much of a variance between the two. If you are willing to switch over, you will get a more superior service with greater stability and speed.
3G Mobile Broadband
Many users turn to mobile broadband as an option for broadband without line rental. They more than likely use their mobile service to access the internet anyway. The one problem with mobile broadband is that it is not cost effective; however, you do have the flexibility and the mobility of the service to consider.
If you opt for mobile broadband, it will be necessary for you to obtain a dongle for use with your computer. Some computers have a built-in data card which would make it unnecessary for you to buy a dongle. Most service providers will provide you with a dongle when you sign a contract.
Mobile broadband is most suitable for light internet users. These are people who check their messaging service, do online banking and do limited internet activities on a daily basis. Medium and heavy users may become quite frustrated with the lack of speed and stability of the mobile broadband service. The data allowance limits are also not suitable for heavy users of the internet as the limit is generally not more than 15GB per month. To get an idea of what you can do if you have a 3GB limit, you will be able to:
Send approximately three thousand basic messages by email, or
Surf the internet for around thirty hours, or
Download approximately fifteen average length videos, or
Download approximately ninety six music tracks of average length.
You will not be able to exceed your data allowance for free, and any additional data that you use will cost extra.
4G Mobile Broadband
This is a far superior connection to the 3G one. Speeds that compare favourably with fixed line connections are available with this type of service. The one problem with the service is that it is relatively new and the network coverage related to it is very limited. Not many service providers offer this service yet. EE Broadband, with T-Mobile and Orange under their umbrella, are currently the only service providers for this broadband connection.
Satellite Broadband
Satellite broadband is normally available to people who live outside the urban areas as they are generally unable to obtain either ADSL or cable broadband. To get this broadband connection, you need to have a satellite dish installed from which the cables will be run into your home. Besides the dish, you will need a satellite modem as well as a broadband router. These additional pieces of hardware are an additional cost. The cost of the broadband packages is normally much higher than those available with other types of broadband connections.
Broadband Providers
The provider you need will be dependent upon the type of broadband connection you choose to use. With the fibre optic broadband option, you are limited to Virgin Media to obtain broadband without line rental.
As far as mobile broadband is concerned, you will have a choice of a few providers who offer this service. The main providers are:
3-Mobile
Vodafone
Virgin Mobile
If you are interested in the 4G service, you should visit the website belonging to EE. T-Mobile and Orange fall under the EE umbrella, so they too offer this service.
You will be able to find broadband without line rental, but to ascertain what the best option is for your needs it will be necessary for you to determine your needs first. If you require a stable, fast broadband connection, you should consider the fibre optic choice.
If you want the flexibility and mobility that mobile broadband offers and you are not a heavy internet user, you should investigate this type of broadband connection. There are several service providers in this section of the broadband community and you will have to do thorough research to determine where you can obtain the best deal to suit your needs and requirements.
Sam Jones needed to find broadband without line rental. He knew that a comparison service such as uSwitch should be his first port of call to make sure that he got all the relevant information.
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