Temporary Broadband

[simes]

So, quite possibly a stupid question but;

How easy is it to acquire a broadband connection for contract lengths of time, ie. 3-6+ months in a rented property?

Reason is if I move away for a period in the UK, I would like my wife to come with me and as she works from home, or indeed anywhere that has broadband to dial into her office, she is good to go.

I have an Orange account; can this be transfered to another BT number in said rented property for example or are there likely to be issues regarding MAC numbers?

I would ask Orange themselves but I have had any number of responses for simpler questions depending on the time and country the call gets routed to.

Thanks in advance.

[KevinS]

The transfer using a MAC could end up locking you into a 12 month contract..

I would prefer to pay the connection charge for a new install with an ISP that doesn't lock you into a long term contract..

Zen have a 1 month contract, but are quite pricey (compared to other ISPs). Be There have minimum 3 month contract (or buy out at £50), but that is not IPStream (BTW product), which means you are limited to exchanges they have unbundled..

[r0bly0ns]

Have you thought about a 3G broadband connection from a mobile phone company?

Most (if not all) of them now do it through a USB dongle that you con just plug into any computer and hey presto, you're on line.....

[Sockpuppet]

Zen adsl 1 month min contract.

[KathyWoolfe]

Fasthosts do a 1 month minimum contract

[TheFaQQer]

freedom2surf do a short term rental.

[WotNxt]

Have you thought about a 3G broadband connection from a mobile phone company?

Most (if not all) of them now do it through a USB dongle that you con just plug into any computer and hey presto, you're on line.....

I have just got the T-Mobile dongle in the last few weeks. If you are going to use this for serious work use (i.e. no connection, no work, no pay) then check:

a) signal coverage in area - I have an T-Mobile handset so I knew the coverage was fine, I am in NW London too so anticipated good early "fast" coverage. The dongle uses several technologies and will "downgrade" to lesser ones if the better ones are not available in that area. e.g. In a good area you get the snazzy HSDPA and in a poor area you will be stuck with GPRS. There is also an in-betweeny level one called EDGE I think.

b) contention ratios and actual throughput as opposed to theoretical - my connection reports 3.6Mbit/s (HSDPA) but peak download speeds are more like 400 to 600kbits/s.

c) availability and connection reliability - my connections sometimes go "dead" and I have to re-connect to start getting a response again. Sometimes I just don't get a connection! This can be a real pain at times but hopefully will improve as the network matures. It is inconsistent too - some days it is fine and others it is a real pig.

d) latency (if important) - not especially important to me but the theoretical latencies are pretty good if you get an HSDPA connection (see point a above).


My reasoning for getting this was:

a) I can ditch my £5pcm BT Openzone subscription (Wi-Fi hotspot access)
b) I can ditch my Orange GPRS data card (works in most geographical areas but is slow and expensive)
b) I can ditch my £14pcm Now wireless broadband subscription and wireless modem (which is reasonably quick but only works in a certain geographical area)

So I am saving £19pcm + ad-hoc GPRS costs plus lugging stuff about.

Now paying £20pcm for all 3 in one small lightweight USB-powered dongle which has the software/drivers on board so no downloads or CDs required if you want to plug it in to different machines.

Seemed like a good deal to me - just need to get the reliability a bit better.

Hope this is useful.

[ladymuck]

nildram do 1 month contracts

[puterDude]

are there likely to be issues regarding MAC numbers?

Note: Your MAC is for moving between providers on the same phone line at the same location, not for moving to another phone line or location.

As already stated there are a number of providers offering short term contracts. It may also still be cost-effective to enter into a longer term 12/18 month cheaper contract with a phone/broadband [+ media|mobile] bundle and cancel early (paying the cancellation fee).

Sam

[simes]

re

Very many thanks folks. This is perfect.

Didn't realise there were so many small term contracts; thanks for clearing up the MAC query.

A thread to be saved for when this happens - the current contract looking very likely to die by the end of January.

Very best to you all - happy holidays.

S.