I've had it with BT. I gave up their pathetic internet years ago and I only kept a landline because the mobile signal was not always reliable.
Now the landline has become unusable, but BT have made no attempt to fix it. We MIGHT get fibre broadband by the end of next year, but I'm sick of broken promises.
We've bought a basic mobile phone with a docking station to act as a home phone - 7.50 a month instead of 19 for BT and a 4G router for internet - 25 pounds a month instead of 75 from BT.
The World's best network - yeah, sure.
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
I joined Coop mobile, for broadband, mobile, after using their energy (preferential rate from Octopus). Got fed up with corporates trying to sell me stuff, rather than getting it right and giving a service. As a policy, I try to go mutual whenever I can now.
The gripe is with Openreach (they provide and manage the infrastructure, cables, fibre upgrades etc) not BT, who are now just a service provider over Openreach network.
Quote: Originally posted by Capt Lightning on 21/5/2025
I've had it with BT. I gave up their pathetic internet years ago and I only kept a landline because the mobile signal was not always reliable.
Now the landline has become unusable, but BT have made no attempt to fix it. We MIGHT get fibre broadband by the end of next year, but I'm sick of broken promises.
We've bought a basic mobile phone with a docking station to act as a home phone - 7.50 a month instead of 19 for BT and a 4G router for internet - 25 pounds a month instead of 75 from BT.
The World's best network - yeah, sure.
You're paying a lot more than me then for a similar set up. Using prepaid SIM only deals and current prices:-
Mobile Phone:
RWG (EE Network) prepaid £30 per year. 2GB Data, 250 minutes, 250 SMS per month or
RWG (EE Network) prepaid £50 per year. 5GB Data, unlimited minutes & SMS per month.
I have a PAYG phone that I've only topped once in many years and keep it switched off 99% of the time. I only keep it for emergencies or very short calls.
I'm quite happy with 7 a month for the home phone. We don't use any data on it, stream videos or games etc..
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
Our home phone costs us £6 per month and the broadband connection with Plus net another £25. We are in a poor mobile signal area otherwise we would dump the broadband connection also.
I spoke to a pleasant sounding lady from BT who seemed to understand the reasons I was leaving them. She said that my BT broadband in my village was pretty useless and I should buy a wireless router. I said I had already done that. She said that even if we get fibre broadband, the speed might not necessarily by very high.
I asked if I had to cancel the fault report that hadn't been sorted after 3 weeks. I was told to forget it - if there was a fault they would have to fix it anyway.
Hopefully everything will work OK.
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
When I changed broadband provider within a couple of years after moving to my house from BT to TalkTalk (TT), I kept the at btinternet.com e-mail account by paying 5.00 GBP a month.
It went up to 7.50 GBP earlier this year.
When I tried to change broadband provider late last year due to issues with TT's online portal when I could not access my account to obtain a bill for proof of address purposes, BT cancelled my order without informing me, only found out when I called them to asked WTF was the engineer who was supposed to visit me that morning.
I raised a complaint at the end of January 2025 and still has not been resolved.
I cancelled everything today with BT via a phone call earlier this morning, being passed around various departments 3 times in one call, e-mail and all as I have had enough with them.
Keeping the at btinternet.com e-mail was nostalgic as I have had that since I had my first property back in 1989! However, with so many free e-mail providers such as Google, I don't use it anymore, and the latest issues with BT was the final nail in the coffin.
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Quote: Originally posted by Capt Lightning on 22/5/2025
I have a PAYG phone that I've only topped once in many years and keep it switched off 99% of the time. I only keep it for emergencies or very short calls.
I'm quite happy with 7 a month for the home phone. We don't use any data on it, stream videos or games etc..
Just check the mobile is still functioning - phone out or ask someone to phone you. By active, I mean the number not the phone (which is presumably charged up). From experience - I had an emergency mobile & when I didn’t use it for whatever period (6 months? 2 years? I can’t remember), the number was reallocated & I lost the money I’d paid in advance. So the next cheapie mobile I got, I made a one minute call every x months to keep my number “active”.
Fiona, that happened to me once. I now use my phone for receiving codes from bank etc.. and the occasional personal call.
A story I heard some time ago. A girl's gran had died and the lady was buried along with her phone. The girl would occasionally phone her late gran, although she knew there would be no answer.
She got a shock one day when the phone was answered. The number had been reassigned because the gran's phone had not been used for some months.
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
But I see absolutely no point in having a mobile phone if it’s turned off 90% of the time, and just use it for emergencies, what if someone may need to get hold of your in an emergency! Strange thinking.
We swapped to EE (when BT was going to merge with it). We had been lazy & hadn’t checked the BT contract at renewal every 2 years, so we’d had ended up on an expensive one. The EE contract is now a third of BT’s.
We were given a wireless router, but we had very slow broadband; the OpenReach engineer found & sorted four (4) separate faults between our incoming socket & the cabinet several streets away. He’d repair or replace one thing, check & say No!, disappear for an hour, phone me to say what he’d found next down the cable: very persistent & I was impressed. We now have excellent BB speed.
However, EE charges per minute for outgoing landline calls. We now use our free Vodafone minutes instead.
We left BT ages ago,when cable was put in. Now Virgin originally Telewest. BT fibre is now available in our area so an option if we choose to leave Virgin.
We have to renegotiate every 18 months to keep,the price reasonable.
We also get O2 sims with our deal with plenty of data.
I put one in a TP link router which is very good in the van if 4G is ok!
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
But I see absolutely no point in having a mobile phone if it’s turned off 90% of the time, and just use it for emergencies, what if someone may need to get hold of your in an emergency! Strange thinking.
Actually, I said 99% of the time. The only one who knows my personal mobile number is Mrs.L. Either I am at home, she is with me, or if not do check my phone occasionally.
I work on the principle that the easier it is to be contacted, the nicer it is to stay out of reach. My home phone is on all the time, but the number is strictly a 'need to know' eg. immediate family.
------------- Two drifters off to see the world.
I'm tired of reality, so I'm off to look for a good fantasy.
Quote: Originally posted by Devonatheart on 25/5/2025
I have also just binned BT, ridiculous charges.
But I see absolutely no point in having a mobile phone if it’s turned off 90% of the time, and just use it for emergencies, what if someone may need to get hold of your in an emergency! Strange thinking.
I also have a mobile phone that I keep mainly for emergencies. It is an old Motorola flip-phone, not a smart phone, and it is very rarely switched on except when I'm out if I remember. Hardly anyone has the number of it so it's highly unlikely anyone is going to ring me on it. All my friends and relatives know to only ring me on my home phone. They also know that I never answer that if I don't recognise the number because I got fed up with all the scam calls I was getting. My main communication medium these days is email, which I get on my laptop.
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Topic: Goodbye to BT.
via mobile 23/5/2025 at 4:14pm
The only one who knows my personal mobile number is Mrs.L. Either I am at home, she is with me, or if not do check my phone occasionally. 
