Moving house - quickest way to get online!

I'm due to move into a new flat on 2 November, no one has lived there
previously, so I need to get the line connected by BT. I'm wondering if
there's any way I can have my broadband up and running as soon as the line
is working. I spoke to BT today and was told if I use BT Broadband they
would activate my ADSL in advance, but they seem a bit expensive compared
with other options out there and the reviews are hardly outstanding. I've
called a couple of other ISPs and who have said I have to wait until my BT
line is activated on the day I move in, then it will be a further 7-10 days
before my broadband is activated. Does this apply to all other ISPs? People
will still be living at my current address, so I won't be transferring the
number or broadband over, it'll be an entirely new account. I don't have
access to the flat until 2 November, so I presume I wouldn't be able to get
the BT line activated until then? Does the engineer visit the house, or is
it done entirely at the exchange? Phone sockets etc. are already in there.

If the above is not possible (and this is a little OT), does anyone know of
any dial up service that offers 24/7 access on a freephone number (I expect
a subscription fee obviously) where I can sign up without a contract in
order to just use it for a couple of weeks until the broadband goes live? I
presume with dial up I could get online immediately? (I have an old PCI
modem somewhere!)

Aside from the usual net addiction, I work as a freelance web
designer/developer, so a connection is pretty essential!

"ZipZap" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ...
> I've called a couple of other ISPs and who have said I have to wait until
> my
> BT line is activated on the day I move in, then it will be a further 7-10
> days
> before my broadband is activated.

Only 7-10 days? I've just been chatting on MSN to a friend who is about to
move into a house which already has a BT line and broadband activated on the
line, and she's been quoted 21 days by Tiscali to move her account from her
old line to the new one. She's also getting the number changed to a new one,
but apparently that doesn't make any difference - it would be the same time
even if the new house was keeping the original phone number.

If a line exists and has broadband activated on it, what work do BT actually
have to do? The line is already physically connected to the DSLAM to provide
the old service, so surely it's a software problem which could be completed
in a few minutes. Is it that BT and ISPs routinely run with a long backlog,
instead of having a concerted effort to clear the backlog and then not let
it build up again?

What's Oftel's view on the time it takes to provide/move broadband? Have
they put any pressure on BT to reduce the lead time?

"Mortimer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "ZipZap" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) ...
>> I've called a couple of other ISPs and who have said I have to wait until
>> my
>> BT line is activated on the day I move in, then it will be a further 7-10
>> days
>> before my broadband is activated.
>
> Only 7-10 days? I've just been chatting on MSN to a friend who is about to
> move into a house which already has a BT line and broadband activated on
> the line, and she's been quoted 21 days by Tiscali to move her account
> from her old line to the new one. She's also getting the number changed to
> a new one, but apparently that doesn't make any difference - it would be
> the same time even if the new house was keeping the original phone number.

I'm not tranferring a broadband account either, the plan is to get the line
activated, then sign up for a new broadband account the same day (unless I
can do it in advance). Tiscali was one of the ISPs I spoke to and they were
slightly slower. I think they said something like 5 days to receive
confirmation from them, then I would receive my 'pack' within the following
7 days. I already have an ADSL modem, so I'm asuming that as soon as the
ADSL goes live, I'll be able to connect without waiting for this pack. If
they're sending out their packs after 7 days of confirmation, I'm also
asuming that it means they definately expect the lines to be live by then in
order to stop lots of calls from people claiming they've received the pack
and the connection won't work, though maybe I asume too much

ZipZap wrote:
> If the above is not possible (and this is a little OT), does anyone know of
> any dial up service that offers 24/7 access on a freephone number (I expect
> a subscription fee obviously) where I can sign up without a contract in
> order to just use it for a couple of weeks until the broadband goes live?

Claranet do dial-up at £14.99 a month.

Might be worth seeing if the flat is within range of a wifi hotspot.

Owain

On 16/10/2007 23:13, ZipZap wrote:

> I spoke to BT today and was told if I use BT Broadband they
> would activate my ADSL in advance

I'm surprised they're allowed to offer preferential terms to one ISP.

"ZipZap" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:cc-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Mortimer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> "ZipZap" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed) ...
>>> I've called a couple of other ISPs and who have said I have to wait
>>> until my
>>> BT line is activated on the day I move in, then it will be a further
>>> 7-10 days
>>> before my broadband is activated.
>>
>> Only 7-10 days? I've just been chatting on MSN to a friend who is about
>> to move into a house which already has a BT line and broadband activated
>> on the line, and she's been quoted 21 days by Tiscali to move her account
>> from her old line to the new one. She's also getting the number changed
>> to a new one, but apparently that doesn't make any difference - it would
>> be the same time even if the new house was keeping the original phone
>> number.
>
> I'm not tranferring a broadband account either, the plan is to get the
> line activated, then sign up for a new broadband account the same day
> (unless I can do it in advance).

No I realise that you are activating broadband for the first time. I'd have
thought that this would have been the longer process because it may require
work to be done at the exchange to connect your pair to a DSLAM, whereas a
transfer from the old owner's ISP to the new owner's ISP ought, in theory,
to be quicker. And yet my friend was being quoted 21 days for the latter
instead of the normal 10 days for the former.

> If they're sending out their packs after 7 days of confirmation, I'm also
> asuming that it means they definately expect the lines to be live by then
> in order to stop lots of calls from people claiming they've received the
> pack and the connection won't work, though maybe I asume too much

Most of the customers for whom I order broadband have received their modem
or router before the line is activated, so I warn them "don't phone me to
get me to set things up for you when the pckage arrives; wait till you get
the email or letter saying that the line is activated".

"Andy Burns" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On 16/10/2007 23:13, ZipZap wrote:
>
>> I spoke to BT today and was told if I use BT Broadband they
>> would activate my ADSL in advance
>
> I'm surprised they're allowed to offer preferential terms to one ISP.
>

Well she said individual ISPs have different policies, but so far I've not
been able to find another one who doesn't first require the line activation.

On 17/10/2007 00:04, ZipZap wrote:
> "Andy Burns" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On 16/10/2007 23:13, ZipZap wrote:
>>
>>> I spoke to BT today and was told if I use BT Broadband they
>>> would activate my ADSL in advance
>> I'm surprised they're allowed to offer preferential terms to one ISP.
>>
>
> Well she said individual ISPs have different policies, but so far I've not
> been able to find another one who doesn't first require the line activation.

Thinking about it, ISTR that aa.nu can do a combined pstn + adsl
provision, but I think the line is outgoing calls barred, due to them
not wanting to do call billing.

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:04:14 UTC, "ZipZap" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
> "Andy Burns" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > On 16/10/2007 23:13, ZipZap wrote:
> >
> >> I spoke to BT today and was told if I use BT Broadband they
> >> would activate my ADSL in advance
> >
> > I'm surprised they're allowed to offer preferential terms to one ISP.
> >
>
> Well she said individual ISPs have different policies, but so far I've not
> been able to find another one who doesn't first require the line activation.

Look at this:

http://aaisp.net.uk/aa/aaisp/pstn.html

and particularly the bit where the heading starts "Can we still
order..." and you'll see the problem, and a suggested solution.

--
[ 7'ism - a condition by which the sufferer experiences an inability
to give concise answers, express reasoned argument or opinion.
Usually accompanied by silly noises and gestures - incurable, early
euthanasia recommended. ]

ZipZap wrote:

> I'm due to move into a new flat on 2 November, no one has lived there
> previously, so I need to get the line connected by BT. I'm wondering if
> there's any way I can have my broadband up and running as soon as the line
> is working. I spoke to BT today and was told if I use BT Broadband they
> would activate my ADSL in advance, but they seem a bit expensive compared
> with other options out there and the reviews are hardly outstanding. I've
> called a couple of other ISPs and who have said I have to wait until my BT
> line is activated on the day I move in, then it will be a further 7-10 days
> before my broadband is activated. Does this apply to all other ISPs?

I honestly don't know but BT Broadband isb't *supposed* to have any advantage
over the others in the way that they suggested to you.

I would strongly recommend you call Idnet, who are a very competent smaller ISP
where you'll be able to talk to someone technically competent and ask their
advice. I wouldn't trust the advice of any of the large consumer ISPs like
Tiscali where you're just talking to some sales droid.

Graham