Orange FREE Broadband - what's the catch?

70s_kid

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Having been on free Orange Broadband with my mobile phone contract for years I got "the letter" a few days ago telling me that it's coming to an end.

If I switch to Orange line rental for £14/month they will continue free broadband. I phoned them up for a bit more info and they said I could get increased speed (21meg - current package is up to 8meg), new router, and I am free to alter/cancel my mobile contract when it ends without affecting the broadband deal.

It just seems to good to be true, what am I missing, should I care which ISP I pay for my line rental? I thought that maybe Orange call rates might be astronomical but I can't find an easy way to compare.

My 2nd choice of ISP would be Sky LLU.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.
 
£14 a month is a little on the high side for line rental and as you say call costs are likely to be higher with no free ones. I don't know what the free broadband restrictions were but I'd imagine you'll have fairly low usage limits per month.
 
Thanks for the reply EndlessWaves, I thought £14 was pretty good for line rental - cheaper than Sky and BT. Any recommendastions for a cheaper line rental/BB deal?

Orange usage is unlimited apparently.

Cheers
 
Thanks for the reply EndlessWaves, I thought £14 was pretty good for line rental - cheaper than Sky and BT. Any recommendastions for a cheaper line rental/BB deal?

Orange usage is unlimited apparently.

Cheers

I agree - £14 is a bit steep for line rental, when the likes of Be* will do it for £10.

https://www.bethere.co.uk/web/beportal/landline

Not everyone's cup of tea (Be, that is), but you can get cheaper if you shop around.
 
Thanks thesilverfox, I suppose when you're charging £17 per month for a basic BB package it's easy to knock a few quid off the line rental :)

Orange is still looking by far the best option for me......until I find the catch! - I'm sure there must be one somewhere.
 
I've got an Orange sim only monthly contract. I've just signed up for Orange home phone and BB. £18.50/month. Free evenings and w/e calls etc. Unlimited download at ~6-8Mb. Excellent brightbox wireless n router. Wonder if house phone calls work out expensive but generally, I just use the mobile.
 
Orange Broadband is managed by BT now. Looks like Orange are trying to get into the fibre broadband market so possibly they're offering cheap deals at the moment in the hope that they can sell more expensive packages later on.
 
The catch is you will be with Orange - Everything Everywhere, a company whose head of broadband was ashamed of how it treated customers:

Orange Broadband boss 'ashamed' of how customers were treated | Business | The Guardian

I have received a letter saying my broadband would be withdrawn as well and decided to move after the usual long wait on the customer service line got me nowhere and 2 emails to the executive office and head of customer services were ignored. I was told when I renewed my mobile contract (I hardly use my mobile so considered it a package with the free broadband being the main draw) that my free broadband would continue - I should have recorded the conversation!

Some people are getting their free existing broadband honoured until the end of their contracts according to this thread (go to the end and work back a few pages):
Orange 'Free' Broadband - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

I wonder how long they will keep the free broadband for people who have moved their landline? I was with a line saver contract with BT and the thread above mentions Orange can help buy this out but I was not offered this when I first rang but I was when I requested the MAC code so this may be something for people in the same situation to consider. I will soon be an ex-customer though.
 
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