Help with O2 broadband and mobile

Anonymous · ‎28-03-2011

Here is a breakdown of the 2 O2 broadband deals as I understand / from what I've been told :

Home broadband basic :
Monthly charge : £13.50 p.m.
Cost of setting the whole thing up : £25.00 activation
Support : Free 24 hour phone support & 24 hour online support
Payment method : Credit/debit card ONLY
Can I pay upfront for a whole year? : ?
Credit check for broadband : No
Is it possible to do it through a guarantor? : ?
Trial period : 30 days
Contract length : 12 months
Usage : 20GB
Speed : actual speed = 7.5MB

Home broadband all rounder :
Home broadband basic :
Monthly charge : £17.50 p.m., or £12.50 p.m. if I'm an O2 mobile customer and I credit with at leats £10 per 3 months
Cost of setting the whole thing up : £25 activation (waived if I'm an O2 mobile customer)
Support : Free 24 hour phone support & 24 hour online support
Payment method : Credit/debit card ONLY
Can I pay upfront for a whole year? : ?
Credit check for broadband : No
Is it possible to do it through a guarantor? : ?
Trial period : 30 days
Contract length : 12 months
Usage : 100GB
Speed : actual speed = 7.5 MB

What I'd like to know is...
1) Do I have to spend the £10 per 3 months (mobile) or do I only have to top up by that amount?
2) If I'm on the broadband BASIC, do I get a £5 reduction in the monthly charge if I'm an O2 customer, i.e. it goes down from £13.50 to £8.50 p.m.?
3) Are there any other charges not mentioned above?
4) is any of the information above incorrect / incomplete?
5) I've just bought an O2 SIM card. I want to register it to my name, and also, it seems that I have to somehow register the SIM card itself. How do I do that?
6) Is there anything else to know?

I might not be here much, but thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Anonymous · ‎28-03-2011

You only have to top up by that amount, not spend.
Am pretty sure you still get your discount on the basic package.
http://www.o2.co.uk/broadband/

Edit:
You wont get it through a 'guarantor' but the owner or the O2 mobile doesnt have to be the same person that pays the broadband bill.
Payment has to be by Direct Debit so no you can't pay upfront.

Anonymous · ‎28-03-2011

You only have to top up by that amount, not spend.
Am pretty sure you still get your discount on the basic package.
http://www.o2.co.uk/broadband/

Edit:
You wont get it through a 'guarantor' but the owner or the O2 mobile doesnt have to be the same person that pays the broadband bill.

Thanks. What I mean is, for the broadband itself, can I do that through a guarantor? I don't think it will be a problem if I can't but it would be good to know.
I'm already with orange (for the mobile) so I don't actually need the O2 sim card for myself. What I want to do is give it to someone and just have them do the topping up for themselves (but have the sim card in my name) and that way I don't have to actually spend any more myself. Are you saying that I don't even need to register the sim in my name? If that's correct, then how will O2 know that "I'm" the O2 mobile customer?
I've just checked your link. It says, as you do, that yes indeed you pay less even with the basic if you're an O2 mob customer. That's good to know. However, it mentions that the basic is "for everyday surfing and email" whereas the all rounder is good for "music and TV over the internet". I'm a bit thick so I need to ask : Is that an indication of what you can and can't physically do with each package, or is it merely an illustration / recommendation of which one to go for depending on how much usage you might need? In other words, are there any actual limitations on what you can physically do with the basic package?

Anonymous · ‎28-03-2011

Not exactly limited as to WHAT you can do but more limited as to HOW MUCH of it you can do. So, yeah, more a recommendation

The basic package has a lower allowance so you can still access YouTube, iPlayer etc but the amount you could watch over the month would be less.
You register your mobile number, I think you get sent a code via text or something but its been so long since I registered my phone I can't quite be sure.
What I mean by it not having to be the same name allows for it to be a case of 2 people living together, one paying the broadband and the other having the O2 mobile.
You might be best speaking to someone who has the basic package though to see the quality of service as some people have mentioned things about it being too slow to watch iPlayer/4OD. There are new limitations with the current packages that I dont have on my old style broadband but I'm not fully certain exactly what or how to describe them

Anonymous · ‎28-03-2011

Ok I get it now. What about the fair usage policy? At the moment I'm being tortured by a T-mobile dongle that not only is disgustingly slow and keeps going offline every 5 seconds, but after a certain amount of usage (I don't know what the amount is but generally it kicks in a few days after I top up) I'm limited in what I can do, meaning that between 4pm and 12am there are certain things I can't so (ie watch youtube, download stuff (with some exceptions) etc). Is O2's fair use policy anything like that? Also I'm a bit confused because when I called O2 they said that the all rounder package was 100MB p.m. and in your link it says up to 20MB.
Sorry to keep picking your brains like this but it's been so long since I had to look into this stuff.

Anonymous · ‎28-03-2011

I think the 20meg info you are getting confused about is where you read the download speed being up to 20meg. The download limit is 20MB on Basic and 100MB sounds about right for the All Rounder's fair usage policy.

You will find that O2s broadband is 'managed' a bit like what you are describing by your current provider.
Just tried posting a table of info but it totally didnt format properly! Check out the traffic management FAQ here, it should be able to explain it better than I can

Link: http://service.o2.co.uk/IQ/SRVS/CGI-BIN ... new,&tab=2

browni · ‎28-03-2011

I think the 20meg info you are getting confused about is where you read the download speed being up to 20meg. The download limit is 20MB on Basic and 100MB sounds about right for the All Rounder's fair usage policy.

More peeps confused with bits & bytes and gigs and megs!
The download limit on the basic package is 20GB, All rounder 100GB & The Works 250GB.

#siwy

Anonymous · ‎28-03-2011

Thanks for correcting
Knew what I meant, just get tangled up easily

Anonymous · ‎28-03-2011

So, is this correct? ... :

Basic :
Speed = up to 20MB (but typically around 7.5MB)
Dowmload limit per month = 20GB

All rounder :
Speed = up to 20MB (but typically around 7.5MB)
Dowmload limit per month = 100GB

The works :
Speed = up to 20MB (but typically around 7.5MB)
Dowmload limit per month = 250GB