Can you even buy a new “dumb” tv?
We’ve used Virgin Media in both houses since moving back and can’t really complain, installation time was really quick and they put the connection cable where we wanted it. I don’t know how much Sue will be visiting but we’ve often found our phone data allowance enough for basic stuff on our tablets and the house may have a tv aerial or satellite dish so she could watch tv for free.
My only complaint is that they’re very, very expensive. After their deaths, I discovered that my parents were paying well over £100 per month for internet and a not particularly extravagant TV package.
Our combined Virgin/O2 monthly bill for broadband (350 Mbps), landline and two mobile contracts with big data limits including Europe is £60.
@SuePJ , in the UK we used Zen. I don’t mind the techie stuff, but I’d rather they did everything, and they did. The person who helped me set it up stayed on the line until I was happy it was working.
The only problem we ever had was with billing. In the end, I had an email from the CEO (or whatever they call their top banana) apologising.
They’re not the cheapest but their Customer Service was great. They get the top mark in Which? magazine.
Plusband and Utility Warehouse are the two other providers Which? recommends.
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That sounds fine to me. In France we pay €19.99 per month each for Free mobile.
Plus €42 per month to Orange for the landline/internet.
I’ve actually gone and looked at his bill and I suspect he’s been stitched up at some point.
He was paying £111 per month (with supposedly a £48 discount, so it was due to go to £157 
) and that’s also 350Mb and two set top boxes. However, it seems he was paying for cinema, Premier Sports, Asian and kids channels.
Given that they were both in their 80s, far from multicultural and had no interest in movies and sports, it seems a very odd configuration.
Anyway, I’ll retract my comment that they’re expensive, they’re just exploitative.
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Apart from very small ultra bargain-basement ones sold in supermarkets they are pretty much all “smart” these days. 
Using the smart bits is optional. Mine gets used to watch YouTube and films off 4K BluRay, that’s it. Even though I have Amazon Prune and a host of “free” LG channels I never watch them. 
It happens here too, though. When our friend died last year in Strasbourg we discovered she was paying well over €100 per month to Orange for some package excluding mobiles. There was no way - given her age and viewing habits - that she would have knowingly signed up for this. But she was getting doddery and would have been a sitting duck for some unscrupulous telesales person.
Indeed …
Or, in our case where we last lived in the UK, to the green cabinet over a mile away hence the 6 mbps we got on FTTC 
That’s mad. Ours is about 100 metres.
Mind you, the last 100m of copper has been dodgy for years - it was buried under the driveway in 1976 and Opentrench won’t dig up more than 25m of tarmac without Special Dispensation From On High.
So when our connection went down during Covid they replaced with Wires On Poles.
Which is better actually as you can get at them if there is a fault.
But the last 10 m is still buried and hanging on by a thread. 
Is that a higher authority than SWVMBTIA?
Apparently at least in the UK, electricity companies get told the exact timings of commercial breaks as well as start and end timings of programs in advance because that’s when everyone gets up to make a cup of tea. I guess the peak load on the electricity network is highest around episodes of really popular series.
Haven’t asked if water companies get the same info but would expect so.
I’ve been with Plusnet for fifteen years and currently on fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) but waiting for full fibre (FTTP). Never had any problems and a consistent download of 38Mbps so I would recommend them without hesitation other than they will not provide a voip phone service on a full fibre (FTTP) connection. However, A&A will provide voip phone service to broadband supplied by another internet supplier for a very low cost of £1.40 month plus calls at 1.5p/minute.
No there is no higher authority than SWVMBTIA.
If you’re in a good mobile reception area, you could get a Three Home-Fi router.
Great thing is, you can put it in the suitcase, and take it on holiday with you.
We used to be with my post office who sold us on to Shell energy who has now sold us on to talk talk. I was always under the impression that talk talk were rubbish but have been delighted to say that they are actually very good. Have had no problems with them for a small charge for broadband which is fine for us- fibre to the old phone line connection then copper line into the house Which means we still have our old landline phone which I find useful for times when I do not wish to use a mobile as there are no extra charges from using it and can make calls abroad as well For mobiles we use Labara which costs £5 a month and piggybacks on Vodaphone I understand No problem using Lebara when in France and no roaming charges either
,
I was in a small hamlet up a steep hill a mile and a half from the nearest village. The cabinet was at the bottom of the hill on the outskirts of the village. Out of interest, I looked up our old address and it now has FTTP and can get up to 1 Gbps. Progress indeed.
I too use TalkTalk, broadband & landline, as it was the best deal at the time, courtesy of Martins Money Tips. Every year at renewal time I manage to blag a free Boost of ‘talk anytime’ from my landline, on the basis that I will not be using the service for anytime between 3-5 months as I’ll be in France. However I do have to pay for any increase in cost of this Boost, which usually kicks in mid-term.
I also use Martins Money Tips to blag a mobile SIM deal, offers of which vary all the time. I’m currently also with Lebara, so no roaming charges (essential!), currently £1-50 per month which rises to £3-50 per month after 6 months, break any time, for 35 GB per month. However there is their “Fair Usage” Policy to bear in mind.
For all matters financial UK, it’s Martin every time….is there a French equivalent?
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