Review of TalkTalk Free Broadband With Talk International Evening & Weekends
- Speedy 8MB TalkTalk broadband
- Free off-peak calls to UK landlines
- Free international calls to 36 destinations
- Jaw-droppingly low price
- Massive 40GB usage allowance
- 30 day moneyback guarantee
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IT was only a matter of time, but 5 years ago when we were all paying over £30 a month for our broadband, who'd have thought we'd one day be getting it for the price of a couple of pints?
Free off-peak calls
We certainly wouldn't have expected to get free unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK landlines and anytime free calls to 36 major international destinations including to your aunt Gladys down in Wollangong, New South Wales!
And would we have expected to get speeds of up to 8Mb?
I think we would have laughed our faces off in a post-millenial festival of mirth.
Sub-£6 broadband
So here we have it - TalkTalk Free Broadband (with Talk International Evening & Weekend): The UK's first sub-£9 broadband package. Sub-£6 to be more exact!
The TalkTalk free broadband package is not entirely without it catches though.
For a start, TalkTalk insist on a one off connection charge of £29.99. Split over the first year that's an extra £2.50 a month. You also must sign up for 18 months with TalkTalk which is a bit of a bothersome bind, but it's not unusual on popular, low priced packages with other companies too.
Moneyback guarantee
To TalkTalk's credit, they do offer a 30-day no quibble moneyback guarantee, so it's not too risky at all signing up for such a lengthy period as you'll have the chance to bail out if you find TalkTalk's broadband is not right for you.
With so few broadband providers offering moneyback guarantees, we have to say that this is one feature we really LOVE about TalkTalk as it absolves any doubts you may have about trying out the TalkTalk broadband service.
We doubt you'll need to though.
TalkTalk have invested huge sums in sorting out the customer service debacle of their crazy first few months when they were clearly overwhelmed by the response to their free broadband offer.
Now, TalkTalk receives accolades for its customer service and in our experience they are easy to get in touch with and usually solve issues straight away.
Don't forget that you will need to get your line rental from TalkTalk in order to get these prices, but their rate is currently cheaper than BT's (£10.50 as opposed to £11.75) and in fact offers more features than BT.
Free technical support
Your TalkTalk line rental allows you to call TalkTalk's technical support for free, as well as free unlimited calls to all other TalkTalk customers.
So what about all the bad reviews of TalkTalk?
For starters, we're hugely impressed with TalkTalk's rapid rectification of their once shaky customer service. Now you can call them free (most other broadband providers charge you for the privelege!) and for the most part they are fast and efficient.
Yes, there is still work to be done; records are not always kept and there are instances of being passed from one TalkTalk department to another, but this is always going to be a trade-off when plumping for a low-cost broadband product.
If you want a brilliant, uninterrupted and reliable service try Zen, Eclipse or Madasafish, but don't expect prices anywhere near these.
The other thing to remember about bad reviews is this: ALL broadband companies get bad reviews.
This is because angry customers take time to write them while content and happy customers don't. When you have gigantic numbers of customers, as TalkTalk do, coupled with the fact that broadband does go wrong sometimes and in many cases is hardware related and not connection related (ie. harder to diagnose) you're going to get angry reviews.
Just ask BT, Virgin Media, Sky, Tiscali and Pipex!
The bottom line
The bottom line is the TalkTalk Free Broadband with Talk International Evening & Weekend is a stunningly low-cost, surprisingly high-class broadband package that could literally save you hundreds of pounds a year.
With it's 30 day moneyback guarantee and its pleasingly improved customer service, we see no reason not to recommend this package wholeheartedly.
A little more detail
Broadband
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Special Note.. |
Any good? |
| Package Name: |
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Free Broadband |
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| Connection Type: |
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ADSL |
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| Max Speed: |
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8Mb |
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| Usage Limit: |
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40Gb |
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| Hardware: |
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Modem |
Free when you sign up online |
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| Anti-virus Protection: |
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Yes |
Free for the first 90 days only (£2.49 per month thereafter) |
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| Firewall: |
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Yes |
Free for the first 90 days only (£2.49 per month thereafter) |
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| E-mail Account: |
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Yes |
Up to 5 email addresses |
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| Webspace Provided: |
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Yes |
15MB of webspace |
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| Domain Included: |
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No |
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| Backup Dialup: |
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Yes |
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| Consoles Supported: |
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All major consoles supported |
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Home Phone
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| Package Name: |
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Talk International Evening & Weekend |
| UK Weekend Tariff: |
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Free to UK landlines |
| UK Evening Tariff: |
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Free to UK landlines |
| UK Peak Tariff: |
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3p per minute |
| International Tariff: |
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Free calls to 36 international destinations including Australia and USA |
Payment, Installation and Contract
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| Payment Method(s): |
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Direct Debit |
| Activation Fee: |
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£29.99 |
| Installation: |
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Free |
| Minimum Contract: |
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18 months |
| Line Rental: |
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Line rental must be taken with TalkTalk |
| Support: |
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0870 technical support (free if you call from your TalkTalk landline) |
Actual User Ratings
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At a Glance
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Bundle details: |
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Phone: Unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK landlines |
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TV: Not included |
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Mobile: Not included |
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It is best suited for: |
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Bargain-hunting web users who want to enjoy effectively free broadband alongside a very competitive evening and weekend call package. |
Customer Reviews
Remember, the customer reviews below are subjective (and are not the opinions of ChooseISP.co.uk).
Sorry, but there are no customer reviews available for TalkTalk.
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TalkTalk Free Broadband with Talk International Eve & Wknd Broadband Bundle
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