Internet in England through the eyes of the user

Recently it turned out that a friend of my colleague has been living on the outskirts of London for several years now, and even launched her own online store in the British domain zone. Therefore, she knows firsthand about the state of things with the Internet in the once most powerful nation on the planet. Therefore, under the cut a story about how ordinary Internet users live where the queen is still crowned.

England’s digitization has already reached significant limits and the most interesting thing is that without the Internet in the country it is almost impossible to apply for a job or report on taxes, use mobile access to a bank account or connect digital television. By the way, connecting digital TV saves money, since a television license in England costs money, and non-payment is punishable by the severity of the law.

English Internet is strictly regulated. Upon receipt of the request, the providers are obliged to provide the authorities with all the information about the user. Special attention is paid to protecting children from access to harmful information. Parents often receive messages from schools that work with the police to protect children from this or that site, and in other cases from the application.
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The Internet allows an ordinary Englishman to arrange his life with comfort without leaving home. Order virtually any product or service here through the World Wide Web.

Despite the fact that the British network is available almost any service, connecting to the Internet requires restraint, patience and willingness to go through a lot of bureaucratic delays. Just think that connecting to home Internet can take from three to six weeks! A lot of inconvenience can cause communication with the employees of the provider, who in most cases speak English poorly, because the call center of British operators, mostly located in India. Therefore, to claim any of the call center operators will not work and will have to deal with what will have.

Connect in England for several technologies. Firstly, ADSL modems are still alive. When connected, the user signs a long-term contract. In this case, if you do not have a bank account in England to conclude such a contract you will not be allowed. The king here is BT (British telecom wholesale), a monopoly company from which you have to rent a telephone line in any case. Documents for you will issue an Internet provider.
By the way, the technical ability to select the line is not always available. And it depends on the region. There are areas outside the capital, at the intersection of which even mobile communication is impossible.

If you expressed a desire to connect a dedicated line via ADSL, the first thing you will see is an engineer from BT. He will inspect the cables, telephone point and analyze the connectivity. By the way, if you rent a house, and the previous tenant did not pay for the Internet here, then you may simply be refused connection. Otherwise, you will have to prove your identification and solvency for months and tons of certificates. You can get to the black list of providers simply because you live at this dysfunctional address.

After passing the first stage, you approve the connection and send the modem by mail. You need to connect it yourself for what along with it comes detailed instructions. Can also help the Indians from the call center.

In case of any malfunction, an engineer may be sent to you, but only after two weeks. In any case, you have to pay for repairs, even if external factors are to blame. The cost of such an Internet on average is 25-30 pounds per month.

Mobile Internet

Mostly mobile operators in England provide packages that include about 500 MB to unlimited consumption. The train and city buses have Wi-Fi, although it does not always work.



Another option, which everyone here calls the hot spot, involves connecting laptops and desktops through a telephone that acts as a modem. In this case, you use your paid traffic. High speed with this connection can not be guaranteed.

All telecom operators will try to impose a contract. The most advanced brands of cell phones are sold with a two-year contract for the provision of communication services. As a rule, the average price of such a contract is 40-50 pounds per month. When the contract ends, you can go to the terms of "Pay as you go" ("pay, how you use"). Money will be debited from your bank account every month.

Some telecom operators sell cellular phones that were once used as demonstration devices in cellular stores. You can also order such a device via the Internet, and deliver it to you by mail. In the package with the phone sent by mail, a SIM card is inserted, which you activate, and you begin to use the connection. The cost of such phones is cheaper every two, and makes it possible to be not tied to a contract. True, few people know about the existence of such a service. Understandably, cellular operators will not advertise it. And the required models are not always available, not even the last ones.


USB modem (dongle)

Perhaps this option is suitable for people who are in the country for a short time, and there is no other way to access the Internet. Or those who do not want to leave home in search of free Wi-Fi. Traffic will be expensive, about 20 pounds per month, although the speed is excellent. This device is purchased from mobile operators.

Fiber optic connection

Optical fiber is not available everywhere, since most of England lives in townships and small towns. It all depends on the technical feasibility. Such a connection will cost much more, but the signal speed will be much higher. Subscriber device is also sent by mail.


This is what a typical English village looks like.

Here are the prices on the Internet in a package with a home phone via fiber:



As you can see, the use of such Internet is quite expensive. At the same time, special offers, like a package for using the Internet, a home phone, and a couple of hundreds of television channels, in fact, are valid for the first month or two. Then the bills begin to come pounds at 180 per month. For example, you suddenly discover that you have to pay separately for watching movies. In case of non-payment, you are very quickly disconnected from the service and may even be brought to court.

Also, do not reassure yourself that companies will install fiber optics especially for you. You may have to collect bids from around the area. The issue is solved in each individual case individually.

Free access

Free Wi-Fi is available in almost every store or cafe. In order to connect, you only need to specify the email address and your name. No special procedure for identification is required. When you re-enter, your device automatically connects to Wi-Fi.

Many Englishmen choose the best option for themselves. Fans of football, for example, many pubs offer a collective viewing of matches on Skype sport over a beer. So why should you pay big money for pleasure that you will not use every day?