It used to be the case that getting any form of internet in your house required a phone line. Back in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, a homeowner would have to choose between going on the internet or having an available landline number, and though having to make such a decision was mostly eradicated upon the birth of broadband, homes still required a landline in order to access the internet.

However, with more and more people relying upon mobile phones and – of course – the internet in order to communicate, landlines are becoming increasingly redundant, especially in the UK. And, with millions of people currently trying to minimise the amount of unnecessary spend they commit to each month, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is perhaps unsurprising that so many households are wondering whether they can get rid of their landlines entirely without compromising their ability to access the internet.

The simple fact of the matter is that it is indeed possible to get broadband without requiring a phone line, but it pays to fully understand exactly what you want to use the internet for, how much money you want to spend each month, and what the best options are based on where you live.

In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to access the internet via broadband without having a landline.

What broadband connection can I get?

While it is indeed true that many places in the UK have the capacity to get broadband without a phone line, this is entirely dependent upon the actual connection that your home currently has (or has the capacity to have).

If you have an ADSL connection, a type of connection that is available to nearly every household in the UK and is delivered via a telephone line, then you will need to have a landline installed for broadband, even if you have absolutely no intention of using it for calls. There are alternatives in many locations throughout the UK, but if it turns out that your home only has access to an ADSL connection and you have no other way of gaining internet access in your home, you will definitely need a landline.

If you want to check whether your only option is ADSL then you should make use of Uswitch’s broadband postcode checker, which highlights not only some of the deals that are available in your particular area but also the internet speeds you are likely to be able to achieve.

If it turns out that you are able to switch to either a cable or fibre broadband connection – both of which tend to be faster and more robust – then it is quite likely that you will be able to access broadband but without having to have a landline installed. This will largely be determined by your area, of course, so even if you are able to get fibre where you are, there’s a chance it will have to come via your phone line.

What do I need?

If you definitively want to access the internet without having to make use of a landline connection then you will require the ability to access either fibre or cable broadband (as noted above). This is, in the simplest of terms, a type of broadband that makes use of signals rather than phone lines.

It is worth noting that only around 20 percent of the UK – predominantly cities and large towns – have the ability to access what is sometimes called ‘full fibre’, and while cable is far more available to those in smaller towns and in some rural areas, this is still only accessible to around half of the UK population. These percentages are, however, growing all of the time as technology becomes more advanced and internet access becomes more of a necessity.

If it turns out that you do not have the ability to access full fibre or cable where you are, then there are other options, though they may not give you the speeds you require at all times. With 4G – and increasingly 5G – readily available across the country, you may be able to harness mobile broadband that will enable you to carry out all of the tasks you require. While mobile 5G broadband will likely allow numerous devices within the same household to do bandwidth-intensive activities like streaming films, 4G mobile broadband may not quite be robust enough to enable this.

Want to discover and compare an array of broadband options that are available for you? Visit https://comparefibre.co.uk/ today.

Choosing mobile broadband

If you conclude that mobile broadband is the option that you would like to pursue, either for the short- or long-term, then you should think carefully about what option will suit you best. Again, this will largely depend upon where you live.

As mentioned above, 4G mobile broadband will allow you to check emails, access social media and read websites without much difficulty, but YouTube, Netflix or Amazon Prime might be a bit more of a problem. If you want to see the best 4G and 5G (if available) options for you depending on mobile network, you should look at the following websites:

– O2 map (coverage checker)

– Vodafone map (coverage checker)

– Three Mobile map (coverage checker)

– EE map (coverage checker)

If you are able to get 5G in your area via any of the providers available to you, that will nearly always be the most sensible – and robust – option for your circumstances.

Using your mobile device

It is certainly worth highlighting that you can make use of your mobile phone (in many instances) to access internet that is relatively fast and will allow you to carry out most tasks without problem (though this is liable to change if you are constantly moving to different areas while using your phone – in a car or on the train, for example).

By tethering a laptop or tablet to your mobile phone – a process which is incredibly simple to do and is something nearly all smartphones allow – you can use your mobile phone’s data allowance to access the internet without incurring any additional charge (unless, of course, you exceed your monthly limit). This may be a viable option for small tasks.

Of course, if available in your area, fibre broadband is nearly always far superior to anything else you will be able to access. Discover all fibre broadband without landline deals, and to see if it is a viable option for you, head to https://comparefibre.co.uk/.