Can you get broadband without a landline?

Matt Maynard • 18 Nov 2020 Guides

Exploring the types of broadband you can get without having a phone line. 

The answer is yes, you can get broadband without a landline, but you can’t get all types. In this guide, we’ll go through exactly which broadband and fibre products you can get with each provider without having a phone line. 

What are the different types of broadband?

The most common type of broadband is ADSL, which stands for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. ADSL broadband is delivered via the copper wires in your phone line, so if you don’t have a landline, ADSL is going to be unavailable at your premises.

The other types of broadband are cable and fibre. Cable broadband connects your home to a fibre cabinet in your area using coaxial cables, which gives you a much faster internet connection than the traditional ADSL copper line broadband that connects to your property via your landline. Cable broadband doesn’t offer the same speeds as Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband, but it is significantly faster than Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) which tends to use your copper phone line. 

As we move onto explaining fibre, things get a bit more complicated. There are two types of products that fibre delivers, Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP). Let’s start with FTTC. FTTC uses fibre cables from the exchange to your local cabinet, but it uses the same technology that ADSL does to provide your premises with an internet connection - your phone line. So while your fibre travels to your local green cabinet via a fibre cable, your copper phone line is what connects your home to the green cabinet. This can slow speeds. 

To maximise speeds, you need FTTP. FTTP works by connecting you directly to the telephone exchange (where your internet comes from) using a fibre optic cable, removing the need for the phone copper line from the cabinet. Most homes aren’t set up to have FTTP broadband, but you can request it from your provider, although there are many things that need to be taken into account before they can run a fibre cable from the cabinet to your home. Not only does installing FTTP come with complications, it can be very expensive, too. 

Can you get Virgin broadband without a landline? 

Virgin operates on its own cables, meaning completely landline-free-broadband is available. 

All of Virgin’s broadband options are fibre optic, which makes them extremely fast compared to the usual ADSL broadband we have explained above. So how does Virgin’s Fibre Broadband work without a landline? 

Well, if your home already has the required Virgin cables connected, it could be as simple as having a QuickStart kit sent to you for self-installation. This could be with you in just a couple of days, and you could be up and running with Virgin Fibre Broadband in no time. 

If your home isn’t set up for Virgin Fibre Broadband, some cable installation will need to take place. When the Virgin engineer arrives, they’ll connect your Virgin wifi box to external Virgin cables. If you’ve had Virgin products before, the cables will already be there, but if not, the engineer will need to drill a hole in your wall and connect your kit up to the cable they install. 

Can you get Virgin fibre without a landline? 

All Virgin’s broadband deals are Fibre Optic, and they are all extremely fast. Virgin uses coaxial cable broadband, and runs the line directly down a road or street, connecting customers to it as and when they request Virgin services. This is why Virgin Fibre Broadband is so much faster than your standard landline broadband. As good as this sounds, Virgin Media Broadband Fibre is only available in certain areas. You can check if it’s available in your area by entering your postcode on their website. 

Can you get BT broadband without a landline?

Yes, you can get BT Broadband without a landline, but your options are going to be very limited. Almost all of BT’s broadband services require use of Openreach’s copper wire telephone network to deliver an internet connection to your home. This is also why you are required to still pay line rental when you take out a broadband deal with BT. 

In fact, without a landline, the only other choice you have is to take out Full Fibre Broadband, which is BT’s product name for their Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) service. However, as previously mentioned, FTTP is unavailable in most areas and is expensive to set up. 

BT Full Fibre Broadband doesn’t use the traditional copper phone lines that run from your green cabinet to your premises. Instead, BT will run a fibre cable directly from the local BT exchange directly to your door, completely cutting out the cabinet altogether. This means no sharing with neighbours and is the best type of broadband that’s available in the UK. 

Can you get BT fibre without a landline?

BT’s standard fibre deals run the fibre cable from the local BT exchange to your green cabinet, and then use a phone line to connect you from the cabinet. So, you can’t access BT’s standard fibre services without a landline. 

However, as mentioned above, if FTTP is available in your area, then you’ll be able to get full fibre without a phone line, as FTTP just uses fibre optic cable. 

Can you get Sky broadband without a landline?

Much the same as BT, your broadband options with Sky are going to be extremely limited without a phone line. 

Sky broadband actually offers Essential Broadband that is purely ADSL phone line broadband for customers who don’t need superfast speeds. 

The next tier they offer is similar to BT’s, in that it is called fibre broadband, but requires an active telephone line from your local green cabinet to your home to be able to provide it for you. So as far as standard fibre is concerned, you’ll need a landline to have any of these services delivered to your home. 

Can you get Sky fibre without a landline? 

Sky have rolled out their Ultrafast Broadband, which is making use of Openreach’s Fibre to the Premises network. However, the FTTP scheme is extremely limited, and while you can check the availability of it in your area, the likelihood is they’ll offer you their Superfast service which uses a landline. 

Can you get TalkTalk broadband without a landline?

If you’ve had a look around most of the Internet Service Provider’s websites, you’ll see that the average speeds offered, and the speeds guaranteed for your area are almost identical. Well that’s because they all use the Openreach network (bar Virgin Media and a few others). 

TalkTalk is no different, so if you want fibre broadband, they’re going to have to use a phone line to connect you to the green cabinet, as we have mentioned with BT and Sky. 

Can you get TalkTalk fibre without a landline?

Talktalk’s Faster Fibre, SuperFast Fibre and Faster 150 Fibre all require a line rental. So, that’s three fibre deals that all require your home to be linked up to a green cabinet via a copper phone line in order for you to make use of their fibre broadband services. 

TalkTalk do have a FTTP fibre optic deal available called Ultra Fibre Optic, or UFO. Whether or not this is available in your area completely depends on whether or not Openreach’s FTTP network is operational where you live. 

Mobile broadband

What is mobile broadband? 

One way of getting broadband without a phone line is by using mobile broadband, and it can come in several forms, but for the sake of this article, we’ll focus on the methods that can provide your entire home with the internet. 

4G routers are a great alternative to conventional broadband for people who suffer with low fibre speeds but live in areas with high 4G speeds, but are also an ideal option for people wanting a broadband connection without a landline. 4G routers containing a built-in LTE broadband modem use a sim card to share internet connections. 

Working in effectively the exact same way is a mobile hotspot. If you have good 4G speeds in your area, you can choose to activate your phone as a hotspot, and allow devices around your home to tether onto it and use its 4G connectivity. However, this can use up 4G very quickly, so if you are serious about using a mobile hotspot frequently in your home as your sole broadband connection, we recommend unlimited data, such as a SIM Only deal, for example. 

Virgin mobile broadband

Virgin Mobile has some great value-for-money SIM Only deals. If you’re an existing Virgin customer, you could get your hands on an unlimited data SIM Only deal for just £30 a month. If you’re someone who will get lightning fast 4G speeds in your area, this is a great way to get landline-free broadband! 

You can use it either as a hotspot on your smartphone, or opt to buy a 4G router, but we’ll get onto this in much more detail at the end of this article. 

BT mobile broadband 

Along with the possibility of using a BT mobile phone as a hotspot, BT have 4G routers available for customers in areas with good 4G coverage. 

The hub has a 30 metre connectivity radius and can have up to 32 devices connected to it, making it perfect to place in your home. It is, however, relatively expensive, and the data is not unlimited. The options are as follows: 

• 200GB a month for £40 
• 300GB a month for £45
• 500GB a month for £50

If you sign up to the BT 4G Hub, you’ll also be tied in to a 24 month contract. 

Sky mobile broadband

Sky Mobile does not do 4G routers as BT does. Their mobile deals aren’t entirely mobile broadband-friendly either, as they do not offer a high amount of data for a low price.

TalkTalk mobile broadband

TalkTalk offers a great introductory offer for new customers. For £13 a month you can get your hands on 25Gb of data. If you aren’t avid users of the internet, don’t have ADSL broadband availability and live in an area with a strong 4G signal, this could be a great way for you to access the internet. 

Buying a separate 4G router for mobile broadband

Independent 4G routers work with any type of 4G active SIM. There are various options out there for you to choose from, with some more expensive ones allowing for faster speeds and a higher volume of connections, meaning you’ll be able to tether more devices in your home and have them connect to the internet. 

The 4G router is a fantastic choice for users who don’t have a 4G active mobile, as they can simply sign up to a SIM Only deal with any provider and have the SIM card sent out to them. Once they have the SIM card, it is just a matter of choosing the 4G router you want from the plethora out there and inserting it - it really is as simple as that. 

Different routers support different speeds, but the speed your 4G will run at is obviously dependent on the 4G signal strength in the area you live. These routers are also moveable, allowing you to take it with you wherever you go, and providing you have a strong 4G signal and a plug socket nearby, you’ll be able to connect to the internet. Some 4G routers also allow you to choose between the 2.4 GHz frequency and 5 GHz frequency. The 2.4 GHz frequency provides internet to a larger area, but if you are close to the router and require faster speeds, the 5 GHz frequency is best. 

Make sure your 4G SIM is LTE-active, too. If not, don’t panic - you can contact your provider and ask them to activate it for you, ensuring the fastest 4G speeds possible. 

4G routers are extremely convenient and easy to set up, and providing you have a good 4G signal, are a great way to secure a broadband connection for your home without having to have a landline!