Broadband options without a phone line

Many homes in Ireland have ADSL connections which use your phone line to provide an internet connection.

However, if you don’t have a phone line, or you don’t want one, there are other types of broadband connection available in Ireland to choose from, including:

• Mobile broadband
• Fibre and part fibre broadband
• Satellite broadband

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Alternatives to ADSL

Fibre and part fibre broadband

Fibre broadband is delivered to your home using fibre-optic cables. The fastest type of fibre connection is Fibre-to-the-Home, but Fibre-to-the-Cabinet, known as part fibre, is more common.

At present, cable broadband is available from many providers, such as eir, Sky, and Virgin Media. Meanwhile, Digiweb and Vodafone offer part fibre plans, as well as Fibre-to-the-home broadband, powered by SIRO.

However, in certain rural areas throughout the country, fibre and faster broadband packages may not be available.

Mobile broadband

Another alternative if you don’t want a landline, is to opt for a mobile broadband plan.

The technology used to provide mobile broadband is the same as the one that lets you use your mobile phone, so many mobile networks offer mobile broadband via mobile dongles and 4G SIMs.

Mobile broadband can be really useful, especially if you need to access the internet on the move, but you’ll need to be sure that the coverage is decent, in order to get a reliable internet connection.

Bear in mind that if your mobile phone signal is bad where you live, you’re likely to get poor mobile broadband signal, too.

Satellite broadband

If you can’t get part fibre or fibre broadband where you live, and your mobile coverage isn’t good, you could opt for satellite broadband.

Although speeds through satellite broadband are generally slower, it’s useful as it’s available anywhere in Ireland and doesn’t depend on cables or telephone lines.

The main provider of satellite broadband in Ireland is bigblu.

What to consider with broadband without a phone line

While you may not want the hassle of a phone line, if you don’t have part fibre or fibre broadband available where you live, ADSL is probably the best bet for getting a reliable connection and decent broadband speed.

Bear in mind that you can always go for a broadband-only ADSL plan. This is where the phone line is just used to provide your broadband, not a home phone too.

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Is it worth getting a landline installed?

Here are a few reasons why you might want a landline:

• Signal problems: If you have don’t have strong mobile phone signal at home, a landline can be a lifesaver.
• Reliability: If there’s a power cut, or mobile signal goes down, your landline won’t normally be impacted.
• Free local calls: If you don’t have an unlimited mobile plan, making local calls on your landline can sometimes work out cheaper, depending on your package.