Help me to get into the 21st century

[FlorayG]

Preparing for moving house next week has made me realise that I'm really not up to date with tech.

Broadband - I've had the same contract over ten years I have no idea what great, better stuff is available. Do I actually have to have a landline? 'Phone hasn't rung for literally a few years now. What else can my broadband do other than wifi?

'Smart' things - i use mechanical timers, a DVD player, I have a 1958 valve radio in the living room. I wouldn't know where to start with replacing these (not the radio though I love it)

Heating - currently a woodburner now moving to gas central heating (see my other thread for confusion about this)

Seriously I don't know how to look up what I am missing because I don't KNOW what I am missing in order to look it up.
Is there a 'Dummies Guide to the 21st Century'?

[Mr Tom Morrow]

The Dibb!

My view is come on here and ask 1 question and that way you can exploit Dibb knowledge in depth. If you pose a load of questions it all gets muddied.

For example if you ask about Broadband you will be pointed to websites that show the current best deals. Sites that show speeds in your area and package deals where the phone is bundled in etc.

The key to everything is having the time to research which isn't easy if you are working. Us Retired people find it easy.

[FlorayG]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

The Dibb!

My view is come on here and ask 1 question and that way you can exploit Dibb knowledge in depth. If you pose a load of questions it all gets muddied.

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I am asking a question - my question is, how do I find out what it is I don't know about and could make use of?

[lizzie145]

there are lots of comparison sites for broadband etc - however when you live in the sticks you don't get much choice!

Always look around when your contract is up as there are loads of deals and if you use something like topcashback you can make a little money for holidays too.

im not with it either in terms of smart home stuff though i now have a google home hub and mini nest and currently looking at a gadget to do my heating.

[FlorayG]

Originally Posted by lizzie145

... something like topcashback ...

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see, I don't even know what that is

[duchy]

I haven’t listened to the radio on the radio for years as I listen through the net either through their own websites or through an app on my phone or tablet. Recently I’ve started using my google nest for it . I just tell it what radio station I want and it plays it eg “Google play LBC radio” I can also play music of my choice “Google play music by ... whoever” . This weekend husband was bopping around the kitchen to Fleetwood Mac and ELO for example . He’s a proper technophobe so if he can play with it anyone can.
I find with work I often have customers who haven’t upgraded their broadband for years and can get better speeds and a better hub for less than they are currently paying. A lot of people don’t use landlines nowadays and either don’t have a phone plugged in or just keep it for emergencies or for elderly relatives who don’t like calling mobiles. Most broadband costs include the basic phone line in with broadband rather than separately now .
“I don’t know what TopCashback is” , now this is important. When you browse the internet you see links to other sites often banners on the top of the pages Say M&S or John Lewis for example, if you click on that link to go to that site and then buy something the original website get a commission on your purchase .(The Dibb’s running costs are for example supported by fibbers doing this) TopCashback and Quidco are ways of getting that commission yourself instead. Instead of clicking a random link you go to let’s say quidco and you’ll find a huge list of online retailers (and many who do click and collect too) , most household names are on it Apple, MandS, John Lewis , hotels.com , EE , the list is literally endless . Once registered with Quidco as a member (TopCashback works the same way ) Instead of going to (say) boots you’d pick Boots from the list of retailers on the Quidco site and it would then take you to the Boots site as you’d usually see it and you’d browse and shop as you usually would (and pay for your order direct to Boots in the usual way ) however your order is recorded and within a few days or weeks the commission on your purchase lands in your Quidco account . The first £5 you earn in any one year is an admin fee, the rest is yours to be drawn as cash into your bank account or as various vouchers at a higher rate if you prefer . It’s literally money for nothing especially at the moment when we are all shopping more online be it JustEat, Argos B&Q etc . Sometimes it’s pennies other times it’s a decent amount (WDW holidays and some of the ticket attraction companies and hotel companies are on there for example). Over time it all adds up, I’ve done this for years and my earnings over time totalled in thousands. Many Dibbers use it , take a look but if you do sign up find a friend who already is a member as both you and they would get a referral bonus (so even more free money) so get them to generate a link for you to sign up with.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by FlorayG

I am asking a question - my question is, how do I find out what it is I don't know about and could make use of?

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Ask when someone says they did something you don’t quite “get”.
Some stuff is a bit gadgety , I work from home so I don’t need technology that will turn my lights or heating on and off from my phone but if I was commuting , coming home to a house with lights on or the heating switched on because it turned unexpectedly cold during the day might be great for example.
Ease yourself in gently

[mitch84]

If you are in the right area my opinion is that Virgin offers the best broadband. You get a phone line but we didn’t plug ours in. We got the tv box but don’t subscribe to extra channels. Tv pretty good though, linked to apps like Netflix, prime, iPlayer etc, and can series link/record shows.
The broadband is very fast and reliable

[duchy]

Originally Posted by mitch84

If you are in the right area my opinion is that Virgin offers the best broadband. You get a phone line but we didn’t plug ours in. We got the tv box but don’t subscribe to extra channels. Tv pretty good though, linked to apps like Netflix, prime, iPlayer etc, and can series link/record shows.
The broadband is very fast and reliable

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My opinion (biased as it is as I work for a competitor) is don’t be dazzled by the numbers . Yes Virgin may very well offer 200 meg Versus 50 or 80 with other providers but by golly you pay for it and unless you are a high level gamer in many cases you don’t ever use it or even have devices that can handle such speeds. A lot of people are paying more for stuff they don’t need or have the ability to use so it’s always worth looking at what you actually use it for.
My now husband was with Virgin getting I think it was 150 meg at the time and I was constantly having to mess with the hub settings as the WiFi function on the hub wasn’t great , I moved him to Fibre with an ADSL provider getting 40 meg at the time and it took him a month to notice the hub had changed and he commented he’d wondered why his stuff had run better LOL

[mitch84]

Originally Posted by duchy

My opinion (biased as it is as I work for a competitor) is don’t be dazzled by the numbers . Yes Virgin may very well offer 200 meg Versus 50 or 80 with other providers but by golly you pay for it and unless you are a high level gamer in many cases you don’t ever use it or even have devices that can handle such speeds. A lot of people are paying more for stuff they don’t need or have the ability to use so it’s always worth looking at what you actually use it for.
My now husband was with Virgin getting I think it was 150 meg at the time and I was constantly having to mess with the hub settings as the WiFi function on the hub wasn’t great , I moved him to Fibre with an ADSL provider getting 40 meg at the time and it took him a month to notice the hub had changed and he commented he’d wondered why his stuff had run better LOL

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Well we can only comment on our experiences which are very good so far. I’m sure we don’t need it that fast, but I do love that everything just works.
We were both with Sky before, in 2 different houses in 2 different counties, and both had really poor WiFi. As in it wouldn’t always let us watch tv off the WiFi, buffering or failing etc, we also didn’t find it cheap.
We pay £33 a month for the Virgin, every time we get to the end of our contract, we just request the new customer price.

We do often look at the broadband only suppliers but we don’t have a smart tv or anything, and it just works so well, we don’t want to risk messing up a good thing. We’d never go back to Sky again, and as I work from home now I can’t see us changing unless it gets a lot dearer.
I’m usually a serial shopper arounder, so it’s unlike me, but in this instance it’s a don’t fix what isn’t broken 😂