Are landlords OK with phone lines being installed?

Richard Dower · 09-07-2013 11:37am #1

Bit worried about this, having not met or spoken with my new LL i have found out there is no physical phone landline in situ.

Ergo i must get one in, but concerned he might refuse....any advice?

foggy_lad · 09-07-2013 11:41am

Richard Dower wrote: »

Bit worried about this, having not met or spoken with my new LL i have found out there is no physical phone landline in situ.

Ergo i must get one in, but concerned he might refuse....any advice?

most will have no issue with this as it makes their property more attractive to potential tenants.

Zulu · 09-07-2013 11:41am

Richard Dower wrote: »

Bit worried about this, having not met or spoken with my new LL i have found out there is no physical phone landline in situ.

Ergo i must get one in, but concerned he might refuse....any advice?

Why "must" you? Mobile phone/broadband not suffice?

Anyway to answer your question: you have to ask the LL first. You simply cannot drill holes in the walls etc. without first getting their permission. That said, unless you were asking them to cover the cost, I can't imagine why they'd stop you. ...but you need to ask.

MagicMarker · 09-07-2013 11:43am

Not cheap. Over €120 to have one installed, if you could go with another option then I'd recommend it. But I can't see why the LL would have a problem with it.

desertcircus · 09-07-2013 11:43am

If broadband in the property is provided by UPC, then you can just plus a phone into the back of the modem and you're sorted.

Richard Dower · 09-07-2013 12:16pm

desertcircus wrote: »

If broadband in the property is provided by UPC, then you can just plus a phone into the back of the modem and you're sorted.

No UPC...i did check, first thing i did....UPC have no infrastructure at the location and have no plans to add any

Richard Dower · 09-07-2013 12:18pm

Zulu wrote: »

Why "must" you? Mobile phone/broadband not suffice?

Anyway to answer your question: you have to ask the LL first. You simply cannot drill holes in the walls etc. without first getting their permission. That said, unless you were asking them to cover the cost, I can't imagine why they'd stop you. ...but you need to ask.

No...mobile BB is too expensive, i prefer landline BB and *hope* to get fibre in the future.

I'd pay for the install myself....but they have to drill a small hole through the front window frame.

djimi · 09-07-2013 12:19pm

Strange that there isnt a phoneline installed already. You need to talk to the landlord and find out why that is. Cant see them having an issue but part of me is saying that if there was no issue then a phoneline would already be installed.

djimi · 09-07-2013 12:19pm

Richard Dower wrote: »

No...mobile BB is too expensive, i prefer landline BB and *hope* to get fibre in the future.

I'd pay for the install myself....but they have to drill a small hole through the front window frame.

Mobile broadband works out way cheaper than landline broadband.

Richard Dower · 09-07-2013 12:21pm

djimi wrote: »

Strange that there isnt a phoneline installed already. You need to talk to the landlord and find out why that is. Cant see them having an issue but part of me is saying that if there was no issue then a phoneline would already be installed.

+1....that concerns me, there are no phone lines too the property, i find that strange....and i wonder if the LL might be the type to refuse.

melekalikimaka · 09-07-2013 12:21pm

djimi wrote: »

Mobile broadband works out way cheaper than landline broadband.

ROFL

djimi · 09-07-2013 12:24pm

melekalikimaka wrote: »

ROFL

What are you ROFLing about? The cheapest Eircom non-fibre broadband is €45 a month. O2 mobile broadband costs €20.

Richard Dower · 09-07-2013 12:26pm

djimi wrote: »

What are you ROFLing about? The cheapest Eircom non-fibre broadband is €45 a month. O2 mobile broadband costs €20.

Speeds?...cap limit?

djimi · 09-07-2013 12:33pm

Richard Dower wrote: »

Speeds?...cap limit?

Depends what you want it for. I think mine gets speeds of about 10mbps, and the 10GB download cap is plenty for a lot of people. Im not saying that mobile broadband is comparible in terms of service, but purely on price it works out a lot cheaper.

It also depends on the area you are in. Eircom will promise a lot when it comes to speed but in reality it comes down the quality of the lines and the distance from the exchange. I know of people who can only get a max of 3mbps with Eircom, which is a lot slower than a full signal mobile broadband will give you.

harney · 09-07-2013 12:37pm

Richard Dower wrote: »

I'd pay for the install myself....but they have to drill a small hole through the front window frame.

You could always just omit the drilling part unless they specifically ask. Just ask would he/she have a problem with you installing a landline, and that you have no problem paying for the install. No need for technicalities unless asked for.

djimi · 09-07-2013 12:40pm

harney wrote: »

You could always just omit the drilling part unless they specifically ask. Just ask would he/she have a problem with you installing a landline, and that you have no problem paying for the install. No need for technicalities unless asked for.

You mean omit the drilling part when talking to the landlord? Probably not a good idea. Im sure the landlord will know full well what putting in a landline entails, but I would not leave it to chance that they turn around at the end of the lease and wonder why there are holes in the walls. Best to be up front.

P. Breathnach · 09-07-2013 12:45pm

harney wrote: »

You could always just omit the drilling part unless they specifically ask....

It's probably better to be upfront rather than hope that you get away with something. The landlord might also need to get permission from the management company for a hole to be drilled.

I would be surprised if permission were refused (but anything is possible, because not everybody is reasonable).

Edit: djimi types faster than I do!

Zulu · 09-07-2013 12:47pm

harney wrote: »

You could always just omit the drilling part unless they specifically ask. Just ask would he/she have a problem with you installing a landline, and that you have no problem paying for the install. No need for technicalities unless asked for.

Risky. They could just omit the deposit part when you leave... If you are upfront and honest, then there'll be no nasty surprises when they do a final inspection.

Cuddlesworth · 09-07-2013 12:59pm

djimi wrote: »

Mobile broadband works out way cheaper than landline broadband.

Its very subjective as to how to define broadband but in essence, a half duplex wireless connection with huge contention rates and no guaranteed minimum terms of service are enough for me to be hesitant calling 3G dongles broadband.

Is it a flat or new house Richard? Would be very unusual to not have a line back to a junction box if it is.

Ray Palmer · 09-07-2013 1:14pm

djimi wrote: »

Strange that there isnt a phoneline installed already. You need to talk to the landlord and find out why that is. Cant see them having an issue but part of me is saying that if there was no issue then a phoneline would already be installed.

A lot of newer property wasn't connected for phone lines and isn't that unusual. Lots of people are quite happy without a physical phone line so not strange that a connection hasn't been made.

10gb cap is ridiculously small amount of data now a days. I went to update my mothers iPhone and it was 16 gb so that was an extra charge. £ movies can easily use up the limit.

djimi · 09-07-2013 1:22pm

Ray Palmer wrote: »

A lot of newer property wasn't connected for phone lines and isn't that unusual. Lots of people are quite happy without a physical phone line so not strange that a connection hasn't been made.

10gb cap is ridiculously small amount of data now a days. I went to update my mothers iPhone and it was 16 gb so that was an extra charge. £ movies can easily use up the limit.

True I suppose; an apartment especially probably wont have a phoneline installed. Im thinking more of any house that is more than a few years old; in that case it would be quite unusual for a phoneline not to be installed.

On the mobile broadband thing, I was commenting purely on price. Im not suggesting that the speed or service is necessarily comparible to that of a landline service (although some people out in the sticks with ancient cabling may beg to differ), but in terms of price mobile broadband is cheaper, and for a lot of people the speeds and download limit are just fine. If all you want internet for is Facebook, email and watching videos of cats on YouTube (which covers quite a few people I know!) then you would be a long time eating through 10GB a month!

Richard Dower · 09-07-2013 1:31pm

Its a converted house....like a 3 bedroom that has been converted into two flats. Its been done up, pretty high standard....looks modern inside. The weird thing is....there is a phone point installed, but when i called Vodafone they say there is no landline installed.

Also from the outside there appears to be a UPC cable install to both apartments and inside coax. points....but again UPC say there is no hardware at the location.

Maybe its just a Tv ariel coax.setup?.....dunno, have to meet the LL to sort it.

djimi · 09-07-2013 1:33pm

It might be that it was wired for Eircom/UPC but was never actually connected.

Cuddlesworth · 09-07-2013 3:06pm

Richard Dower wrote: »

Its a converted house....like a 3 bedroom that has been converted into two flats. Its been done up, pretty high standard....looks modern inside. The weird thing is....there is a phone point installed, but when i called Vodafone they say there is no landline installed.

If there is a phone point, then there is a outside cable so no need to drill through the window.

Richard Dower wrote: »

Also from the outside there appears to be a UPC cable install to both apartments and inside coax. points....but again UPC say there is no hardware at the location.

Maybe its just a Tv ariel coax.setup?.....dunno, have to meet the LL to sort it.

Get a UPC modem off someone and plug it in. Give it 2-5 minutes and see if it works.

Odds are your flat isn't on the system as the system only has a house there. Not two separate dwellings.

L1011 · 09-07-2013 3:17pm

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Get a UPC modem off someone and plug it in. Give it 2-5 minutes and see if it works.

Odds are your flat isn't on the system as the system only has a house there. Not two separate dwellings.

Generally there's no notch filters used - either a straight disconnect - so if the line is connected at all, the analogue TV will also work. Bit quicker and easier to check.

Cuddlesworth · 09-07-2013 3:57pm

Ray Palmer wrote: »

A lot of newer property wasn't connected for phone lines and isn't that unusual. Lots of people are quite happy without a physical phone line so not strange that a connection hasn't been made.

10gb cap is ridiculously small amount of data now a days. I went to update my mothers iPhone and it was 16 gb so that was an extra charge. £ movies can easily use up the limit.

It is unusual as most apartments and new builds don't plan for looping cable installs along roofs and walls. The infrastructure is placed with connections back to junction boxes for easy connection by cable and phone providers.

Are landlords OK with phone lines being installed?

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