Thinking of moving to BT Essentials to save money - not sure about functionality tho

[#1]

I qualify for an Essentials discounted (social tariff) connection, so I'm considering switching over from PN (who don't offer a social tariff). It'd save me £10 a month, so obviously that's very attractive.

I'm looking at the basic Essentials package, which I understand only allows two devices to be connected to the internet. I think I can live with this limitation as I really only need a phone device & a laptop connected at any one time.

(I know that the Essentials 2 package doesn't have this limitation)

But I can't find out exactly how this works.

1. Does it mean that if I try to use a 3rd device, that device will be blocked, or will one of the other two connected devices' connection get dropped?

2. Is this limitation implemented via a firmware mod in the hub/router or do I have to register the devices I want on the internet with BT centrally somehow?

3. If I have a small internal LAN, can I still use the supplied router to route traffic between them even if I don't ever connect some of the devices to the internet? (eg ssh into another local computer from my main laptop)

anyone know how it works?

thanks

[#2]

@paulh  Don't know where you have seen that only two devices are allowed to be connected. I can't see any mention of that in the Essentials T&Cs. The two packages just look to be different speeds up to 40 Mbps and up to 80 Mbps similar to Plusnet's Fibre and Fibre Extra. 

They supply a normal BT Hub with Wi-Fi and Lan connections. I don't think it can be restricted to a couple of devices.

Perhaps you should be asking BT rather than the Plusnet forum.🤔

[#3]

Yeah I've seen this in their T&Cs somewhere within the past two months.

As for asking here, well, there are some smart well-informed people on the PN forums, and of course PN is part of the bigger BT  group, as well as there being some very well-informed PN staff who keep an eye on things here too, so it's always worth asking where good people hang out. it gives a greater chance of getting information, but of course there's always the chance of getting snarky unhelpful replies too,

[#4]

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@RealAleMadrid wrote:

@paulh  Don't know where you have seen that only two devices are allowed to be connected. I can't see any mention of that in the Essentials T&Cs. The two packages just look to be different speeds up to 40 Mbps and up to 80 Mbps similar to Plusnet's Fibre and Fibre Extra. 

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Agreed, I too doubt very much that there is any limitation on the number of devices allowed to be connected to the Internet.

Another difference between the two tariffs is that with the £15 one you get 700 minutes of phone calls to UK mobile and landline numbers included per month whereas the £20 plan has unlimited calls (although there may be a fair usage policy).