ISP Vodafone UK Launch Second Home Broadband Line Service

Vodafone UK has today become the latest major home broadband ISP, after BT (here), to launch a second line service – “Work and Play” – to help support the growing push to work from home during the COVID-19 crisis, which is only available on their Openreach (BT) based FTTC “superfast broadband” packages.

Obviously, homes wouldn’t need a second line if we all had access to gigabit-capable (1000Mbps+), or even ultrafast (100Mbps+), broadband connections today, but that’s another story. The other reality is that second lines are nothing new and most homes allow you to run two (or sometimes more) copper lines, either via the same provider or by mixing different providers.

However, in the age of FTTC such solutions have become less common as more people now have access to faster speeds, although COVID-19 has forced many adults and families to both be working and playing together from home at the same time. As a result, some people may see the appeal of getting a second copper line setup, even if the whole idea does hark back to a previously forgotten era.

So far as we can tell Vodafone are simply offering an identical copy of their original package (no special line bonding here, sorry). In other words, for existing pay monthly mobile customers, prices start from £21 per month (35Mbps) with Vodafone Together. For new customers, without a mobile plan, prices start at £23 per month and you can alternatively take the more expensive 67Mbps package for £2 extra.

One downside of this, other than the added cost (luckily Vodafone’s service is already quite cheap.. for FTTC at least), is that you’ll need to essentially run two of the provider’s WiFi Hub routers side-by-side, which isn’t ideal for wireless network performance (i.e. the lower the congestion of your local airways, the better).

One way around the above problem might be to split the WiFi bands (i.e. only use 2.4GHz on the first router and 5GHz on the second), assuming Vodafone supports that on their kit and it makes sense for your local setup. But this is still a bit of a crude way of getting faster broadband (one that might also strain capacity at the local street cabinet). As a last catch, at present if you want a second line then there’s no online order option, so you’ll have to call Vodafone direct.

Alternatively, it might be worth taking that money and, coverage allowing, buying a 4G mobile SIM with “unlimited” data. Once again, your mileage may vary and it depends upon how such networks perform in your area, as well as the costs involved. But the redundancy of having a flexible mobile broadband solution as a backup, as well as to help with load balancing on your local network, is not to be underestimated.

Separately, Vodafone has expanded its business security services to include protection for business customers’ laptops and desktops via Trend Micro‘s new “Worry-Free” service, which is a new detection service for internet threats such as ransomware, out-of-date applications and phishing attacks etc. The service is compatible across Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices, as well as Microsoft 365, G-Suite, Box, Dropbox and Salesforce cloud services.