When I first moved to London, I was quite annoyed by the whole process of having to set up my broadband connection from scratch as I had never done it before.

Faced with re-activation and installation charges, as the tenant before me had never used the phone line, on top of very poor assistance given to customers who have never had a previous account with any broadband provider, I was even more put off at having to pay a line rental fee as well.

Setting aside that annual expenditure can be both good for your wallet and can save you a lot of trouble in case you find yourself in a similar position.

What are the best option available?

The internet service provider which will offer you the fastest internet connection available without needing a phone line would be Virgin Media.

The company's cable broadband packages offer the quickest downloads in the whole of UK, especially if you sign up for the fibre-optic option, which reaches speeds of up to 50Mbps.

If you don't want to take a phone and TV package along with your internet offer, you can go for Virgin Media's basic broadband package, which runs at a speed of 10Mb and includes unlimited downloads.

Even though the provider claims to cover around half of UK's population, it is still possible that its cable or super-fast network may not be available in your area.

Mobile broadband

Geoff Slaughter, Head of Online at Simplifydigital.com, gives a succinct answer:

"If you cannot connect to Virgin Media's broadband in your area, you can sign up with satellite or mobile internet providers without having to pay a line rental fee."

Mobile broadband is quickly becoming the leading broadband service for users who need to be connected wherever they are with users expected to reach 1bn in 2011.

In view of recently conducted research, tech giant Ericsson said:

"Users' consumption of the Internet and other media is changing as a result of the introduction of fast network and the availability of various types of devices, including smartphones."

So if you are the kind of consumer who uses Internet on the go most, then maybe mobile broadband is the better choice for you.

You can either have your broadband connection on your mobile device, whether that's a smartphone, tablet or netbook, or you can set up a wireless connection, which you can use at home.

Whatever you choose, bear in mind that mobile broadband packages do not usually come with a large internet allowance, so if you plan on using your connection mainly for downloading, then maybe you should choose another option.

Satellite broadband

Satellite is the final choice when it comes to providers not needing a phone line, but unless you live in a rural area without any other broadband options available, it can be considered a more expensive alternative to paying your line rental fee.

Final words

Of course, there's always the option of paying your line rental charge, which may seem more convenient to users already connected via BT, or any other provider who uses a phone line.