Getting broadband in a second property?

paper_turnip

Have anyone got any clever tips/solutions for the most cost efficient way to have broadband in a second property?

The broadband is not going to be used all the time (as we'll be in our family home for most of the year) so signing up for a 12 or 18 months BT/Sky/Virgin etc contract feels like a waste of money.

I'm not bothered about having a phone line even - we just both want lots of reliable wifi when we go there for the odd weekend or over xmas etc.

I've thought about mobile broadband but the download limits/speed i'm not sure will meet our needs. we do a lot of internet..watching films etc

I'd really appreciate any top tips/ideas here.... cheers !! :beer:

agrinnall

For such short times I don't think you're going to find anything to suit, even the few no contract providers that still exist (I found Direct Save Telecom) require you to give 28 days notice to cease service. If you can get a decent signal then mobile is likely to be the only answer, and you'd have to do without streaming for a few days.

paper_turnip

thanks for your reply. can't do without streaming.

how about maybe getting a unlimited data usage mobile phone contract, such as virgin, and tethering computers to phone / using phone as a wifi hotspot?

flashg67

Your idea is sound but make sure tethering is allowed on the plan you select as some block it. You're at the mercy of the mobile signal though doing this.

A mi-fi device with a sim only contract will do the same thing and may work out cheaper.

paper_turnip

ok...thanks both for your replies :beer:

J_B

Where is your 'second property'?

paper_turnip

jb thanks its in 'southampton' ;-)

R34GTT

You could buy a Three SIM Only deal on the 'One Plan' which I believe still allows unlimited tethering. Then buy a cheap spare mobile phone which has the wireless hotspot function. That's what I'd do anyway.

Oh wait, looks like it's now capped to 4GB for tethering.

John_Gray

When you go to your luxury country estate, which wireless networks show up on your laptop? Is any one of sufficient strength that you could connect to it and do your downloading? Maybe you could identify its (nearby) owner, and do a deal to 'borrow' their broadband for the time that you and the servants are in residence - at an agreed fee, of course!

WARNING - this post contains amusing allusions to the vast wealth and privilege of those who live at Downton Abbey, and is not intended as a value judgement of the OP in any way, shape or form.

paper_turnip

The comedians are out in force tonight. Its a small flat buying in advance so that an elderly relative has a home to move into in future. Not some billionaires problem. How else could I have described it apart from a 'second property' would you suggest then?

Thanks to those of you that helped with useful information and to those of you who make sarcy inaccurate comments...you shouldn't judge people so much. Wow. You see those sort of traits in people who troll and bully online just because its relatively anonymous.

onomatopoeia99

The "second property" factor is irrelevant. You have conflicting requirements: you want it to be reliable, with large amount of data transfer per month despite only being in residence to use it on occasion. So, that means a fixed line to avoid the vagaries of mobile broadband.

But you don't want to rent a fixed line for your broadband to be connected on (line rental is for the rental of the line and its maintenance, not for the ability to make telephone calls), which takes you back to mobile.

So, which is more important - not paying line rental to rent a line over which your broadband arrives, or having a stable connection with the potential to move a lot of data in a month?

I'm in the "stable connection and don't mind paying to get it" camp, but that's not really "money saving".