Broadband speed in rural areas is in the news, not least as the political parties woo your vote. Pricing seems often the barrier to solutions but sometimes creativity and sweat equity may unlock solutions.

When Old Armoury Barn was rebuilt in 2013/2014 BT Openreach quoted me £3,500 + VAT to install a telephone line which was so far out of budget that instead we installed a series of  repeaters to extend an existing wireless service. This was good enough for guests in 2015 when we simply sent e-mail and texts but with time and the emergence of video on demand and online gaming the service fell short of 2019 expectations. One guest who was unable to watch greyhound racing from Hong Kong in the small hours was quite disappointed!

However, rather than pay BT Openreach a kings ransom,  instead we have laid a data cable ourselves through six rooms, one garage and two attics requiring eleven holes to be drilled – one of which was though a three foot thick stone wall.

The result is impressive. We have gone from a download speed of 2 Mbps to 21 Mbps – far Eastern gambling at three am has never been so exciting.

Oh, and it cost me half a days work for an electrician and an “all you can eat” dinner for two teenage boys (don’t underestimate how much that will cost).