Staying Online at Your Holiday Cottage

Staying Online at Your Holiday Cottage; We live in a constantly connected society and even when you’re on holiday you may need to keep at least some sort of link to the online world. When you’re going on holiday it’s important to be able to switch off to some extent, but there are many reasons why you might need or want to have access to an internet connection, not least to keep the kids happy (it’s usually the first thing they ask about!).

Fortunately, today there is no reason why you should have to be without internet services while staying at your luxury cottage in the country, and 95% of Premier Cottages’ member properties have WiFi on site. Even better is that our members do not charge any extra for WiFi.  It is worth remembering that not all broadband is equal, and some areas with rural broadband connections may have much lower speeds than you are used to, so if speed is really important to you then do check with the owner before you book what the connection is like.  In some areas, the broadband will be fine for accessing email, but won’t be fast enough to stream live television, for example.

Away from your cottage, here are a few hassle free ways that you can get online while you’re away from home.

Tethering from a smart phone

If you’ve got a smart phone and a laptop then it’s generally quite an easy process to share your phone’s internet connection with another device. Depending on the capabilities of your devices, you can connect them with a USB cable, or via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth – simply follow the instructions provided by your phone manufacturer. IMPORTANT: Be aware of how much data is included in your mobile network plan, or you could find yourself liable to substantial additional charges.

Get a Dongle

Relatively inexpensive and exceptionally portable, a dongle is a small device that plugs into your computer’s USB port, allowing it to access the internet via either 3G or 4G. You should be able to find them in most electronics stores, supermarkets or online.  This does require a good mobile signal, so if you are taking it to a cottage with no internet connection, then just make sure that the property has a good signal for the mobile provider you use.

Find a Hotspot

Wi-Fi hotspots are an increasingly common feature across the UK, and if you’re cottage is close to one you may be able to log on. This is unlikely to be an option when staying in very isolated, rural cottages, though, so check first with the provider to find out what coverage is available, or go online and use one of the many coverage maps that will show you average speeds in that area.