Guide to broadband in a second home……
Spending more time in your second home than usual? Planning to work from your second home now remote working is more widespread? Need faster or more reliable broadband in your second home?
Second homeownership is on the rise.
As many of us work hard in the city during the week, we want somewhere green and quiet to relax in over the weekend to recharge our batteries.
With hybrid and home working being much more accepted by employers, we are able to spend more time than ever before in our second home.
Which presents a problem. Where before, using your phone to keep up with work emails was enough, now you’re spending more time there, you need something more.
So, what are your options?
Broadband options for second homes
Let’s not bury the headline, if you’re spending more time in your other property, you’ll need a dedicated broadband connection.
It’s the type of connection you get that bears thinking about.
Your options are:
Short term broadband contract – You can buy monthly rolling broadband contracts that run for 30 days at a time. However, the setup and running costs are usually higher than longer-term deals. And they only really make sense if your second home is only used for a short period of time each year, as they let you cancel for free when the connection is no longer needed.
Cheap standard broadband contract – You could take out a standard broadband contract of 12-24 months. This could cost as little as £20 per month but you’ll need to pay even when you’re not staying at the property. If you or other occupants will be staying regularly, it might be the best option. Use a broadband checker to see what deals are available in the area.
Mobile broadband – Depending on where your second property is located, you could use 4G/5G mobile broadband. Use a mobile dongle or tether your phone to a computer to provide internet and you’ve got a portable broadband service. Or you can get a broadband Wi-Fi router that supports mobile data. But if you go this route, you must try to get an unlimited data plan, or it could get very expensive.
The viability of any of these depends entirely on the connection available at the property and the speed you could achieve.
That includes speed of fixed line broadband connection possible at your second home and mobile signal suitable for mobile broadband.
From a purely financial perspective, mobile broadband makes sense as it will be available wherever in the world you decide to work.
Just make sure you have a sufficient data cap for your needs though!
You may need to buy a router with a SIM card slot if you don’t want to tether your phone, but these are becoming more readily available.
Otherwise, a 4/5G dongle should suffice as long as signal strength is sufficient.
Can I move my broadband contract temporarily to my other home?
You cannot move your existing connection unless you’re planning to spend a few months or more in your second home. Standard broadband is not set up to be moved regularly.
If you were having your main home renovated and were planning to be at your second home for a significant amount of time, this might work.
If you were envisioning moving your broadband with you whenever you stayed at your second home, that isn’t going to work.
If you move your home connection to your second home, you won’t have internet when you go back as it will have been moved to your other property.
It also means scheduling a move and perhaps having to contend with that 12-24 month minimum term again. Not all providers will reset your contract, but some will insist on it.
What broadband speed should I get in my second home?
What speed you get depends on how you’re going to be using your connection.
Ask yourself a couple of questions to see how you’ll use your broadband:
How many people will be using it?
- How will you be using it?
- Will you be streaming TV? Hosting HD video calls?
- Downloading large files for work?
If only a couple of people will be using the internet and you’ll just be updating emails and using an office suite, most broadband connection speeds will suffice.
If there are more of you in the house, doing more online, you’ll need faster broadband.
That’s especially true if you’ll be streaming TV or spending much time on video calls!
Can I tell if someone has accessed the broadband in my second home?
A situation we see occasionally with second home owners is a suspicion that your internet has been accessed by someone in or around the property.
Some routers will show you internet access using a time and date graph. Others will show you a map of what devices are connected, while others may be able to provide historical logs of internet use.
Much depends on the make and model of router you have.
You can secure your internet connection easily by following these steps:
Change your router login and password – All routers will have a default login. Change this to something unique and memorable so you’re the only one that can make changes.
Change your WiFi access password – Change the passcode you enter when joining your WiFi to something completely random and difficult to guess. This will prevent anyone connecting to WiFi without your permission.
Set up remote administration – Some routers allow you to ‘dial in’ to your router remotely. This allows you to connect to your router from your other property to check what’s going on
That covers the basics you really need to know about broadband and second homes. The details will depend entirely on where the property is located, how long you’re preparing to stay there and how you’ll be using the internet.
However you plan to use your second home, there’s a way to get you connected!
