Lay My Hat

Hi everyone. I have a new holiday let which isn't quite up and running yet. I have Sky TV and WiFi ready to go.

Apparently, it is not legal to give guests free access to the WiFi. Can anyone recommend HotSpot software or some sort of Gateway Access where guests have to log in to gain access?

I obviously don't want to give guests free access to purchase anything on my Sky Account but assume a Pin number will be good enough for this - or am I wrong?

If anyone has anything to chip in about the size of Fire Extinguishers they have provided in the UK, that would also be welcome. I have had conflicting advice. The Fire Service said small ones less than 2kg will do.

it is not legal to give guests free access to the WiFi

Where on earth has this one come from?

Yes protect smart TV's and other devices etc with a PIN as and where offered, absolutely.

A decent router such as a draytek router will give you many options including forced login after reading T's & C's first. It will also and or offer guests WiFi as a hotspot asking for login details for Google, Facebook and others too.

Are you sharing your own home wi-fi with the holiday property? I know broadband providers don't like you to share with your neighbours, for example, and that might break the terms of your contract. I don't think it's actually illegal though. And if you own both properties I wouldn't have thought that would break your contract terms.

If the holiday property has a separate line from your own home and is set up with a unique account then AFAIK there shouldn't be any legal problems with it. At least I hope not, because that's what we do.

I'm guessing that sky are wanting the op to upgrade to a business account perhaps. Costing more money for a poorer service is my experience of business phone and broadband accounts.

If was illegal for an account holder to offer free WiFi then does this then prevent account holders from offering WiFi to friends and visiting family!?

I can see why ISP's in general don't want account holders to give WiFi access to neighbouring properties. They would prefer that these neighbours signed up for broadband instead. WiFi is provided for the account holder and all those residing at the address and all those that are given the WiFi access info by the account holder.

I took over an existing holiday let and had to keep Sky as it had been advertised to future guests. After a lot of confusion they insisted I had to be on a business account for £30 per month (inclusive of VAT). No PIN numbers on these accounts and no ability to buy movies etc. You can record and rewind/pause etc.

Not sure its worth any money though over other options as I can't even get many channels on this basic package.

Business accounts get a separate support phone number which is good and they claimed that you get short time scales on call outs however when it was discovered that the TV would not work without a new box it took them over a week to come out.