Getting Started

[Margaret]

I agree although have the Blackberry, which makes WiFi less vital but still important. Not everybody has the luxury of forgetting about their work for 2 weeks, and it is wrong to be critical of those who can't. How many people running holiday rentals could afford to be out of touch for 2 weeks?

[Carow]

Hi the debate is good, as it allows me to see pros and cons from people who are experiencing these issues.

I will find out if I can install Wifi in our maison - sounds like the best way to go. I have a 3G card in my laptop which allows me international roaming, but couldnt pick up signal in the house when I was last there. So even from a personal point of view I need the access myself.

Thanks for all the info
Carolyn

[Giddy Goat]

I think you obviously widen your market if you do offer more facilities

As others have been saying, if bookings are important to you it's unwise to be idealistic and impose your own standards (the simple, away-from-it-all holiday) on prospective guests. Times are changing, as owners here have observed. At least offer people the choice of how they spend their time at your property.

Having said that, markets and expectations do differ a little. Setting up for renting for the first time is very expensive, so introduce the items which are affordable. We're into our fourth year of letting now and have only just arranged for a phone line now for (broadband) internet access.

To date, lack of internet access hasn't made a bit of difference to bookings but I accept that things are possibly about to change; I hope to get the rest of the kit set up before the first wave of guests arrive. To help Carolyn (and me!) does anyone have recent experience of installing internet provision (we're not going to supply a laptop) and, since the subject has been returned to on this thread, can give a rough overall costing for this?

[kirkland]

You`ll be pleased to know wifi will become less of a problem soon with the introduction of more mobile companies using `dongles`, so there is no need for a landline, they are pricey at the moment, but the cost should go down.

[Carow]

To Gascony Goat
Good question, I am on a budget, so would love to know what it costs these days to install Wifi.

Also do I need to go to a dedicated Internet shop or do the Carrefour Hypers also sell these things?

Thanks
Carolyn

[Alan Knighting]

what's the point of a holiday if you have to be in constant contact with work?

Let’s put this into perspective. Most of us here are self catering owners aren’t we? Can any of us afford to take a fortnight’s break from what we do? Can we afford to be without constant contact with our businesses? I think not and I leave it up to my guests to decide for themselves whether or not they can be. If they want to be in touch, they are; if they don’t want to be, they don’t have to be.

Alan

[Hells Bells]

To Gascony Goat
Good question, I am on a budget, so would love to know what it costs these days to install Wifi.

Also do I need to go to a dedicated Internet shop or do the Carrefour Hypers also sell these things?

Thanks
Carolyn

A 1Mb package with no tie-in to a 12 month contract costs 24 euros with Orange.fr . They can also supply you with a livebox for a monthly fee of 3 euros, but have a special offer on at the moment of 6 months free. You can cancel at any time. In addition you will need a France Telecom phone line, which is 16 euros oer month for basic line rental. You can do it all online, call the Uk speaking helpline, or go in to your local France Telecom shop.

[Margaret]

Our Telekom installed broadband came with a wireless router. Thanks to information gleaned from this forum, we also bought a booster gadget from a local store to extend the range of the signal. Not that it seems to work very well. In one room, the signal is actually worse than it was before we installed the booster. Has anyone else had problems with these things?

[Jenroy]

I would presume the cost of will depend very much on where you are and whether the local Internet Service Provider (ISP) is able to offer a router with WiFi capabilities as an option. Another alternative is to install your own WiFi enabled router and as most routers have optional protocols then they should work throughout Europe. The Netgear range is normally very reliable and will reboot using stored parameters and can be accessed remotely if required.

The cost of a suitable Netgear wifi router will be about £100.00, however if we were to use the ISP option then I have just been quoted an option for €2.00 per month in Italy.

Just to broaden the topic somewhat to explain how we will use wifi when we commission the villa.

It is our intention to install cameras in the villa, which will be wireless, activated by infa red and either be accessed and controlled locally or remotely from here in the UK. A PC will be on site so that we will be able to view the historical activities. Guests will have the ability to turn the cameras on or off and will be encouraged to leave them on if they go out.

The installation of such a system has a number of advantages, especially if we need to check on anything as, with a previously installed portable web camera and with the help of someone at the other end, be able to assess any damage, fault etc within the villa.

Security and location of the router etc will be crucial as you will have to consider whether you want guests to have access to it and also located in a position which provides adequate coverage. Personally if I had to work on my laptop I would like to be outside.

[Partridge]

Guests will have the ability to turn the cameras on or off and will be encouraged to leave them on if they go out.

I fully understand and have no problems with the reasons for doing this but my initial reaction to learning of remote cameras etc would be not to book. Quite possibly I am in the minority but even if the owner told me I could turn them off, being a technophobe I would think the owner might turn them back on without me realising and be spying on me

Like I say, I could be 'out there' in my thinking but out of curiosity would anyone else be 'out there' with me

[Jenroy]

Good point and worthy of asking and would welcome feedback. Would not pursue if this was the general consensus.

[Margaret]

I think a great many renters would find the idea of cameras on a rental property to be a worrying indicator of local crime levels! And very spooky.

On the subject of WiFi generally, we have just installed a PC to which all guests in the 5 apartments have access 24/7. On the desk by the PC (and in the information files in the apartments) are the network details for guests to log on from their laptops. We wanted to make a charge as it has cost us a lot to set up. And we always have to pay if staying in 4 and 5 star hotels. However, free internet access seems to be the norm in holiday rentals, so we have gone for that.

We do offer a laptop for guest use but charge Euros 5 per hour for that - it is the kind of thing guests will just keep in their apartment for the whole stay if there is no charge, depriving other guests of the possibility of using it.

[Martha]

I'm out there with Party on this one! Though far from technophobic, I'd find the cameras a bit weird, I think a lot of people would. We did have discussions about them a while ago...

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My concern about having a pc in the house is that if you're not on site, the potential for things messing up is large. There is software you can install to ensure that everything gets wiped between guests (myriad of issues here, including privacy, security and under-18s access to stuff they shouldn't see), but then you still have the problem of the pc itself playing up. If you're on site it's different of course.

I know some people do like the idea of getting away from it all but it's not all work anyway - in practice it can be a real pain if you need to change a flight or confirm a ferry time, check the weather forecast, get a phone number, etc etc etc. and don't have access to the internet.

So, although I wouldn't say it's essential, it's a genuinely big plus.

I have the same broadband package as Helen by the way.
We had a wanadoo livebox which is notoriously unreliable, but was fine until last week, when it packed in. The agents have replaced it with a linksys one that they've found reliable before.
No big problem, then, but you may want to make sure you have the number of someone local who can come over and check it out if there are any problems, as it's very hard to diagnose faults from a distance.

[Musetta]

sorry...but the cameras are just TOO much for me...

#1-I'd think OHMYGOD that place must be REALLY DANGEROUS that they need security like THAT and there's no way I'd go...ok...I would...but only becasue I know Italy...but I think it is off-putting to most...

#2 - I'd think you were spying on me and my family...

#3 - what the heck help would they be to you from abroad anyway? what would you DO if you were sitting there watching someone breaking in?!

seems totally not worth the money....if you are worried about access, why don't you install one of those electronic door locks so you can reprogram codes from home (computer, phone, etc.) and have a way to know fi someone accesses your house without your knowlege...better yet...just make friends with a neighbor to keep an eye on things !

Is your location THAT remote that you think you would need that kind of security? if so and you really feel you (don't know one person in italy though with a secutiry system!) I'd put a security system/aalarm WAY before a camera.

[Jenroy]

The real reason for the idea cannot be published here, however with the overwhelming response totally opposed I will take the thumbs down as a resounding NO then