17/09/2018
PRESS RELEASE – THE FASTEST WIFI IN THE WEST?
The challenge is out – does Trimstone Manor Country House Hotel and Cottages, near Ilfracombe and Woolacombe now have the fastest wifi for those staying in any form of accommodation in the whole North Devon and Exmoor area? We think it does!
After encouragement from his son, owner Philip Milton was persuaded to upgrade the Hotel and Cottages’ connection to go fully fibre-optic. At a considerable cost of many thousands of pounds and the same for three years afterwards too, they believe the investment will be justified in more trade and better business effectiveness, staff efficiency and responsiveness. No, this is not ‘just’ a wired connection to the nearest roadside box but a super, unique fibre optic link direct to the local Exchange. We also have the latest Ubiquity ‘Enterprise Grade’ equipment.
In fact, the Ilfracombe BT Exchange required further upgrade work just so that the Hotel could be the very first customer of this new facility!
The Hotel and cottages now go from having slower speeds than 66% of the whole Country to having faster speeds than 99% of the UK and for any form of usage!
Says Philip ‘After experimenting with various different applications, processes, twisted wires, line-of-sight and separate telephone lines, we still found that internet access could be very slow, intermittent and unreliable and it is just at these most important of times that you or your customers need it when it goes down. It is going to be really great to have something reliable and acceptably fast so that we can do what we should be doing and efficiently!’
The Hotel has always believed in free wifi for all its guests - whether the person staying over or the casual guest for a cream tea or a coffee. In fact it is an anathema to Philip when he goes away to find complicated access processes, extra charges or more money for anything but a basic wifi provision and so this new access is also free to all customers at the Hotel and Cottages! And their tariffs have always been very competitive and Philip assures guests that those rates have not changed – so an extra fantastic service all part of the price!
Indeed, the investment which Philip and the Hotel have made will in due course also mean that the rest of the Trimstone Community will be able to connect for a fraction of the price. The whole infrastructure costs and the links for individual connectivity have been paid by Philip and the Hotel so residents’ costs will be very small comparatively should they wish to avail themselves of the faster service. “Initially we did contact all our neighbours to discuss the whole idea and to see if any wanted to participate now but regardless, we decided that we would make the investment anyway for the good of the community – which includes the opportunity for their house prices as their homes will now be more attractive with superspeed wifi connectivity!”
Asking Philip about this new service he says: “These days, more often than not people on holiday need access to the internet and they need to know it is reliable and speedy. When I am on holiday, I have to keep in touch and work and many others have to do so too. Indeed, for entertainment – or for their children, it is becoming an imperative need and so there won’t be any access problems or restrictions on broadband width or anything for guests and their families either when they come here and as they will experience everywhere elsewhere!”
When asked about business, Philip said “We do expect more guests as a result of this significant investment, yes. Not only for ordinary guests but we expect to find that more business guests will come and use us when they are visiting customers in North Devon. The wifi and mobile signals in other nearby areas are pretty poor and not very reliable so the frustration some people must face when they try to do their work is something which they will not experience here. We are also open for conference facilities too so imagine what streaming presentations will be like and so on – no interruptions or slow speeds - and a reliable presentation and all of your delegates having great, free wifi.
High Speed wifi is being very slow to roll-out across the Country and Philip and his son Felix felt they could not wait and that the investment had to be made. They hope to steal the edge on local competitors - and to inspire them to make the investment too.
Not only will the facility encourage more guests to book and stay at Trimstone Manor Country House Hotel and the Cottages (even out of season so those escaping for work projects can enjoy the surroundings too) but they expect more casual callers for morning coffees and afternoon teas as these guests will also be able to have direct access – and all without extra charge. So what must they now do? They must ensure that they promote this fantastic new facility far and wide to ensure their customers and prospective customers know about it – and in so doing this should attract even more people to North Devon to enjoy the services of other businesses here and to prove North Devon is open to the constantly changing demands of modern business.
The good news too is that after the fixed three-year contract expires, Trimstone will be able to upgrade again at no further cost or works required and then the speed will rise to a phenomenal 1000mbps download and 220mbps upload!
Philip closes by saying “As North Devon’s leading independent investment consultancy and financial planning advisers too, as I have to always be connected with what is happening to the world of economics and markets, the ability of having this high-speed dependability at home for my main activities will also be invaluable. I suspect too that the children will have even more friends descend upon us to enjoy more entertainment which can now be streamed reliably….!”
So why not come and test it? You’ll have to come and stay for a night and see what their super-dooper wifi speed is all about and what it could do for your business if you had it installed.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Average Broadband download speeds as of May 2018 in the UK were 46.2mbps and upload speeds of 6.2mbps. Trimstone’s new internet download speed is 300Mbps download and 30mbps upload.
Trimstone’s new internet means a guest could download an Ultra HD film (70gb) in 31 minutes when compared to 3.24 hours on the average speed above.
Check speeds: Hotelwifitest.com
