Do you have access to a reliable internet connection despite your unusual living setup?
Do you have access to a reliable internet connection despite your unusual living setup?
Hello, I’m based in the UK, and here’s a quick rundown of where I am now. After being married for 12 years, I’ve recently gone through a separation. My only real way to unwind is playing online video games with friends, but right now it’s tough because of some issues.
I’ve moved into a one-bedroom annex that I’m renting from my new landlord. It’s connected to their internet via WiFi, but the connection is really unstable—especially when they come back home. There are constant delays and high ping times, making online gaming nearly impossible. Plus, the area is pretty rural, so broadband speeds are only around 60mb/s, which isn’t enough for smooth gaming.
My landlord doesn’t have a dedicated address, so I share their internet. When they’re back, the connection drops, and I can’t play games. I’m not ready to ask them to switch providers or set up a long Ethernet connection through their house.
I’ve considered Starlink because it worked well at work before. It would cost about £450 for setup, plus equipment and ongoing fees. My budget is tight, and the monthly charge is already £75—more than double what most broadband plans cost.
I found something interesting: there’s a wall socket in my annex that might be a phone line. I’m wondering if I could call one of the local providers (BT, TalkTalk, Vodafone, or Sky) and ask them to set up a separate broadband connection for me through this socket. Would that affect my landlord’s current service? Or would it just not work because it’s probably not the main line?
The mobile signal is also weak here, so streaming YouTube on my phone using mobile data would be a real challenge.
I’d really appreciate any advice or suggestions you can give me. Thanks!
You seem to be facing a limitation. The best approach would be to request your landlord to install a connection from their main exchange point to your home.
If the internet works when they’re away, you might ask if they’d consider getting a second broadband connection that you handle, keeping two routers in their home—one for your use only. If you’re lucky, they could already have 4-core cabling, making it easy to add another line. Otherwise, they might be hesitant about installing new wiring into the property.