Wi-Fi Is No Longer a “Nice to Have”
Once upon a time, decent Wi-Fi was a bonus. A pleasant extra. Something guests might mention if it worked well, and politely forgive if it didn’t.
Unfortunately, those days are gone.
Today, reliable Wi-Fi is as essential to a Devon holiday let as hot water or heating. Guests don’t see it as technology anymore – they see it as infrastructure. It’s what powers movie nights after windswept beach walks, keeps teenagers happy on rainy afternoons, and lets guests book dinner, check tide times, or FaceTime home without standing by a very specific corner of the sofa.
When it works, Wi-Fi is invisible.
When it doesn’t, it quietly shapes the entire stay.
Slow speeds, dropouts, or patchy coverage don’t just cause mild irritation, it influences guest satisfaction, reviews, repeat bookings, and ultimately your income. A single line in a review about “unusable Wi-Fi upstairs” can undo paragraphs of praise about views, hospitality, décor, and location.
And here’s the catch: most owners don’t realise Wi-Fi is the problem until the reviews start, or a guest requests a refund.
In this guide, we’ll look at why Wi-Fi now plays such a critical role in holiday lets across Devon, and how getting it right (achievable even in rural or thick-walled properties) can quietly protect your ratings, reputation, and revenue.
The Reality of Guest Behaviour Today
The idea that guests come to Devon to completely disconnect is… optimistic.
Yes, they’re here for sea air, cream teas, coastal paths and slower mornings, but modern holidays still run on the internet. Quietly. Constantly. And across far more devices than most owners realise.
A single couple can easily arrive with:
- Two smartphones
- A tablet or two, and a laptop for work
- Smartwatches quietly syncing in the background
- Steaming devices brought from home
- Portable gaming console (Yes, really!)
A family or group stay? Multiply that fast.
In our experience, it’s not unusual for a “four-person” booking to connect 10-20 devices over the course of a stay – many of them always online, even when nobody is actively using them.
Add this to devices that live in the property such as Smart TV’s, speakers, heating, possibly lighting and linked fire detection…the list goes on, and your network has to cope with quite a lot.
Guests expect to be able to:
- Stream films and boxsets in the evening
- Make video calls to family or colleagues
- Let kids (or adults) game online without lag
- Look up restaurants, book taxis, check tide times
- Share photos, reels and “wish you were here” moments in real time
And then comes a very familiar Devon moment.
It’s raining sideways. Plans are cancelled. Everyone piles into the living room. The TV buffers. Phones drop off Wi-Fi. Upstairs bedrooms have no signal at all.
That’s when frustration sets in.
What’s a little sad but unsurprising in today’s world, is that guests often notice Wi-Fi failures more sharply than décor, views, or layout. A slightly dated sofa? Forgivable. A small bathroom? Expected.
But Wi-Fi that collapses under light use, or only works in one room, makes the whole place feel awkward, unfinished, and out of step with modern expectations.
Devon Has a Unique Wi-Fi Challenge
Devon’s charm is part of the challenge.
Holiday lets here are often rural, spread out, and built long before Wi-Fi was a consideration. Thick stone walls, converted barns, split-level cottages, annexes, and generous floorplans are exactly what guests love! But they’re also brilliant at absorbing wireless signal and impeding coverage.
Add distance from exchanges, variable mobile coverage, and properties that stretch well beyond a single router’s comfort zone, and you’re no longer dealing with a “normal” home setup.
Guest expectations add another layer. Many visitors arrive from homes with strong broadband, whole-house Wi-Fi, and mobile signal that follows them from room to room. They don’t consciously think about internet quality, they simply expect it to be consistent, wherever they are in the property.
This is where holiday lets are different from everyday homes.
A setup that feels perfectly adequate for occasional use can struggle when:
- Every room is in use
- Multiple devices connect at once
- Usage peaks in the evening
- Guests move freely around the building
Nothing is “broken”, it just hasn’t been designed for how the property is actually used.
That’s why Wi-Fi issues in Devon holiday lets are rarely about neglect or cost-cutting. They’re usually about buildings and usage patterns that need a more considered approach.
Get that approach right, and even the most rural, character-filled property can deliver the quiet, reliable Wi-Fi guests now expect, without compromising what makes the place special.
How Poor Wi-Fi Impacts Reviews (and Bookings)
Most guests don’t set out to write harsh reviews.
In fact, many negative Wi-Fi comments appear in reviews that are otherwise glowing. The cottage was lovely. The location was perfect. The beds were comfortable. The host was friendly.
“Everything was lovely, but…”
That single line matters more than it looks.
Wi-Fi has a habit of becoming the one practical frustration guests remember clearly enough to mention. Not because they’re being unreasonable, but because unreliable Wi-Fi interrupts plans, slows things down, and adds friction to moments that should feel easy. Booking dinner, settling in for the evening, keeping kids entertained, or checking travel plans shouldn’t require trial and error.
When Wi-Fi is mentioned negatively:
- It often drags an otherwise strong review down a star
- It plants doubt for future guests scanning listings
- It creates hesitation, even if everything else sounds perfect
And that’s where the quiet impact begins.
Prospective guests rarely analyse reviews in detail. They skim. They look for patterns. Repeated mentions of Wi-Fi (even mild ones) subtly reduce confidence. Over time, that can influence occupancy rates, length of stay, and what guests are willing to pay, especially when competing properties appear to offer a smoother, more predictable experience.
What’s important to note is this:
Poor Wi-Fi doesn’t usually cause dramatic complaints, it causes hesitation.
And hesitation is what turns into fewer bookings, more questions before arrival, and guests choosing to look at “just one more option” before committing.
Reliable Wi-Fi doesn’t win praise very often. But it quietly protects reviews, bookings, and revenue; which is exactly what you want it to do!
Choosing the Right Internet Connection in Devon
One of the biggest mistakes holiday let owners make is assuming that any broadband connection will do, or that the fastest-looking package on a comparison site must be the best option.
In Devon, that’s rarely true.
Many rural properties have moved well beyond basic copper broadband, which simply wasn’t designed for modern usage. Even where it’s still available, it can struggle with speed, reliability, and evening slowdowns once guests, streaming, and multiple devices are involved.
The good news is that Devon now has far more choice than it used to.
Depending on location, realistic options may include:
- Full-fibre broadband, offering consistent speeds and low latency
- Rural fibre providers, built specifically for harder-to-reach Devon locations
- Fixed-wireless broadband, using directional antennas rather than phone lines
- Satellite broadband, such as Starlink, for properties beyond practical fibre reach
In some locations, the best performer isn’t a fixed line at all.
4G or 5G broadband with a properly installed external antenna can provide an alternative, especially where mobile signal is strong. Likewise, modern satellite services like Starlink can deliver impressive real-world speeds in remote areas, provided they have a clear view of the sky.
The key point is this:
The right connection depends on the property, not the postcode.
Two cottages on the same lane can experience very different results depending on:
- Line quality and routing
- Distance from cabinets or fibre spines
- Mobile mast direction and terrain
- Physical obstructions around the building
That’s why availability checkers and headline speeds only tell part of the story. Choosing the right connection means matching the technology to the location, and understanding how it performs during busy, real-world use.
Get the connection right, and the rest of the Wi-Fi setup has something solid to build on.
Designing Wi-Fi That Actually Works in the Property
Once the internet connection itself is solid, the next challenge is getting that connection to work everywhere guests expect it to.
This is where the next set of internet problems in holiday lets begin.
Why router placement matters a lot (or not?)
Firstly, your router may not always be your WiFi Point. Your average ISP ships you a basic bit of kit that they call the router/(smart)hub/modem – you name it. Truth is, what you have is a box that tries to play every role ‘reasonably’. It acts as a Modem, a Firewall, a Router, a Network Switch and a WiFi Access Point. This is usually only suitable for a very small property and even then, is often not enough.
So, does it matter where you put the router? Not really. (If you do have a separate router, however, it’s nice to lock this in a cupboard to stop ‘techie guests’ from tinkering.)
Is where you place the WiFi Access Point important? Yes, very!
Why? Because Wi-Fi doesn’t behave like you’d hope – it acts more like sound. It doesn’t politely teleport upstairs to the bedroom, or into the kitchen next door. It weakens through walls, doors, floors… everything. Introduce thick stone walls, add some metal/insulation and a couple of chimneys; all of which are very common in Devon properties, and things get worse.
If you wanted a house-wide sound system, you wouldn’t put a single speaker in the lounge cupboard and turn it up. Yet WiFi Access Points are often placed:
- In the cupboard
- Behind TVs
- In the hallway
- Wherever the phone line happens to enter the building
All these locations quietly undermine performance.
WiFi needs to be central, elevated, and open so the signal can spread evenly through the property (or as far as it can achieve). Even small changes in position can have a surprisingly big impact.
The extender trap
The first thing most owners try when Wi-Fi doesn’t quite reach is to buy a plug-in Wi-Fi extender. It’s understandable – they’re inexpensive, quick to install, and promise instant improvement.
In practice, extenders rarely solve the problem properly. They usually repeat an already weak signal (because we put them where we want signal to be, rather than where there is signal to boost), which often:
- Reduces usable speeds
- Struggles with multiple devices
- Creates unreliable connections as guests move around
- Introduce multiple WiFi SSID (Network Names)
They can help in very limited, non-mission critical scenarios, but in larger or character-filled properties, they’re usually a temporary workaround rather than a real solution.
Mesh or Hardwired access point system?
For many Devon holiday lets, the right answer is a properly designed system – there is no true substitute for hardwired, but budgets don’t always stretch that far.
Hardwired WiFi access points connect directly back to the router via Ethernet, rather than relying on Wi-Fi to talk to each other. The result is:
- More consistent speeds
- Better stability under load
- Fewer dropouts at busy times
Where cabling is practical, it’s almost always the preferred option for difficult buildings.
Wireless ‘mesh’ APs can still work well but wiring access points where possible gives the system a much stronger foundation.
Designing for how guests actually use the space
Every bedroom matters. Every floor matters. Every corner will likely be tested by guests and poor signal reported to you with disappointment.
Good Wi-Fi design isn’t about chasing headline speeds in one room. It’s about consistent, reliable coverage everywhere guests expect to relax, sleep, and switch off.
Making Guest Wi-Fi Reliable (Not Just Fast)
Once the Wi-Fi is physically in the right places, the next challenge is how it behaves day to day.
This is the part guests never see but feel immediately when it’s done badly.
Reliability isn’t about raw speed
Speed tests look impressive on listings, but they’re a poor predictor of real guest experience. A connection can score highly at 10am and still struggle at 8pm when everyone is streaming, gaming, and uploading at once, or when you have interference from neighbouring properties.
What guests notice is whether the Wi-Fi feels:
- Predictable
- Consistent
- Reliable
- Free from random dropouts
That comes down to configuration, not hardware.
Managing lots of devices fairly
Holiday lets create a unique traffic pattern. Devices come and go constantly, and usage often spikes in the evening. Without sensible tuning, one device (whether it’s yours, theirs or next doors) can quietly dominate the connection / airwaves while everything else slows down.
Well-configured networks use techniques like:
- Fair bandwidth distribution
- Traffic prioritisation for time-sensitive tasks (calls, streaming)
- Preventing background updates from overwhelming the network
- Interference mitigation
The aim isn’t to restrict guests, it’s to make sure everyone gets a smooth, fair experience.
Reducing dropouts and reconnections
Frequent dropouts often aren’t caused by weak signal, but by:
- Overcrowded Wi-Fi channels
- Devices clashing with each other
- Access points fighting for airtime
Simple configuration choices, like channel planning and power tuning, dramatically reduce these issues, allowing devices to stay connected as guests move around the property.
The invisible maintenance that protects reviews
The most effective Wi-Fi fixes are boring. That’s a good thing.
Automatic updates, background health checks, and occasional tidy-ups keep networks running smoothly without anyone noticing, and I hate to use the term ‘AI channel monitoring’, but it’s true. Guests rarely comment on them directly, but the absence of complaints speaks volumes.
Good hardware and location gets Wi-Fi into the rooms.
Good configuration helps it stay reliable.
And reliability is what quietly protects your reviews, bookings, and peace of mind.
Keeping Your Property and Guests Secure
Wi-Fi in a holiday let isn’t just about convenience, it’s also about protection.
Unlike a private home, you’re regularly giving internet access to people you don’t know, across devices you don’t control. That makes security less of a technical “nice to have” and more of a basic responsibility.
Separate guest Wi-Fi from your own systems
Best practice is simple:
- Guest traffic should never mix with owner systems.
- One guests traffic shouldn’t see another guests traffic.
Modern holiday lets often rely on connected equipment such as:
- CCTV and door entry systems
- Smart locks and key safes
- Heating and hot water controls
- Alarm systems or environmental sensors
These should sit on a separate internal network, completely isolated from guest devices. Guests should only be able to access the internet; not see, discover, or interfere with anything else that sits on the network.
This separation protects both you and your guests, and it’s far easier to set up properly from the start than to retrofit later.
Guest networks done properly
A dedicated guest network does more than keep things tidy.
Used correctly, it allows:
- Clear separation between private and guest devices
- Clear separation between guest and guest devices
- Easy password changes between stays if needed
- Better control over performance and security
Strong encryption (WPA2 or WPA3) is essential, along with sensible password management. These aren’t extreme measures, they’re now standard expectations for any property offering guest Wi-Fi.
Even if you don’t want to change the password regularly, this setup ensures that you protect against data theft and keeps you in line with the law.
Keeping everything up to date
Routers and access points are small computers, and like any computer, they occasionally need software updates. Firmware updates quietly patch known security issues and improve stability over time.
Left unattended, outdated equipment can become vulnerable, even if everything appears to be “working fine”.
Good systems handle this automatically in the background, without disrupting guests or requiring constant attention from the owner.
Why security failures cost more than slow Wi-Fi
Slow Wi-Fi frustrates guests.
Security failures create real risk.
Unauthorised access to cameras, heating systems, or door controls can quickly turn into:
- Theft
- Legal proceedings
- Guest complaints or loss of trust
- Emergency call-outs
- Insurance complications
- Reputational damage that’s far harder to undo than a poor speed test
Good Wi-Fi security is quiet, invisible, and rarely noticed, which is exactly how it should be.
When it’s done properly, guests feel safe, systems stay protected, and the technology supporting your property stays firmly in the background where it belongs.
Simple Wi-Fi Policies That Prevent Complaints
Most Wi-Fi problems don’t start with technology… they start with confusion.
Guests aren’t being difficult when they ask questions or overload a network. They’re usually just trying to get online quickly, with minimal friction, after a long journey. A few small, well-judged policies can prevent issues before they appear, without making the place feel restrictive.
Clear network names and instructions
The simplest win is clarity.
A clearly labelled guest network (for example, “Cottage Guest Wi-Fi”) and a straightforward password save a surprising amount of frustration. Brief instructions (either in a welcome folder or digital guide) help guests connect quickly without hunting for details or guessing which network to use.
Less confusion means fewer connection issues and fewer messages during your stay.
Setting expectations without sounding strict
Most guests are perfectly reasonable when expectations are clear and reasons are given.
A short, friendly note explaining that the Wi-Fi is provided for normal holiday use helps avoid extremes, without lecturing or listing prohibitions. You don’t need to mention limits explicitly; just framing the service as shared and designed for everyone’s enjoyment is usually enough.
The tone matters more than the rule.
Preventing neighbour sharing and overload
Holiday lets can unintentionally become the best Wi-Fi hotspot on the lane.
Clear guidance not to share the Wi-Fi outside the property helps prevent:
- Unplanned extra devices
- Evening slowdowns from ‘The Borrowers’
- Performance complaints that seem to come out of nowhere
Behind the scenes, sensible network limits can quietly protect performance, ensuring one group doesn’t overwhelm the connection for everyone else.
Light-touch management that guests never notice
The best Wi-Fi policies work invisibly.
Simple measures like:
- Device limits that only activate at extreme levels
- Fair bandwidth allocation
- Automatic housekeeping in the background
…keep everything running smoothly without guests feeling monitored or restricted.
Done well, Wi-Fi policies don’t feel like rules at all.
They simply create an experience where things work as expected and give guests one less thing to think about when they’re meant to be relaxing.
When to Get Professional Help
There’s nothing wrong with starting out DIY. Many holiday let owners do – and for smaller, modern properties it can work perfectly well.
The trouble starts when the setup quietly outgrows its original design, or when there was less of a design, and more of a ‘This ISP is cheap’ approach.
Signs your Wi-Fi has outgrown DIY fixes
If you find yourself dealing with:
- Repeated questions about Wi-Fi from guests
- Occasional complaints that “it’s fine in some rooms but not others”
- A growing collection of extenders, boosters, and workarounds
- ‘Turn it off and on again’ on repeat
- Uncertainty about whether issues are the connection, the Wi-Fi, or the building
…it’s usually a sign the setup needs a more structured approach.
These aren’t failures. They’re just signals that the property’s needs have evolved past the equipment capabilities.
Why holiday lets need different thinking
Holiday lets behave somewhat differently to family homes.
They’re used:
- By lots of different people
- By varying device makes and types
- By people with higher expectations
- Who expect a financial or immediate fix
- Across every room, every stay
A router that works well for a household of two or three people doesn’t always translate to a property that regularly hosts new groups with very different usage habits. Your kids not being able to access the WiFi in their bedroom is a discussion, your guests’ kids not being able to access the WiFi in the bedroom is another conversation. The difference between private and business matters when designing reliable Wi-Fi.
The value of surveys, testing, and proper design
Professional Wi-Fi design isn’t about throwing more kit at the problem.
It starts with:
- Measuring signal strength and interference
- Understanding how the building affects coverage
- Testing performance at realistic usage levels
- Designing placement and configuration intentionally
This approach avoids guesswork and fixes the root cause, rather than masking symptoms.
If Wi-Fi has ever come up in guest messages, mid-stay questions, refund requests, or reviews, even once, it’s usually a sign worth paying attention to.
A quick look at how your connection, coverage, and setup work together can often reveal simple improvements that make a big difference to guest experience (and your peace of mind).
If you’d like a second pair of eyes on your holiday let’s Wi-Fi, or just an honest answer to “is this actually good enough?”, we’re happy to help you take a closer look. Book a no obligation discovery call here.
