Broadband and Starlink
Rural broadband, Starlink and 4G, sorted properly
Some farms have fibre now. Many still have a copper line that drops when it rains. Daniel works out what you can actually get at your postcode, puts the best of it in, and adds a backup so the yard never goes quiet.
Sound familiar?
What goes wrong
Fibre stops at the village.
The last mile up the lane is the one nobody wants to pay for. Meanwhile the copper line gives you a speed that was impressive in 2008.
Starlink: is it any good, and where does it go?
Very good, for most farms, if the dish can see the sky. Where it sits, how it's cabled and what happens in snow all matter more than the sales page says.
When the line drops, everything stops.
The card machine in the farm shop, the cameras, the milking software's cloud, your phone once the landline goes digital. One connection is a single point of failure.
The mobile signal is fine outside and gone indoors.
An outdoor aerial on the gable, cabled to a 4G or 5G router inside, often turns one flickering bar into a working connection.
What Daniel does
What he does about it
Checks what's really available.
Fibre rollout, the copper line's true speed, which mobile networks reach your buildings, and whether Starlink has a clear view. The signal checker on this site is the first step; Daniel's meter is the second.
Puts in Starlink properly.
Dish placed for sky and sheltered from the worst of the weather, cable run cleanly into the house, the router replaced with proper Wi-Fi where the standard one won't do.
Adds a backup that takes over by itself.
4G as a fallback for fibre, or Starlink with a 4G backup. When the main line drops, the router switches in seconds and switches back when it returns. Nobody has to unplug anything.
Shares one connection across the farm.
One good connection, beamed to the outbuildings and the holiday let, instead of three poor ones on three bills.
Talks to the providers for you.
He's spent years on hold to telecoms companies. He knows the words that get you through.
Under the bonnetFor whoever in the family checks these things.
The kit
- Starlink Standard or Business, with the Starlink router in bypass mode behind a proper firewall and Wi-Fi
- 4G and 5G routers with external MIMO aerials, typically Teltonika or UniFi, on whichever network the survey shows reaches the building
- Multi-WAN routing with automatic failover and health checks, so the switch happens without anyone noticing
- Where full fibre is available, the provider's own ONT with everything behind it replaced by the farm's own network
How it’s done
- Ofcom coverage data and a site survey before any recommendation
- Failover tested on install by pulling the main line while a video call runs
- Data caps and fair-use rules explained in writing before anything is ordered
Said plainly
What he won't do
- Promise a speed. He'll tell you the range a connection usually gives, and measure what it actually gives once it's in.
- Sign you up to a provider for a kickback. He doesn't take them.
- Climb a chimney stack. Gables, walls and poles are fine; anything higher is a job for a rigger with the right kit.
Questions people ask
Before you ring
Is Starlink better than waiting for fibre?
If fibre is coming to your lane within a year, it will be cheaper and faster when it does. If nobody can tell you when, Starlink will change your life this month. Daniel can usually find out which it is.
Does Starlink work in a storm?
Heavy rain and snow can slow it or drop it briefly. A 4G backup covers the gaps. The dish melts snow off itself, as long as it has a clear view to begin with.
Can I keep my landline number when I change broadband?
Usually, yes, and the landline switch-off is changing how those numbers work anyway. See the landline page.
Read first, if you like
Guides that go with this
- Starlink on a farm: is it worth it?Speeds, where to put the dish, snow and power cuts, and whether Starlink beats 4G or waiting for fibre. An honest guide for rural Wiltshire and the Cotswolds.
- How to get Wi-Fi to your barnThe three ways to get a signal from the farmhouse to an outbuilding, what each costs, how far each reaches, and which one suits a stone barn two fields away.
Also
Jobs that often go together
Wi-Fi and networks
A signal in every room and every outbuilding: mesh Wi-Fi through stone walls, and beams across the yard to the barns.
Find out moreLandline switch-off
Every phone, alarm and card machine checked before 31 January 2027, with battery backup for power cuts.
Find out moreRural business
Card machines that hold up on a Saturday, guest Wi-Fi guests praise, and support plans with a person on the end.
Find out more
The best connection your postcode will give you, and a backup for when it sulks.