Wireless broadband is provided to guests free of charge via EE mobile. We have a limited data package each month so we operate a “fair usage” policy to ensure that we can provide a reliable service and so that each guest has the same data allowance each week. We provide 25GB per week and the broadband is only suitable for activities such as browsing the web and emails. If a guest exceeds the 25GB allowance we have to buy an additional data bolt-on at a cost of £15 for each additional 10GB of data and we deduct any additional data cost from the security deposit. We will try to let you know when you have used 20GB of data to give you fair warning that you are approaching your limit and may be subject to the additional cost.
Things like normal browsing and email or using an IM service like WhatsApp Messenger uses relatively little data, others such as watching catch-up TV or videos on YouTube or FaceBook or downloading a music track can use significantly more. Streaming or downloading a HD movie uses the most.
If you’re using a mobile device you’ll need to consider how many devices, such as phones and tablets, are connecting to the cottage Wi-Fi, along with what each device is using the Internet for. The amount of data you use depends on what you’re doing and how much time you spend doing it.
Below are some handy figures that give you an idea about how much data certain activities use. The figures are estimated and based on averages, so your actual usage may be a little higher or less.
1MB = 1024KB / 1GB = 1024MB
High definition movie (2 hours) | 4.2 GB |
Standard definition movie (2 hours) | 1.9 GB |
Online catch-up TV service (1 hour) | 644 MB |
Video streaming: for example, YouTube (1 hour) | 429 MB |
Online gaming (1 hour) | 43 MB |
Music (1 album, 10 tracks) | 80 MB |
Uploading Photos | 1.5MB per photo (depending on quality of image) |
Facebook (I hour) | 120MB |
App update (average per app) | 100MB |
Hopefully this will help you get the hang of your data usage.
Hints & Tips
- Do software / firmware / app updates and downloads whilst connected to Wi-Fi hotspots outside the cottage (there is free wifi on the site (Stoneleigh 1 or Stoneleigh 2 – no password needed – and the Donkey Sanctuary has free Wi-Fi in the café/restaurant).
- Downloading music, movies or video streaming will quickly use up your allocation.
- Make sure you close apps properly on your device, so they don’t use data in the background.
- Turn off push email – Push email is when emails are sent directly to your phone from the server. It means you are constantly in touch, but uses data each time the email is ‘pushed’.
- Facebook videos can use a large amount of data and often play automatically. To stop Facebook videos from playing automatically on your computer:
- From the top right of Facebook, click and select Settings.
- Click Videos in the left menu.
- Click the dropdown menu next to Autoplay Videos and select Off
- To adjust this setting on your iPhone:
- Open the Facebook app.
- Tap More.
- Scroll down and tap Settings > Account Settings
- Tap Videos and Photos > Autoplay.
- Choose an option.