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Farmer Fed-Up With Slow Wi-Fi Builds DIY Signal Mast - And Gets Superfast Broadband

Richard Guy, 60, from the Cotswolds, battled for years with painfully slow internet at his rural farm in the Cotswolds


A fed-up farmer sick of sub-standard internet access built his own DIY signal mast - which now gives him superfast broadband.

Richard Guy, 60, from the Cotswolds, battled for years with painfully slow internet at his rural farm in Salisbury Plain.

But after noticing that his mobile phone’s 4G signal was significantly faster than his BT broadband, he took matters into his own hands.

He decided to build a makeshift wooden telephone mast, putting a 4G adapter inside a toolbox.

The dad-of-two then connected it with wires to his home and began to enjoy a 'perfect' broadband speed.

Richard Guy, 60, from Warminster, who set up his own 4G antennae. (SWNS)
Richard Guy, 60, from Warminster, who set up his own 4G antennae. (SWNS)


Mr Guy said: 'It’s a big problem for people in rural areas. The government told us that the Olympics would bring fast broadband to everyone in Britain.

'Well the Olympics were some time ago now. The world assumes everyone is online but the five percent who can’t connect are just dismissed.

'We only had a 1mbps [megabits per second] speed, which means everything is far too slow. Now I run at 69mbps, it runs everything perfectly.'

An average household speed is 25mbps. Mr Guy has worked in IT since the 1980s and found the strongest 4G signal was in farmland miles from his house.

Richard Guy's 4G antennae which he set up in order to get broadband to his remote farm. (SWNS)
Richard Guy's 4G antennae which he set up in order to get broadband to his remote farm. (SWNS)


Richard has seen his connection speed shoot up since installing the DIY mast. (SWNS)
Richard has seen his connection speed shoot up since installing the DIY mast. (SWNS)


So he fitted a 4G dongle – a type of adapter – into a waterproof toolbox and put it two thirds of the way up, between two wooden poles.

The battery-powered adapter, topped up by two small solar panels, converts the internet signal into a form that can be run along cheap fibre-optic cables to his home.

Now he and his 40-year-old wife Gilly have started a company – Agri-Broadband – which aims to get superfast broadband connections to Britain’s most rural locations.

Mr Guy, who uses Ofcom’s mobile network website to determine where in each area has the best speeds, added: 'I think at the start Gilly didn’t think it would work. Bu she’s very supportive and helps with all sides of the business.

'I just love seeing the expression on someone’s face when you showthem it’s possible that they, having been left out in the middle of nowhere, can get serious broadband.'