Providing Wifi for Short Term Tenants

Hi, new to this site and new to Air BNB. Can anyone please advise most cost effective way to provide wifi and Netflix (or similar) for holidaying tenants? NBN is available at the property. Thanks in advance.

 

TPG unlimited NBN at the lowest speed circa $69pm, wifi router included

 

In my two budget flats, I didn't provide it. But made it clear up front there was no internet. I did provide it at first in one flat, but when there was a problem with it, it became my problem. So I disconnected it.
In my main Airbnb at home, guests use our wifi. I tell the occasional younger guest to resist the temptation to upload their whole trip somewhere and Skype all their relatives and friends back home. I explain that if they do that nobody is going to be interested in their stories when they get home.
I wouldn't offer Netflix. It's just one more potential problem.

 

I once read from an Airbnb listing that one of the house rules is " You must not download p0rn0." or something along the line.
I wouldn't offer netflix either as I don't think it will generate extra income.

 

You can grab those portable 4g/wifi dongles as a flexible alternative as well. Prepaid recharge if you don't want to commit to long term contracts.

 

Just had a chat with Telstra and to my (naive) surprise, they dont do Naked Broadband.
When asked what I'd do if Tenants make phone calls, they said I can get Phone Pack
Looks like TPG is the way to go. Agree with geoff that I will only book place with Wifi.

 

Wifi is definitely a must, but wouldn’t do Netflix. You’ll be stuck needing to change the password constantly which will just be a PITA

 

Don't bother with prepaid recharge. .. pain in the butt to keep managing and not good value. I'd go for the normal wifi.

 

We are just setting up an Airbnb.

We went Optus unlimited for $60 per month.

Also putting in a couple of wifi extenders to cover the garage and granny flat.

 

Hey @Kikidee43 I am young (20ish) and myself + girlfriend had a lovely stay at an Air BnB recently that had access to wifi. The only catch was youtube, daily motion, netflix etc were blocked, which I think is the best course of action. Having this wifi setups allows for people that dont like using mobile data (overseas? potentially) to use social media without burning a hole through your pocket. I am sure @Simon Hampel or other tech gods in the forum have an easy fix for your router if you choose this option.

 

There was never an issue not having internet in my budget flats. They were minimum one month stays and people sorted things out for themselves.
In our big pad on top of my wife's studio, we've only had one problem with data. It was about 4 years ago and we were on a Telstra plan and a youngster spent 5 days on Skype and used all the data. Not the end of the world. We now have more data.
We encourage long stays and the people who have enough time on their hands to swan around the world tend to be older - like me. And like me, many of them use the internet as a tool, not a source of entertainment. I also explain to them that the internet in Australia is not first world. Not once has anybody asked about Netflix, but we do have lots of Aussie movies upstairs on DVD that people like to watch and hundreds of other ones in the house with some boxed sets that people often borrow.
We also have these things upstairs called 'books' - Australian fiction. People around for a while like to read them.
We had some young Canadians a few weeks ago ask if we had a dock or some speakers or something they could plug their phone into for music. I said, 'I've got something better.' I showed them the record player and the 400 or so albums, gave them a lesson, and they loved it.
You can see why when Airbnb a while had the option for hosts to signal their property was 'business traveller ready', I passed.
Scott

 

I'd say wifi is a must- Netflix is a nice bonus for $10 per month (and we've had a lot of people comment on it in the reviews). We have unlimited Westnet for $69 a month and after a few outages last month now have a back-up dongle hidden in the apartment should the internet go down again.

On a related note on listing what amenities you do and don't have, we just got a 3 star review overall and 2 stars for accuracy) for NOT stating we DON'T have air-conditioning in our apartment and they were very hot. I called airbnb and they also agreed it was ridiculous so removed the review

 

Gee, you have a some bad luck with reviews Jodes.
I suspect after internet, air con is the thing that results in the most review issues. I don't have air con and it is crossed out on my list of amenities - it's a pretty short list of amenities I have. I also mention in the description that the pad can get a bit warm and a bit cold. Last week I had an Aussie get in touch about renting it for all of January. His first question was about air con. I told him that if air con was important to him, he definitely won't want to stay in my pad in January.

 

I see already a few good replays about the costs, but please don't forget about safety.

If you add internet or wireless internet as an amenity, your listing will appear when people search or filter for places with internet.

It may be useful to tell guests that if they use your network, they agree to use it only for legal purposes and they promise not to use it for illegal uploading, downloading, or other illegal activities.

Airbnb encourage hosts to use wi-fi safety best practices:

• Create an encrypted (ex: WPA2) guest network, and only share that password with guests after they’ve confirmed their reservation
• Store your router and modem in a secure, locked location in your home that guests can’t access
• Create strong passwords for your router and modem, and change them often
• Routinely check your router and modem for software updates

 

We provide Wifi and Netflix. I think the Wifi does help get bookings and Netflix is cheap so no harm.

With Telstra, 500gb download for $80pm (or something like that).