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Do gite owners offer internet surfing as a rainy day activity?


Renaud
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At long last we are getting a telephone line. We were wondering if you offered internet use. If so how do you bill the telephone charges? Indeed how do you bill the telephone charges?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

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Well if you've got DSL, say 30 € / month, you might as well offer the service. Probably it will be just mail checking. What you may do is limit the time of use to 15 or 30 minutes, so that others don't wait too much... I do not see myself put a line on the bill saying : 0.73 € for 6 minutes of internet use...

That's if you want to have internet for your own use as well... Otherwise, it is far from shocking that a gite doesn't have a internet connection... 

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Is this the gite's own phone line you're thinking of connecting to the Internet?  If so I don't see how you could monitor usage of either the Internet or the phone.  Or are you going to offer them to share your own phone line?  Please explain! 

As Matthew says, if you can go broadband then it's often a flat monthly charge and many include European phone calls as well (but not to Australia and USA!).

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I appreciate your help. We are non resident and our house (the gite) will have a phone line. I understand that I could go for a phone package where the holidaymakers can use the emergency services but have to buy cards to use the line, not sure though what happens if they unplug the phone and plug in the modem.

However, I was thinking of having a telecom package that shows itemised billing - as nobody else will be using the line then I just deduct all usage in the period when the holidaymakers from the security deposit, by agreement of course.

Broadband sounds best though.

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I understand now. 

If you went broadband, you could add the cost onto the weekly rental, which would be about 7.5euros a week.  But the market's dead competitive now so would people be willing to pay the extra for it?  Also depends if ADSL's available on your phone line, of course.

You'll be leaving a computer there, I presume, so for security they would log in as 'Guest' with a password you give them and you could restrict their access to stuff you have on the machine.

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You'll be leaving a computer there, I presume, so for security they would log in as 'Guest' with a password you give them and you could restrict their access to stuff you have on the machine.

 

Cassis, I wouldn't even entertain this idea, let them take a lap-top if they must !


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It is very useful - the local library also has internet access, but that has more limited opening hours. I think the bar owner is trying everything he can to increase trade - but I can't see many of the locals using it, although it is very handy for my guests.

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Before we got DSL, we just directed people to the local bar, as others here do.

Now that we do have DSL, we installed a wireless router, and we don't charge for access. Theoretically, we could think of it as included in our last annual price increase, but really it's just an added bonus that makes our property more attractive to some and doesn't matter to others.

Our phone line accepts toll-free and local calls only, and we did have one person bring along his own dial-up ISP information, and use a calling card.

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Our guests love having the ability to check their mail and google certain things.  It is definitely a plus,  I believe it is a service that is now expected, like having a telephone.  We offer WIFI as well.  Some guests like to keep connected, that is why every last one of them brings their mobile phone. Deby.
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  • 2 weeks later...

we do have available telephone and small pc to visitors as an added feature..

ADSL is useful but probably requires a 12 month contract so you pay for empty months !

we use OneTel for telephone calls and itemised bill is readily checked on line; France Telecom charge for dial-up internet time at local rates; so what has worked for us so far, is that a refundable Security Deposit is taken with the full payment for the booking and any costs incurred by visitors can be deducted from this deposit before it is returned...

 

 

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Deby said "Our guests love having the ability to check their mail and google certain things. 

 It is definitely a plus,  I believe it is a service that is now expected, like having a telephone."

 

Well perhaps in a hotel, chateau or mansion but maybe not in a humble gite. We do have a telephone that our guest can use. 

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Totally agree BN - most people come on holiday to spend time with their friends and family, not indulge in solitary activities like internet surfing. I've never lost a booking because we don't offer the service - although I do let anyone who needs the internet use my laptop. Thinking about it, it's mainly US guests who have needed to do this and I don't get many of those.

I can understand for long term lets why it internet access be a big plus, but as I don't take long term lets (I get more income from the French market for winter hols/weekends than I would do from long winter lets) it isn't an issue for me.

 

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We have a wireless network and a couple of spare laptops that we let people use. Suprisingly some people do use them or bring either a laptop or PDA with them. We don't charge for this service (perhaps we should) but I have to say that if I did it on my holiday I think my wife would put it where the sun never shines (ouch) if you get my drift. Some websites on which we advertise now actually have internet or more to the point wireless access as one of the services box you tick.
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We make a small charge for connection to our wireless network.  Thereafter they can have unlimited internet access. 

This actually costs us nothing.

A small number of guests take up this option - enough that the charges add up to a meal out for two a couple of times a year.

Patrick

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One thing to watch out for though, I'm pretty sure you would be the ones responsibles if anything "illegal" happens from your connection, and not just P2P...

Be sure you get a filter or something, otherwise if anybody gets caught from your connection and you can't prove who it is, you'll be in deep sh**....

 

Regards !

Matthew

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We introduced both an open wireless network and a computer (always online) available for guests this year.  I must say it has been hugely successful and got a lot of use. A number of guests have commented specifically on how useful they have found this extra service.

As Matthew has stated, it is vital to take security seriously and it is also important to protect your computer from being messed up by guests (I remember our son a few years ago gleefully messing up the settings on any computer in a shop he could get his hands on !). Security is easy if you have Norton Internet Security. It is easy to set up a Windows user account for "guests" and apply the Norton "parental control" settings which are very simple but effective and will apply just to that account.  To protect the computer, I use a program called "Virtual Desktop" which is part of "Desktop Lock". With this, the computer, on power up, immediately goes to a virtual desktop screen and access can be configred to exactly what you want to allow the user to have. In my case, that's only the web browser and nothing else at all can be accessed other than that without knowing the password to exit Virtual Screen. This is a great piece of software which I downloaded for abot $40.

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Eslier, you don't have to buy any software because Windows comes with built in software to lock things, they are called policies. You need to set your PC up to be multi user with logins then create user than a policy and apply it. For guests I have total lock down i.e. they can't use the CD drive or Floppy, they can't install any software and they can't change the parameters of any software. They can't even change the position of the desktop icons.
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If you use France Télecom, you can sign on (for free) to  the service 'Sélection Modulable d'Appels' (http://www.agence.francetelecom.com/racine_boutique/residentiel/fp/311/fiche_produit.html). You can then restrict access at several levels, for instance: local and emergenct calls only. Guests who do want to use the phone to call abroad, can do so, but they have to buy a ticket (Ticket Universel sans puche!).

We used to put the restrictions on the phone when we left to make place for tenants, but have in fact stopped doing so. I just tell them the phone is for incoming calls and emergency calls only and so far no one has even tried calling long distance.

With your online account with France Télecom you can monitor the phone calls easily. The site gives a detailed account of all calls made from you number and how much they cost, so you can immediateley get into action when someone looks like running up a huge bill.

I installed adsl with a wifi connection that we use ourselves. I wanted to make it available to friends of ours who stayed at the house after we left, so I gave them the password, but that was not enough. I am still in the process of figuring out how to give guests access to our password-protected connection.

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"We used to put the restrictions on the phone when we left to make place for tenants, but have in fact stopped doing so. I just tell them the phone is for incoming calls and emergency calls only and so far no one has even tried calling long distance."

 

Anyone remember the Lampoons on holiday film where the daughter was constantly ringing her boyfriend in the U.S.A.from a hotel in London I think! I feel it might be embarrassing to have to have to tell the clients that they were using the phone too much or when they shouldn't.

 

We have the France Telecom service Adriana mentioned and allow our guests to make local calls as Adraina says if they want to phone long distance they can buy the phone card and still make the call from the comfort of the house and not the village phone box.

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[quote user="Blanche Neige"]

I feel it might be embarrassing to have to have to tell the clients that they were using the phone too much or when they shouldn't.[/quote]

It might be embarrassing indeed, but so far we never needed to tell anybody to cut down. They think the phone only works for local and emergency calls without a card, so they don't even try long distance. I stopped putting the restricting code on after one hectic morning, just before we were going to leave, I messed up the code and had to try and get things sorted out over the phone with it's maddening long menu's in French.

So now we bluff without the risk of messing up codes...

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[8-|]

bonne chance! and let's hope they never feel tempted to try.[:$]

I know some people say clients may use the phone as they wish and then thanks to internet access to their account the owners then deduct cost of calls before returning the clients damage deposit. I guess that would work O.K.

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