Bishop Monkton Village Hall has finally entered the internet age with the installation earlier today (Friday) of Wifi. Phil Goodier, who has managed the project, helped by Mick Jackson, were on the roof of the VH installing a Starlink satellite dish which provides the broadband connection for the Hall. Mat Morrell has also provided technical help with the project. The router is in the Hall's projection room and the system is now up and running.

The Wifi network name is 'Village Hall' and the pasword is 'BishopMonkton' - all one word, no spaces and with capital B and capital M.

When I was at the VH earlier to witness the historic moment, we ran an internet speed test standing near the noticeboard just inside the Hall and recorded a whopping download speed of 222.2 Mbps - far higher than most people will get in their homes in the village. Despite this, Phil is planning to install some repeaters within the Hall to try to ensure decent coverage throughout the building.

People have been campaigning for Wifi in the Hall for many years but, until now, it had been thought that cables would have had to be run under the carpark to achieve a link. The satellite system, which has cost less than £500 to install, has been a much cheaper option. The costs have been met from Village Hall funds.

Hopefully, the frustrating combination of an unreliable phone signal and no Wifi at the VH, are now a thing of the past.