In 2002, East Meon introduced its own broadband internet service, by erecting a satellite dish, which was pointed in the direction of a wireless router in the village.
The satellite dish was placed on the roof of farm buildings at Garston Dairy, just outside the village and high enough to have line-of-sight to much of the village,
The system was installed by Chris Verrinder, left, with the assistance of Brian Boisclere, the estate manager for Bereleigh, which owns Garston Dairy.
East Meon Broadband had sixteen subscribers, several of whom helped with the installation (Dominic Carney on the left, with Cris and Brian, who is holding the wireless relay mast.
A front loader was needed to raise the wireless aerial to the roof of the shed.
We were given permission by the brewery, Hall and Woodhouse, to erect a second radio mast on the roof of Ye Olde George Inn, which in turn has line-of-sight to much of the village.
The sixteen subscribers not only received broadband internet three years before BT introduced a Local Loop to the East Meon exchange, but at a lower price than BT’s.
Connecting individual computers in the subscribers homes.
Laptop connection card
Finallly, the WET 11 Router which received the signal from the pub or dairy and directed it to the subscriber’s computer.
