High speed country internet

A curse of modern country living has been slow and intermittent Internet access.  The advantages of the online world have been largely denied to many in the rural sector.

That’s where Stuart Campbell, who came to Martinborough in 1999, saw the opportunity to apply his network engineering skills to create a decent wireless Internet service.  Initially it focussed on farmers and lifestyle block owners.   

The company, run by Stuart and his wife Caroline, now have access towers set up at Tora, Ruakokapatuna and Homebush providing internet connections to farming families in the areas.   They import the equipment, provide the know-how and use local contractors for installation.  They also offer unlimited data plans so their customers can avoid those unpleasant overusage bills.

For Jenny and Alistair Boyne out at Tora this has meant they no longer have to do their accounts in the middle of the night, to take advantage of marginally faster speeds.  During the COVID 19 lockdown Internet services such as this really came into their own with so many people working from home.  Even on remote properties like Te Awaiti Station Joshua and Camilla Riddiford were able maintain their city-based jobs working from there.

The system is managed and monitored remotely so if anything goes wrong they can fix it quickly.  Sometimes this will be from the comfort of the office, other times it might involve a more challenging experience. 

Because the towers operate by line-of-sight they are built on some of the highest points in the area.  On a fine day this means wonderful views.  On a bad night it can mean a hair-raising ride to the to the top of a ridge in gale force winds.  Whatever the case, the company pride itself on the speed  and thoroughness of their response.

Thanks to word of mouth their services are increasingly popular in Martinborough too, especially for businesses that need stable, fast, high volume Internet access. That includes the Medical Centre, 51 Jellicoe Smart Hub and Ata Rangi who need it to support communication with their overseas customers.    

Campbell Technology also supports the free WIFI in the Square and down Kitchener Street and recently installed a system in the Mens Shed so that the members could access YouTube to help them with their projects.

They also offer a service that allow people to connect up different buildings on their properties.   For a farmer that might be the house and the sheds; for a homestay owner it might be linking the house and the rental accommodation.   Even homes where some rooms have poor connection can have the problem solved.

So it’s not an overstatement when Stuart says that having decent Internet access “changes lives.”  His customers certainly endorsed that.