Gwynedd residents living ‘in the old days’ after wi-fi loss

Residents in a village in north Wales say they feel like they’re living “in the old days” after losing wi-fi for most of the month.

Locals in Llangwnnadl, Gwynedd estimate around 40 homes have been without broadband since 4 July, but some in the village still have a connection.

One woman said her husband, who has blood cancer, cannot get test results from the hospital, while a campsite owner has said she has to drive to another town to place business orders online.

Openreach, which runs the UK’s digital network, apologised, saying the issue began after a pole replacement, and work was underway to restore service.

Some villagers said they relied on broadband for all their TV and phone services.

One of them, Helen Griffith, said her husband needs regular blood tests at Bangor hospital every three weeks, but without phone service, they cannot receive his results.

“I can’t make calls either… if something serious happens, how would we get help?” she said.

“We’re totally dependent on it. It’s sobering – we feel like we’re back in the old days.”

Joanna Smith, who runs Moel-Y-Berth campsite and café, said: “We rely on customers’ patience.

“It’s slowed everything down – bookings, payments – we’re now asking most people to pay in cash.

“It’s stressful, really stressful.”

Ms Smith said she can only place café orders by driving 30 minutes to Pwllheli to use someone else’s wi-fi.

“I had to go into town today to get good wi-fi in another café to make my orders there, so it takes a lot of extra time,” she added.

An Openreach spokesperson said it understood how “frustrating” this was and thanked those impacted for their patience.

“Our engineers are working to get everyone back up and running as quickly as possible.”