One of the most commonly faced issues when it comes to home broadband is the loss of connection in certain rooms or areas of the household – these are called not-spots and are absolutely infuriating. Research conducted by Zen Internet has found that 9.1 million homes in the UK don’t have access to whole home WiFi; this means there are millions of users who are all struggling to get internet across their whole home.
Zen Internet, the UK’s largest independently owned telecommunications and technology service provider, has revealed that one-third (33%) of UK households struggle with WiFi ‘not-spots’ – areas of the home where they are unable to connect to their WiFi. Factors such as size of the home, positioning of the router, and particularly dense walls and doors can limit WiFi reach within the home, so you’ll have to account for this in the speeds that you expect to find in certain rooms.
Due to ‘not-spot’ frustrations, British households are experimenting with their own solutions to improve their WiFi connectivity, with varying degrees of success. One in five (18%) have moved their router to what they consider a better position in the home, whilst a similar number (15%) have gone as far as purchasing a WiFi extender. This is a piece of hardware that can help to extend WiFi reach around the home – but these also come with challenges such as risk of speed degradation and tedious logging in and out as you roam around your home.
Zen also found that one in five (21%) believe that being on multiple devices at once can have an impact on their connectivity, with a similar amount (22%) blaming their provider when they lose connectivity in certain areas of the home.
Despite the steps they’re taking to solve the issue, UK households are still struggling to get WiFi connectivity everywhere they want in their home; a quarter of respondents (26%) have to avoid certain rooms when it comes to getting online. Poor connectivity can also mean lost revenue for providers, with one in 10 (10%) households asking for a refund from their broadband provider if they regularly can’t get online.
Zen Internets CEO, Paul Stobart, said: “With WiFi connectivity throughout the home now an expected requirement for modern day living, it’s unacceptable that families are still struggling to connect to their WiFi in whatever room they want. It’s the responsibility of the broadband industry to ensure consumers have the best service possible and this includes providing the tools to deliver this.”
Smart rooms not smart houses
By the end of the year, spending on smart devices is expected to hit numbers in the region of £10B, so the UK economy could be missing out on a massive windfall with smart houses being restricted to just smart rooms due to ‘not-spot’ problems around the home. In fact, one in five (21%) UK households have returned connected devices because they were unable to use it in their room of choice; potentially costing retailers over £2bn in lost revenue; a huge hit to business due to poor WiFi connectivity.
When it comes to the most returned connected devices, Smartphones (26%) and Smart TVs (20%) lead the way. However, one in 10 frustrated consumers have also returned Smart Lights (11%) and Smart Heating Controls (9%), which are room – specific devices that become useless without a WiFi connection.
For Every-room, not the few
With UK households hit by the inability to access WiFi in every room of the home, Zen is launching a new service designed to render ‘not-spot’ issues a thing of the past for its customers.
Zen EveryRoom is devised to break down the barriers that households are facing by throwing a virtual connectivity net across the house. This is not to trap customers, but to give them a convenience they have come to expect – access to reliable broadband from wherever in the home they choose. The new service guarantees reliable WiFi with a single seamless connection that will help increase WiFi speeds while reducing buffering and dropped connections throughout the home – from lofts to living rooms and bedrooms to basement. This seamless roaming is a fantastic upgrade to the service offered by WiFi range extender devices.
Stobart concluded: “We’re continually looking at ways to improve our customer experience and this is another step to offer the best support we can. Whilst not every household is going to have the same experience, it’s clear that the ‘not-spot’ is present in a large proportion of households across the UK, and we aim to rectify that for our customers with our new solution.”
Find out whether you’re eligible for a Zen Internet Every-room package by using their coverage checker!
Also Read : Best Internet Speed Test Tools For Desktop And Mobile Use.
