One in eight missing out on wireless internet

 

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Posted on 10 Jul 2008 at 14:19

One in eight people with a PC or laptop and a wireless network at home are yet to make use of cable-free browsing, according to a recent survey.

While 96% of people in the UK now have a computer, and over half of broadband users have created a wireless network, some people have yet to connect their computer to the internet wirelessly.

Some users are making use of wireless networks in more sophisticated ways, however. More than a quarter of wireless network owners have connected a printer, one in five a games console and more than one in twenty their digital music player according to the YouGov survey commissioned by Linksys.

The survey shows that 69% of those in the UK now have a digital music player and over half now use digital video recorders. More than half of UK households also contain a games console and 15% now use a digital photo frame.

"The research shows that wireless networking is now a mass-market technology, and not only for the tech-savvy consumer," says Chris Dobrec, director, Linksys strategy and business development.

However, Dobrec claims that consumers require simple setup and use from wireless products. "The consumer is by no means a computer network administrator - he or she is purely interested in the application of the network for tasks like accessing the internet wirelessly or printing wirelessly. It is the application that counts."

Over a third of respondents said a lack of expertise was stopping them from installing wireless products, while a quarter claimed that cost and the time required were factors.

Author: Matthew Sparkes