A new study by comparethemarket.com reveals just how dependant we are on the internet.
With 96%1 of UK households having access to the internet, and 90% stating they wouldn’t be able to cope without it2, comparethemarket.com has carried out an experiment3 to reveal just how dependent we are on the internet as a nation, and how long it takes for us to freak out if our WiFi drops.
They ran an experiment that involved asking households to turn off their broadband throughout one week at different times of the day and log how long, on average, it took for another member of their household to notice they couldn’t access the WiFi.
It only took 3.5 minutes, on average, for people to notice the WiFi was down and kick up a fuss. Some homeowners even cheekily captured responses from members of their household whilst they were going crazy about the thought of the WiFi not working. “The internet isn’t working again; you need to ring the provider!”. Amusingly, many children panicked about YouTube and Netflix not working, or the fact they couldn’t play games!
Broadband connection issues can be extremely frustrating, particularly now when so many people are working from home. 89%1 of people use the internet every day and, with around a third (30%)4 owning five or more connected devices, fast broadband speeds have never been more important.
Internet usage seems to have peaked throughout the lockdown period with three-quarters (73%)5 of Britons stating they’ve been using their household connection more than usual. However, over a third (35%) claim they’re experiencing worse performance than they did pre-lockdown, and four in ten (41%) people living with three or more people say their connection has decreased the most during the lockdown.