{"id":43101,"date":"2025-09-15T11:15:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T10:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=43101"},"modified":"2025-09-15T13:23:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T12:23:13","slug":"talktalk-survey-claims-wi-fi-is-most-popular-uk-name-for-home-broadband","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2025\/09\/talktalk-survey-claims-wi-fi-is-most-popular-uk-name-for-home-broadband.html","title":{"rendered":"TalkTalk Survey Claims Wi-Fi is Most Popular UK Name for Broadband UPDATE"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new online survey of 2,000 UK adults, which was commissioned by Axicom on behalf of broadband ISP TalkTalk<\/a> and conducted by OnePoll, claims to have found that “Wi-Fi<\/em>” is the “most popular name<\/em>” for home internet connections. One third of those asked said they use Wi-Fi to describe their internet connection, pipping “broadband<\/em>” and “internet<\/em>” to the post.<\/p>\n

In addition, some 76% of respondents say they “confidently understand<\/em>” the term Wi-Fi, although only half of those asked could confidently say they understand the term “fibre<\/em>“, a name frequently used by telecoms companies to describe broadband products. Finally, 6 in 10 respondents agree that technology-related information is difficult to understand due to jargon.<\/p>\n

Sadly, TalkTalk<\/a> hasn’t released the full results of their survey, which makes it a bit tricky to give this the full context. But it does seem like an attempt by the ISP to help justify their focus on the use of “Wi-Fi<\/em>” to describe broadband connectivity as part of their recent brand refresh (here<\/a> and here<\/a>), despite the fact that doing so may not be entirely correct and could reinforce a misconception.<\/p>\n

Steve Wallage, TalkTalk<\/a>\u2019s Product and Propositions Director, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWi-Fi is a staple in all our homes, yet as an industry we haven\u2019t kept up with the times when we talk to our customers. At TalkTalk, we\u2019re shifting to talk about Wi-Fi more and more, as it\u2019s the connectivity \u2013 making sure streaming or browsing is seamless \u2013 that matters most for our millions of customers.<\/p>\n

Our latest research tells us that people prefer to communicate in the same way that they speak, without jargon, and our industry should reflect that. We know we\u2019re not perfect, and we have much to do, but this is the first step in delivering a Better Way to Wi-Fi for customers who just want transparency and information they can confidently understand. And this builds trust between us and our customers too.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The term “Wi-Fi<\/em>” is of course also still jargon. But for the avoidance of doubt, in most homes Wi-Fi connectivity represents a wireless local area network (WLAN) connection that comes from your router and \/ or booster (repeaters \/ extenders etc.), which can also be used to help distribute the broadband internet connection from your ISP. But broadband can also be distributed from the router via wired (LAN) links too.<\/p>\n

One problem with using Wi-Fi to describe broadband is that all sorts of other connectivity and performance issues can impact wireless links. But ISPs might not always want to associate that with the fixed line connectivity they provide, since to do so risks inheriting lots of additional support problems that exist outside of their realm.<\/p>\n

UPDATE 1:17pm<\/strong><\/p>\n

TalkTalk has kindly provided ISPreview with the full survey questions and results. We note that the first question was constructed in a very broad way and queried quite generally about “connectivity at home<\/em>“.<\/p>\n