Home Wi-Fi usage increases as European households become more digital

Changes in the way we work, live and play means that our homes are also our offices, classrooms, digital playgrounds and a place where we can shop for everything from the latest gadgets to our weekly groceries.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that a recent survey we commissioned¹, has revealed that Wi-Fi usage has increased by 53% in European households over the last year.

The growing number of connected devices

The rise in home Wi-Fi usage directly correlates with the fast-growing number of smart devices found in each household – with the average number of connected devices in Europe now standing at 12 per home². That’s more than doubled in the last five years, according to Statista³.

The growth of home applications such as streaming services, gaming, home working and content creation has also contributed to the sharp increase.

As a result, nine in ten people now say it’s important to have reliable Wi-Fi in every corner of the home. Which is perhaps why a number of brands have started bringing out Wi-Fi extenders or boosters to improve connection around the home without the need to upgrade.

For example, Vodafone’s Super Wi-Fi uses small Wi-Fi access points which act as extenders adjusting the network and providing coverage to the entire house, ensuring that our customers can stay connected wherever they are in their home. It also comes with guarantees and well-trained experts are on-hand to help.

Having seamless control

Europeans also want to be able to control the way they use their home Internet.

Three quarters said that although they may have several different brands of smart devices, they’d like them all to work together seamlessly and 71% said they’d prefer to have one single, easy-to-use app to control all their smart home devices, instead of different apps from different brands.

The research also revealed that they’d like to monitor and optimise domestic energy consumption, as well as having a solution that allows them to browse the Internet safely.

Serving our customers

At Vodafone, we have more than 27 million broadband customers and are continually responding to the changing demands of home Wi-Fi usage. This includes looking at ways to ensure customers’ are better protected online, including products such as Vodafone Secure Net.

With Vodafone Secure Net, your family’s devices are protected by automatically blocking harmful sites and quickly protecting against viruses. Through parental control, you can also add filters, set restricted hours and control your children's devices remotely.

¹Interviews of four thousand individuals were conducted by Kantar on behalf of Vodafone in IT, DE, ES, and the UK between 9th & 13th February 2023 (n=4,070 nationally representative per market)² Home Connectivity Personas study fieldwork was conducted by Bryter on behalf of Vodafone in IT, DE, ES, and the UK in June 2023 (n=4,265 nationally representative per market)³ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1190270/number-of-devices-and-connections-per-person-worldwide/