Knowledge Of WiFi Hotspots

Research by MORI amongst home PC users shows seven in 10 are unable to identify a 'WiFi hotspot' from a given list of definitions.

When prompted, only 29% home PC users correctly identify a 'WiFi hotspot' as an area covered by a wireless access point, typically set up for the Internet so that people can connect to the Web without cables.

The survey, conducted for Packard Bell, shows one per cent believe a 'WiFi hotspot' is a 'posh hot tub', one per cent a sunbed and that two per cent of respondents believe that it is 'something smelly that had been left out in the sun for too long'. One per cent think it is a microwave ready meal and two per cent identify it as a new HiFi.

Of married home PC users, one per cent incorrectly identify a 'WiFi hotspot' as trouble with the wife. Five per cent of all home PC users believe that it is a nightclub, whilst this rises to 10% amongst single people.

One in 10 of 15-24 year old home PC users thought that a 'WiFi Hotspot' was an area with high mobile phone reception.

Technical details

A nationally representative quota sample of 985 Home PC users, aged 15+ were interviewed throughout Great Britain on the MORI Omnibus, across 195 sampling points. Interviews were carried out using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing), face-to-face in respondents' homes between 8–12 May 2003. Data from the full poll (i.e. representing all Great Britain's adults) have been weighted to reflect the known national population profile.