ABI Research has confirmed through a recent consumer survey that while most owners of home networks find their equipment works reasonably well, they would be willing to upgrade if that resulted in easier troubleshooting. The conclusion: there is an opportunity for home network equipment vendors if they can automate some of the commonest diagnostic and configuration tasks.
According to industry analyst Michael Inouye, “Although nearly 30 percent of the 1007 respondents to the survey reported some initial difficulties in setting up their equipment, only 11 percent actually returned products as being 'too hard' – a figure at the low end of the typical range of consumer electronics returns."
More than half of the respondents indicated that troubleshooting software would be “extremely” or “very” valuable to them. Automating simple tasks such as hardware resets would be even better. At present the overwhelming majority of those surveyed use their home networks to provide Internet access to more than one computer; printer sharing and (in those under 35) online gaming ran distant second and third.
For more information from the survey, Feedback on Home Networking Setup and Connection Issues, visit www.abiresearch.com.
Comments