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[Bowdon]

Study – Mobile Broadband Still More Popular than Risky Public Wi-Fi

Would you rather go online with Mobile Broadband (3G/4G) or public WiFi when outside of the home? The latest online survey of 1,516 ISPreview.co.uk readers suggests that mobile is still the most popular choice (72.1% of respondents), with security fears and fiddly sign-up forms hurting trust in WiFi.

The survey also asked whether respondents would only use a WiFi hotspot if there was a very poor or no Mobile Broadband signal and 58.2% agreed, with just 25% saying “No” and 16.6% answering with a “Maybe“.

The results mark a noticeable shift from when the same survey was first conducted two years ago. At that time 63.3% (vs 72.1% in 2016) said they preferred Mobile Broadband to Public WiFi, although “Security” (34.4%) and “Fiddly Signup Forms” (25.1%) were still top of the major gripes, just as they are again today.

[sevenlayermuddle]

For once, I seem to be in the majority.    I might reluctantly use hotel WiFi because, bored in a hotel room, data usage can mount up - especially when abroad when exceeding mobile data allowance can get frighteningly expensive.   

But in other circumstances, I generally regard public WiFi as being too risky - from a privacy perspective though rather, than security - and I just don't have time to read and absorb the T&C on the signup forms.