Survey reveals workers use coffee shops for broadband

Recent research from broadband comparison company Broadband Genie has discovered that close to one-in-four people are working from coffee shops in the UK. Since the pandemic, many enterprises in Britain have continued to offer their teams the opportunity to work remotely. However, not every region in the UK offers dependable and fast internet services, which many rely on to conduct their roles.

Between the months of March and June 2023, Broadband Genie carried out a survey of around 1,700 broadband users, and encountered that many professionals are visiting coffee shops in order to work, along with other locations that provide a steady and speedy internet connection.

Respondents commented that power outage was a common factor leading to using public connections. On busy days when internet access was essential, and attempting to tether their mobile phones yielded poor results, coffee houses were favoured at least once a week by 23% of those surveyed.

Costa Coffee was rated as the most popular chain for internet use by a landslide (59.69%) followed by Starbucks (38.46%) and Caffè Nero (25.54%). Whilst improved connectivity was a key factor for coffee shop work use, other reasons cited were being amongst other people, saving money on energy use and experiencing improved productivity.

Companies with teams using public Wi-Fi connections should ensure their employees use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access the internet, in order to ensure all data exchanged is shared securely.