Zen Internet survey finds 21% of Gen Z believe WiFi emits harmful radiation

A new survey commissioned by ISP Zen Internet has revealed some common misconceptions regarding connectivity.

The survey of over 2000 people in the UK found that 16% of 16-24-year-olds believe that physically striking their WiFi router will improve their internet connection. However, only 2% of over-55s believed this myth.

The survey also discovered that 54% of 16-24-year-olds believed that conference call connectivity can be improved by switching off their video. However, 29% of over-55s “appear more aware that switching off video streaming is likely to be a temporary fix at best and that the poor signal is probably caused by a wider problem”.

It is worth noting that turning off video on a conference call can, in fact, improve your connection if you have a slow and congested line, especially if you’re having upstream issues.

Just over 20% of 16-24-year-olds held the belief that WiFi can “cause harmful radiation”, despite research showing that only a small amount of unnoticeable heat is given off by WiFi. Just 5% of over-55s believed that harmful radiation was emitted by WiFi.

Younger people weren’t always misinformed, however, as 24% of 16-24-year-olds could correctly identify that ethernet is “a dedicated circuit which can be provided over a mixture of technologies from customer to supplier with increased service level agreements”, whereas only 15% of over-55s correctly identified this fact.

CEO at Zen Internet, Paul Stobart, said: “They say wisdom comes with age and that would appear to be the case even in an area like technology, where youth would ordinarily be perceived to be at an advantage.

“Broadband plays an increasingly important role in our lives, so it’s vital that all of us, regardless of age and experience, can distinguish the fact from the fiction; there are still many misconceptions out there regarding broadband that could be holding consumers back from getting the most out of their connectivity.

“What this research study has shown me is that the broadband industry has a job on its hands to help consumers understand how broadband works, so that they can optimise connectivity in the home.”

Harry Pererra

Harry turns on his experience in journalism and programming to write about the latest news in the world of tech and the environemtn. When he isn’t writing for usave he is working towards his Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and prefers dogs to cats.

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