Half of UK Small Businesses say poor WiFi is reducing Broadband Value and Productivity

LBN Publisher

6 months ago

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Businesses lose an average of 11 hours a week to connectivity issues, despite growing access to full fibre.

16 April, 2026: Poor in-premises WiFi is quietly draining productivity from UK small businesses, according to new research from Zen Internet.

Half (49%) of senior business decision makers say WiFi coverage inside their premises limits the value they get from their broadband connection. Yet the same portion (50%) say their business has access to full fibre.

The findings point to a growing disconnect between infrastructure rollout and real-world experience inside business premises.

Connectivity disruption is widespread. On average, businesses experience WiFi disruption 13 times a month. Six per cent face issues every day, while more than six in 10 experience problems at least two to three days a week.

And resulting productivity losses are significant. Businesses estimate they lose an average of 11 hours per week due to WiFi issues, with 42% saying they lose between 11 and 15 hours.

Tired of dead zones and laggy #connections? Uncover whether it’s your #broadband or your #WiFi—and see how our EveryRoom and Full Fibre Max packages with eero mesh can transform your home into a seamless connectivity haven. Find out more: https://t.co/AoRPILFipc

— Zen Internet (@zeninternet) April 20, 2026

The commercial impact according to senior business executives are reported as:

23% say it disrupts communication with customers or suppliers

22% say it prevents them running cloud-based tools

22% say it directly slows down operations

22% say it leads to lost sales or missed opportunities

21% say it stops them taking digital payments

Nearly four in 10 (39%) say they lose revenue because of poor WiFi, and 44% say they cannot afford to keep experiencing service interruptions.

Confidence is also affected. Almost half (47%) say they would feel more confident in their business success if they could ensure better connectivity. The same proportion say WiFi is as critical to their business as a good shopfront or website.

Jon Nowell, Zen Managing Director – image credit @Zen

Jon Nowell, managing director of Zen’s business division, said: 

“Full fibre rollout is transforming UK connectivity, but speed alone isn’t enough. If WiFi inside the building can’t keep up, businesses won’t see the benefit. Reliable in-premises connectivity is now essential infrastructure for organisations.”

Zen has launched eero Business to address this gap. Eero Business is a WiFi system for small businesses that combines high-performance fibre with intelligent mesh WiFi to deliver reliable, consistent coverage across offices, retail spaces and hospitality venues. It offers eero’s mesh WiFi hardware with business features like guest networks, security and network controls all manged through an app. To learn more head here: zen.co.uk/business.

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*Methodology: Censuswide surveyed 500 senior business decision makers in UK small and medium-sized businesses between 20–25 February 2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society and the British Polling Council.