• 82% of those surveyed believe that having decent Wi-Fi signal outside would help aid their school holiday woes
  • 35% of parents struggle to get their kids to spend time outdoors, with lack of Wi-Fi in the garden to play video games and stream content (53%) being one of the top reasons
  • 72% of parents believe that having decent Wi-Fi al fresco would encourage their kids to play outdoors during the summer holidays and make their homes feel less overcrowded
  • TalkTalk’s Total Home Wi-Fi package provides superior range, reliability, and speeds, meaning that connected outdoor spaces are now possible for families up and down the country
  • TalkTalk has partnered with futurologist Dr James Bellini to predict how Brits will be using their outdoor spaces differently in the future

With school holidays in full swing many parents still partly working from home, families are becoming more and more stretched, with 35% of parents struggling to balance their workload with entertaining their children and over a quarter (26%) saying they lack space when the children are home.

iShed

iShed

Over one third (35%) of parents say they struggle to get their kids to play outdoors, with a top reason being a lack of Wi-Fi connection in the garden (53%).

The research commissioned by the UK’s only large-scale value connectivity provider, TalkTalk, has found that almost half (48%) of those that have a garden admitted that they aren’t fully utilising the space. Over two thirds (70%) have an outdoor building such as a summer house, shed, treehouse, or covered patio area, with 57% admitting they would use the space if it had an affordable Wi-Fi connection.

Some children are missing out on garden play because of their parents, as 48% admit they are reluctantly keeping their kids indoors as they are concerned about their safety playing unsupervised.

Over two thirds of parents (72%) believe that having decent Wi-Fi al fresco would encourage their kids to play outdoors and make their homes feel less crowded during the summer holidays. With 32% admitting that their home Wi-Fi signal is limited, causing family members to crowd around hotspots.

The research has uncovered families’ top motivations for having Wi-Fi outdoors include working outside more often (53%), streaming movies for outdooring screening (30%), and setting up security cameras in the garden to keep an eye on the kids (25%).

In response, TalkTalk has teamed up with futurologist, Dr James Bellini, to predict how we’ll be using our garden buildings very differently in the future. Making better use of the garden, or existing outdoor buildings can be a more budget-friendly way of maximising space as opposed to moving to another property. From pop up cinema screenings to virtual babysitters – the future of tech will see families making the most of unused spaces by creating new tech hubs that extend past their four walls.  

Dr James Bellini, Technology Futurologist and Historian of the Future, said: “Creating another room in your garden is a great way to maximise space for the family. With the switch to flexible working over the past few years, there has been a surge in people creating offices in the gardens. But there are so many other buildings like treehouses, sheds, and Wendy houses that families will soon be tapping into. From creating a technology games room, to an outdoor cinema - these spaces will be given a new lease of life, unlocking additional entertainment and play spaces, without the costly expense of a purpose-built building. TalkTalk’s Total Home Wi-Fi extends the reach of your home Wi-Fi into outdoor spaces. It’s a fantastic way to future proof your family home.”

“With Total Home Wi-Fi, TalkTalk customers can supercharge their full fibre connection for ultimate coverage,” says Jonathan Kini, Managing Director of TalkTalk. For just £6 per month, TalkTalk will provide customers with an additional Amazon eero router, blanketing their whole home in Wi-Fi. Each eero 6 provides up to 1,500 square ft of Wi-Fi coverage (the eero Pro 6 provides up to 2,000!) and can connect up to 75 devices at any one time making it the perfect fit for busy households over the summer holidays*. 

TalkTalk and Technology Futurologist Dr James Bellini predictions for how families will be making use of their connected garden buildings in the future:

  1. Connected Wendy houses, treehouses, garden sheds – creating mini tech hubs for gaming and streaming
  2. Wi-Fi enabled monitors, making it easier for parents to watch over kids in the garden, whilst going about their work
  3. Pop up cinema screens – why squeeze onto the sofa when you can spread out on the lawn?
  4. Virtual babysitters will now be able to extend the fun and games into the garden
  5. Connectivity packages that provide superior range, such as TalkTalk Total Home Wi-Fi, which extends Wi-Fi coverage into the garden
  6. barbecues that provide cooking tips and tell you when the food is perfectly cooked
  7. Vegetable beds which will alert you when produce is ready to be picked
  8. Virtual reality-based school classes, which could feature Dinosaurs and volcanos emerging from your back garden
  9. Reactive sunshades that move with the sun
  10. Algorithms which play music to suit weather and atmosphere

To find out more about TalkTalk’s Total Home Wi-Fi offering, visit: talktalk.co.uk/futurefibre

 

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