ASUS Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Wireless Router Manufacturers in Inaugural J.D. Power Report

Wi-Fi Range and Reliability Are the Key Drivers of Overall Customer Satisfaction

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Jan 06, 2016, 09:00 ET

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WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Jan. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ASUS ranks highest in customer satisfaction with wireless routers, performing particularly well in reliability, Wi-Fi range, security, speed of upload/download, ability to restore service with minimal effort and variety of features offered, according to the J.D. Power 2015 Wireless Router Satisfaction Report^SM released today.

The inaugural report measures overall satisfaction with wireless router manufacturers among consumers who purchased a router during the 12-month period prior to responding to the report survey. Satisfaction is measured across 10 factors (listed in order of importance): Wi-Fi range; reliability; restore connection easily; speed of upload/download; security capabilities; price; ease of use; variety of features; intuitive user interface; and customer service. Overall satisfaction in 2015 is 821 on a 1,000-point scale.

"Consumers want to be able to rely on their wireless router when accessing the Internet from their smartphone, laptop, tablet, smart TV or other wireless device," said Kirk Parsons, senior director and telecom, media & technology practice leader at J.D. Power. "What's critical to customers is the ability to easily establish a reliable online connection through their wireless router regardless of the type or number of wireless devices they are using. Router manufacturers providing a product that's intuitive to set up and operate and that functions with few connection interruptions are well positioned to increase satisfaction, customer loyalty and repurchase intention."

KEY FINDINGS

Overall satisfaction among customers who say they "definitely will" or "probably will" purchase the same wireless router brand they currently own is 141 points higher than among those who say they "definitely will not" or "probably will not" repurchase the same brand in the future (834 vs. 693, respectively).
Nearly two in 10 (18%) customers experience problems with their wireless router. The most frequently experienced problems reported include slow Internet speeds (42%), frequency of resetting router (38%), initially connecting to the Internet (38%), limited Wi-Fi range (25%), installation process (20%) and slow upload/download speeds (20%).
The percentage of customers who access the Internet via a wireless router in their home varies by device. Most customers use a wireless router to connect their laptop (80%), followed by smartphone (73%), tablet (65%), desktop (55%), gaming console (51%), printer (51%), smart TV (39%) and streaming device/media player, such as Chromecast or Roku (37%).
Price is the primary reason for choosing a wireless router brand (45%), followed by brand reputation (38%), range of signal strength (38%) and ease of use (35%)—e.g., simple to understand and connect to the Internet.
The average price paid for a wireless router is $108.

Wireless Router Study Rankings: ASUS (838) ranks highest followed by Apple (835) and TP-Link (834).

The 2015 Wireless Router Satisfaction Report is based on responses from 2,716 current owners of wireless routers who purchased their device during the 12-month period prior to report fielding in November 2015.

Overall Customer Satisfaction Index Scores		J.D. Power.com Power Circle Ratings^TM
(Based on a 1,000-point scale)		For Consumers

ASUS	838	5
Apple	835	4
TP-Link	834	4
D-Link	833	4
Belkin	824	4
Linksys	821	3
Report Average	821	3
Motorola	815	2
NETGEAR	813	2

Power Circle Ratings Legend
5 – Among the best
4 – Better than most
3 – About average
2 – The rest

Award-Eligible Manufacturers Included in the Report

Company Name	Executive Name	Company Address
ASUSTeK Computer, Inc.	Jerry Shen	Fremont, Calif.
Apple Inc.	Timothy Cook	Cupertino, Calif.
TP-LINK Technologies	Lewis Wu	San Dimas, Calif.
D-Link Corporation	Roger Kao	Fountain Valley, Calif.
Belkin International, Inc.	Chester J. Pipkin	Playa Vista, Calif.
Belkin International, Inc.	Chester J. Pipkin	Playa Vista, Calif.
Motorola Solutions, Inc.	Gregory Brown	Schaumburg, Ill.
NETGEAR, Inc.	Patrick C.S. Lo	San Jose, Calif.