Networking equipment may need more test
Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 2/1/2007 2:00:00 AM
“37% of IT and 46% of home users of networking equipment reported experiencing problems with the functionality of networking equipment purchased in the past two years.” That’s one of the findings of a survey conducted by King Research in October 2006 for the Fanfare Group, a maker of test-automation software.
| Link to the survey. |
The survey (Ref. 1) concludes that networking equipment such as DSL modems and wireless print servers are still hard to set up. “What surprised us,” said Fanfare marketing manager David Gehringer in a phone interview, “was that such a large percentage of IT users reported problems. We expected a high percentage of home users to have problems, but we assumed that IT people, who have experience with networking equipment, would have an easier time.”
According to Gehringer, most calls to technical support resulted from poor user interfaces and poor documentation. But Gehringer pointed out that IT people also report dropped packets or improper forwarding and routing. Still, users are resilient, with less than 5% of the respondents saying that they returned products to vendors without calling technical support. Before people call for technical support, they often look online, with Google being the first place they go.
Interoperability may also be an issue, especially when people connect new equipment to old computers or other networking products. Manufacturers can’t test their equipment under every possible installation. They may also be reluctant to produce in-depth user manuals because of printing costs. Instead, they rely on short manuals and quick-start guides, which may cover a significant portion of users but will leave others wanting more information.
| Reference |
| 1. "Survey of Networking Equipment Quality," King Research, November 2006. Link to the survey. |
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