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A new YouGov survey of 5,209 participants from the UK, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Italy, which was conducted during August 2025 and commissioned by FRITZ! (somewhat of a vested interest), claims to have found that users regard European brands of broadband router as the “most trustworthy“.
According to the results, only 10% of respondents said they distrust European router manufacturers, which compares well with 48% for Chinese and 55% for Russian brands. Almost all participants also named reliability, speed and security as the most important purchase criteria.
However, this is hardly a surprising outcome and if Chinese respondents were, for example, asked the same question, then they’d probably trust their own brands more. Curiously, there’s no mention in the press release of the USA (Cisco, Netgear, eero etc.) or Taiwan (e.g. ASUS, D-Link etc.), which are home to many key router brands.
In addition to features such as Wi-Fi coverage and speed, consumers in the UK and Europe also placed great importance on aspects like security (e.g. a powerful firewall or encryption), reliability, or price, performance, and service. Over 90% of all participants rated these aspects as important or very important.
The above is relevant as the EU is currently meeting in Berlin to find ways for how Europe can become less reliant on tech giants from the US and China.
Jan Oetjen, CEO of FRITZ!, said:
“The security of routers is directly linked to digital sovereignty in Europe. An increasing amount of sensitive data – from online banking to tax returns – is transmitted via our home network. Compromised routers therefore pose an immense threat, as they can be misused as weapons for cyberattacks and malicious traffic is hardly distinguishable from legitimate traffic. Similar to the decisions made in the 5G sector, we must ensure that our routers are secure and remain in European hands to protect our digital freedom.”
Naturally, no survey commissioned by a party with a vested interest in the outcome would be complete without a bit of self-promotion. Across all countries surveyed, FRITZ!Box routers are separately claimed to have achieved the highest Net Promoter Score (i.e. a gauge of how likely participants are to recommend their router). But no comparative details were provided for rival brands.