Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A TV, radio, paid-for social media and digital poster ad for EE, seen and heard in October 2024:
a. The TV ad showed people performing routine tasks at work and during their commute. Small text appeared on-screen stating, “43.7% UK availability. Smart Hub Pro and Smart Wi-Fi Pro available with selected EE full fibre plans. Terms apply”. Each individual was shown arriving home, where other people in their household were using the Wi-Fi across different devices – watching TV, gaming or exercising. The ad ended with a voice-over stating, “When everyone’s caning the broadband, Wi-Fi 7 on EE makes every device work better, even yours”. Small text appeared on-screen stating, “Works better vs previous Wi-Fi technology”.
b. The radio ad started with sounds of a busy household, with various voices saying they need different parts of the house for reasons such as for a meeting, a spin class, and a live stream. A voice-over stated, “When everyone's caning the broadband, EE's new Wi-Fi 7 router makes every device work better, even yours”, followed by different voices stating that the broadband was now working. The voice-over continued, “New Smart Wi-fi pro, exclusively from EE” followed by “43.7% UK availability. Smart Home Pro and Smart Wi-Fi Pro available with selected EE fibre plans. Terms apply”.
c. The paid-for Facebook ad featured the caption “When everyone's caning the broadband, Wi-Fi 7 on EE makes every device work better, even yours”. An image displayed an Xbox with large text that stated, “XBOX PLAYS BETTER ON WIFI 7” and “EE’s EXCLUSIVE SMART WIFI PRO”. Small text at the bottom of the image stated, “43.7% UK availability. Smart Home Pro and Smart Wi-Fi Pro available with selected EE fibre plans. Terms apply”.
d. The digital poster ad featured the headline claim “GOOGLE WORKS BETTER ON WIFI 7” followed by “EE’S EXCLUSIVE SMART WIFI PRO”. Images of the Google Nest Hub, the Google Nest Home and the Google Nest Cam featured in the background. Small text at the top stated, “43.7% UK availability. Smart Hub Pro and Smart Wi-Fi Pro available with selected EE full fibre plans. Terms apply”.
Issue
Vodafone Ltd, Community Fibre Ltd and 19 members of the public, who understood most devices available at the time the ads were seen did not support Wi-Fi 7, challenged whether the following were misleading:
- the claim that “EE's new Wi-Fi 7 router makes every device work better” in ads (a), (b) and (c); and
- the references to specific devices in ads (a) to (d).
Response
1. & 2. EE Ltd said that they accepted that not all devices were compatible with Wi-Fi 7. They said that the claims were always qualified with the text “EE’s exclusive Smart Wi-Fi Pro”. They believed the claims were not misleading because Smart Wi-Fi Pro combined a new Wi-Fi 7 router with a Wi-Fi 7 extender, which could not be purchased separately, and their ads always referred to “Smart Wi-Fi Pro, exclusively from EE” to highlight that combination. The extender, which extended the range of the signal from the router, connected to the router using Wi-Fi 7. Together they provided a fast and reliable link to the wired broadband connection, regardless of the end-user device's capability.
They explained that Wi-Fi 7 was faster because it used a third frequency band, at 6 GHz, in addition to the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands, which could become congested. Wi-Fi 7 also doubled the router’s bandwidth, which increased throughput, and each data packet could carry more information. This setup enabled faster overall speeds throughout the home compared to previous-generation Wi-Fi. Therefore, they said not only Wi-Fi 7 devices, but also older devices, could benefit from those faster speeds and perform better.
They had carried out testing comparing how older Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 devices performed with the Smart Wi-Fi Pro, versus their Smart Wi-Fi Plus product that had Wi-Fi 6. Three devices were tested: a Wi-Fi 7 HP Laptop; a Wi-Fi 6 Apple MacBook Pro; and a Wi-Fi 5 HP Z Laptop. The data showed that the older devices performed faster when connected to EE’s Smart Wi-Fi Pro compared to when connected with EE’s Smart Wi-Fi Plus (their previous, Wi-Fi 6, router). They had limited the testing to three laptops because laptops had a Wi-Fi configuration that was standard across most devices, including smartphones and tablets. Therefore, they did not expect smartphones or tablets to perform differently and considered it was not necessary to test a wide range of devices. They also said that Wi-Fi 7 enhanced the multi-user capabilities of Wi-Fi 6. These enhancements made data handling more efficient, reduced congestion, and improved overall network performance.
Clearcast said, in relation to ad (a), that they understood that the Wi-Fi 7 package from EE included both the Smart Hub Pro and Smart Wi-Fi Pro, as stated in the TV ad's on-screen text. EE had provided substantiation explaining how the Wi-Fi 7 router and Wi-Fi 7 extender improved internet speeds for all devices, even older ones not compatible with Wi-Fi 7. Given that the package would enhance performance for all devices, they were satisfied that the claim “Wi-Fi 7 on EE makes every device work better, even yours” was substantiated, would not mislead and did not need further qualification beyond the existing on-screen text.
Radiocentre endorsed EE’s response in relation to ad (b). They highlighted the voice-over qualification “New Smart Wi-Fi Pro, exclusively from EE”, after the reference to Wi-Fi 7.
Assessment
1. & 2. Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers were likely to interpret the claim in ads (a), (b), and (c) that “EE's new Wi-Fi 7 router makes every device work better” as a guarantee of enhanced performance, including faster speeds and more reliable connections for all individual devices, regardless of their type, purpose, range or capabilities.
Those ads also included the broader claim “When everyone’s caning the broadband, Wi-Fi 7 on EE makes every device work better, even yours”. The TV and radio ads further illustrated that scenario. The TV ad showed people arriving home from work to find other household members using Wi-Fi across different devices, such as for gaming, watching TV and exercising. The radio ad featured sounds of a busy household, with various voices mentioning they needed different parts of the house for activities like meetings, spin classes and live streams.
We considered that the context of those claims and scenarios conveyed the overall impression that, not only would all individual devices perform better with EE’s Wi-Fi 7, but consumers would also see improved individual device performance when multiple people used the Wi-Fi simultaneously, even for bandwidth-intensive activities like gaming.
Ads (c) and (d) referenced improved performance in relation to specific devices. Ad (c) stated that “XBOX PLAYS BETTER ON WIFI 7”. Ad (d) stated that “GOOGLE WORKS BETTER ON WIFI 7” and featured images of the Google Nest Hub, the Google Nest Home and the Google Nest Cam in the background; it did not include the “every device” claim. We considered the references to specific devices would convey the expectation to consumers, with even more certainty, that those devices were fully compatible with Wi-Fi 7, and that they would perform better when connected to the Wi-Fi 7 router.
We understood that, alongside the Wi-Fi 7 router, an extender was supplied as part of the package to extend the range of the router’s signal around the home. However, we considered that was not clear from the ad. We acknowledged that the claims in the ads were always qualified with the text "EE’s exclusive Smart Wi-Fi Pro". While this implied the product was unique to EE and may have offered benefits that were not available from other Wi-Fi 7 routers, we did not consider that it clarified how the products worked. Although ad (b) referenced the router, none of the ads indicated that the Smart Wi-Fi Pro included both the router and the extender. We understood from EE that the ad claims were based on the performance of the two combined.
We understood the tests were designed to record the speed, consistency and reliability of the Wi-Fi connection between the router and a device. The results showed that both the Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 devices’ broadband connection speeds were faster, more consistent and more reliable when connecting to the internet using EE’s new Smart Hub Pro and extender, compared to their older hub and extender which did not have Wi-Fi 7.
However, while the devices tested varied in generations of Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 6 and 7) and demonstrated the backward compatibility of the new router with devices which were not Wi-Fi 7-enabled, they were all laptops. This limited testing scope, confined to a single device type, meant that the evaluation did not encompass a broad range of devices, such as smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, gaming consoles or smart home gadgets. The tests also did not evaluate device performance while multiple devices were being used simultaneously. Consequently, we considered that the testing was not adequate to substantiate the claims in the context of ads (a), (b) and (c) that “every device works better”, as consumers would understand them.
Ads (c) and (d) referenced devices such as the Xbox and Google devices, including the Google Nest Hub and Google Nest Home. Because those devices were not included in the testing, we considered the evidence was not adequate to substantiate stated and implied claims that those devices performed better. We also understood that none of those devices were Wi-Fi 7-enabled devices.
Because the evidence was not adequate to substantiate the claims as consumers would interpret them, we concluded that the claim “EE's new Wi-Fi 7 router makes every device work better” in ads (a), (b) and (c) as well as the references to specific devices in ads (c) and (d), were misleading.
Ads (a) and (b) breached BCAP Code rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.9 (Substantiation).
Ads (c) and (d) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current forms. We told EE Ltd not to claim that “EE's new Wi-Fi 7 router makes every device work better” or make similar claims, unless they held adequate evidence to support the claims. They also must not claim that specific devices “work better on Wi-Fi 7” unless they held adequate evidence to support them.
