• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, August 9, 2017

It appears that connected or smart home devices need some support.

Well, at least the people who buy those connected devices might.

Some of the tech support is resolved by professional technicians for free and some is not, based on a new study.

More than 20% of U.S. broadband households have a technical support subscription, according to the study by Parks Associates.

These subscriptions are to get support for a range of connected devices. These are the devices for which consumers have a subscription technical support plan, an extended warranty protection plan or both, in order, by type of device:

1. Smartphone
2. Smartwatch
3. Laptop
4. Flat panel TV
5. Home network router

Of those who did have a problem, some of those were taken care of for free. Of those who received help from a professional technician, here’s the breakdown:

• 49% -- A technician resolved the problem free of charge
• 38% -- A technician helped resolve the problem for a one-time fee
• 6% -- A technician helped resolve the problem after agreement to enroll in a support service with a recurring fee
• 5% -- Technician helped resolve the problem as part of an extended warranty plan
• 3% -- Technician helped resolve the problem as part of a support service previously enrolled in

As might be expected, consumers gravitate to support plans with lower costs. Here’s the likelihood of subscribing to a technical support service based on monthly fee:

• 51% -- $9.99 a month
• 49% -- $14.00 a month
• 38% -- $19.99 a month
• 34% -- $29.99 a month

There’s an even greater spread for annual support fees, with 49% saying they would likely pay a fee of $49.99 compared to 24% who would pay $199.99.

Technical support will evolve with the market.

Best Buy is the current leading provider of technical support for subscriptions for connected devices, but Amazon’s recent decision to offer an in-home tech support is a notable treat to that, according to Parks Associates.

The reality is that setting up many smart home devices is anything but simple. Nearly one fifth of smart home device owners say the process of setting up their smart home device is inconvenient.

Marketers of smart device should take note, since only 33% of consumer who encounter set up problems would purchase a similar product from that brand again.