Vodaphone no signal nightmare

londonbabe73

Hi,
Hopefully someone will be able to direct me as to the best line of action.
I used to be with o2 but moved over to vodaphone sim only deal in march this year on a 12 month contract. Ever since I have had problems with reception constantly I've just spent the weekend in Suffolk with no signal what so ever , for 4 days I've been driving around paranoid that if I broke down I had no way on contacting anyone which has quite frankly pushed me over the edge with this company I don't use my allowance as there is no signal in Walton on Thames where i work so 7 hours a day I can't use my phone , i never had this problem with o2 and needless to say I will not be renown in fact I just want to leave , surely if they are not providing the service should I not have ground to terminate my contract ??if there is an emergency no one can get get through I am tearing my hair out I am paying good money for my contract but not actually getting to use it !!!! Help ......

grumbler

londonbabe73 wrote: »

...Ever since I have had problems with reception constantly...

You had 7 working days to cancel the contract. An obvious question: why...?

Richard_T_

it may not be a huge help, but form what i understand vodafone offer a femto cell device that will improve coverage at your home, or any other fixed location with a broadband conection. ( called something ,like a sure signal)

Usualy when changing provider its best to try a pay as you go sim card for a while to make sure that coverage is good in the locations that you go to.
mobile phone network coverage can vary from provider to provider and from area to area, so what may be good in one place is not much use else where.


With that over and done with have you tried a little bit of basic fault finding/signal finding your self?
what phone are you using/trying to use with vodafone?
have you tried to manualy find a signal ?( usualy in the options/settings/network options in the phones config menu )


Voda coverage map: http://www.vodafone.co.uk/vodafone-uk/personal-coverage/index.htm

Is there an option to just use 2G signals on your phone? doing this may help with poor coverage
Do you know anyone else on vodafone? do they have issues?
have you tried your sim card in another phone ( phone problem? ) or another vodafone sim in your phone ( sim card problem )
When you do a network search in your phones configuration menu what do you see?

Are you using a phone running android? if no ignore the rest...
one thing that may have happened is that vodafone requires a different baseband ( frequency set) to that used by O2
Are you using a custom rom on your phone?
if so there should be an option to change your baseband in there somewhere
Also you may have the option to change your signal strength form Bars to a level, reported in dbm as a negative figure, the higher this number the better, i get -35dbm next to the mast, whhn this drops to -95 i loose i=the internet conection, and at -100 and lower the signal goes alltogether.

Vodafone

Hi londonbabe73,

Richard_T_ has given some excellent advise here so I would try these troubleshooting steps first to see if they resolve the issue.

We do offer a seven day return period in case you are unhappy with any aspect of the deal you had taken. As you are out of this period, we would not be able to terminate the contract without an early termination fee being applied.

For more information on the Sure Signal device, take a look here. It's a fantastic way of guaranteeing full 3G coverage at your home address.

If you continue to have problems with the signal, feel free to get in touch with me via the link here with WRT135 FAO Heidi in the subject. If you also include a link to your post and a contact number, I will get in touch.

Thanks,

Heidi
Web Relations Team
Vodafone UK

londonbabe73

Hi,

I have a signal at home but I couldn't believe that I was in east anglia for the weekend and I have no signal at all , which was worrying as I was travelling in the evening with a child down country lands and no signal to be honest it's a joke and I certainly will not be renewing the way the signal constantly goes in and out is ridiculous. Also I now work in Walton on Thames again must be a Blackspot as no signal which means I'm not using my allowance because I don't have a signal.

So where as the deal was great if I can't use the phone it's useless I can't rely on having a signal so I'm going to have to get a payg phone as well to keep with me for an emergency.

I've got an I phone 3GS have got a giff gaff sim will give that a try please can I have an email as I don't want to post my phone number !!!

grumbler

londonbabe73 wrote: »

WRT135 FAO Heidi
...please can I have an email as I don't want to post my phone number !!!

Vodafone_company_representative wrote: »

...feel free to get in touch with me via the link here with WRT135 FAO Heidi in the subject. ....

However, you are going to waste both your and her time. You cannot expect from any network to provide you with a reliable connection everywhere "down country lands" and nobody promised you this. Next time go PAYG or take a one-month sim-only contract that you'll be free to cancel and switch network at any time without any penalties. Giffgaff is a good choice after your current minimum term expires or as an addition to your current contract.