Vodaphone Broadband wifi signal dropping

BeerDad

Looking for some help. I (stupidly) switched from EE to Vodaphone a couple of months  ago. Pretty much since day one I've had issues with WIFI signal across the house. Signal keeps dropping throughout the house even when in plain sight of the router my phone for example will suddenly switch to mobile internet rather than wifi.. The router position hasn't changed from when I was at EE but it seems to be causing an issue with Vodaphone (note it isnt' blocked in or anything like that). Today alone whilst on Teams calls I lost signal about 6 times. I'm getting to the end of my tether!

I've spoken with Vodaphone who have updating things from their end but the issue doesnt seem to change.

I've read a number of posts here and on Vodaphone Community website saying essentially the hub is rubbish. I'm reluctant to pay for WIFI mesh thing at my expense and also not keen on upgrading to a higher package to get the same when its clear there is an issue with Vodaphone WIFI so wondering where I stand?

Any thoughts appreciated around compensation/ cancelling contract without charge etc.

cerebus

Have you checked what other wifis are in your area , they could be causing you an issue

Have you tried switching to 5ghz instead of 2.4ghz?

Move the router to a higher position might help

If you are on important teams calls you should really be directly connecting to the router using an ethernet cable not relying on WiFi plus you get much better speed that way.

Have you another router you could try to see if it's vodafones one that is faulty?

When I've had this happen to me it's always been a faulty router that's caused the issue

debitcardmayhem

Personally I  won't use isp supplied routers except in modem mode.You could always use old router if that worked OK, and set it up with your Voda details.

BeerDad

cerebus said:

Have you checked what other wifis are in your area , they could be causing you an issue

Have you tried switching to 5ghz instead of 2.4ghz?

Move the router to a higher position might help

If you are on important teams calls you should really be directly connecting to the router using an ethernet cable not relying on WiFi plus you get much better speed that way.

Have you another router you could try to see if it's vodafones one that is faulty?

When I've had this happen to me it's always been a faulty router that's caused the issue

Havnet tried ethernet cable yet but will try that.

victor2

Another vote for a different router/hub. I haven't used Vodafone, but expect their equipment to be of a similar quality to others...
My Virgin hub is in modem only mode and I use an Asus hub for WiFi - it covers the house and garden far better than Virgin's hub(s) ever did.

Heedtheadvice

Alternatively to do a bit of diagnostics download WiFi analyser (VREM software, open source) from Google Play) for free ( or similar apps). 

That will enable you to see a chart of WiFi signal strength on your phone (android assumed!) which channel you are on and other local signals so you can see if there are others on the same channel causing  interference continuously or intermittently,

if your signal is dropping out at times,

if you are loosing broadband connection but WiFi signal is fine ( not a WiFi issue)

or if the other band mentioned above( 2 or 5GHz) is clearer. The latter is faster but poorer coverage over distance.

That could well help improve set up or give you evidence to get back to vodafone.

matelodave

some stuff is unhappy if you've got both 2.4 and 5ghz using the same SSID. I have a couple of items that dont like it and SONOS had a big problem with BT routers which didn't allow separation of the 2.4 and 5ghz bands.

In fact the BT solution was to turn off the 5ghz wifi, let the 2.4 stuff boot and then turn on 5ghz which was a real PITA

It was worse when we got power outages - we get lots of short term drop outs - 2-5 seconds which cause the router to reboot and some stuff then just doesn't reconnect and we had real problems with the BT SH. There were pages of whinging on the BT Forums about it.

I solved all my problems by changing the 5ghz band SSID by adding a -5 to it but using the same password. 

MO the Vodafone router is much better in some respects than the BT Smart Hub that we had previously, its got better wifi range (both at 2.4 and 5ghz) and apart from power cuts we've never had a drop out or slow speed since January 2021 when it was installed

Cisco001

Mesh WiFi could solve the problem

onomatopoeia99

The simple answer to keeping your teams calls going is to use a network cable, possibly a very long one (cat5e is good for gigabit in lengths encountered in domestic settings).

Poor wifi is nothing to do with your package, it's to do with the router and the construction of your house, and not something that ISPs would normally agree to a contractual standard of as every install is different, so unless they have some sort of "whole house coverage guarantee" then someone would have to be asleep at the wheel to offer either compensation or a penalty free exit.

If you must use wifi and you need it for non-domestic things, such as work, them you should spend the money for a system that gives the coverage you need and port across to whichever ISP you go to next so your wifi provision is independent of the ISP's provided router.  But, like I always say, if you are using it for you means of earning money, why are you using a domestic supplier at all, when they will treat you being unable to work as seriously as they take your neighbour being unable to watch Netflix?