Vodafone - The Nation’s Notwork!

cannugec5

We are with Vodafone Broadband and have been for a number of years. 

Recently we have had horrendous outages. In the past three weeks we have had no internet at all on three occasions lasting 12 to 17 hours at a time. 

In between that we have had the signal dropping for seconds or minutes at a time. 

I have, of course, been in touch with Vodafone. Initially their automated line testing demonstrated no problem. When I actually got to chat and then speak with a human they acknowledged there is a known issue in our area and Openreach is dealing with it. 

They said it would be sorted in 3 days. After three days I received an update from them that it will take a further five days!

We are getting seriously frustrated as I’d not really appreciated how much we rely on the internet, both for entertainment and also things like the central heating, the printer, the vacuum and not least communication. We have a landline that relies on digital voice. 

We have not been able to use our mobile phones at home as only getting one bar of signal which won’t even send or receive a text! 

We can of course bang on our neighbour’s door in case of emergency or walk down to the end of the road to get a mobile signal and check emails etc. But in 2024 I would not expect this after having had a decent internet for years. 

The next update from Vodafone is due on Thursday. If they say it will be another 3 or 5 days of disruption is there anything I can realistically do to make a difference? If I’m honest I’m not sure if I actually believe that Openreach is doing anything, but simply that Vodafone is fobbing us off. 

We are both retired so at home all day. 

Neil_Jones

The onus is on the provider to deal with Openreach to fix the fault.  There is nothing you can do to speed this up.

You may be entitled to compensation:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/service-quality/automatic-compensation-need-know/

400ixl

Unfortunately you are finding out why Vodafone is near the bottom of the customer satisfaction surveys and why cheap is not always value. They don't pay for the highest level of OpenReach service so things will take longer.

Not much you can do at this stage until you get to 30 days of them not fixing the problem when you can start asking to be able to move without penalty and go to a decent ISP.

Hope you get better news on Thursday.

cannugec5

Thank you for that. 

I’m not sure how they would implement it in our case of intermittent interruptions, but I think we could argue the ‘fault’ has not been repaired. 

IF, on Thursday they suggest a further delay, I will put this to them and see it it helps clarify their obligations. 

M25

Have you tried a 4G or 5G router as a temporary fix? You mentioned your mobile ut having a high category router may prove a better signal.

I like Vodafone but all suppliers have problems but IME they resolve the problem. In your case it's OpenReach who have to fix the actual fault but it looks like Vodafone are doing everything they can.

Ask them for compensation and look at temporary mobile Internet.

You can also complain online to Vodafone https://www.vodafone.co.uk/help-and-information/complaints/code-of-practice

cannugec5

Well, somewhat predictably, this morning I missed the call from Vodafone as the internet was down at the time. 

When it came back, after 3 hours, I received their text messages that they had tried to phone, but received no answer and were closing the case as fixed unless I responded otherwise within 24 hours. I was able to reply via the app and then received a telephone call. 

As Openreach have concluded the works that were ongoing in our area, with no improvement in our situation  Vodafone have now arranged for an Openreach engineer to come on Monday and in their words ‘the engineer will not leave until he has resolved the problem’!

Yesterday we had no internet during our waking hours. 

Today it was working when I awoke, but only for half an hour, then off for 3 hours. Obviously it is currently on, but it does dip out for a second here and there. 

I’m sure a telecoms engineer will know what he is looking for, but I can’t get my head round a fault that comes and goes. What I mean is, if  it’s a broken cable or something why isn’t it just permanently off? 

I had forgotten when I accepted the openreach appointment Monday 08.00-13.00, that we also have an appointment  for a Smart meter installation Monday 08.00-17.00

I just hope they don’t come at the same time as I assume Openreach will require power, and I know it will need to be off at some point, although I seem to recall it’s a brief interruption. 

cannugec5

M25 said:

Have you tried a 4G or 5G router as a temporary fix? You mentioned your mobile ut having a high category router may prove a better signal.

I like Vodafone but all suppliers have problems but IME they resolve the problem. In your case it's OpenReach who have to fix the actual fault but it looks like Vodafone are doing everything they can.

Ask them for compensation and look at temporary mobile Internet.

You can also complain online to Vodafone https://www.vodafone.co.uk/help-and-information/complaints/code-of-practice

I’ve just had a look at 4g routers. I must confess I didn’t know they existed. 

However it doesn’t look like they would be much good here because of the poor network coverage. Interestingly the map of coverage shows the worst local place as precisely the spot that I walk to where I know my phone will work, some 15 minutes down the road. 

I get that you say these routers work better than mobile phones though. 

I will ask the engineer on Monday, as he would perhaps know if there are any homes locally where these have been helpful. I don’t know if it will be the same engineer that came last time to move the Master Socket, but if so, he actually lives in our village! 

M25

An engineer coming out could be bad news.

Vodafone can do a lot of testing (just like OR) from their end so sending an engineer to your house may imply there's something wrong after the master socket (ie your responsibility).

Hopefully, that's not the case it could be some strange wiring to the master socket which hasn't caused a big problem until now.

Either way it should be resolved.

cannugec5

I had concerns when Vodafone said they could just move the Master Socket, when we were informed that for Digital Voice we’d need to plug the telephone directly into the router. 

Original MS was in the utility room under the sink. We’d hooked up the router there, and it worked fine for years. But not a suitable place for a telephone. 

So Vodafone sent OR to move the MS. But what he (OR engineer) actually did was utilise an existing extension and changed the front .  He ‘tested’ it and it worked ( at that time). 

I had always understood that a MS is the first socket on the cable entering the property. Converting an extension to a MS seems to defy this as there must now be a joint where the old MS was. 

However, I still don’t understand how it can fail for 12-17 hours at a time but other times be fine. 

(Numerous people, in real life, have said ditch the landline but my husband is no longer able  to answer or make a call on his mobile. The landline he is still perfectly able to manage. )

M25

Sounds like you have ADSL/VDSL or FTTC (Google that if you need to).

It could be -as I said- your wiring is a bit of a mess. Who is responsible now is down to how the OR engineer views things when they arrive. You could try and speak to him but keep it super simple and nice.

I think the best way to resolve it would install FTTP if it's available as that would be a new cable (and maybe better entry point).

I had a relative with a similar problem for years (ADSL) and eventually (4 visits from OR) the fault was traced to a junction boxed screwed to a tree (!) which was quite well hidden (it was in a tree). Why it took 4 visits to resolve I have no idea.

400ixl

An OpenReach engine will plug a device into the master socket and run continuity tests. If these pass they will re-run them at the point where the router is plugged in if that is a different location.

Chance they will replace the master socket and also possibly try a new cable between the master socket and the router (which may mean temporarily re-locating it).

If the tests on the master socket fail then they will start tracing it back from the home to the street box. Well probably going to the street box first and running the tests from there and if they pass there then looking in between.

It is slightly unpredictable as engineers have their own ways of working.

Not having poser at the time is not a show stopper as the FTTC/ADSL services do not need power for the test they run and their testers do not need mains power. It will however hamper any tests they want to do that include the router.

Vodafone unfortunately are one of the worst for customer satisfaction when you look at the national survey results. There is a reason they are cheap for Broadband, they don't have the staff to deal with issues when the arise.

Hopefully the OpenReach engineer finds the fault.