Vodafone Broadband Slow Internet

andyhicks88

Hi everyone

I just had Vodafone full fibre 150 installed on thursday and since then even though the speed has been as advertised when I run speed tests the internet just seems much slower than my old standard part fibre internet with Plusnet. Some sites literally take 10 seconds to load and there's the spinning loading wheels of doom far more than I ever saw before. A lot of pages seem to hang on a page for several seconds before even trying to do something and often things will then load in spurts rather than instantly and smoohtly like I was used to.. Strangely I don't really have much issue with streaming apart from the odd slight lag here or there. It's not terrible to the point it cant be used but it's pretty clear that it isn't right and I had no such issues like this with my previous provider/connection, that seemed quick, smooth and snappy compared to this. I'm wondering if anyone knows what this is? If it's just a Vodafone issue or what? I should say that it's slow like this on both the devices I've been using btw not just one. I can't imagine myself accepting this for my whole 24 month contract…..

Neil_Jones

Are you using the hardware Vodafone supplied or your own?

Are you connected wireless or wired?

dnpark38

You were with Plusnet which will have meant the Open Reach network but have Vodaphone put you on an ALT network and maybe that is why you are seeing a difference?

andyhicks88

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82025205#Comment_82025205

Yes the vodafone router and wireless

andyhicks88

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82025207#Comment_82025207

It's open reach and it's not the speed itself because that is fine on the tests, it's getting actually above the advertised speed, it's just the actual internet performance itself is very erratic and musch slower than I had previously.

sheenas

The first thing is to establish is whether the WiFi signal is worse or it is the line speed. With laptop next to the router and all other devices that have have WiFi turned off, do a speed test. Follow Vodafone’s instructions for this.

andyhicks88

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82025228#Comment_82025228

The speed is fine as I've already done speed tests in all parts of the house and it's the advertised speeds or therabouts. The wifi signal is slightly weaker upstairs with Vodafone than it was with plusnet because it's sometimes not full bars but this issue persists even if I try with my device literally right next to the router where it is full bars. I don't actually think it's a speed or wifi issue I think it's the router and how it processes things or communicates or whatever. I'm not technical but google tells me this might be the issue lol or something about a DNS but I have no idea on this stuff 😥

iniltous

Your FTTP is effectively in two parts the Openreach part that’s from the ONT in your house to the OLT in the ‘exchange’ which may not be the exchange building that’s closest to you , at this point traffic is handed off to the ISP backhaul, so it’s at this point variations between ISP can occur depending on the bandwidth that ISP has available, it’s limited by the number of ‘cable links’ they have purchased and the bandwidth they provide , in a nutshell if the traffic the customers of that ISP is too great for the available bandwidth you can get slowdowns, and scrimping on backhaul is one way ISP can offer really cheap service by over subscribing their backhaul , as they can still advertise good speeds and the service still mainly works , clearly most people will have no idea if their ISP runs their network ‘hot’ or is an ISP that has more than enough bandwidth to cater for the busiest periods .

If you notice it’s more of a problems at peak times ( 4pm till 10pm or whatever) and less problems when less people are likely to be ‘on line’ , try doing something in the early morning for example, it may point to congestion on VF backhaul .

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82025234#Comment_82025234

I suspect it is a WiFi issue myself but the problem is determining at which end is causing the issue, the router or the devices. Can you plug anything into the router for starters via ethernet cable to double check it is an internal issue?

What are these two WiFi devices you're using and which Voda router do you have?

Baldytyke88

I have recently moved from Virgin to Vodafone and I have noticed it's a little slower. My PC is old, I may upgrade that.

WOTSWOT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82025261#Comment_82025261

This makes a lot of sense and implies that Vodafone run their network hot whilst Plusnet do not.

In this case it is better to go full fibre with Plusnet. There should be some way of assessing an ISP on this merit, other than scanning posts to find this information.