Vodafone ridiculously slow

Spir4 · 19 February 2019 at 5:55PM

Hi everyone,

I've been with Vodafone for my broadband for almost a year now. Since the day I've joined I've been having speed issues during peak hours. It's weird because you can almost set your clock on it. From 6pm until midnight the speed drops from about 60mbit/s to 2mbit/s (yes 2!!). During the day, absolutely no issues. It's only during that evening period. I've been on the phone with Vodafone almost on a weekly base. They've changed every component in my house that is changeable, and I've tried every workaround they've suggested. Nothing works. There's probably a bottleneck somewhere in the street, but they're unable (or unwilling) to solve this.
The annoying part is that, if they do a speed test from their HQ, all is fine. I'm doing my speed tests with speedtest.net, but just trying to stream videos or browse the internet confirms the slow speed.
So because their speed tests show no issue, they won't let me cancel the contract for free.

Should I give up and just wait until my contract finishes (almost a year to go), should I keep bugging them, or is there anything else I can do?

Thanks!

[Deleted User] · 19 February 2019 at 6:09PM

Are you using a wired connection or WiFi? If WiFi then try a wired connection. Have they tested at peak times or only during the day?

iniltous · 19 February 2019 at 6:47PM

Spir4 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I've been with Vodafone for my broadband for almost a year now. Since the day I've joined I've been having speed issues during peak hours. It's weird because you can almost set your clock on it. From 6pm until midnight the speed drops from about 60mbit/s to 2mbit/s (yes 2!!). During the day, absolutely no issues. It's only during that evening period. I've been on the phone with Vodafone almost on a weekly base. They've changed every component in my house that is changeable, and I've tried every workaround they've suggested. Nothing works. There's probably a bottleneck somewhere in the street, but they're unable (or unwilling) to solve this.
The annoying part is that, if they do a speed test from their HQ, all is fine. I'm doing my speed tests with speedtest.net, but just trying to stream videos or browse the internet confirms the slow speed.
So because their speed tests show no issue, they won't let me cancel the contract for free.

Should I give up and just wait until my contract finishes (almost a year to go), should I keep bugging them, or is there anything else I can do?

Thanks!

There almost certainly is a 'bottle neck' , but unlikely to be 'in the street', you don't say if it's FTTC or ADSL broadband.
Your provider does seem to have backhaul capacity issues ( judging by your and other VF customers comments about peak time issues)
Some VF customers have been released from any minimum term requirement, when the ISP agrees that there is an issue but rather than address the issue they just offer the customer a penalty free release.
I think it's the case that some providers ( presumably to keep their retail price 'competitive' ) save money by purchasing insufficient backhaul capacity to meet their customers collective peak time demands, presumably hoping that most of them will overlook that as they are getting a cheap deal

rash.m2k · 20 February 2019 at 1:59PM

you need to have a look at the vodafone forums, plenty of people saying the same thing, I was tempted to join them - despite the negative comments, even though it's cheap (and I usually try to get the cheapest possible broadband!) I still wasn't convinced.

esuhl · 20 February 2019 at 10:23PM

I've very quickly skimmed this article, but if your speed is dropping so substantially, I'd look at getting out of your contract without penalty:

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/new/complain/useful_consumer_rules_and_laws.php#1

esuhl · 20 February 2019 at 10:27PM

rash.m2k wrote: »

you need to have a look at the vodafone forums, plenty of people saying the same thing, I was tempted to join them - despite the negative comments, even though it's cheap (and I usually try to get the cheapest possible broadband!) I still wasn't convinced.

I tried switching to Vodafone, and the wanted to disconnect my line for 10 days during the switch-over. I spent HOURS on the phone. No one ever returned my calls, no one cared about the problem. It was a nightmare... and I hadn't even switched to them. I had to pull the plug in the end. They wouldn't even help with that, and I had to get BT to invoke the procedure normally used for fraudulent line-slamming to regain control of the line and use a different ISP instead. Grrrrrrrrrrr!

Spir4 · 20 February 2019 at 11:17PM

I've both tried wired and wifi, doesn't matter. They've said they've tested it both at peak times and during the day.

I didn't realise there were so many people with the same issue.
I would love to get out of my contract penalty free, but the issue is that according to Vodafone there is no problem!
I didn't join them because they were the cheapest (£25 for the super fast option), but because they had that speed guarantee. They definitely weren't the cheapest. If they would have been, I would just let it be until my contract ends. But I'm paying £25 a month for speeds that are slower than the cheapest provider on the market.

Run80 · 22 February 2019 at 2:26PM

I'm having the same issue, Vodafone say I'm getting 35-40Mbps, but testmy.net is saying 3-4Mbps which would explain why I can't watch HD. Surprisingly, in another's house with Sky broadband (not fibre), testmy.net reads higher than my house, and I can watch HD.

JJ_Egan · 22 February 2019 at 2:54PM

Try BT wholesale speed test .

http://www.speedtest.btwholesale.com/

Run test then run diagnostics and look at

IP Profile for your line .

Vodafone ridiculously slow

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