1st day and not impressed.

[daveNOS]

So today is my first day as a Vodafone Fibre customer and I'm not impressed, I've moved from Plusnet and the difference in wireless performance is unacceptable, with Plusnet I used a BT home hub 5 and got a constant speed via wireless of 33mbps, with Vodafone I cannot get above 15mbps(sync reports 38.1mbps) even when less than 6 feet from the router and upload speed is just 2.5mbps(sync reports 8mbps).

I've changed channels with no success and there are very few other networks around me to cause interference, and given that in the previous 23 months I've never had such low speeds I can only conclude it's the router that's either faulty or just really poor quality.

I have also tried registering with my Vodafone but I never get the text sent to my home phone an I also haven't got the answering service on my landline that I did request when I ordered so all in a very disappointing start to the contract.

[daveNOS]

 I thought i would update my thread now i've had time to speak to the broadband team and im really not impressed.

Its been 26 days since my service was activated and at no point during that time have i had a throughput speed of over 15mbps from either a wired or wireless device, my sync speed has remained pretty stable at 37.8mbps.

I spoke to the broadband team earlier and they where only interested on blaming it on wireless interference or my devices, this despite me telling them all devices work fine at higher speeds on other connections and did so on my previous plusnet connection, i also explained that i get almost identical results when using other 3rd party routers or if i use my old HH5 as an access point.

The agent i spoke to wasn't bothered that my throughput had dropped by more than 60% from what i had with plusnet they just kept quoting "we dont guarantee throughput speeds", i will now be putting in a formal complaint about the service and will be drafting up a report to the ombudsman should a resolution not be found. 

[TJ]

@daveNOS We're really sorry to hear you're still not getting the speeds you're expecting. We'll be more than happy to take a look into this for you. 

I've sent you another private message with details on how to get in touch so we can investigate this further for you.

[daveNOS]

@TJ I apprecate your limited in what you can do via the forum but the PM of how to get in contact is pretty much pointless as the support team don't listen.

I have contacted them twice now regarding the issues with my throughput and both times they blamed it on wireless interference even when i mentioned it happens on wired connections aswell(explain that one), it was then blamed on my devices all of which work perfectly well on other connections and did on my previous Plusnet connection.

The service has been abysmal from day one, and to top it off i called yesterday to get voicemail added to my landline(i requested it when i moved service but that was clearly ignored)and was told it can take upto 24 hours to start working but is usually done within an hour, and here i am almost 32 hours later and its still not working.

[alexGGG]

They dont guarantee anything mate. When they cant solve problems and you comment about something, all they say is that they dont guarantee it. Dont guarantee wifi speeds dont guarantee throuput speed. What the ++++ do you guarantee then? This day and age 90% of people I believe use mainly wifi anyway, especially at home when you connect your phones, ipads and laptops you dont use ethernet do you. I do understand that ethernet is a more stable connection and we can expect to get a slightly better speed but no one can tell me that I should get 4mb on wifi 2,4ghz and 50mb on 5ghz and a mix of speed on ethernet. When I told them about this, they did not care. I use both my laptops who do not have wifi ac 5ghz connection and my tv to connect on the 2.4ghz frequency and I get speeds as low as 0.5mb. Told them that the router might be faulty and they said they do not guarantee wifi speeds, sorry.

I've already got the report sent to the ombudsman and waiting for them now. VF Customer service team is by far the worst i've seen and experienced.

[daveNOS]

@alexGGG I know they don't guarantee throughput or wireless i don't think any providers does(well certainly not wireless anyway), and i know its the usual fall back response adn it infuriates me and obviously others aswell.

The part of my conversations that really gets me mad is that even when i told them it was effecting wired connections they still blamed it on wireless interference, this leaves me questioning if the support team actually have any knowledge on the matter or if they are just ignoring me and going by whats on the script.

My issue is not wireless related and is not down to a faulty router, i can say this with 100% confidence as i've tried 2 non Vodafone routers and my previous HH5 as an access point(this gave me 33mbps+ when with Plusnet)with wireless on the vodafone router turned off, all results where below 11mbps even from a wired connection when my sync is 37.4mbps.

On another note its now 70 hours since i called to add the 1571 service to my landline and its still not active, this despite being told it can take upto 24 hours but is usally working within 1 hour, yet more fantastic service from Vodafone

[MHatfull]

We had them blame our wired performance on wireless channels and told us that we must only use one device at a time. 

We've had all sorts of crazynes spewed at us, sometimes from drunk employees. It's not good, I think I'm going to go to the ombudsman tomorrow, it's insane how much they don't want to help you.

[nimbus75]

To me this sounds like the Vodafone network is overloaded and simply isn't scaling to the demands of users. This would be the only explanation for low throughput and dropped packets, especially when using a wired ethernet connection.

Given the offers on Vodafone broadband at the moment I suspect there are a lot of additional users coming in. If the Vodafone network isn't being scaled up to meet the demand I suspect there will shortly be a lot of very unhappy customers.

It's a worry that the support team are telling customers "wireless interference" is causing problems, even for ethernet connections. That sounds like something they're being told to say to fob off less "tech savvy" customers.

I was considering taking advantage of the 18 month contract offer and moving to Vodafone as I'm fed up with BT Techincal support. However, the issues raised in this thread are making me reconsider.

[daveNOS]

@nimbus75 It pains me to say this due to issues i've had with BT residential in the past but stay with them, Vodafone are far worse for customer support.

After calling on Friday to get the 1571 service acitvated(it should have been done on the 8th December when i switched) i was told it can take upto 24 hours before its active but its usually done within 1 hour, that never happened so i've just called again and spoke to a lady called May who informed me that it can take upto 3 working days for it to be activated by Openreach, so it looks like the person i spoke to on Friday told me a complete lie.

I've held off putting in a formal complaint but i am going to now as its just getting beyond a joke

[nimbus75]

@daveNOS It seems all broadband providers are able to get away with terrible customer service. Techincal support in particular seem to get away with making up excuses, comitting to doing things and never doing so. I was recently told I had to wait 20 minutes while the technical guy cleared some congestion from my line. No idea what he did. Line stats didn't change after, so assumed he went off to make a coffee and did nothing.

So for me, I know my line is in about as good a place as it's ever going to get, so the customer service side wasn't a deal breaker. I thought that provided I could use my own router, and that the connection speed was as advertised then I would accept it. However, there seems to be a growing number of threads on the forum where people are getting the sync speed to the FTTC cabinet they expect, but the throughput is terrible. Along with threads reporting terrible packet loss. All signs to me the Vodafone network can't cope, and it's only going to get worse as new users come onboard as part of the January deal.

BT won't even come close to matching the Vodafone deal, so I'm probably now looking to move to Plusnet. They're offering a decent deal that's close enough to the Vodafone offer.

[sinong]

Plusnet +1

EE also very good(their router is very good I now use it as an AP bridging to my cisco 887va router). However the cost is expensive. Now both belong to BT.

My colleague is using talktalk seems not too bad but I won't touch it because of its bad reputation. Have been using vodafone for more than 10 years I would say the mobile is the best in UK but broadband needs improvement.