Mobile Broadband - Central London 3G Problems

[asimnali]

Dear Vodafone,

I have been having problems with connecting to 3G mobile broadband via the black pro dongle. It has been on and off since my contract started in October 2009 where there would be 7-10 days of only GPRS in every month.

For the last 3-4 weeks, I have not been able to connect to 3G at all. It is always GPRS/Edge but web pages won't load up even after refreshing and waiting upto 5 mins. I got fed up and since my black pro dongle was still under warranty I got a replacement from vodafone. It has been switched to a white dongle (K4505) which I hope is still the pro version but just a different colour (as the non-pro version was previously white). There has been no change in connectivity and I still only receive GPRS. In fact, the new dongle crashes my computer (macbook pro leopard) and the screen goes grey asking to hold the restart button - see other threads as many people are having this problem with no current solution to the crashes).

If anything, the connectivity has got worse and now the connection self disconnects. When I try to reconnect, further error messages appear (I can't remember what they say) and the only way to resolve this is to restart the computer.

Now I know that your systems show that my postcode area (SE1 1XY London Bridge/Waterloo) reports no problems at all. I travel around London with my laptop and have never been able to connect to 3G anywhere in this time period. Indeed several people on google searches have reported the exact same problem in central London - all of whom have been told that their postcode shows no 3G problems whatsoever and it doesn't seem to be pan-London problem as nobody else has reported it. However, it is clear several people are reporting it but not enough for it to trigger an investigation. I have spoken to my colleagues that use Vodafone dongles in the SE1 7EH (Westminster) area and they all have the same problem but haven't reported it. This might explain why Vodafone has few reports of the problem.

When I called Customer Services several times (not from a Vodafone therefore very expensive 0870 calls) I was finally told that there definitely seems to be a problem across central London 3G with Vodafone despite postcode searches reporting no problems but the solution to the problem is unknown nor is the time frame. That was 2 weeks ago.

I am now very frustrated with it and more so with the lack of communication, acknowledgment from Vodafone that indeed there is a problem with London and 3G and some explanation of resolution. Also, as I have been paying my contract, I have now paid for a month of no 3G connection. Is this going to be refunded for service interruption and is there any update on the issues I have mentioned?

Sorry for starting a new thread on this topic - the other threads either appear to be deleted or I can't find them anymore.

Many thanks for any help you can give.

[asimnali]

I am not sure why the title of this thread had been changed by the moderators but I just want to clarify in case the title is now misleading. The problem may occur for me on my macbook but my colleagues who have the problems are not macbook. It is not a computer-specific issue but more a vodafone 3G broadband specific issue.

Thanks.

[Retired-Reidar]

Hello Ali and Welcome to the eForum.

Firstly I've changed the topic title to more accurately represent the issues you are experiencing.

The best way to investigate this is to aquire your account details and take a closer look at your number, I'm sending an email out to you for this purpose. As soon as you recieve it please reply so we can help.

Thanks

Reidar

eForum Team

[Akthar]

Hello

I am having the same problem using my HTC Desire.

I have setup my network mode to auto, so this will select the network that is currently available. When I try to browse the internet using 3G, this keeps reverting back to using the 2G connection.

I then selected the 2G mode only, and tried connecting, which worked, but very slowly. Web pages take so long to load that there isn't any point in trying to use the internet on my phone, which is a shame.

I am using in the EC3N area in Central London. However, when poping into east London for lunch (E1 area I think) the 3G worked ok, slightly slow, but worked.

I mainly use this in the Central London area though, so what am I supposed to do? I rang the Vodafone helpdesk who told me that there is congestion on the network due to the amount of users in Central London, but found no problems for the equipment in the area, they then asked me to manually select another network (O2, Orange etc.) then select Vodafone, then put it back onto automatic selection and then hard reset the phone. This was supposed to give me priority on the network, but did not work.

I am really frustrated here and don't know what to do. I am paying £35 a month for a service that cannot be delivered by Vodafone. If there is congestion then please get more masts up to meet the needs of all 3G Vodafone users.

My colleague uses O2 for his iPhone and has no problems loading web pages. And I am very munch thinking of jumping over to them for a contract now.

[Retired-Jon_V]

Hi Akthar,

I'm going to see if we can get a deeper look at what's going on in this area for you, as it is now obviously becoming a larger problem than we first anticipated.

As soon as I have anything to report, I'll post back

Jon

eForum Team

[asimnali]

Hi Reidar,

Thanks for helping.

I've not received the email you sent. I've also checked my spam box. Please can you resend me it.
I have also received an email from Vodafone in reply to me reporting the problem a while ago. The email states that the problem has been resolved on 28th May.

This is partially true. I now occasionally pick up 3G (all be it poor signal) if I move my laptop to the window sill, however, I never had to do this before the problems began and it is not practical to do sit on the window sill either. I am not sure if there has been a reduction in masts in the area as the signal appears to be significantly reduced.

Thanks.

Hello Ali and Welcome to the eForum.

Firstly I've changed the topic title to more accurately represent the issues you are experiencing.

The best way to investigate this is to aquire your account details and take a closer look at your number, I'm sending an email out to you for this purpose. As soon as you recieve it please reply so we can help.

Thanks

Reidar

eForum Team

[Retired-David_V]

Hi Ali,

I will make sure that the email is sent out again for you.

Sorry about any inconvenience caused.

David
eForum Team

[asimnali]

Hi David,

Unfortunately, I have still not received the email in both my inbox and spam box.

Also, do you know why despite the problem being apparently resolved, I still cannot pick up 3G anymore. When it was resolved, I could only just pick up a weak 3G signal by sitting on my window sill. Now even this doesnt work. Before all the problems, I used to be able to pick up 3G at almost full signal anywhere in the flat. Its certainly proves that the 3G network has not been fully restored and I am now in month two of no 3G signal. I am so fed up with it all and I'm trying to be patient with it, however, going on 2 months?

[pmrnw9]

I've been having problems over the last few weeks in E14 2BE. I used to get good 3G coverage even indoors, but now anything more than 2G seems to be very difficult to get once on the estate, even outdoors.

This could be the same problem, I guess.

[Retired-Jon_V]

I've been having problems over the last few weeks in E14 2BE. I used to get good 3G coverage even indoors, but now anything more than 2G seems to be very difficult to get once on the estate, even outdoors.

This could be the same problem, I guess.

Hi Phil,

In your area, the serving site is 31724, which is currently offline for both 2G and 3G. We have engineers working on the problem, under case reference 2054896, which you can quote at any time for an update

Jon

eForum Team