No 3g Sigal In Blackpool Using K3565

[FoximusPrime]

I have a K3565 dongle since around the end of June. I've never had any problems connecting with 3G until 1-2 weeks ago. Here's what i've tried so far...

...followed the instructions in the 'start up and go with mobile broadband' booklet.
...called Vodafone Customer Care, but have no landline so had to use my mobile which is on a different network. The call cost more than £7.50 before I had to ask the guy to call me back as my credit was about to run out! The advisor ran through the basics shown in the booklet, checked my area coverage which apparently has a very strong signal and blanket coverage. Then he ran through a load of computer settings to make sure my laptop settings were ok. Finally, he suggested I take my dongle to the Vodafone shop with my lapptop if possible. He said he would log down what we had already tried so the staff at the shop could see what we had tried and what he suggests. He told me to go to the shop so they could test if it was a modem issue using their own computer and then they could get it working on my laptop while I was there.
...went to Vodafone shop. As I began talking to someone another member of staff said something to him about 'the 3G being down' and he mumbled something to me that I wasn't the first customer to come in asking about connection. He looked at his system to see what the previous advisor had said, shook his head and said 'that's no much help' but I did see on the screen that it said something like 'settings ok suggest modem problem'. The man then got my dongle, saw it's a bit bent and immediately diagnosed that this was likely to be causing the problem. However, this had happened about a week after getting it and i'd been using since then with no problems. He then tried it in my laptop, saw it didn't connect, shook his head again and said he could try and send it for repairs. When I asked him about checking the dongle in another computer, again he shook his head and said it would make no difference. I would therefore have to wait a week while he sends it away.
...can't do without internet for a week so I bought another dongle, which will come in handy anyway for my son. Got home, decided to try it in my desktop instead. Finally got it working but would only detect a GPRS signal. Tried in my laptop, but still on GPRS, even when I tried it nearly hanging out of an upstairs window! This GPRS connection is stupidly slow, hardly the 'fast reliable connection' I was hoping for.
...tried several times to e-mail Vodafone but each time got an error message, which annoyed me because of how long it took me to get that far! I checked the 3G coverage map on your website which showed an excellent signal. I looked through the vodafone e-forums and found that there are loads of customers all over the UK with connection issues, all being told the same thing: area signal fine, looking into further faults blah blah...

These connection problems seem to go on for weeks, so you can imagine I now feel like a proper mug for buying another dongle! If i'd had more sense i'd have gone with a different network, which is looking more and more likely. The connection spped I have at the minute resembles the speed I experienced on my brothers computer - and that was over ten years ago. For example, according to the VMC window I have been connected for 4hrs 50mins and transferred a grand total of 57.85MB data.

Please help!!

[Retired-Dave]

Hi FoximusPrime, welcome to the eForum!

I'm happy to see what I can find out for you here.

With site issues, many do get resolved quickly, however some can take longer due to issues such as site access or the nature of the problem itself. Whatever the case, we do work to resolve all issues as quickly as we are able to.

On checking the systems we aren't showing any issue on your local cell, however I'm happy to look to pinpoint the cause for you.

As a simple test to help ascertain where the problem may lie, can you confirm if you get the same problem in other locations? As you say, the 3G signal shows you should usually have good coverage in your area with Indoor-strength signal (except for one tiny spot just to the North which has outdoor strength signal only) - if you get the issue in multiple locations over a wider area, this suggests that the local signal is not the cause, however if the speeds are up to scratch in orther areas, then we can look to raise this as a ticket for further investigation for you.

Also, are you able to test the dongle in another computer or laptop, as well as in a differennt USB port on the computer you are currently using? There are three main components involved - the network, the dongle and the computer - so whilst the first test helps to pin down if the network is the cause, this also helps to rule out another possibility. Do either of these tests result in a change in the speeds?

Please get back to us and let us know so we can look to sort this for you.

DaveN

eForum Team