Vodafone Connect Router issues

[abates85]

My vodafone broadband was installed today and setting up my home ive come across the following issues.

1. My Laptop connected on the Wifi 5Ghz channel cannot see my Server connected by LAN Cable, if i disable the 5ghz band i can see the server fine but it reduces the functionality of the router.

2. I cannot connect to a device via port forwarding using the external router IP from within the network. however i can access the device from outside the network.

3. My fibre broadband speed is significantly slower (28MB) than the service i was recieving with sky (40MB) even thoughi was promised full (76MB) speed

has anyone else had these issues and can provide assistance ?

[sirvelo]

If you're still within your 30-days cooling off, and you really need to use your own router... return the VF one and bail. That was my solution, quite painless really.

[mw8523]

I've gone past the 30 days but luckily Vodafone increased the price which gives me the option to bail out without paying fees 🙂

Normally, I would be gutted about this price rice. Really unfair that companies like Vodafone can just change the price whilst you as the customer signed up for a locked-in period which in theory should give you a fixed price. I know it's in the small print but I still think it's unfair. Anyway, in my case, I welcome the price rise in a weird way as it allows me to get out of the contract ...

[Crashmoe]

Thanks am considering this

[florca]

Hi - Maybe a lone voice here, but after a bit of a rocky start I'm finding the overall Vodafone Broadband service pretty good, and certainly good value for money given that it's one of the lowest cost services from a mainstream provider.  It's certainly not an Andrews & Arnold or Zen, with really excellent, technically astute support but neither are you paying their prices. I've come from PlusNet (probably the nearest equivalent provider, in reality a bargain-basement offering from BT) and the Vodafone proposition in my limited experience is generally better.

The biggest single focus of complaint seems to be the Vodafone Connect Huawei modem / router / AP. In the past VF had a completely bonkers policy of not releasing the PPPoE Login credentials to users, which meant that users whose needs stretch beyond the limited capabilities of this router were reduced to vocal and abusive fury.

Now that you can get credentials you at least have the option of using your own kit, leveling the playing field with other ISPs. Judging by lots of comments in other ISP forums I suspect that the VF Connect Router is actually not that much worse than those provided by other mainstream ISPs (Virgin / Sky / TalkTalk etc.), and having tried out my old modem / router combination I've now gone back to using the VF router, but with everything possible (UPnP, Content Filtering, Guest WiFi) disabled or turned off, in which mode it's been stable with no connection drops, full IP visibility between Ethernet LAN and WiFi (an issue with older firmware) and a decent speed near the limit of my FTTC line (quite a way from the Openreach PCP cabinet, so not stunning but no worse than other modems manage and better than my neighbours on other ISPs).

So... Obviously up to you if you decide to jump ship, but I'm not at all convinced that VF are worse than other mainstream ISPs and some of the strongly negative feedback on this forum doesn't reflect my own experience.

[mw8523]

Indeed, I agree the the broadband service itself is good but let down by the router.

I came from BT using their Infinity 1 (up to 52 Mb/s) and switched to Vodafone's Fibre 38 (up to 38 Mb/s). I'm using a SamKnows White Box to monitor performace and can see the download rates are better with Vodafone compared to BT:

The main reason for switching from BT to Vodafone was price. But when you have to buy a separate router because the Vodafone supplied one is not acceptale, then the Vodafone cost doesn't look that attractive any more.

I know the BT router (I was using Home Hub 5) is not perfect but the Vodafone router lacks the following, for me essential, features:

1. WiFi signal in 5 GHz is weaker
2. unable to access devices on LAN from WiFi connected devices
3. no QoS
4. BBC iPlayer and Netflix issues

#1 is not that big an issue as I have a wired access point to extend WiFi coverage.

#2 is a big problem as I have lots of devices on my LAN and I frequently access some of them from my iPhone whilst connected to my WiFi, e.g. a Raspberry Pi, my laptop, my desktop, some IoT devices

#3 is also a big problem as I'm working from home using a Cisco IP desk phone; with the Vodafone Connect router my desk phone drops its connection if my desktop loads large amounts of data to my cloud storage; this never was an issue with BT; the loss of connection also happens when I use other VoIP service like Skype or Sipgate

#4 when watching TV on BBC iPlayer it frequently times out; or when watching Netflix we get audio drop outs every so often; this was never an issue with BT.

So whilst looking at the download speed graph above, it gives you the impression that Vodafone is faster. But the effects of #3 and #4 can be seen in the latency and packet loss graphs:

[florca]

Removed duplicate post...

[WillVXR]

@florca.

The router is definitely supplied broken, so please do not defend Vodafone or their router. Its a dire situation when you pay for a service (including supplied modem/router) and THEN have to buy a working router/modem in order to achieve full wired/wireless connectivity.

[sirvelo]

Hi @florca / anyone,
Is this true? Can you just ask for and get the PPPoE credentials now, no drama? I tried and tried (and tried) to get them, even an email to their CEO, all met with absolute refusal, so had to leave. That was the *only* reason I left (within 30 days). If they are definitely now allowing this, so you can defintely use your own router, then I might consider switching back.

[florca]

Removed duplicate post...

[florca]

Removed duplicate post...