Vodafone Mobile Broadband - Slow Speed & Poor Signal Issues

[hugit4249]

Last weekend I signed up to Vodafone wireless broadband and in return got a laptop! Coverage in my area is supposed to be good but when I got home I found that I could only get a weak signal in one place in my house which kind of defeats the purpose of a laptop and wireless broadband. The best reception I get is just one bar on the signal strength meter and so the internet is dead slow. I have had to go back to my old desktop with Orange broadband (via a Livebox) to browse the web. Does anybody know if there is anything I can set up in my house to increase the Vodafone signal strength? I am not a technology buff so simple answers would be most appreciated.
Many thanks!

[Retired-Helen]

Hi hugit4249

A massive welcome from all of us here at the eForum team.

I've just had a look at the 3G coverage on our map, and it does seem that your road is on the edge of an excellent indoor coverage area, and this could be the reason that you're not experiencing the best signal strength.

It may be worth trying the connection outside, this will let you know if it's the area (the connection would be the same) or if it's the building (you see an improvement).

You could also look at our Vodafone Sure Signal which would improve your coverage by boosting the existing signal.

If you had the device from our online store or over the phone, you can return it to us within 7 days if you're not completely happy.

Let me know how you get on,


Helen

eForum Team

[pylon3]

Hi Helen

2 weeks ago I signed up for vodafone mobile broadband to enable my wife to update her client notes on line between client sessions in her treatment rooms at Harley Street, Central London.

To connect using the free Samsung laptop requires her to stand by the window. The connection speed is so slow that she does not have time to update her notes in the 10 minutes window. her notes would be approx 30 seconds of typing on line once connected but it just doesn't happen because of the totally unacceptable speed of the connection, provided that it doesn't drop the connection in the meantime.

Would a dongle help?

We called Vodafone who offered a £5 discount per month - not really the solution we are seeking!

Help

Thanks

Hi hugit4249

A massive welcome from all of us here at the eForum team.

I've just had a look at the 3G coverage on our map, and it does seem that your road is on the edge of an excellent indoor coverage area, and this could be the reason that you're not experiencing the best signal strength.

It may be worth trying the connection outside, this will let you know if it's the area (the connection would be the same) or if it's the building (you see an improvement).

You could also look at our Vodafone Sure Signal which would improve your coverage by boosting the existing signal.

If you had the device from our online store or over the phone, you can return it to us within 7 days if you're not completely happy.

Let me know how you get on,


Helen

eForum Team

[bacupian]

Hi Helen

2 weeks ago I signed up for vodafone mobile broadband to enable my wife to update her client notes on line between client sessions in her treatment rooms at Harley Street, Central London.

To connect using the free Samsung laptop requires her to stand by the window. The connection speed is so slow that she does not have time to update her notes in the 10 minutes window. her notes would be approx 30 seconds of typing on line once connected but it just doesn't happen because of the totally unacceptable speed of the connection, provided that it doesn't drop the connection in the meantime.

Would a dongle help?

I used dongle with a 2m usb cable but the increase in signal level was only marginal so I purchased a passive
aerial which is another extra to carry around and gives a faster connection. There are repeaters which may be
a better solution for an internal modem, and aerial for that could be on wall outside window. There seem to be
a few uk suppliers of different types that have been mentioned in the forum but sorry I don't have any links
handy.

David

[Retired-Wayne]

Hi Helen

2 weeks ago I signed up for vodafone mobile broadband to enable my wife to update her client notes on line between client sessions in her treatment rooms at Harley Street, Central London.

To connect using the free Samsung laptop requires her to stand by the window. The connection speed is so slow that she does not have time to update her notes in the 10 minutes window. her notes would be approx 30 seconds of typing on line once connected but it just doesn't happen because of the totally unacceptable speed of the connection, provided that it doesn't drop the connection in the meantime.

Would a dongle help?

We called Vodafone who offered a £5 discount per month - not really the solution we are seeking!

Help

Thanks

Hi pylon3

I'm sorry to hear that you are still having problems here.

As Helen mentioned, if signal wasn't absolutely as you would want then you did have the option to return the device within the 7days if you got the device over the phone or off our Website. If you got it from a Vodafone Store I suggest popping back into the store to see if they can do anything for you.

Other options are what has been mentioned by bacupian should help you with getting better coverage.

Could you let us know your full postcode and we'll take a look at the area for you to see if there are any issues in that particular area.

Please let us know how you get on and if you have any more questions we'll be happy to help you further

Thanks

Wayne

eForum Team

[SurfSilver]

Last weekend I signed up to Vodafone wireless broadband and in return got a laptop! Coverage in my area is supposed to be good but when I got home I found that I could only get a weak signal in one place in my house which kind of defeats the purpose of a laptop and wireless broadband. The best reception I get is just one bar on the signal strength meter and so the internet is dead slow. I have had to go back to my old desktop with Orange broadband (via a Livebox) to browse the web. Does anybody know if there is anything I can set up in my house to increase the Vodafone signal strength? I am not a technology buff so simple answers would be most appreciated.
Many thanks!

I do wonder whether the relationship between signal strength and connection speed isn't sometimes a bit of a red herring, or at least is not fully understood. On my mobile broadband connection, I only ever get one or two bars' worth of signal strength but I nevertheless get connection speeds which frequently approach what I understand to be the theoretical maximum for the base station I'm usually connected to. I believe that the base station in question is a three-point-something Mbps cell, with a certain amount of that reserved for upstream traffic, and I often see download speeds well in excess of 2Mbps, poor signal strength notwithstanding.