Constant Drop Outs

[kerryw92]

Unsure if others have experienced the same issue as I have however I would like to put this here to warn other potential customers in the future.

My broadband was years ago on ADSL, slow but stable. When upgraded to FTTC back in 2018 with another provider drop outs started happening daily, yet usually early morning so didnt bother me too much.

Moved provider, same issue, line test showed an issue and openreach resolved within a week.

Moved from them to Vodafone, drop out issue back and considerably worse.

I have so far had Openreach out 5 times in the last 18 months, each time confirming its an issue at the exchange not my home, whatever they do seems to "fix" the issue for at most a week, then the connection drops come back other than once when it remained completely down for 48hours.

My broadband now drops out a good 10 times per day, Vodafone live chat goes in a loop when trying to explain to agents its not a wifi issue its a connection issue as it also knocks off ethernet devices.

Back in January I was sent an email and text explaining I would be offered compensation for the continued issues or have 30 days to leave my contract early without penalty. Day 25 I asked on live chat what the compensation amount was and they let me know it was being calculated to be taken off my next bill and to wait rather than leave.

Surprisingly my next bill was not discounted, no compensation paid, coincidentally the 30 day period to leave had then also passed.

Contacted live chat again regarding this, they would not offer compensation or allow me to leave the contract anymore without penalty and stated the entire communication was a mistake! I enquired if a 4g backup device could be provided as a gesture of goodwill to overcome the drop outs and sub par service however they would not budge.

Various firmware updates have been put onto my router to try resolve this, each time I am told to wait 48 hours for this to stabalize, I presume to close the case as it always comes back.

Fresh off live chat again today, initially blaming my TV for wifi issues however then reminded once more its affecting ethernet. This is now with the "Tech 2 team" to apparently resolve within 28hours, I am not convinced as this happened every single time.

Safe to say I have given up with Vodafones ability to resolve the broadband issue, glad to leave in 4 months and will gladly take all my business mobile contracts away with it.

[Ruma]

Hiya 

I've been experiencing similar issues with my internet connection. Despite having a plan with 4G backup, it never kicks in when needed. I've had engineers visit my home twice; the last one replaced the line and socket. However, just two days later, the connection problems started again. Frustrated, I demanded an alternative router to try, giving them the choice to either send it or provide information on how I could terminate my contract.

Every time I contact support, they run the same tests and even told me I need to restart my router daily for updates. The support has been appalling. The most progress I've made was by emailing the CEO, which prompted the complaints team to address my issue within four hours. I'm only a few months into a two-year contract, but if the new router doesn't resolve the problem, I will consider sending another email to the CEO.

[kerryw92]

If it helps my drop out issue finally got resolved on the latest BT Openreach visit. I explained to him the issues and what was done previously to try and fix it, he checked both pairs of cabling coming into the house and although they tested fine he wasnt completely happy with the results.

In the end he did whats called a "Lift & Shift" whereby my connections in the local exchange were removed and re-terminated into a different supply entirely, since doing this the constant drop out problem has finally been resolved. To be fair to him he stayed at the property doing a lot of testing (Over 2 hours worth) whereas other engineers were in & out within 30 minutes and never resolved the problem.

Still not staying with Vodafone when my contract is up in August, support is dire, when you get through to them it goes in a loop of "We will update your router, wait 2 days" or "Its your wifi" despite explaining the problem also occuring on wired devices.

[Ruma]

Thanks for that. I will take a screenshot of that incase the new hub is not solving the issue. I did have a new socket installed and a new wire from the outside box to the socket. Cross fingers. It is a shame that one as a customer is not taken seriously and as you say they try the same steps over and over again. It should be all in the case notes. I wish you a stable broadband with your new provider.