Super Fast Broadband speed and connection issues?

[everson]

Hello, I have recently just joined vodafone from plusnet fibre and whilst the change over has been pretty seamless, I have been noticing some issues from in both connection and speed quality.  I have been carrying out tests for approx a week and hoping someone can help with my findings.  Household contains (1x Laptop, 1x Imac, & 2x phones).

My main issues are:

1) Minimum speeds are what they are meant to be on specific devices.

2) Connection issues: Fairly often on my devices main laptop and phones the internet will drop out and have to do the old school trick of turn wifi on and off on the devices to re-connect.

January 25th 2022: 8pm BB Speeds download / upload:

Latop: 42.67 mbs / 14.74 mbs

Imac: 42.28 mbs / 13.54 mbs

Phone: 33.41 mbps / 14.81 mbps : at 7:19pm phone apps were not connecting via wifi had to turn off and use mobile data to have them work for approx 10 minutes but internet was fine on my imac.

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January 26th 2022: 9:45am BB Speeds download / upload:

Latop: 41.01 mbs / 14.16 mbs @ 4pm loss of connections (see pictures

Imac: 41.97 mbs / 14.16 mbs

Phone: 3.34 mbps / 13.48 mbps

January 26th 2022: 7:45pm BB Speeds download / upload:

Latop: 38.9 mbs / 13.44 mbs

Imac: 27.92mbs / 13.47 mbs

Phone: 25.58 mbps / 13.44 mbps

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January 27th 2022: 10.46am BB Speeds download / upload:

Latop: 42.67 mbps / 14.74 mbps at 11:38am Laptop losses connection (2x in short space of time see pics)

Imac: 42.28 mbps / 13.54 mbps

Phone: 5.22 mbps / 12.75 mbps

January 27th 2022: 7:45pm BB Speeds download / upload

Latop: 8.65 mbps / 13.38 mbps 

Imac: 38.50 mbps / 14.43 mbps

Phone: 41.19 mbps / 12.02 mbps

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January 28th 2022: 9:25am BB Speeds download / upload:

Latop: 33.57 mbps / 14.74 mbps at 9:55am laptop losses connection (See pictures)

Imac: 40.86 mbps / 13.74mbps

Phone: 24.18 mbps / 10.34 mbps

January 28th 2022: 8pm BB Speeds download / upload

Latop: 42.58 mbps / 14.82 mbps 

Imac: 38.50 mbps / 14.43 mbps at 8:28pm Imac losses connection

Phone: 2.87 mbps / 11.43 mbps

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January 29th 2022: 12:56pm BB Speeds download / upload:

Latop: 42.23 mbps / 15.28 mbps 

Imac: 42.98 mbps / 14.14 mbps

Phone: 5.65 mbps / 12.15 mbps

January 29th 2022: 7:45pm BB Speeds download / upload

I forgot to take readings.

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January 30th 2022: 10:05am BB Speeds download / upload:

Latop: 41.24 mbps / 14.96 mbps 

Imac: 39.22 mbps / 13.34 mbps

Phone: 5.37 mbps / 11.91 mbps

January 30th 2022: 7:45pm BB Speeds download / upload

Will up date once i have the evening time slot for speed tests

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So as you can see from my findings, pretty much every day, somewhere on some device I am not getting my guaranteed speeds and also i am getting loss of connections.  What i am trying to find out is:

1) Is this a common vodafone broadband customer experience, as I have joined a 2 year contract and if this is my next two years i would rather leave and go back to plusnet as I never had one problem with them and they were supposedly slower.

2) Ive read about the routers for vodafone are not great, is it a hardware issue causing this.

Thanks any help appreciated.

[everson]

March 23rd 2022: 11:55am:  So I had a phone call from Chris form Vodafone my case handler today, who stated I have had consistent internet speed since the 17th feb 2022. I explained the situation i have been facing and mentioned that while at plusnet i never experienced this isse bar maybe 3-4 times over 18 months.  He explained that the routers plusnet use are different to voda. Plusnet is dual band and theirs is single band, so i eblieve in short he is saying, voda routers is just not as good. 

After this he suggested i split my frequencies using the Vodafone app and suggested "try the 2.4 ghz for a few days and if that has any issues try 5ghz" , explaining the pros and cons of each.  This has been suggested by forum members but i wanted it to come from Vodafone before I changed to avoid any invalidating etc.  So I will be trying this for the next few days days and see how i get on, he said if any problems then persist, i will have to look into either getting a booster (which even himself said he has ) or  the dedicated app where i have access to wifi experts (believe this is the vodafone pro) all at an added cost.

[Jayach]

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@everson wrote:

He explained that the routers plusnet use are different to voda. Plusnet is dual band and theirs is single band, so i eblieve in short he is saying, voda routers is just not as good. 

Both PlusNet and Vodafone routers are dual band, I think he was trying to suggest that PlusNet routers were single band (i.e. only 2.4Ghz) so that is why he suggests trying on 2.4Ghz only for awhile.

If it is true that your line has been up since 17th Feb, but you have had drops in that time it seems most strange.

Check your router and see in there have been any cuts, but also see how long the DSL has been connected.

I swapped my routers over 4 days ago, so that is why it hasn't been up long.

[everson]

So not to be that person who does not come back with an update, so i had a call back from vodafone, i believe his name was colin, he told me to try setting my settings / router to 2.4GHz only and see how i get on with that in regards to drop outs and then after a couple weeks if that is still having trouble, try using the 5GHz only.  I tired the 2.4 since then and I have not had any more drop outs, i have had a few times where it is buffering for a few seconds, but compared to the daily drop outs it is day and night.  I realise a lot of forum users suggested this in the first place but again I did not want to change a bunch of setting whilst dealing with voda and have them say I have voided anything due to going rogue on my router settings.  My overall experience, whilst i cannot fault vodafone for their politeness in dealing with me, it was an extremely long procedure and time usage to get to what seems to be quite a basic fix (if your fairly tech savy) , from supposed tech 2 teams and broadband tech experts.  This has been going on for months and the solution was a simple 10 second fix, which i would have expected to have been diagnosed / suggested a lot sooner.  All in all i cannot fault their overall demeanour but i would dread to think customers who have much more difficult / head scratcher issues that require some serious know how and their stories.  So i do believe once my contract is up with voda i will be leaving with lessons learnt and sticking with who i know rather than saving a few pound per month, as the time i lost / frustration greatly outweighs the £3 per month I am saving from leaving Plusnet.

Massive thank you to all who took the time to share their opinions and really helped me understand and the vodafone adviser who got to the bottom of it in the end. It was greatly appreciated. 

[CrimsonLiar]

Yes it's fixed - but you've still been lied to, and it's a bad fix that could lead to issues in the future!

[everson]

That may very well be and if it does, ill be back on here updating and cataloguing my ordeal, but for now it "does the job" and that appears to be the best i will be getting out off vodafone. 

[Jayach]

@CrimsonLiar You have changed your avatar, I thought Keith was back..😎

[Jayach]

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@everson wrote:

March 12th 2022: 11:13pm INTERNET DROP via mobile phones x2 and via laptop, was not reconnecting on its own, had to turn wifi switches off vi each device and back on again

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The fact that they reconnected without having to reboot/reset the router tends to say the problem (whatever it is) was not with the router. However the fact it occurred on multiple devices at the same time says it probably is. Most strange.

[everson]

Yeahh the rebooting router is not what I am experiencing.  When i get a drop, 8 times out of 10 i will run down to check router and lights ae always fine.  I did read about their routers being poor, think i saw on the forum some where, but i know i saw it in a Vodafone trust pilot review, of someone mentioning, they are using their plusnet router with their vodafone broadband.  Because although my router seems fine, maybe its fine is just sub par compared to other manufacturers.  But either way, i am going to allow them to do their tests first before i change and swap anything / settings purely so there can be no claims of voiding this or invalidating that.

[everson]

Feb 17th 2022: at 10:17am i received a text message from Mark from the Vodafone 2nd Linee HBB support department, stating he will try call me in a moment, i was unable to answer due to work but then was left another text with a contact number and 6 digit reference (000802), to call back in own time.  at 10:46am i called back, entered in my reference which got me through to someone, who then asked me for the reference but said it was incorrect and it should start with a 9, so had to go through the manual way to confirm details.  He looked at my ticket, rand some tests on the line, then tested the router (side note as i was on phone to him, my wifi went down again, but assuming this was caused by him) and stated wifi to and from the router is showing fine, but there was one issue of it being on old software.  He had me reset router via the reset button on back and had me wait 10 mins. After this he said it can take 24 hours to fully update and he will have someone check the line for me tomorrow and if any issues they will call.  I asked if the issues persist after 24 hours, how do i get back in touch to the point again so i do not have to explain everything all over again and go through the same tests (i have had to do the numerous times).  He stated he has left notes on my account so any colleague can pick up from where we are.  So as it stands just seeing how we get on again.

[everson]

Feb 17th 2022: 12:18pm Had another internet drop, but this time at the router it, the lights had turned off and the router was rebooting clearly, so believe this is the software update from earlier taking affect.  All settings have been reset but have put them back to what was advised by Vodafone support: 2.4GHZ at 20/40 & 5.GHZ at 20/40/80