Upggrade to fibre broadband has caused loss of my landline phones and Vodafone does nothing to help

[ojos]

I have had Vodafone broadband for several years. This included a contract for my landline phones which I have many around the house connected to phone sockets in different rooms. It was all working 100% fine until the fibre upgrade.

When I spoke to Vodafone support a few months ago about my interest in upgrading to fibre they said that, by default, landline phones would then needed to be connected directly to the router. I explained that my phone plugs around the house had been installed by BT and when I joined Vodafone broadband engineers it took them several days to check and re-cable my landline sockets to ensure they all continued to work. Vodafone said that yes, they were aware that some customers needed to continue to use all landline phone sockets. This could be solved by fitting an adaptor to the router. They said a note was made against my account to ensure this will happen upon my upgrade to fibre.

My broadband upgrade was booked for the end of May. A week before the upgrade I called Vodafone and reminded them of my need to continue use of my landline sockets. They did some checks and said, while by default, my home sockets would not continue to work, the engineers could install an upgrade with appropriate additional work and this would ensure the fix. They sent a note to Openreach to say that appropriate installation had to be done to ensure my landline sockets continued to work.

Upon arrival of Openreach on the upgrade day I spoke to the engineers who stated that the upgrade would be done to ensure my landline phones continued to work. When the engineers left, the fibre was not yet working although all my landline sockets continued to work satisfactorily. It took about 24 hours for the fibre broadband to start working, but conversely my landline then totally ceased to work. I contacted Vodafone who assured me it could take a further couple of days for my landline to be fully initialised. However, it's now been about a fortnight and I've lost my landline for which I am paying Vodafone. Vodafone has come up with all kinds of dubious excuses but the bottom line is "tough luck, to use your landline you have to plug a phone directly into the router". They've shown not the slightest interest in explaining why they promised the necessary work would be done for my phone sockets to continue working. I've raised formal complaints but Vodafone just continue to sit on their backsides and do nothing. I'm now stuck paying for a landline which has just a single phone plugged into it which is pretty much useless to me.

[Cynric]

And I confirm that you haven't supplied a single thread of credible evidence.

[ojos]

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@Cynric wrote:

And I confirm that you haven't supplied a single thread of credible evidence.

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I confirm my engineer has solved the landline problem by installing and configuring the necessary additions. My landline phones now work perfectly with the fibre broadband. Vodafone has compensated me for the cost of the fix by the engineer. Therefore I would like to close this discussion as the matter has been resolved.

Discussion closed.

[ojos]

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@Cynric wrote:

@ojos  So you're off then? No technical data, not even a photo, part number or settings details from the router. Any product literature from the part(s) your friend brought along? This is really disappointing as there's nothing that can be added to the forum that will be of any use to another person in a similar situation.

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I am not a telephone engineer. If you want technical data please contact Vodafone tech support who were the people that told me an ATA needed to be obtained and fitted.  My local engineer confirmed an ATA to be fitted, did the work and my phones now work fine.

Discussion closed

[Cynric]

@ojos I am sorry, but I don't find that credible because the equipment has to be accessible if for no other reason than adequate ventilation. 

If you don't want to help the community, then just say so. It's a shame because it would be of interest to many people on this forum.

[ojos]

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@Cynric wrote:

@ojos I am sorry, but I don't find that credible because the equipment has to be accessible if for no other reason than adequate ventilation. 

If you don't want to help the community, then just say so. It's a shame because it would be of interest to many people on this forum.

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My new ATA is mounted under the stairs at the bottom which is the place where BT installed their phone Master Socket for my house about 40-odd years ago. It is a very restricted space and you have to crawl to reach and all work is done by engineers lying on the floor. When Vodafone installed my broadband they used the very same space to connect the incoming broadband Master Socket and related wiring to. If you don't think that is a credible place I suggest you contact BT and Vodafone and insist they installed the equipment in the wrong place.

The fact is that this is the only place my new ATA could be installed without ripping out everything there and totally destroying my broadband and home phone system,  So please don't suggest that I am deliberately failing to cooperate with passing information when the hardware is located in a tricky place where BT and Vodafone decided to install the necessary devices. I confirm there was no alternative choice for where my new ATA needed to be installed.

[Cynric]

@ojos As you are on FTTP, then the "Master Socket" should be a little box called an ONT. The ONT connects by ethernet cable to the THG3000, which as it's connected by ethernet can be anywhere in the house up-to 100m away.

Why your fibre service was installed in such a restricted place is baffling. Vodafone have no involvement in the placing of the ONT box, that's entirely up to OpenReach.

By the way, I am not suggesting anything, so take that attitude somewhere else, thank you.

[ojos]

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@Cynric wrote:

@ojos As you are on FTTP, then the "Master Socket" should be a little box called an ONT. The ONT connects by ethernet cable to the THG3000, which as it's connected by ethernet can be anywhere in the house up-to 100m away.

Why your fibre service was installed in such a restricted place is baffling. Vodafone have no involvement in the placing of the ONT box, that's entirely up to OpenReach.

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Yes the ONT  is fitted on the other side of the wall away from the stairs. However, everything associated with my landline phones around the house such as an Openreach Master Socket and related wiring is still in the restricted space under the stairs and therefore that's the only place the new ATA could be installed.

[ojos]

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@Cynric wrote:

@ojos  May I repeat my request for details and pictures please? It really would help the general community.

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As I've explained, unfortunately it is not possible to take a photograph of it due to where it's located. However, I have seen a reference to Grandstream offering an ATA. If so, could you (or someone else) please provide me a photograph of it? This may enable me to check if it looks similar to the device that was installed by the engineer.

[Jayach]

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@ojos wrote:
As I've explained, unfortunately it is not possible to take a photograph of it due to where it's located. However, I have seen a reference to Grandstream offering an ATA. If so, could you (or someone else) please provide me a photograph of it? This may enable me to check if it looks similar to the device that was installed by the engineer.

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I understand the problem of getting a picture of the "ATA", but could you please let us know if it is connected to the LAN or TEL sockets on the router? A picture of the back of the router would do. That should be easily accessible.

[ojos]

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@Jayach wrote:

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@ojos wrote:
As I've explained, unfortunately it is not possible to take a photograph of it due to where it's located. However, I have seen a reference to Grandstream offering an ATA. If so, could you (or someone else) please provide me a photograph of it? This may enable me to check if it looks similar to the device that was installed by the engineer.

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I understand the problem of getting a picture of the "ATA", but could you please let us know if it is connected to the LAN or TEL sockets on the router? A picture of the back of the router would do. That should be easily accessible.

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Can I first ask that you or someone provides me a photo (or technical documentation) of a Grandstream ATA (or any other ATA) as the question of ATA/no ATA has dominated this discussion.?