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4g broadband

Davidch
4: Newbie

I use a Vodafone sim to supply household broadband in a rural area with no landline  option for broadband. We get a good signal and speeds (4g+) around 100Mbps during the day, Every night without fail at around 6pm, the speed drops to 3 or 4 Mbps and stays that way until morning. I presume this is a cost saving measure by Vodafone to reduce bandwidth at times of perceived low usage. I have read Vodafone’s explanation of this as a green measure, but of course it is a massive inconvenience to users. Also, as it  appears to be done to a fixed schedule, it is presumably not done on the basis of actual demand. As we effectively have no internet for much of the time - particularly when streaming TV etc in the evening - I wondered if Vodafone had any plans to introduce some sort of intelligent monitoring of demand at the mast so they are fully able to meet demand at all times, rather than in working hours only. I had previously signed up to Three (and rather regret changing) and they didn’t appear to ration bandwidth in this way. 

18 REPLIES 18

I have also replied on the social media platform. I have resubmitted all the information yet again. And now I am being asked for the umpteenth time to repeat the information I have already provided. Your customer service team is clearly in complete chaos. It is an inexcusable discourtesy to your customers to carry on in this extraordinary fashion.

Cynric
16: Advanced member
16: Advanced member

@Davidch Did you try the VF support number  08080 034 515 or 191 from a VF mobile (assuming that this number is still active) ?

Yes. It was painful and inconclusive. It is perhaps understandable that the telephone support team cannot immediately answer the question of Vodafone policy on powering down or shutting off masts/sectors in the evening. My further research suggests that this is what is happening in my case and the cell to which I connect during the day is not available in the evening forcing me to connect to a mast much further from the house. The question is what Vodafone or I can do about it. While I appreciate the team cannot answer the question, they are reluctant to escalate it to someone who can. There is simply no route to getting this sort of question answered but in the meantime, cellular mobile remains essentially unusable in the evening.

Cynric
16: Advanced member
16: Advanced member

@Davidch That's really annoying. I'm not sure, but I wonder if Ofcom could advise. However I'd suspect that would not be the fastest of solutions.

That’s an interesting idea. I’ll look into it, but I don’t think they would get involved with operational decisions at that level.

Cynric
16: Advanced member
16: Advanced member

@Davidch Just looking here https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/ofcom-checker there's a bit about compensation for a minimum speed and a further link about your right to a decent service.

 q

@Davidch that's super frustrating. Are you using an outdoor 4G router/antenna? I'm wondering if you can get a better connection to a cell tower that is always on? I use the NR7101 and it works very well (albeit it's expensive). 

I’ve read good reviews of the 7101. The advantage is that you can lock onto a particular band and tower. I did try that with a GLi.net modem, but I couldn’t get it to lock  reliably and it was an indoor router in any case so perhaps it’s worth thinking about the outside option. Thanks