Ridiculously low speeds for most of the day

[littlepace]

Hi. I've been with Vodafone for my 4g Broadband for about a year now. I had always had worse speeds during the day/evening and I just assumed it was because of peak hours. I would get around 10-20Mbps download and anywhere from 5-15Mbps Upload. Not really an issue because they're still decent speeds which allow me to do all my usual stuff. However, now when I do speedtests during the day/evening I can sometimes be on as low as 2-4Mbps down and 3-4Mbps Up. Once I get past midnight ish (it differs really and I've never kept a close enough track to see when it changes) my speeds go all the way up to 40-50Mbps down and 15-25Mbps Upload. But these speeds are only useful to me when I'm actually awake. I also have vodafone 4G on my mobile so I checked today to see what speeds I was getting. At the same time my broadband was getting 3.5Mbps download my Mobile was on 15Mbps download. And Mobile speeds should always be worse when compared to a proper aerial and wired router surely. Anyone know what's going on? I've had enough trouble with vodafone customer service in the past (spent several months trying to order a new phone after they lost mine in delivery) and don't really wanna have to go through all that again. I tried using a VPN to see if that made any difference because I've heard that it can sometimes stop you being throttled. But there was no change. I appreciate any help anyone can give. Thanks

[Evie]

Hi @littlepace - I understand how important it is to have a stable connection, especially now and to make sure you're paying for the speeds you should be getting 😊  Firstly, could you complete our initial network checks please? After completing that we'll be able to get a better idea of where the issue stems from.

[littlepace]

I have already gone through and tried all the suggestions. Nothing has worked. I shall post the template below and fill it in but half the questions don't really apply to a mobile broadband.

Post Title: 'First half of post code - SY12

1) Does the issue happen in just one location? The Router stays in the same place so not applicable.

2) What is the full postcode SY12 9LX

3) Does the issue occur if you try your SIM card in a different phone? Not a phone.

4) What errors are seen or heard when the issue occurs? There are no errors? It's just extremely slow speeds

5) Does this happen on 2G, 3G, 4G or all? My connection is always 4G as far as im aware.

6) When did you first notice this issue? A few weeks ago.

7) Is the issue permanent or intermittent? If intermittent, are there certain times of the day when it occurs? Happens most of the day and evening. Only speeds up during late night hours (after midnight)

Not really sure what these answers will give you that I haven't already put in my original message.

[Farai]

Thank you very much for getting back to us with the details. I've had a look at area around the postcode you provided and it looks like everything is working as it should. We need to figure figure out what the actual cause of the drops is first. You've mentioned that the you've been getting faster speeds in your phone? Are you are able to test out the Gigacube SIM card in your phone at all next time you see this? This will help us narrow down our search 👍

[littlepace]

I will check once I finish work. Although I don't have the gigacube. I have a router supplied through a 3rd party which installed the aerial and arranged the contract with vodafone for the SIM. 

[littlepace]

I've just managed to quickly go test it now. The speeds on phone are also really bad. Even worse than on PC. I was getting 1-2Mbps down and 3-4Mbps Upload. The ping was also 100-200ms. Somethings definitely not right.

[Farai]

Thank you very much for getting back to us with this 👍 Are you having these issues via Wi-Fi or with the SIM card directly in the phone @littlepace? If you're having issues with the SIM in the phone - I'd ask that you drop us a message over on social media here and we'll help you investigate what's causing the issues you've been experiencing. 

[blacktaffy2002]

Same problems with my gigacube, I am on. unlimited speed contract since last October, Max download i have achieved was 37 on 4g, Last week i was down to less than 1mbps. After extensive chats with VF they inform that they can only investigate faults in the last 24 hours and that the guaranteed min speeed is 3.8. They sold me a plan that was capped at 10mbps so I upgraded to unlimited speed which in my mind means more than 10mbps. so this afternoon was getting less than 1mb

[littlepace]

Yeah I got told the same thing about min guaranteed speed. My contract is up in 6 months so it's on them if they don't want to address the issue. I'll just go back to EE. Slightly lower peak speeds but I never suffered this kind of drop as far as i remember. And with all the customer service issues i've had with vodafone I will be glad to move on. It's a shame because Vodafone offer the best speeds and signal in my area.