Can no longer split wifi -

[pengipete]

Have been with vodadone for broadband for three months (and have hated every minute of it).

The latest joke - I had to reset my router to factory defaults to try to deal with a samba-sharing problem.  The router page in my browser now tells me that "Super wifi is running your wifi" and the option to split the wifi signal has disappeared.  I don't have "super wifi" - I have their hub and that's all,  They tell that I now have to use my mobile to change settings but no split-wifi settings exist in there either and all that useless app does is tell me to configure some hardware "booster" that I neither have nor need.   

Is this it now - we are banned from splitting wifi?    I have "smart" devices throughout my house including all of my lighting - without being able to use the 2.4G band, I am now stuck.   (I know I can throw my money at buying a router but given the other problems I've had with this shower since day one, I REALLY am not up for that).

Can someone tell me - is there some way to access that wifi-splitting option without having to submit ANOTHER complaint (one has been running for three months already - from the day they failed to activate the service - another is that I still can't fully access my account.  You might guess, I'm sick to death of vodafone and if this is deliberate, I'm going to go ballistic)

[Jayach · Accepted solution]

If you are on Pro, that option has been removed. If you are not on Pro, your router is getting the wrong configuration., (unless they have changed things recently)

Call them on 08080 034 515 or use live chat https://www.vodafone.co.uk/bbservcd/ to resolve.

[pengipete]

Thanks for the reply.     I'm not on "pro" - they've obviously screwed that up as well.  Been with them three months and had nothing but trouble accessing my online account and last week, they told me that they'd "reset your My Vodafone account".   It appears that they've made a complete mess of that too - set it up for the wrong product.  Annoyingly, the doorstop who is wasting my time and refusing to give any straight answers did that and then went on holiday so I couldn't even reply.    Am now wondering if this is also related to my Samba share suddenly playing up.

As to why they'd remove the option to disable band-steering for ANY customer - such a ridiculous idea.   I'm disabled and use a lot of smart devices and all of them are 2.4G only.  I know there are way to get around the issue but that's not the point - who the hell does vodafone think they are to actively block legitimate, normal use of any part of the contracted service?

The good news is, they've messed me around for so long already that I am now free to circumvent their time-wasting complaints department and go straight to the external arbitration service.  Now I know they've "accidentally" blocked me from using the router (and then pulled the holiday stunt), I'll be wasting no more time even trying to talk to those idiots.

[ZinGeRs]

I'm a pro customer and you can still split the wifi (if you wish to use their router) however it involves downloading an older version of the vodafone broadband app for android (version 4.1.0) then you can happily split the wifi and set manual channels.

You need to be quick otherwise your phone will update the app and then no longer will you be able to do this (unless you unsign the apk so it doesn't get updated) 

Or get rid of their router is another option

[pengipete]

Thank you so much for that info - I managed to find an old apk and eventually split the wifi.

It is disgusting that I've been forced to download a potentially unsafe app from a non-approved site just to be allowed to access a basic and essential setting that has been changed without warning.   I am so pee'd off with these clowns.

[Jayach]

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@pengipete wrote:

 I'm disabled and use a lot of smart devices and all of them are 2.4G only.  I

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If your devices are 2.4Ghz only, why do you need to split the bands? They will ignore the 5Ghz, as far as they are concerned it wont exist.

[pengipete]

Because they can only be set-up when the bands are split.    They MUST first be installed on a distinct 2.4G network - they MAY then work with band-steering enabled but if there's an issue and they have to be reset, you MUST split the bands to reinstall them.   In my experience, this applies to all "smart" plugs, lights and most other such devices.

[Jayach]

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@pengipete wrote:

Because they can only be set-up when the bands are split.    

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That is not entirely true. The device doing the setup, needs to be connected to the 2.4Ghz as well. Unfortunately it is usually a phone and it isn't always possible to force it to connect to the 2.4Ghz.

[PaulGee]

Just to add.... I also use a lot of smart bulbs\ sockets and in the past have added new ones by disabling  5GHz (hence forcing my phone to use 2.4). I can no longer do this because the router reports:

"Super Wi-Fi is running your Wi-Fi settings."

"Please use the Super Wi-Fi tile in the Vodafone Broadband App to manage your settings."

But I don't have Super Wi-Fi. All the tile wants to do is add a booster - which I don't have. Very annoying.

Recently wasted an afternoon talking on chat. They were more interested why I wanted to disable the 5GHz and my problem was not resolved.

As it sounds like the situation has been caused by the updated app, where can I get the old version from? And do I then need to reset to the router to factory to gain access to the settings?

[ZinGeRs]

Here you go this is the old version of the app I use

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z5Fvn_GdCnEyh4CWFc1_gAxmGICx9Rov/view