How to Set up a third party router with vodafone

[gipjon]

IF YOU ARE USING A THIRD-PARTY ROUTER THAT WORKS 100% WITHOUT BUGS.PLEASE PM ME THE MAKE AND MODEL SO I CAN UPDATE THE LIST

The first thing you need to do is ask Vodafone for your username and password. live chat with Vodafone is best because you can copy and paste the name and password into the router. ( some users did write it down wrong. password is lower and upper case. username watch out for zero and o )

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/contact-us/index.htm

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/bbservcd/

FTTC SETTING         ( FTTP is below FTTC)

The setting is the same for all the routers it's down to the isp (the setting page will be laid out differently but the setting are still the same, eg

Vodafone setting are

Vlan ID - 101

enable 802.1q (not on every router)

Username  - ******@broadband.vodafone.co.uk

Username - ******@businessbroadband.vodafone.co.uk  ( for business customers )

Password - ********

PPPoE

MTU Size : 1492

rest of the setting auto detect when the router and the dslam are negotiating with each other

List of third party router that work well with vodafone will update as more router are confirmed working 100%

asus ac68u                              ADSL and VDSL router with Ethernet + dual band Wifi 

ASUS DSL-AC55U                   ADSL and VDSL router with Ethernet + dual-band Wifi 

DrayTek Vigor 130:                 ADSL and VDSL modem with Ethernet ( UK model )

Draytek 2762 VDSL

Draytek 2862 Series

Fritzbox 3490

technicolor tg589vac :             ADSL and VDSL router with Ethernet + dual-band Wifi 

Netgear D6400-100UKS         ADSL & VDSL router with Ethernet + dual-band AC1600 Wifi  + beamforming

Netgear rbk40  :                       ADSL and VDSL router with Ethernet + Tri-Band technology

Netgear D6220                        ADSL and VDSL router with Ethernet + dual band Wifi 

Netgear Nighthawk D7800    ADSL and VDSL router with Ethernet + dual band Wifi 

Technicolor DGA4231/DGA2231 is actually the Vodafone THC3000/THC3000g

TP-Link Archer VR2800

TP-Link AC 1600                      ADSL and VDSL router with Ethernet + dual-band Wifi 

TP-Link TL-Link Archer VR400 V3 AC1200 Wireless MU-MIMO Dual Band

TP-Link VR600                        ADSL and VDSL router with Ethernet + dual-band Wifi 

TP-Link W9970                        ADSL and VDSL router with Ethernet + dual-band Wifi 

Zyxel VMG3925-B10B

List of routers with WIFI 6 that works well  

None listed as yet 

IF YOU ARE USING A THIRD-PARTY ROUTER THAT WORKS 100% WITHOUT BUGS.PLEASE PM ME THE MAKE AND MODEL SO I CAN UPDATE THE LIST

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Gigafast 

Openreach the VLAN will be 101 or not required

CityFibre, the VLAN will be 911 or possibly not used.

Mtu 1492

PPPoE 

Username - *******

Password - ********

List of routers that works well with Gigafast

Asus RT-AC86U 

Cisco 5506-X

Linksys EA9500

netgear nighthawk ar500

FRITZ!Box 7530

TP-link M4 deco system

TP-Link Archer AC2300 MU-MIMO Wi-Fi Gigabit Router (Plug ONT cable into Internet port, run Autodetect > PPPoE > add username/pass = connected at full speed), no need for VLAN IDs

TP-Link Archer VR400 V3 AC1200 Wireless MU-MIMO Dual Band (1st Advanced tab, change the Operation Mode to Wireless Router Mode (the ONT is acting as a modem, hence it will not work if you are in DLS Modem Router Mode). 2nd  Do not enable VLAN ID or it will not work! Vodafone will tell you to set it to 101, if you do this it will not work! Keep the default MTU size (1480), do not change it to 1492, as suggested in several posts in this thread, or it will not work!. 

Synolgy RT2600ac ( https://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Broadband-connection/Synology-RT2600ac-Vodafone-Router-CityFibre-PPP... )

List of routers with WIFI 6  that works well 

RT-AX86U ?

(from user) I managed to connect Asus DSL-AX82U modem/router and use it without Vodafone Wi-Fi hub finally. When use Asus router tutorial choose network provider as BT - Infinity. VLAN ID come up automatically as 101 then just copy your Vodafone username and password

[Jayach]

@HappyNomad

Just to say, I've put a 3rd party router on and you are right, the case of the DSL on the username doesn't make any difference, it works either way.😀

[HappyNomad]

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@Jayach wrote:

@HappyNomad

Just to say, I've put a 3rd party router on

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No going back now… Mine has been up & running for the best part of two years at a guess (apart from a power cut 😐.  No user intervention needed at the modem or the router at all.  The worst thing I get is the upstairs nodes very occasionally drop out but are easily restarted.

Funny thing is that the most distant node has a smart TV connected to it with an Ethernet cable and even if the node is indicating no connection, the TV (with its wifi switched off) still gets Netflix???  

[Jayach]

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@HappyNomad wrote:

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@Jayach wrote:

@HappyNomad

Just to say, I've put a 3rd party router on

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No going back now…

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It's only temporarily, the THG3000 will go back soon. I just wanted to see if the username was case sensitive.

My 2 year contract is up in May (doesn't time fly?) so, unless they offer me a very good deal, I'll be off.

I've already chosen my next ISP, and am active on their forum, so I get a good idea of what I'm letting myself in for.

It's surprising that the complaints are almost exactly as we get here. Speeds aren't what they promised, Wi-Fi on the router is terrible, deadlines aren't kept. Thank goodness they don't ask you to use social media for support.

[HappyNomad]

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@Jayach wrote:
It's only temporarily, the THG3000 will go back soon. I just wanted to see if the username was case sensitive.

My 2 year contract is up in May (doesn't time fly?) so, unless they offer me a very good deal, I'll be off.

I've already chosen my next ISP, and am active on their forum, so I get a good idea of what I'm letting myself in for.

It's surprising that the complaints are almost exactly as we get here. Speeds aren't what they promised, Wi-Fi on the router is terrible, deadlines aren't kept. Thank goodness they don't ask you to use social media for support.

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Currently it is £19 for new sign-ups to Superfast 2 I believe… Mine is midway-ish and thus, still has a while to run but based on my Vodafone experience to date, I'll happily renew for another two years at that price or thereabouts.  
When I first joined VF it was £28/m, second term was £23/m and my third (current) term just £19/m. What's not to like*?  

Are any ISP routers any good?  I imagine most if not all are built down to the barest minimum spec needed to keep them on a par with the competition's devices.  The box they are delivered in plus shipping probably costs more than the device itself 😁

Anyway, if you bog off, who'll take over at the top of the ‘Top Contributors' table eh?

*as long as support isn’t needed of course.

[Jayach]

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@HappyNomad wrote:
Currently it is £19 for new sign-ups to Superfast 2 I believe…

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Yes, but I like to have inclusive calls and Vodafone charge £8 for that making it £27.

Now are £20 including calls (+£5 for router delivery) plus there is currently £64 cashback via Quidco and it's only a 1 year contract, so not long to wait if i want to come back

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@HappyNomad wrote:

Anyway, if you bog off, who'll take over at the top of the ‘Top Contributors' table eh?

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I'll probably still look in to give you competition.

[HappyNomad]

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@Jayach wrote:

Yes, but I like to have inclusive calls and Vodafone charge £8 for that making it £27.

Now are £20 including calls (+£5 for router delivery) plus there is currently £64 cashback via Quidco and it's only a 1 year contract, so not long to wait if i want to come back

Sounds like a good deal… I don’t use the landline and have no handset connected so of course, I fail to factor that into the price per month. 

O2 provide both our SIM only  (U/U/8Gb) mobile phone service at £10.43/m each but I think if I had a VF mobile, I'd get a bit of discount on my Superfast 2 bringing down to £16/m  or some such.

 
I may give thought to that when off my O2 contract expires but I have a thing about not having all the eggs in one basket as it were and I have had no cause to gripe about O2 over quite a lot of years.  That of course may change now it is in bed with Virgin Media.

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[KiwiMike]

If I went shopping for a new wifi router to use on VF fibre network what type of router do I purcgase eg VDSL, DSL or  cable 

Cheers

[Beans]

Before going out and buying a new router, you might be able to put ddwrt (there are others too) software on your existing router, pretty sure your model is supported. A quick Google will help. I'm currently using ddwrt on my netgear router and it's working using the settings on my post above. 

[DavidPearson]

Hi, I just thought I would give my experience of using a third party router with my Vodafone / Cityfibre broadband.

I had lots of trouble using the Vodafone "pro" router. It constantly dropped WiFi connections, would report no internet when the ONT said there was, devices could not automatically re-connect, constant problems with their boosters not connecting.  Intermittent internet every evening. Vodafone customer services confirmed I was getting a very fast connection to my router (over 500mbps, but I would only have 3 - 4 mbps at a device. Even using an Ethernet cable connected to my Vodafone router I only got 30mbps to my laptop. I decided the router was at fault so looked at replacing the Vodafone kit with a cheapish Mesh system.

I chose the TP-link M4 deco system as it is a mesh system and had excellent 5* reviews.

I am glad I did. If you do not need a Vodafone home telephone line then you can do without the Vodafone router completely and just plug the Ethernet cable from the Cityfibre ONT box in to the TP LInk M4 Ethernet port on the back of the router.

The installation with some trial and error was straight forward. On the Tp-Link App that you download to your phone you enter the credentials and you are away. For my cityfibre installation I needed to tell the App that:

1: You don't have a router

2: plug in the cables as instructed and chose PPPoE as the internet type

3: enter your Vodafone username and password (you get this from a call or chat with Vodafone) username will start with dsl(then some numbers)@braodband.vodafone.co.uk and password will be a mix of letters in upper and lowercase and numbers

4:Chose to enable IPTV/VLAN

5: Choose "custom" as the internet provider type from the ISP profile

6: Enter the VLAN id as 911

7: Enter the VLAN priority as 0 (this made a massive positive difference to the speed given to my devices) When I entered 7 I got about 3mbps to my device, entering 0 gave me over 250mbps

8: I turned off 802.1Q

9: By default IPV6 was turned off. I didn't do a lot of messing around turning it on as I was getting a very stable connection without it but turning this on may make a positive improvement?

10: Once your internet is working, I did find out that you can simply change some of these settings through the app without having to do a complete router reset and re-install to see by trail and error works for you. Simply on the TP-link app click on "More" on the bottom right. then select "advanced" to bring up the Mode, and VLAN settings. You can then change these if needed, wait a minute for the light on the top of the M4 router to go from red to white then do a speed test on your mobile device connected to the router to see the effect.

At the moment, I have seen a massive improvement over the Vodafone Pro router. Sky Q multiscreen hasn't dropped a connection once and my Ring doorbell rings almost immediately rather than after a 5-10 second delay as it did with the Vodafone router. 

The mesh system works well for us and the 2 Ethernet ports on the back of each "booster" are handy to use as a wired connection. On the primary router you use one Ethernet port as the WAN input connection, the other port can still be used as a high speed wired port to connect to a wired device or network switch.

I hope this might help someone else on Cityfibre with a Vodafone router that is not working great.

I am not a tech IT wizard so although the settings work for me, if anyone has any advice on improvements please let me know!

[Jam3s]

Just a quick update mainly as a thanks to all the contributors whose posts have helped me.

I have FTTP (Full Fibre 2) but was experiencing wifi drop outs, buffering on streaming services, and delays/drops on Teams calls (on my laptop but not my partners).

I have just replaced the Vodafone THG3000 with the TP-Link Deco X50.

Set up and install was very easy - download the companion app, plug into the Openreach ONT, enter the PPPoE user id and password from Vodafone customer services, and leave IPTV/VLAN off (I couldn't get 101 or 911 to work). I don't use the landline phone so not something I had to consider.

Connection speed on wifi is slightly improved but similar to before, but quality of connection seems much better with no buffering or issues on teams calls.

Based on my usage (no landline requirements) I would say the TP-Link Deco X50 could be added to the list of known working routers.