Vodafone Lying on Call

Hi,

I called up vodafone last night to see what they'd offer me in terms of FTTC. The chap I spoke to assured me that vodafone had their own fiber network in my area and that if there were any issues I'd not need to deal with Openreach. I didn't believe it at the time so suggested I go and do some research. It turns out that Vodafone do not have their own fiber network in my area and that they are using the Openreach network the same as everyone else. I've got this call recorded. I wanted to let everyone know. If that's what they're telling people before you sign up can you imagine what it would be like it you had a fault!

Edited by deleted (Fri 30-Sep-16 13:00:26)

They maybe sort of telling the truth...

Vodafone fibre

They told me that they install 2 pipes into the exchange and not just one. But my speed is slower than my previous ISP which was Plusnet.

So i am slightly miffed as the slower speeds and corrupt download files also. Which is why i am here now. I forgot i had joined all those years back.

Edited by deleted (Sat 08-Oct-16 01:02:58)

VF do have their own fibre network which feeds into approx a third of uk exchanges as well as providing connectivity to their 4G masts.

What exchange are you connected to?
https://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

I believe that would be just the backbone though. BT Openworld would still handle FTTC issues as the Vodafone FTTC connection would still need to use the local BT cabinet.

BT Openworld

Crikey, there's a name I've not heard for many a year !

In reply to a post by 1976aca:

I believe that would be just the backbone though. BT Openworld would still handle FTTC issues as the Vodafone FTTC connection would still need to use the local BT cabinet.

Correct, It's Openreach fibre links from FTTC cabinet to exchange irrespective of ISP. However faults along this portion of your connection are relatively rare, often FTTC performance issues are from exchange onwards e.g. congestion, routing issues, fibre break etc. So if VF have brought their fibre network to your exchange then they are correct - you will largely be using their network for FTTC service. I ask again, which exchange are you connected to?

However, VF also told you that because of their own network in your area if there were any issues you would not have to deal with Openreach.

No users on anyone's service can deal with Openreach over issues. It has to be through their ISP. Nothing whatsoever to do with any ISP's backhaul from exchanges.

It was tripe.

Hi,

I'm on the Macdhui Exchange in Inverness. I can see that it does have Vodafone 'LLU'. The fault I had on my broadband was at the local cabinet so although rare it was exactly what I was taking about with the Vodafone sales guy. We could be really generous and assume that he didn't understand specifically what I was taking about but that doesn't instill any confidence in me either.

Oh yeah. BT Openreach. BT Openworld was the ISP that I used to work for.

In reply to a post by 1976aca:

Hi,

I'm on the Macdhui Exchange in Inverness. I can see that it does have Vodafone 'LLU'. The fault I had on my broadband was at the local cabinet so although rare it was exactly what I was taking about with the Vodafone sales guy. We could be really generous and assume that he didn't understand specifically what I was taking about but that doesn't instill any confidence in me either.

In that case yes Vodafone were correct, they would use their own network from exchange onwards as FTTC traffic is handed over from Openreach backhaul to Vodafone backhaul within Macdhui exchange. Any line faults between the exchange and your property are down to Openreach and only the ISP (VF) can liaise with OR to get such faults resolved. I suspect VF didn't explain that very well, their sales teams probably have limited knowledge to understand the full workings of FTTC.

PS
I'm also from Inversneckie - connected to Culloden exchange not too far from you

Edited by deleted (Sat 08-Oct-16 11:13:35)

Hello fellow Invernessian!

When on the call I explicitly stated that I was concerned that BT would have anything whatsoever to do with my Vodafone FTTC. I was assured that they wouldn't due to Vodafone's network. I laboured the point fairly heavily as that didn't ring true with me as I understood that BTO would still handle things from the exchange. I suggested that I go off and research things a bit more, they tried to get me to sign up there and then but I didn't as I was pretty sure what I was being told was incorrect. As I say it's possible that they didn't understand the technical issues but it definitely wasn't because they thought that I meant that I'd have to deal with BTO directly as opposed to having to go through the ISP.

In reply to a post by 1976aca:

When on the call I explicitly stated that I was concerned that BT would have anything whatsoever to do with my Vodafone FTTC. I was assured that they wouldn't due to Vodafone's network.

They should have said something like "if any fault occurs on Vodafone network we will attempt to fix this ourselves, however where the fault is outside our control eg between your property & exchange then we will get in touch with Openreach on your behalf to get it fixed".

I wouldn't get too downbeat about it, sales teams of pretty much all mainstream ISPs will tell you something similar, you really need to speak to their level 1 or 2 tech support to get detailed accurate information.

Don't worry EE once at a large press conference confused some tech journalists into believing they had a massive FTTH network that they owned in the UK. Had to do a quick 30 second impromptu explanation but phrased as a question.

Got a leaflet through the door today and this struck me as misleading:

* Just superfast fibre that's up to 9x faster than UK standard broadband.

They can't provide anyone with anything faster than they can already get.

LOL - a potentially costly misprint

I think you may find, that they are referring to what the Government considers 'Basic broadband', which is 2Mbps - So 9 times that should not be too much of a struggle for their FTTC in most situations! https://www.gov.uk/guidance/broadband-delivery-uk

All depends on what is standard broadband, some suggest its 2 Mbps, but experience from others suggests PR people mean ADSL/ADSL2+ services

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/7521-uk-broadband...

Suggests saying something like 5 or 6 probably safe, maybe push it slightly higher if referring to up to 76 Mbps (i.e. we know our FTTC figures are slightly lower due to people picking price over speed)

"up to 9" - so anything from 0 to 9.

Openreach also manage faults on the line from home to the cabinet of course and faults on this section are not rare!

In reply to a post by kasg:

"up to 9" - so anything from 0 to 9.

I would definitely worry about any ISP that is providing 0 times faster than the UK standard

It's not so much the speed they give as the way they state it. They've made it sound like they are offering something no other ISP can. That of course is untrue.