Facing service disruptions - Cable Internet - No resolution from Technical Team

[ajesh]

Hi, 

I'm facing internet connectivity issues very often. Since May 15, I am trying to raise a complaint. I am new to Germany and due to the language barrier I cannot resolve my issue yet. I speak a little bit of Deutsche (with the help of a Google translate app) and raised a ticket. They offered me a call back and the lady who called me back don't speak or understand English. So I asked her to call back the next day on a specific time so that I can go a German speaking friend. She didn't call me on the right time ( I waited there for more than 45 minutes). Later she called me in the afternoon, both of us couldn't understand anything. She closed my ticket without a resolution. 

I don't understand how she can close a ticket without a resolution.  However, I raised another ticket again. 

I chose Vodafone because it is a global brand and when I booked the connection, all the time some English speaking agent attended my calls, till the purchase. Now, when I am facing an issue, they cannot arrange a callback with an English speaking agent. Well, if that's not possible, then atleast they should call back at the agreed time so that I can attend the call with a German speaking friend. 

Now, vodafone is breaching their contract "No No Internet day" and I am fed up with the technical support. I want to cancel my contract immediately and move to any other service providers. Can anyone tell me how can I do that? I don't want to pay until the end of the current contract period, and I want to get rid of this ASAP. 

Thanks in advance.

Regards, 

[Kieferer]

Dein VF Vertag wurde in deutscher Sprache abgefaßt. Jegliche Kommunikation findet in Deutsch statt. Falls in englischer Sprache kommuniziert wird, dann nur aus Gefälligkeit.

Die Hotline ist in den seltensten Fällen in der Lage in englischer Sprache zu antworten, eher in türkischer oder polnischer Sprache. Daher, bei Anruf der Hotline ein deutschsprachigen Freund hinzuziehen.

Als Deutscher werde ich in den USA bei AT&T oder in Frankreich bei Orange keine deutsche Hotline bekommen. 

Du hast hier im Forum 4 Threads erstellt. Fragen hast du bisher nicht beantwortet.

Was ich aus einem seiner Threads herauslesen kann bezieht sich dein Anliegen auf WLAN Probleme. Auch hat ein Moderator festgestellt das deine Pegel ok. sind.

Solange dein LAN Speed ok ist, hat VF den Vertrag erfüllt. Sollte dies nicht der Fall sein, dann Ticket öffnen, VF 2 Wochen Zeit geben um den Mangel abzustellen.

Dann kannst du eine Sonderkündigung erwirken, wenn der Speed mit LAN von x von y Tagen unterschritten wird. Hier die ganze Prozedur und nur diese ist rechtsverbindlich!

Siehe auch die von dir akzeptierten AGB.

WLAN Probleme sind von den örtlichen Bedingungen abhängig. Sie liegen außerhalb der Verantwortung von VF. Um ganz hart zu sein, dein persönliches Problem.

(Hardwareprobleme des Routers nicht mit eingeschlossen)

[ajesh]

First of all, thanks for taking time to write a reply to my concerns. I just want to add a reply for a few comments in your reply since it seems like a misinterpretation from your end. 

1. You say that communication in English is a courtesy that we don't get in other places or services. Fine, I don't have a problem with that. My only question is why still there is an option "Say Operator" while dialing the Vodafone hotlines. 

1. I understand that if the Contract is written in German language , the further communication will be done in German only. That's perfectly fine.  But I just started learning German language and I can't speak/understand it completely, especially on a Telephone converstaion. But still I can write it with the help of a Google Translator. If Vodafone has a provision to contact via Email, then kindly let me know. (AFAIK, the chatbot option will also end with a callback facility). 

2. I agree to your suggestion to call the hotline with a German speaking friend. Kindly note that, even if I managed to call with the help of a German speaking frined, I get a call back only. I got one last time, and then I asked the lady to give me a specific date/time so that I can go to my German speaking friend to attend the call. But she didn't call me on that time, but on a different time. So I couldn't handover the call to my friend.
I don't have any option to call her except waiting for her call. When she called again, I asked whether she can call after a few minutes so that I can connect to my German speaking friend. But she refused and closed the ticket. There should be some workaround for this, I guess.

3. You said that I opened four threads but didn't respond to anything. 
First of all, it is not correct. For those threads, I got a proper reply with a request for "PN", I replied already. (even though, I am concerned about sharing my account details in a open forum).

4. You also say that the "Levels are correct". But I'd like to add that, I don't face the problem thoughout the day. It happens sometimes. To detect the problems, someone should be able to check it exactly on the sametime the issue happens.( I know it is difficult for a community user). If someone from the technical team asks me, I can do the readings at the time of a failure and give it to them. But this didn't happened in this case yet.

5. Thanks for sharing the procedure for the termination of the contract.

But I would like to add, I don't have any speed issues. I'm getting the promised speed when the network is okay. From the link, I can see that I need to monitor the network speed or three/more days with an app. But when there is disruption, how can I measure the speed and submit the readings? I can't understand. If you have more information on this, could you please share it here?

6. Finally, I don't understand what are the "Personal Problems" mentioned in your comment. I am not sure if I translated it correctly or not. So I request you to rephrase the sentence if possible.

Thanks again for your time and consideration.

Regards,

Ash

[reneromann]

If the issues only persist if you are using WiFi and not if you are using wired ethernet connections, then Vodafone won't be able to solve the issue as there are too many external factors that may disturb the WiFi signal (like other neighbours WiFi networks, Bluetooth devices, Microwave ovens, ...) and thus may lead to intermittend loss in the WiFi signal.

That's why the only reliable way is to use wired ethernet connections - and this is also the only way that ISPs (not only Vodafone, but all other ISPs in Germany and abroad that I know) accept support tickets to be created if the issues also exist while using wired connections.

[Kieferer]

about #6

"WLAN problems depend on local conditions. They are beyond the responsibility of VF. To be quite harsh, your personal problem. (Not including hardware problems of the router)."

Your personal problem is the environmental conditions or devices you own, reneroman described it very well.

In a family house the WiFi looks different. In an apartment building with xx neighbors, on the other hand, it can be very difficult with WiFi.

[ajesh]

Hi reneromann, 

Thanks for your reply.

What I can understand from your and other's reply on my threads, Vodafone somehow, came to the conclusion that the problem is with Wifi not the VF network. (I don't know how VF come to this conclusion by inspecting the signal levels only once at a random time).  From the way you concluded you answer, you're trying to convey that VF is not at all responsible for WIFI problems at all, and VF is not going to do anything other than proposing some "unsubstantiated theories" like this. But, being a customer, I would like to request further investigation from VF on this topic and bring more clarity on this. 

I have a few questions about your comment.

1. I am using 5GHz Wifi network and all the my bluetooth devices are working with 2.4GHz. So I guess there should be no interferrance from the bluetooth devices. Isn't correct?

2. If there is an interferrance with Wifi, the device should show a Wifi disconnected status I guess. But I can still find the device connected to the Wifi network when this issue occurs. I believe this should be investigated further.

3. Ruling out the bluetooth and microwave intereferrence, the only chance is the Wifi network interferrance from neighbourhood. In that case, I should be able to overcome this by setting up a Wifi Mesh or Repeaters. Isn't possible? I also believe VF should support this since they Sold me Wifi Network not the LAN. ( I don't know if there are people still using LAN Only,  the most modern devices in the market are designed to work with Wifi Network and LAN ports are not present). Isn't it possible?

I hope you will direct me to someone from the VF team who can answer my questions or help me to investigate it further. 

Thanks and regards, 
Ash

[reneromann]

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@ajesh  schrieb:

What I can understand from your and other's reply on my threads, Vodafone somehow, came to the conclusion that the problem is with Wifi not the VF network. (I don't know how VF come to this conclusion by inspecting the signal levels only once at a random time).  From the way you concluded you answer, you're trying to convey that VF is not at all responsible for WIFI problems at all, and VF is not going to do anything other than proposing some "unsubstantiated theories" like this.

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The signal levels are not inspected only once at a random time, but they are inspected on a longer term - together with the error counters. If the levels are OK and the error counters are zero, then there's no problem with the line itself.

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@ajesh  schrieb:

I have a few questions about your comment.

1. I am using 5GHz Wifi network and all the my bluetooth devices are working with 2.4GHz. So I guess there should be no interferrance from the bluetooth devices. Isn't correct?

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No, that's not right. As Bluetooth and WiFi share the same radio card and antennas in your devices, they interfere with each other, even though they may use different frequencies.

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@ajesh  schrieb:

2. If there is an interferrance with Wifi, the device should show a Wifi disconnected status I guess. But I can still find the device connected to the Wifi network when this issue occurs. I believe this should be investigated further.

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Again wrong - if there is an interference with the WiFi signal, the WiFi devices try to mitigate this by reducing the modulation depth and thus reducing the speed - and they may even try to re-send packages that could not be transmitted before. It's not that your device immediately shows a "disconnected" status as WiFi contains timeouts for exactly that reason.

And there won't be any further investigation of this, especially not from Vodafone - as WiFi frequencies are free-to-use frequencies that everyone is allowed to use with any kind of device and radio standard. In fact it doesn't even need to be WiFi at all - these bands are ISM bands and thus free to use for any purpose you can think of as long as you stick to the regulations about maximum transmitted power and things like DFS.

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@ajesh  schrieb:

3. Ruling out the bluetooth and microwave intereferrence, the only chance is the Wifi network interferrance from neighbourhood. In that case, I should be able to overcome this by setting up a Wifi Mesh or Repeaters. Isn't possible?

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No, a WiFi mesh or repeaters cannot overcome interference or other networks at the same frequency - in fact they even make it worse.

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@ajesh  schrieb:

I also believe VF should support this since they Sold me Wifi Network not the LAN. ( I don't know if there are people still using LAN Only,  the most modern devices in the market are designed to work with Wifi Network and LAN ports are not present). Isn't it possible?

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No, Vodafone didn't sell you WiFi internet - they only sold you landline internet access up to the wall outlet.

That outlet is the end of what Vodafone is responsible for - they are definitely NOT responsible for WiFi issues on your side (and no other ISP takes responsibility for WiFi issues at all).

And it's your problem if your devices don't have LAN ports and you face WiFi issues - but that's not part of your contract with Vodafone. Even to be more precise - if you buy or own devices that don't support the line you have bought, it's solely on your end to get compatible devices and / or adapters on your own expenses (like docking stations or USB - LAN adapters).

[Kieferer]

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@ajesh  schrieb:

Hi reneromann, 

Thanks for your reply.

What I can understand from your and other's reply on my threads, Vodafone somehow, came to the conclusion that the problem is with Wifi not the VF network. (I don't know how VF come to this conclusion by inspecting the signal levels only once at a random time).  

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Sorry, you don't give any resilient data.
Screenshots of a speed test via LAN from speedtest.net are meaningful. The bitching
why WiFi does not work is quite pointless.

If I'm not mistaken you wrote that you have no speed problems with LAN.

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@ajesh  schrieb:

1. I am using 5GHz Wifi network and all the my bluetooth devices are working with 2.4GHz. So I guess there should be no interferrance from the bluetooth devices. Isn't correct?

2. If there is an interferrance with Wifi, the device should show a Wifi disconnected status I guess. But I can still find the device connected to the Wifi network when this issue occurs. I believe this should be investigated further.

3. Ruling out the bluetooth and microwave intereferrence, the only chance is the Wifi network interferrance from neighbourhood. In that case, I should be able to overcome this by setting up a Wifi Mesh or Repeaters. Isn't possible? I also believe VF should support this since they Sold me Wifi Network not the LAN. ( I don't know if there are people still using LAN Only,  the most modern devices in the market are designed to work with Wifi Network and LAN ports are not present). Isn't it possible?

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You are in a loop.
Laying on hands and asking the crystal ball won't get you anywhere.
Seek help from someone who understands WiFi. No one knows your local conditions.

As long as you reach the guaranteed speed with LAN, everything is OK.

You won't find a corporate network that is exclusively build on WiFi.

For security reasons, a LAN network is set up. This is also done to ensure max. data throughput.

WiFi is a shared medium and cannot guarantee the throughput.

[ajesh]

Thanks for your time and reply. 
My question is how can we confirm this is only environmental or personal wifi problems affecting my internetconnection. Is there any workaround if this is the real case? For example: Installing Range Extn, repeaters etc...

[reneromann]

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@ajesh  schrieb:

My question is how can we confirm this is only environmental or personal wifi problems affecting my internetconnection. Is there any workaround if this is the real case?

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Yes, there is a very simple solution:

USE ETHERNET CABLES!