nbn Unplanned Late Night Outages with Vodafone

skimp on 29/04/2021 - 10:59
Last edited 29/04/2021 - 13:22 by 1 other user

My NAS tells me when it experiences an internet outage. As a Vodafone NBN customer I experience unplanned outages on average twice every month. During April it happened four times already. They usually happen in the 1am-5am window and could last from 10min to 2 hours, interrupting my cloud backup process. I occasionally experience unplanned outages during daytime and evening peaks too (10-30min). I do get notifications about planned outages but they never happen when they say they will.

I have a feeling Vodafone is doing service affecting work willy-nilly. On top of very slow speeds to the USA I think it's been a mistake choosing them. They do not come across as an engineering outfit, just a backyard operation (Vodafone NBN that is, mobile could be different).

Do others experience the same thing from their ISP?

Internet Broadband nbn

Comments

  • orangetrain on 29/04/2021 - 11:06
    +2

    Vodafone have leaked personal and financial customer data in past. That's how much they care about the quality of their service. Search vodafail for what's in store for you!

    • Topdog on 29/04/2021 - 11:29

      I like to call them slow2load

  • SF3 on 29/04/2021 - 11:11

    Yep, happens with me also (internode).

    I've experienced outages at midnight and it comes back, like you mention, it could be minutes or a few hours.

    I reckon, people at NBN are just making changes on the fly and not notifying anyone, thinking that people don't use the services late at night / early morning.

    • Twix on 29/04/2021 - 11:54
      +1

      nbn make changes when there is the least traffic on the network. ISPs do get notified they just don't pass on the details. Aussie BB sends me an email when there are network maintenance outages from themselves or nbn.

  • jv on 29/04/2021 - 11:12
    +3

    My NAS tells me when it experiences an internet outage

    What software do you use to do the voice?

  • jv on 29/04/2021 - 11:13
    +3

    I think it's been a mistake choosing them.

    You know you can switch, right?

    • spackbace on 29/04/2021 - 11:16
      +4

      Not sure if the joycons will work with the NAS…

  • Topdog on 29/04/2021 - 11:31
    +1

    My NAS likes to meltdown to when I lose internet connection. However it does not occur often. Maybe it is ISP and not NBN?

  • wiipantz on 29/04/2021 - 11:31

    People use Vodafail?

    • burningrage on 29/04/2021 - 14:03
      +1

      Hey hey hey. I do use 'em. For $77 for 100/40 unlimited. Beggars can't be choosers.

      • wiipantz on 29/04/2021 - 14:09

        Oh god not only do you have Vodanet but you bundle it with Vodamobile… RIP

        • burningrage on 29/04/2021 - 21:47
          -1

          But I get to keep my OzB licence for being frugal.

      • skimp on 29/04/2021 - 14:35

        As a Vodafone user could you reply my other post please? I'd be very interested in your result. Thanks.
        What is your NBN speedtest result to USA?

        • burningrage on 29/04/2021 - 21:45

          Done.

          Vodafone isn't too bad imho for the price.

          Not many offering 100/40 these days at that price point and on average probably 1 short loss of connection each month but mostly returned within minutes.

  • RedBlueRedBlue2000 on 29/04/2021 - 12:09

    I'm with superloop. NBN outage on Sunday night around midnight with no notification or acknowledgment after.

  • Miami Mall Alien on 29/04/2021 - 12:52
    +2

    Firstly, it's your ISP's responsibility to inform you of all outages, whether they're happening because of them or NBNCo.

    If they're NBNCo-scheduled outages, there's not much they can do other than inform you in a timely manner, but their notifications should make it clear which party is responsible.

    They usually happen in the 1am-5am window and could last from 10min to 2 hours

    Most ISPs (and NBNCo) will endeavor to schedule maintenance/works during the 12AM - 6AM window, that's pretty standard as it's statistically going to affect the least subscribers.

    The upper limit they give for the outage duration is purely for worst case scenarios, normally they shouldn't take anywhere near that long.

    I occasionally experience unplanned outages during daytime and evening peaks too (10-30min).

    That's pretty sh*t but Vodafone are definitely a lower-tier ISP in terms of quality of service and customer feedback, so I'm not surprised. They've been consistently ranked 3rd place, right behind Telstra and Optus in the amount of annual TIO complaints for years now.

    I do get notifications about planned outages but they never happen when they say they will.

    Yeah again, that's incredibly sh*t quality of service on their behalf.

    NBNCo don't normally change scheduled outage windows at the last minute; planned outages do get cancelled and rescheduled occasionally, but the ISP should be passing on all the updates to their subscribers.

    Do others experience the same thing from their ISP?

    Definitely not on a monthly basis and certainly not any unplanned daytime outages that last up to 30 minutes; that's ridiculous. Aussie Broadband give you at least 2 weeks notice if not more, whenever they have planned outages or maintenance (either from their own end or from NBNCo's end) and they stay well within their designated window of time.

    I've found if I've actually had anything running and using the Internet connection during their outage windows, the actual downtime tends to be kept to 30 minutes or less.

    Naturally, your mileage varies a lot depending on your particular connection type, location, POI/CVC congestion, node congestion and line quality; you might also be in a particularly unreliable area for Internet service and your carrier maybe scheduling a lot of works to fix constant line/node issues and/or making improvements to the POI/CVC capacity on the back end.

    Are you sure these unplanned daytime outages aren't just a loss of sync on your end due to line issues? Do you call up Vodafone and confirm that they are in fact experiencing an outage in your area when these unplanned outages occur? You can also check on the NBN Network Status page (e.g. via your mobile Internet on your phone).

    These daytime outages definitely don't sound like NBNCo maintenance, as those kinds of outages are almost always scheduled between 12AM - 6AM. It sounds more like congestion on your POI/CVC, Vodafone network issues or line issues on your end.

    In any case, you should definitely be noting the times/durations of these outages and complaining to Vodafone directly.

    • Trance N Dance on 29/04/2021 - 14:25
      +1

      Planned outages are one thing, unplanned outages are another thing. HFC connections love to have unplanned outages.

      • Miami Mall Alien on 29/04/2021 - 15:15

        Yeah that's what I said; it's pretty uncommon, but then again most people don't have HFC connections.

        This kind of nonsense is unheard of with FTTN/FTTC/FTTP connections; at least if you're on a good line with a decent ISP.

        Vodafone has always provided sh*t-tier quality, across all of their services (their mobile network was equally terrible when I used them) so that could very well be a factor.

  • Trance N Dance on 29/04/2021 - 13:35

    Are you on HFC?

    • skimp on 29/04/2021 - 13:39

      Yes, HFC.

      • Trance N Dance on 29/04/2021 - 14:25
        +1

        Well there's your problem. HFC is complete utter crap for reliability. I get constant dropouts, at least once a month, sometimes multiple times a day. But service usually resumes within minutes if not seconds. The RSP won't do anything unless they report at least 4 drop outs in a 24 hour period because the NBN made that a rule.

        • Twix on 29/04/2021 - 14:29

          5 is the magic dropout number.

  • cloudy on 29/04/2021 - 13:47

    Do others experience the same thing from their ISP?

    Short answer is yes…
    And I never been notified in advance of any planned maintenance in the 3 years I’ve had nbn

    • Miami Mall Alien on 29/04/2021 - 15:48
      +1

      Jesus, what kind of cowboy ISP outfit are you with?

      • cloudy on 29/04/2021 - 15:55

        Exetel

        • Miami Mall Alien on 29/04/2021 - 16:34

          There's your problem. I mean look at those reviews ffs.

          I just checked their pricing and it's pretty much identical to Aussie Broadband (excluding those discounts for the first 6 months); I would switch if I were you.

          • cloudy on 29/04/2021 - 19:15

            @Miami Mall Alien: I don’t see a problem though, you sound so alarmist. But I’ve been with them for three years and I find it’s perfectly acceptable.

            I pay $44 per month, on slow but adequate net for my needs. Abb can not compete for my business.

            • Miami Mall Alien on 29/04/2021 - 19:46

              @cloudy:

              I don’t see a problem though

              That's the problem.

              Never once receiving advance notice of planned outages is a major red flag for a service provider's complete lack of customer support and far from the norm, even amongst notoriously disliked providers like Telstra/Optus.

              Imagine if your electricity or water provider just never notified you about a prolonged power/water outage? You'd dump them in a heartbeat. That kind of behaviour from a utility service provider in 2021 is just ridiculous (I could understand if you weren't notified about 2 outages out of 10 over the course of a year, but to never once be notified about planned outages? Utterly ridiculous and worthy of filing a TIO complaint).

              I’ve been with them for three years and I find it’s perfectly acceptable.

              Yeah until you have to actually interact with their customer support for any reason or have some line issues or something; then you'll discover how they manage to be so cheap.

              you sound so alarmist.

              Lol. Yes, I'm alarmist for pointing out that Exetel has always been a second-rate ISP and the 669 1-star reviews on Productreview.com tend to reaffirm that assertion.

              You sound like you've got Stockholm Syndrome.

              I was just saying that getting quality service and the bare minimum amount of courtesy from an ISP is not difficult and doesn't cost much more than what you're paying now.

              You're the one getting defensive and projecting that onto me, for whatever reason.

              • cloudy on 30/04/2021 - 10:20

                @Miami Mall Alien:

                You're the one getting defensive and projecting that onto me, for whatever reason.

                Not really. It seems like for every word I’ve said you feel the need to write a 100word essay in reply. I think most people can see you are the defensive one. I have no problem.

                But as you said…

                I don’t see a problem though

                That's the problem

                Having no problem is a problem…. lol that is the strangest thing I’ve heard.

                If you’re problems are problems and your “no problems” are problems you have lots of problems. Boy that was difficult, let’s just end it there mate

  • havebeerbelywillsumo on 29/04/2021 - 15:46

    "Short answer" appears to be best use ABB (on HFC, but that is not a problem for me it seems, lucky??,…note do not stream much so an interruption may pass unnoticed)- maintenance emails well in advance^ (for me, incl notices re VOIP only maintenance) , unflagged dropouts do happen but invariably short and rare, 1PM seems to be the most likely time.(VOIP, can be longterm, tho only once).

    ^ and, to credit NBN notices may stipulate hours but they always seem to not affect me or be way shorter in duration)

  • HeWhoKnows on 30/04/2021 - 08:35

    There really should not be a problem…..

    "Vodafone nbn™, with unlimited data, is designed to keep you going. On plans with the Vodafone Wi-Fi Hub™, you’ll be connected to the internet from day one and you can power on through interruptions with 4G Backup."

    • skimp on 30/04/2021 - 10:21

      The 4G backup was the attraction for joining Vodafone. However their first gen router could not sustain a LAN connection while on 4G without it rebooting every 10mins. It's a known problem that the router could only service wifi connections while on 4G. Having a LAN at home meant I could never take advantage of the 4G backup. The router has been sitting in the cupboard ever since I discovered this, after their 30 day money back guarantee.

      Vodafone NBN backyard operator.

  • mranderson978 on 30/04/2021 - 09:31

    I was having massive problems with MyRepublic.

    Internet would go off for 10 minutes at a time 6 time a day.

    Last Saturday the internet went off at 5am for 10 hours.

    Vodafone’s new modems have 4G failover.

    So long as you have a new modem, you should experience zero service interruptions because of NBN snafus. So long as you’re in a 4G coverage area.

  • Gekov on 30/04/2021 - 11:04

    "Do others experience the same thing from their ISP?"

    NEVER!

    But I'm with Telstra, so whenever the landline goes down, I'm automatically switched to 4G wireless by the Telstra modem.

    It happened once and I didn't notice …

    Would never ever again use an ISP without wireless backup.

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