Switching to Vodafone from BT fibre? Anything I need to consider?

krooton

krooton

krooton

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Joined
9 May 2004
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Location
Leafy outskirts of London
I just received an update that Vodafone FTTP is now available in my area (originally it was only BT/Zen when I moved in a few years ago).

I'm currently rocking BT Fibre 100, getting a consistent 150/30 with a 2ms ping.

The set up is a Smart Hub 2, with Wifi off, hooked up to a Unifi AP, but also running a cable to a switch in the study so that my PC and Server are hardwired.

I've been perfectly happy with the performance, however prices have crept up and I am now paying £43/month.

Vodafone are offering a 200MB FTTP connection, with guaranteed min speeds of what I am already getting, but at £32/month for 2 years.

Now my first port of call will be threatening to leave BT, unless they can either bring the price of my existing package down to that of a new customer's (£35) or upgrading me to their 500 package for free (which is £45 for new customers).

From what I gather, they aren't likely to budge much, if at all, so I was hoping to get some feedback on Vodafone as a fibre provider please.

Is their router any good, and will it be able to be set up to run wifi from my Unifi like my current Smart Hub 2?

Do they do any sort of traffic shaping and whatnot?

Cheers
 
Routers okay, I used it for like a year, didn't really have any issues, switched it out for a MikroTik X86.
Didn't use the WiFi on it personally as I have my own AP's so kept that disabled, I think it can do ~500Mbps+ on the WiFi side from what I can remember.

Vodafone's been very good in general, the only sort of issues I've had is with the customer support (live chat) & billing when upgrading package.
But the service itself has been flawless and it's been very rare for it to ever drop.
 
krooton said:
Now my first port of call will be threatening to leave BT, unless they can either bring the price of my existing package down to that of a new customer's (£35) or upgrading me to their 500 package for free (which is £45 for new customers).

From what I gather, they aren't likely to budge much, if at all, so I was hoping to get some feedback on Vodafone as a fibre provider please.
Click to expand...

I had multiple calls to their value team, they won't offer me 900MB for less than £58 and 500MB for less than £50, despite new customers getting 900 for 49.99 and 500MB for 39.99 in my area. So much for 8 years of customer loyalty. Have my 500 vodafone install booked for next friday at £29/month.
 
SixTwoSix said:
I had multiple calls to their value team, they won't offer me 900MB for less than £58 and 500MB for less than £50, despite new customers getting 900 for 49.99 and 500MB for 39.99 in my area. So much for 8 years of customer loyalty. Have my 500 vodafone install booked for next friday at £29/month.
Click to expand...

That's what I am expecting when I call today, not like I actually chose BT any way, they were the only fibre option (along with Zen) when the new estate was built, now their monopoly wanes :D
 
krooton said:
That's what I am expecting when I call today, not like I actually chose BT any way, they were the only fibre option (along with Zen) when the new estate was built, now their monopoly wanes :D
Click to expand...

Same, BT only option for fibre or 'ultrafast' even though main street 20 metres away having Virgin (on a cul-de-sac), although would never willingly use Virgin again but that's another story.

Let us know if they do budge on prices, i'm curious if you get someone better than the 3 people I spoke to on seperate calls.
 
SixTwoSix said:
Same, BT only option for fibre or 'ultrafast' even though main street 20 metres away having Virgin (on a cul-de-sac), although would never willingly use Virgin again but that's another story.

Let us know if they do budge on prices, i'm curious if you get someone better than the 3 people I spoke to on seperate calls.
Click to expand...
Haha, they wouldn't move on anything.

Switching to Vodafone on the 25th, screw BT if that is how they treat customers.
 
Guys it depends on who you get through to.

I rang to cancel today as my contract expires on the 29th of march on the BT 900 package.

Now ive been paying £60 a month for 2 years on the BT 900 and was doubtful when i rang today as when i logged in it was saying upgrade price was going to be £70 a month..

Anyway long story short got the guy to match the new customer price which is £45 and i got the 12mth Xbox Live Ultimate too.

If anyone needs my account details to verify with BT and get the same deal im more than happy to share.

And i did it all this afternoon.
 
xtremedetailz said:
Guys it depends on who you get through to.
Click to expand...

I spoke to 3 seperate people on 3 seperate days, 2 of those within the values team, one in cancellations/renewals - was told quite implicitly that new customer deals weren't available to me in my area by all of them, mentioned in another thread.

Looking on BT forums and some other broadband sites, the success rate on negotiating renewal deals can vary a lot by the area that you're in, for example, if I enter a postcode the next major city over, the new customer price rises by £5 for both 500MB (£45 there, £40 with me) and 900MB (£55 there, £50 with me) packages.

Glad you got a decent deal for your renewal but it's not just about who you talk to, it's where you live as well sadly.

Regardless, i'm now going to pay £29 for a 500 package, a price which BT can't even match as a new customer, 900 was overkill and was a 'nice to have' but not remotely needed. If Gigagast ever becomes available with their 900/900, i'll snap that up for the upload though.
 
Just had a call from retentions, they asked why I was moving, I said £43 to £32 is a no-brainer, they offered my current plan at £39, I said no thanks.
 
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