Vodafone FTTP 500Mbps - What router are you using?

[Gregry254]

Looking to replace the router provided by Vodafone as have had a few issues with it (forced all devices onto 2.4ghz for a while, random devices drop off and only a restart of the router allows them to join again etc).

So, as title, what hardware are you using with your Vodafone FTTP connection?

 

[Gregry254]

It has happened with a wired Fire TV Cube and my printer too sadly.

I have Hive heating and now when I open the app I am used to either the upstairs or downstairs thermostat being offline until I refresh it a few times. This never happened before with BT and I had that router for 6 years.

 

[Gregry254]

I use an Asus router no problems with. Maybe you have a DHCP issue with IP address clashes ?

I did wonder that but when the fire cube was having issues I did a scan of the network and then set a static IP that was not in use and it still couldn't get a connection until the router was restarted (my laptop worked fine in that port during testing). Its like it just takes a dislike to a certain device until its restarted.

 

[Gregry254]

I would speak to Vodafone and ask for a replacement to be sent out.

I did consider that but would have to go through the mind numbing step by step troubleshooting by whoever answers the phone.

This lets me upgrade to WiFi 6e and not have to justify it to the wife haha

 

[Gregry254]

i have always found TP-link routers to be solid, has an Archer AX75 for years before I upgraded to the GX90

What prompted the upgrade? I have been looking at the axe75 for WiFi 6e.
Also, do you find you are missing any features? I noticed tp-link have some kind of subscription package which seems bonkers for a home product.

 

[Gregry254]

If the issue is wireless only then just buy a proper Access Point, mount it centrally upstairs and hard wire it.

It has stopped my wired fire cube and also printer working in the past too sadly.

 

[Gregry254]

I’m assuming this is a new connection? It’s unlikely their hub or whatever they call it is the cause, they are rarely ‘broken’.

Throwing money at the issue without knowing what’s causing it could be fruitless.

What troubleshooting have you done? The devices which have issues, can they still ping their default gateway? Can they ping the internet? Are the ping times consistent? Do you get any issues from anything hardwired into the Vodafone router? Have you asked Vodafone about it? Have you plugged a laptop or computer into the ONT and dialled a PPoE connection to see how it behaves? If you have concerns about speaking to them, perhaps you should have chosen another ISP.

I think we have had it for about 6 months now but the issues only started happening a month or so ago. (I have changed nothing in this time)

I would like to upgrade to 6e anyway so this is a good excuse.

The devices that have had issues on wireless are things like Hive thermostats and my daughters Yoto, wired issues were Amazon fire cube and a printer so can't do much troubleshooting on them directly. I can still ping the problem device if they are wired when it has issues, wireless ones just can't connect again. Assigning static details to the fire cube when it had issues didn't help either. It’s almost like the device/MAC is getting black listed until a restart occurs but can't see any settings that would explain that. (MAC filtering is turned off)

Not plugged into the ONT directly as I will need the username/password/vlan from Vodafone before I can do that.

It’s not an issue of not wanting to talk to Vodafone's helpdesk specifically, it’s any first line helpdesk in general. My previous job was as a network engineer and even the times that I have had to call Cisco TAC it’s the same experience of first line support reading a checklist off of "does it have power, have you restarted it, are the cables connected"