My Dad's in hospital; been a customer of almost every company Vodafone's bought; needs a new router

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › My Dad's in hospital; been a customer of almost every company Vodafone's bought; needs a new router

deadlyllama

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#250989 4-Jun-2019 11:38

This is one of those "is someone from Vodafone monitoring this forum, phone support were not too helpful" questions...

I've got a parent in hospital, and broadband at his house (in Wellington) isn't working. It's probably the router. He's had cable internet since 1999 (when it was a Paradise net product, 512k/128k, woohoo!). I don't know how many different accounts with Vodafone he has, he was a BellSouth customer too. He is also a WorldXChange customer. Seriously, I think Vodafone just buys any company he deals with...

He has his own now rather aged router (SPA122) which is playing up. He could do with a new router. I can get a friend to install it.

Why do I know it's the router? Because the landline (WxC VoIP over the cable internet connection) is still working...

Is there a way I can get him a new router, today?

No, I'm not an authority on any accounts - apart from the ex-WorldXChange one.

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#2251002 4-Jun-2019 11:48

If you don't have authority on the account then ' No ' it has zero to do with how long he has been a customer

Would the bank let you get $$ out of his account if you don't ' authority '? I don't think so

Ask your Dad to add you as ' authority ' on all the accounts then sort it out,

FYI hope your Dad recovers well for whatever reason his is in hospital

deadlyllama

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#2251019 4-Jun-2019 12:07

The problem with having been a customer for so long is I think the person on the phone got confused by all the accounts he's had with them. I've been advised I should go into a Vodafone store and tell them my sob story - but I'm on the wrong island to be much help.

I would hope someone with an ounce of compassion at Vodafone might be able to say "if someone comes to such and such a store we'll let that store know they can pick a modem." That's why I'm trying the tech-support-via-forum approach.

To be honest I'm surprised they haven't tried to replace his router in the past - maybe he got told his IP address would change or something like that.

geocom

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#2251032 4-Jun-2019 12:11

Unless something has changed recently WxC still have a separate phone number(0800 123 456) from vodafone and your authority to the account should still be active. Had to call it recently when I had a outage a few months ago.

It's odd how vodafone have consumed them but left some parts running.

Geoff E

deadlyllama

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#2251053 4-Jun-2019 12:20

geocom:

Unless something has changed recently WxC still have a separate phone number(0800 123 456) from vodafone and your authority to the account should still be active. Had to call it recently when I had a outage a few months ago.

It's odd how vodafone have consumed them but left some parts running.

They do; it is; but the WxC service is the least connected with the problem; they did not (to my knowledge) supply the current router, it's customer supplied. And it seems unlikely they would be able to arrange supply of a new Vodafone residential router...

Spyware

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#2251063 4-Jun-2019 12:25

More than likely WxC supplied the SPA122.

Jaxson

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#2251081 4-Jun-2019 12:46

Is he a current Vodafone customer and do you have authority on his Vodafone account?

So you after a new modem for your Dad right? Is he on a plan that is entitled to one?

What exactly is the problem you're asking Vodafone for help with?

Playing devils advocate here/trying to clarify...

deadlyllama

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#2251084 4-Jun-2019 12:49

Spyware:

More than likely WxC supplied the SPA122.

You're right! They did! In 2013!

They still sort of support it - it was a VfX certified device, after all.

Maybe we just have to buy a new router from PBtech, plug the SPA122 into that, and let me sort things out when I'm next in Wellington. If it wasn't for having Vodafone TV and the trickiness of a new fibre install (aerial ... but some distance, over a gully, this is Wellington after all) I'd get him to move to UFB.

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deadlyllama

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#2251102 4-Jun-2019 13:16

Jaxson:

Is he a current Vodafone customer and do you have authority on his Vodafone account?

So you after a new modem for your Dad right? Is he on a plan that is entitled to one?

What exactly is the problem you're asking Vodafone for help with?

Playing devils advocate here/trying to clarify...

He's a current Vodafone customer. I might have authority on the appropriate Vodafone account. Unfortunately the person I spoke to on the phone at Vodafone could only find the account for his mobile phone. As I said, he has a habit of buying service from companies Vodafone then acquires, so has a number of accounts with them, probably on separate billing systems (did they ever properly integrate the TelstraClear stuff?).

He needs a new, ideally Vodafone-supported router for his HFC cable internet connection.

I think the answer is that Vodafone don't regularly read these forums, and that the call centre is not too good either.

I'll get my mate to buy a rubbish router from PBtech and install that, plug the ATA/router combo into that just for VoIP, and hope it all starts to work again.

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#2251108 4-Jun-2019 13:23

Would make more sense to buy an access point and connect that to SPA122 LAN side port (if not connecting elsewhere).

deadlyllama

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#2251110 4-Jun-2019 13:24

By the way, the moral of this story is: complicated home internet/phone/tv/etc setups sound really lovely until something goes wrong and you're incapacitated and something that someone else needs stops working.

That happened to me last year, while I was out of town for two weeks. I simplified our home setup. I'm even using the ISP supported[*] router! There is a Linux server in a cupboard but nothing vital breaks if it goes bezerk or just stops working.

[*] I haven't quite learnt my lesson, I talked them into letting me supply my own HG659 (they gave me their firmware image) to save $10 a month.

deadlyllama

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#2251111 4-Jun-2019 13:27

Spyware:

Would make more sense to buy an access point and connect that to SPA122 LAN side port (if not connecting elsewhere).

Nah. The SPA122's problem is it stops replying to DHCP requests every so often. And no one uses wifi there anyway. The house was wired for 10base2 in the 1990s.

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#2251114 4-Jun-2019 13:29

Most people would identify the problem first - you still haven't done that. Given the phone still works there can't be a faulty router in the chain.

EDIT: So you're implying there is no other router and that the DHCP failure is the issue??

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#2251118 4-Jun-2019 13:44

Given modern DOCSIS modem connections are vlan tagged I think you may need to configure WAN on both new router and SPA122.

deadlyllama

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#2251131 4-Jun-2019 14:15

Spyware:

Most people would identify the problem first - you still haven't done that. Given the phone still works there can't be a faulty router in the chain.

EDIT: So you're implying there is no other router and that the DHCP failure is the issue??

Current network setup is

DOCSIS modem <-> SPA122 <-> LAN

with phones hanging off the SPA122. It's an older router with ATA ports, sold by a company better known for its ATAs than its routers. I suspect it's still got a static IP configured on the WAN side.

The phones work! So the internet connection provided by the DOCSIS modem must be OK, and the SPA122 must be correctly configured on that side.

Intermittently, the LAN stops talking to the internet, and it comes back when the router is rebooted. My best guess is that the SPA122 stops responding to DHCP although it may well be doing something else wrong on its LAN side.

Jaxson

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#2251136 4-Jun-2019 14:21

deadlyllama:

I think the answer is that Vodafone don't regularly read these forums, and that the call centre is not too good either.

I think some are still not sure of the question, so might want to clarify that before deciding this is the answer.

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