Is Vodafone giving up on UltraFast HFC /FibreX? (Not offered to new customers)

Forums › One NZ (including Farmside) › Is Vodafone giving up on UltraFast HFC /FibreX? (Not offered to new customers)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ... | 18

2351 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 583

#2493656 28-May-2020 13:46

I would like to see it last a further 5-10 years... Especially for houses that are already fitted with it.

More aggressive pricing / marketing "Yay, you're in our HFC area which means we can offer you faster (gigabit) speeds for less money (than a standard Fibre plan)"

richms

29104 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10222

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2493884 28-May-2020 20:01

Yabanize:

I would like to see it last a further 5-10 years... Especially for houses that are already fitted with it.

More aggressive pricing / marketing "Yay, you're in our HFC area which means we can offer you faster (gigabit) speeds for less money (than a standard Fibre plan)"

But that may delay the installs of fiber until after the subsidized installs are over, and then it would be too expensive, so they would probably just move to a 5g service which will be common by then, so helping VF keep them locked in as a customer. Or perhaps that is the idea?

Richard rich.ms

wlgtraderx

18 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#2493904 28-May-2020 20:35

Hmm, pre reading this I just a few days ago signed up to a new 24 month term on HFC. I was super amazed at the deal

-$62/month (have VF on account via work), this is down from $82 previously and $102 was the rate it rolled on to after contract end.

-phone line with 5 best mates

-Max speed 900/100 potential

-sent me out a wifi booster for free too

In typical Vodafone style there was all sort of confusing elements to it "we are moving you to a new CRM" and Gave me a new account number - presume this is a move from old TCL to new Vodafone system

They also, sent a technician out to "install" - given was already connected this was a bit much! But he was a nice guy and shifted my phone line to via the HFC cable and off copper, he's offered to comeback and do some more wiring for better router placement too!

I had to insist to them to put me on a 24 month contract as they changed it to a 12 month partway through in one of the emails..

Anyway that my story of HFC! Still seems to be a go!

Yabanize

2351 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 583

#2493948 28-May-2020 22:45

wlgtraderx:

Hmm, pre reading this I just a few days ago signed up to a new 24 month term on HFC. I was super amazed at the deal

-$62/month (have VF on account via work), this is down from $82 previously and $102 was the rate it rolled on to after contract end.

-phone line with 5 best mates

-Max speed 900/100 potential

-sent me out a wifi booster for free too

In typical Vodafone style there was all sort of confusing elements to it "we are moving you to a new CRM" and Gave me a new account number - presume this is a move from old TCL to new Vodafone system

They also, sent a technician out to "install" - given was already connected this was a bit much! But he was a nice guy and shifted my phone line to via the HFC cable and off copper, he's offered to comeback and do some more wiring for better router placement too!

I had to insist to them to put me on a 24 month contract as they changed it to a 12 month partway through in one of the emails..

Anyway that my story of HFC! Still seems to be a go!

Nice deal! Yeah a few of us have experienced being moved to the "Vodafone A" billing system from "Vodafone C" (old TelstraClear system) and from copper to VoIP phone.

The fact that this was a few days ago is hopeful. Maybe the website info isn't accurate, or was temporary for covid.

richms:

But that may delay the installs of fiber until after the subsidized installs are over, and then it would be too expensive, so they would probably just move to a 5g service which will be common by then, so helping VF keep them locked in as a customer. Or perhaps that is the idea?

Very good point. Enable told us we had until the end of 2020 to claim a free install.

kingjj

1731 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 450

ID Verified

Trusted

#2493950 28-May-2020 22:52

wlgtraderx:

Hmm, pre reading this I just a few days ago signed up to a new 24 month term on HFC. I was super amazed at the deal

-$62/month (have VF on account via work), this is down from $82 previously and $102 was the rate it rolled on to after contract end.

-phone line with 5 best mates

-Max speed 900/100 potential

-sent me out a wifi booster for free too

In typical Vodafone style there was all sort of confusing elements to it "we are moving you to a new CRM" and Gave me a new account number - presume this is a move from old TCL to new Vodafone system

They also, sent a technician out to "install" - given was already connected this was a bit much! But he was a nice guy and shifted my phone line to via the HFC cable and off copper, he's offered to comeback and do some more wiring for better router placement too!

I had to insist to them to put me on a 24 month contract as they changed it to a 12 month partway through in one of the emails..

Anyway that my story of HFC! Still seems to be a go!

That's a bloody sharp price. We're on the same number but without the phone line and wifi booster. The new CRM is much better than the old one imho, works nicely with the Vodafone app. We lost our data counter after a couple of months but other than that has all been flawless.

I hope they don't drag out the death of HFC until they one day give us a hard deadline to shift. I'd rather stay on a physical network and not have to move to 5G, so either they maintain the network or ideally they sell it to Chorus or Enable and they use the ducts to install fibre... that would be the ideal.

quickymart

14941 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 13956

ID Verified

#2494007 28-May-2020 23:44

That would be a bit tricky, they would probably have to pull out all the cable network from the conduit to replace it with fibre, and there's (most likely) already fibre in its own conduit anyway, barring places like Pegasus which are mostly cable.

Still no word on what's happening in Pegasus? Anyone tried to get a connection there (very) recently?

Geekzone

Want to support Geekzone and browse the site without the ads? Subscribe to Geekzone now (monthly, annual and lifetime options).

kingjj

1731 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 450

ID Verified

Trusted

#2494024 29-May-2020 07:34

quickymart:

That would be a bit tricky, they would probably have to pull out all the cable network from the conduit to replace it with fibre, and there's (most likely) already fibre in its own conduit anyway, barring places like Pegasus which are mostly cable.

Still no word on what's happening in Pegasus? Anyone tried to get a connection there (very) recently?

Last chatter on the community FB page was about 2 weeks ago, nothing since. Its the sort of page where if there was any sort of issue getting a connection at present than every tom dick and harry would be on there complaining rigorously despite the lack of any sort of support on there... Lots of new builds at present and the Downer vans are still trolling around town so assuming all is right there still.

DjShadow

4222 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1322

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2494409 29-May-2020 15:46

I tried pressing Vodafone on Social Media and this is what they came back with:

We are frequently reviewing the broadband services offered at each address and right now the best options will be what comes up for that particular address. These options can change but we always plan to offer the best option(s) at each address at the time of checking.

So if I decipher the above would I be right in assuming they can provide Fibre cheaper than Cable currently?

nickb800

2735 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 829

Trusted

#2494416 29-May-2020 15:57

DjShadow:

I tried pressing Vodafone on Social Media and this is what they came back with:

We are frequently reviewing the broadband services offered at each address and right now the best options will be what comes up for that particular address. These options can change but we always plan to offer the best option(s) at each address at the time of checking.

So if I decipher the above would I be right in assuming they can provide Fibre cheaper than Cable currently?

I'd wouldn't read anything into their comment - assuming Cable is a going concern there's no way Fibre would be cheaper - marginal cost of a cable connection would be pretty close to zero after the installation compared to $40/month for a UFB connection from Chorus. I've tested a range of addresses in their address checker and they are all pointing to fibre at present - so I call BS on the 'what comes up for that particular address' thing.

There could be post-lockdown capacity constraints in installation which might justify a temporary stop-sell, but the fact that they're pushing re-signing customers onto Fibre says it all

D1023319

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

ID Verified

#2495049 30-May-2020 12:37

I live in Hataiati, Wellington with a VF cable connection = 50mbps-Netcom NF5 .

As my T-Box has stated to have issued with pixelation and frequent failed recordings (says due to poor signal strength even though it shows good strength in diagnostic),
I have asked VF for options

So yesterday they offered me a move from my 50mbps-Netcom NF5 to FibreX HFC at 900+ mbps - along with Vodafone TV.
There was no mention made of using the Chorusbox at all and they assure me that during peak congestion - the speed will never fall below 200mbps

So VF are still marketing the FibreX solution .

FYI - offered rate is $145 pm for fibreX and tv with entertainment package and landline.

Out of interest - while VF have some excellent technicians here - the sales team person i dealt with could barely understand my english and seem to have zero technical knowledge requiring multiple clarifications!

quickymart

14941 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 13956

ID Verified

#2495184 30-May-2020 16:50

Probably the same crowd answering their inbound call centre, based out of India.

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

ajw

1968 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 369

#2495186 30-May-2020 16:55

D1023319:

I live in Hataiati, Wellington with a VF cable connection = 50mbps-Netcom NF5 .

As my T-Box has stated to have issued with pixelation and frequent failed recordings (says due to poor signal strength even though it shows good strength in diagnostic),
I have asked VF for options

So yesterday they offered me a move from my 50mbps-Netcom NF5 to FibreX HFC at 900+ mbps - along with Vodafone TV.
There was no mention made of using the Chorusbox at all and they assure me that during peak congestion - the speed will never fall below 200mbps

So VF are still marketing the FibreX solution .

FYI - offered rate is $145 pm for fibreX and tv with entertainment package and landline.

Out of interest - while VF have some excellent technicians here - the sales team person i dealt with could barely understand my english and seem to have zero technical knowledge requiring multiple clarifications!

@D1023319:

Try getting the retentions department they got me back by offering a better deal.

D1023319

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

ID Verified

#2495596 31-May-2020 11:04

Thx for that

How do you contact VF retentions department?

It was hard enough getting through and I only arrived at VF sales team after reporting the T-Box pixelationand their technical team past my phone call on?

Cheers

ajw

1968 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 369

#2495601 31-May-2020 11:08

I used 0508888800 and asked for the retentions department. Don't talk to sales the retentions department are the people to talk to. They do not work weekends.

keewee01

1743 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 204

Trusted

#2498345 4-Jun-2020 15:43

I was on the Unlimited UltraFast Cable 50 plan, and due to lockdown wanted to upgrade (as both wife and I were essential workers and having to work from home).

Up until this point I have had reasonably good dealings with Vodafone... but that is largely because I never need to contact them.

To organise plan upgrade I was forced to contact them via chat to arrange callback - and the person called back same day - 24th April. She'd never heard of my current plan as it seemed to be soooo old - Unlimited UltraFast Cable 50 - and it was giving me very reliable speeds of 50/2. She offered me Fibre X Max (which is HFC, max potential speeds 900/300 from memory) - no offer of anything else, just that - plus we elected to drop the phone line as it only gets used by telemarketers these days. So there was certainly no attempt to tempt me to fibre. Was told I would get an email about it from them once the workorder landed at Downers, was warned install could be up to 4 weeks as I already had broadband and priority installations were going to people without broadband. And we were informed not to pay the invoice from Vodafone as it would be for the old plan/connection (and was already well in credit).

Fast forward to May 29th (4.5 weeks later) and I get a call out of the blue from the Downers tech to say he'd be here in 30 mins to upgrade us! (so both of us had meetings scheduled and had to move them around); Downers tech turned up and swapped the Motorola or Cisco cable modem (can't remember what it was now) for a Techicolor cable modem and Ultra Hub. Thanks for that advance warning Vodafone!

And here is where it all starts going down hill...

The new plan is rubbish - I would be interested to hear what others in Stokes Valley are getting but I gone from a steady 50/2 before upgrade, to a variable 32-57/4-6 after the upgrade - and now where near the possible 900/300!!! They've also not completed the work order as there are outstanding items to be completed.

And then on the 29th of May I receive a "Reminder - your vodafone bill is overdue" letter in the mail!!! I check my inbox (and yes, the SPAM folder) and they've never emailed me the new bill. I checked online and they've not even added the new account to my My Profile page. So it seems the new billing was sent via telepathy :D

Trying to get a hold of Vodafone over the billing them was a wonder experience - forced to use Chat and that useless damn TBot which they should just take off line. ChatBot kept hijacking the conversations I was having with humans, wiping the prior conversation in the thread on my side and leaving me hanging - wondering where the hell I was at. I had one very long conversation (90+ minutes) on Tuesday morning where the human (Mary) let me know she could see why I'd received the billed and she organised for a new one to be emailed out to me... and then I had to make contact in the afternoon when the bill still hadn't arrived and after about 45 minutes of chat (and again being cut off by that bloody TBot), the person was able to tell me that the morning email went to pending rather than sending out, and so she fixed this and got the bill out to me - which I promptly paid. Also, one of these people I was dealing with kept asking for my account password, which I refused to give her and she kept insisting telling me that she gets it all the time from customers... I finally asked if she was after the account PIN and she said yes, the password. Vodafone - you need to sort that as I hate to think how many customers have given over their passwords rather then the account PIN!!!!!!!!

On doing some calculations - I worked out that I've well overpaid on the old (Vodafone C) account, and Vodafone have yet to offer to refund this. And the people online seems disinterested in this fact.

I've yet to be setup online for the new (Vodafone A) account.

They've not finished the workorder and done everything that was requested back on April 24th.

Plus the service they have "upgraded" us to is very substandard and not fit for purpose currently.

And then finally, they make themselves so hard to get hold of and so painful to deal with... it is such an unpleasant experience. I am honestly wishing I'd never tried to upgrade my plan.

So, anyone in Stokes Valley, and what speeds are you getting on Ultrafast HFC Max?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ... | 18