spirit2674
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Re: UK customer support telephone number
Hello u4ria79. As other posters have pointed out, it is unlikely that such a number is operational in 2025. I encourage you to reconsider the option of seeking support via these forums. Of course, it will, most likely, involve a greater degree of self-learning and time investment, as opposed to calling in and requesting a fix for a particular issue. Generally speaking, I recommended minimising (if possible) VM call-centre interactions, the experience of which, and the results of which, can both be inconsistent. Instead, I would recommend setting out your problem in a respectful and concise way (albeit, with any necessary details included) on these forums, following the suggested advice, and then engaging with VM forum colleagues (who are UK based) via private messaging after (or if) one reaches out to you. Do not rule-out the usefulness of private messaging, once (or if) the opportunity for that comes into play.Re: Frustration!
Hi there Catlove, I am sorry to hear of your troubles. From your post, it seems like you are having broadband reliability problems (I too have had these), although you are a little light on details. Unfortunately, similarly to Adduxi, I am sad to say that it is not a good strategy to call in to VM's contact centres, and agree to extending service provision in the hope that the service is fixed. Agreement to extending your services does not guarantee a fix to ongoing issues, should you have these. (I do understand your well-meaning intention in doing that of course.) Rather, I recommend you do the following: Step 1: Testing and Diagnostics Follow the tests I undertook and posted about, in this thread here. You can ignore tests 1 and 2 -- in retrospect, I should not have bothered with those, as they are of limited usefulness. Do try to do all the other ones though. I accept that it's a fair amount of work, but it can help you get some assistance from some of the more experienced people on this forum, including VM colleagues. If you post any screenshots, be sure to omit/redact any IP address or MAC address information. The benefit of pursuing help on here, although it involves a lot of work, time investment, and self-learning, is that you can minimise your VM call-centre interactions, the results of which can be inconsistent. You will also learn more about your connection generally. Step 2: Follow a "Broadband Outage Strategy" A concurrent step is to implement what I call a "broadband outage strategy". I have outlined what I feel is the best strategy in this post here. In a nutshell, the strategy sets out a first step of "piggy-backing" off your mobile phone's (i.e., your smartphone's) data provision in the short term, then moving to a SIM-equippable router, reporting the problem(s) and waiting for a fix, and then if all else fails, "jumping ship" (as ultimately, in 2025, most of us need reliable broadband). I hope my post is helpful to you, and best of fortune in getting a solution to your broadband reliability issues.Re: Local outage is leaving me without Internet for over 3 weeks
Hi again Douglas. I just thought I'd follow-up, out of curiosity, to see if you are on the way to getting your problem sorted. I hope you are! In my own case, I have committed to changing my provider to an OpenReach provider (and I am on-track to make that happen). That said, I understand that such drastic action is not always possible or feasible for everyone, especially for: parties who are not out of contract -- and who could, potentially, face a very high contract exit cost, if they cannot completely establish that the broadband service was not satisfactorily provided. parties who have just committed to a new VM contract. parties who have no competing providers in their area. I was thinking a little about my post above, and I thought I'd follow up with a slightly expanded version of it, on the off chance that it might be useful for persons experiencing prolonged or regular VM broadband outages. My Recommended "VM Broadband Outage Strategy" If you lose your VM broadband connection (i.e., if it "goes down", and you experience a prolonged outage, and assuming it is a "VM side" problem), this is my recommended "outage strategy". Step 1: Emergency Measures: Implement a Mobile Tethering or Mobile Hotspot Solution (1) Assuming you have a "smartphone" mobile phone (and most people these days do), the first step is to get either: (A) get a mobile phone "tethering" solution working (this involves connecting, or "tethering" the mobile phone to your computer, via a USB cable), or (B) get a mobile phone wifi "hot spot" solution working. The latter might be better if you want to keep the mobile phone completely mobile, and not have it connected (via USB) to a computer all-day. Of course, the computer you are using must have wifi capability. If it does not, then USB tethering is the option to initially select. Instructions -- for either an Android phone or an iPhone -- are readily on YouTube, under sensible search terms (for example, "mobile tethering android", "mobile tethering iphone", "mobile hotspot android", "mobile hotspot iphone", and so on.) If you are a heavy data user, it would be advantageous if you have unlimited data on your current smartphone mobile plan. Step 2: Consolidate: Acquire a Stand-Alone SIM-equipable Router (2) After you get back online under step (1), I recommend acquiring a more substantial stand-alone SIM-equipable router, purchasable from any mainstream online vendor. My preference is to buy from Amazon, under this search term here. Of course, other vendors are available. In terms of brands, I prefer TP-Link equipment, under this search term here. Again, other brands are of course available, and are perfectly feasible. Then, you buy a unlimited data SIM for the SIM-equipable router, ideally from an reputable mobile provider. Without naming names, I suggest opting for a provider known for both reliability and coverage, especially if you live "out in the sticks". Step 3: Report the Outage, Then Wait (3) This step is quite simple. You report the outage, then you aim to "wait out" the outage until a fix is applied. During the wait, you rely on your new-found broadband connectivity methods to conduct your daily online affairs. This is not ideal, but it allows you to conduct essential online affairs. Step 4: If VM Broadband Connectivity Cannot Be Re-Established, Consider Researching a New Provider (4) This step is the final choice. If it transpires that VM are unable to reliably repair/re-establish your broadband connection, consider researching alternative broadband providers. If you are out of contract, this should be straightforwards. It is more complicated if you are "in contract". On this latter point, as far as I am aware, a contract may be exited if the service contracted for cannot be satisfactorily provided. I am not an expert on this topic, but that is my broad understanding of it. I encourage readers to do their own research on this point. All things considered, I hope this post was useful in some way to others in a similar situation to Douglas or myself. Best of fortune everyone, and especially those of us suffering from outages, either intermittent, or prolonged.Re: Local outage is leaving me without Internet for over 3 weeks
Hi there Douglas. I'm sorry to read of the problems you have had with the quality of your VM broadband connection. I have had similar problems. You are welcome to check my profile for some of my posts in that regard. I suggest taking the emotion out of your decision making, and to try to think pragmatically and logically. First, you need broadband provision. Second, in my estimation, and ideally, you want to avoid time-consuming call-centre interactions. I suggest the following: (1) In the short-term, implement a mobile phone "tethering" solution, assuming that is workable for you. If you are a heavy data user, it would be advantageous if you have unlimited data on your mobile plan. (2) After that, acquire a more substantial stand-alone SIM-equipable router, purchasable from any mainstream online vendor. I suggest Amazon as the vendor, under this search here. Other vendors are of course available. I suggest TP-Link as the brand of choice. Other brands are of course available. Then, you buy a data SIM for it, from a mobile provider. I suggest opting for a provider known for reliability and coverage, especially if you live "out in the sticks". (3) After you have achieved a reliable way to consistently connect to the internet (and to conduct your daily online affairs), and if VM are unable to repair your connection, consider researching alternative providers. If that requires "buying out" your contract, then so be it. That's the long and short of it. I hope this post was useful in some way, and I wish you the best of fortune.Re: Worthwhile to Pursue An Engineer/Technician Visit?
Hi there @Lee_R, many thanks for your post and private message -- very much appreciated. I am very grateful to you for your input, plus the input received from other members of the VM forum team. I will read and reply to your private message this evening. Thanks again.Re: How to report damage to street equipment
Hi folks. I'm posting to report an open VM street cabinet. I am hopeful this can be addressed as soon as reasonably possible. Cabinet Location: The street cabinet is located at a junction. It is on Barns Street, Clydebank. It is at the section (involving a small roundabout) where Barns Street intersects with North Elgin Street. According to Google Maps, the nearest address is 1 East Barns St, Clydebank, G81 1DA. The Google Maps location is here. Description of Damage: The issue is that the cabinet is open, and may be subject to vandalism and/or malicious damage, which could lead to outages for many people. Here are some pictures to demonstrate: Cabinet Number: There is no identifiable cabinet number on the outside of the cabinet. I checked all sides. That said, I am confident that this is a VM cabinet, as the lock mechanism looks to be that used by VM. Thank you very much for reading my post folks.Re: Losing broadband connection
Sorry to hear you are having connection quality problems Notter. I too am having prolonged connection problems (detailed in my thread here), after a number of years of "reasonable" reliability (i.e., mostly consistent up-time, with some small instances of downtime, which were ultimately solved). One of the first things I would recommend doing, when the connection allows it, is to setup a Broadband Quality Monitor service. This allows a graphical representation of your ongoing connection quality. They best service that I know of that provides this is here. Be sure not to post your IP address if you are able to later post BQM images here. Also, when you get an opportunity, I'd recommend posting a Hub Diagnostics Review (Status, Downstream, Upstream, Configuration, Network Log). For my own case, with a Hub 5, that is done via navigating to the Hub 5’s administration link (http://192.168.0.1), selecting “Check Router Status” (no login required this way), then checking the relevant tabs/pages. Be sure not to include (i.e., to omit) any MAC address information if you are copying/pasting details. Also, I'd recommend bookmarking the VM Service Status page here, and reviewing that when the connection allows it. I'd adjunct that with downloading the VM app to your smartphone, as it too, allows checks of service status, potentially via a "mobile" connection, if your broadband connection is down. Lastly, I often see people recommending running a SamKnows “real speed” test (link here). That might give you some more insight as to whether the problem is with your connection generally (i.e., "VM side" problem), or whether it is with hardware/software setup in your home "after" the router. The above are not going to solve your problem, but will give you greater visibility of what is going on with your connection, so you can have more confident conversations with VM colleagues as you proceed to seek a fix.Re: Worthwhile to Pursue An Engineer/Technician Visit?
Hi folks. Hope all are well. Just a quick update post. Regrettably, I am still getting daily outages, which can span multiple hours. To say the least, this is not ideal for work from home (WFH) purposes, or general productivity. Here is a Broadband Quality Monitor (BQM) snapshot to demonstrate today's outage (18/06/2025): As the graph demonstrates, today's outage spanned from circa 1700 to 1900. At time of writing, these issues have now spanned circa 26 days, at least. Sadly, I do not have a workable "mobile phone tethering" redundancy option at this time. (That is something I am working on.) So, I am proceeding with a switch to a well-known OpenReach provider. A rudimentary glance at various relevant online forums (including Reddit) suggests outages are not wholly uncommon with VM, as of June 2025. That is unfortunate, as my early experience of this network (spanning back to my early contracting, in my area, with "pre VM" NTL) was one of reliable provision. Once again, I encourage a root and branch reappraisal, at boardroom level, of VM's current strategy on broadband provision, with an emphasis on 24/7/365 service up-time and reliability.Re: Worthwhile to Pursue An Engineer/Technician Visit?
Hi there @pete_at_home, many thanks for your post. I will do those things today -- thank you very much for your suggestions. Sadly, I've had a poor run of connection performance recently, at what was quite an important time, and so, I've decided to draw a line under my time with VM. Despite a fix to an issue that was estimated to be implemented on 16/06/2025, unfortunately, I had more outages that day and today (17/06/2025). Here is a Broadband Quality Monitor snapshot to demonstrate (17/06/2025): I've had a decent run overall with VM (starting with contracting with NTL), and for many years, had no pressing issues in terms of connection reliability. So, I must give VM credit for that. Recently however, the connection has not been performing well. I had initial conversations with an alternative large-scale/established provider today, and they were straightforward and efficient. As an aside, a pleasing aspect of the proposed solution was a redundancy option, which initiates an automatic "mobile signal" connection, via an extra unit connected to the main router, should the standard fibre connection fail or have an outage. For anyone in a similar position, and considering a similar move, here is my opinion (and that is all it is). Assuming you are out of contract with VM, I would, on balance, recommend running 2 services concurrently, until the alternative option is fully up-and-running. This is a different strategy to a standard "switch" protocol, which relies on very precise timing. While there is additional expense to my own approach, I feel that the risk of being left without a connection (should anything go wrong with a traditional "switch" method) is greatly reduced. Having worked for a large-scale telecommunications company, I am aware that switches can (and do) go wrong, with very inconvenient results. I am hopeful that all goes to plan. Thanks again to everyone who has posted in this thread. Please also bear in mind that there are a number of posts that I have not responded to, as I simply cannot see them, due to some problems with this forum's management of layers of "nested" posts.Re: Worthwhile to Pursue An Engineer/Technician Visit?
Hi there @Steven_L, many thanks for keeping tabs on my issue and thread. Very much appreciated. Sadly, after a lull of "okay" connection performance for a few days, my "poor connection quality" issues have started back up again. Here are some Broadband Quality Monitor snapshots to demonstrate. 10/06/2025, going into 11/06/2025 12/06/2025 Needless to say, from a "work from home" (WFH) perspective, this is extremely problematic, and causes me consternation and various professional problems. I have checked the VM Service Status checker page here, and a fault is registered, with a fix date of 16/06/2025. Here are some screenshots to demonstrate: My Plans and Some Commentary on VM's General Broadband Strategy Regrettably, I feel this is the final push towards me leaving VM, and joining up with an OpenReach provider. At time or writing, many choices are now available to me on that front. Most likely, my main picks are going to be either BT or EE (I tend to favour established firms over the smaller/newer providers). There are some factors behind this decision: (1) Historical VM email service outages, that caused me some serious problems a number of years ago. I learned from these problems, and migrated my email services away from VM to Proton Mail (paid-for provider) and Google Mail ("free" provider). Note: other email providers are of course available. (2) VM price rises at regular intervals, and yet, plateauing -- and sometimes degrading -- broadband service up-time (reliability). From a work from home (WFH) perspective, I cannot tolerate or endure regular downtimes. I need 24/7/365 up-time. I am pretty sure I am not the only customer who has this perspective. (3) The apparent need to "play games" on a yearly basis, to secure a reasonable price point for the provision of VM broadband services. Some call this the "yearly dance" with VM. I don't have the time, energy or inclination to play games of this nature. I repeat: I don't "play games" with companies, and have no interest in doing so. I expect a reasonable price-point, year on year. If I get that, I will remain with the company. Some might call this "straightforwards dealing". I believe many VM customers are beginning to form a similar mindset. Moreover, many competing companies in the marketplace are beginning to recognise this, and I feel VM are well behind the curve in that regard. The "yearly dance" is just so inefficient and time-wasting, both for VM colleagues, and customers alike. All things considered, I would like to thank the VM forum/community team members, who have been excellent on these forums over the years, and who have been a far superior point of contact to other VM support avenues. I feel they do a very good job. I would also like to thank the many "everyday" forum members who have helped me, both recently, and in the past. If I get the chance, and assuming my switch is a "go" (a broadband service availability checker for my postcode indicates it should be), I may post back with my experiences of a switch, and perhaps some new Broadband Quality Monitor snapshots. My advice to VM upper/senior management: Focus on service reliability. 24/7/365 up-time should be the aim. Forget about braggadocio on top-line speeds. Reward your support staff and technical staff with adequate compensation. These are the people that actually make your company work. Remember that you are a technology company, not some kind of media and marketing company. Completely remove the strategy of the "yearly price-point dance". It is a complete waste of time for everyone, and merely leads to ill-will. Adopt straightforwards price points and straightforwards, efficient dealing. Thank you for reading my post folks.
