Internet not working... 😡

[Ninternet]

We had a new fibre connection installed this week and it's still not working. I have rang numerous times, been told several reasons, assured everything should be working the connections all check out etc, reset the router about 100 times and today in not my finest moment lost my shit with poor AJay from technical support who is clearly just following a script and has just as much of a clue as to why it is not working as I do.

So wonderful Mumsnetters please can anyone offer any suggestions on what I might be able to try. It's clearly not going to be resolved any time soon likely at least next week and all I wanted for mother's day was to relax in bed and finish the bloody TV series I'm watching.

This might sound a stupid question but how do you know it's not working ?

Is it a wrong coloured lights on the router ?
Have you been able to connect a laptop directly to the router to check its that?

Not a daft question at all.

The Internet light on the router is continuously flashing red.

I've tried connecting a laptop directly and that didn't work.

Yip that sounds like something is very wrong

Sounds like you need to ask for second line support and perhaps mention that since they haven't delivered the service you will be going elsewhere

Just confirm that when you reboot the router you turn it off and count to 20 before turning it back on

Yes I count to 20 and 30 or even 40 at times (when I've felt sarcastic and been asked to do it for 10th time in a call...)

If I need second line support does that mean nothing I try will make any difference and will I need another engineer to come out and correct it?

Second daft question.
On the device you are trying to use, have you made sure to "forget" previous networks or at least made sure it (the device) is not attempting autoconnect to an old router/network?
Before you clear all your old connections make sure to write down addresses and passwords for ones you WILL use again, eg, work.
(Probably not the problem, but it's on my list of dumb things I have done).

Again not a daft question. I need as much help as I can here so no such thing as a stupid question (except have you plugged in and switched it on, yes AJay I had already thought of that).

It's the same router and network we had before just a new fibre connection so would I need to forget previous networks?

If it's a new full fibre connection ... you have got a new little box between your old router and the wall ?

The router clearly has no internet connectivity, so in the absence of a wider area outage, it suggests there is a problem somewhere between your router and the cabinet in the street. They've either botched the installation, there is a fault in the cabinet, or they've actually forgotten to verify your new installation when they installed it and 'turn your connection on'.

Has it worked at any point since the installation engineer left? And if so, how quickly did it fail afterwards?

Yes I now have a set up where I have the same router but a new openreach box on the wall which has a small circle next to it which is basically a little case covering the hole where the cable comes into the wall.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Has it worked at any point since the installation engineer left? And if so, how quickly did it fail afterwards?

That's an easy one to answer. No at no point at all has it worked since being upgraded. The technician left saying it would start working in the next 30 minutes and it's been unresponsive since then.

Yeah, they haven't authorised your connection. You need to ask whoever you get on the helpline to escalate that to local support.

You need to call an engineer definitely. They haven't set it up correctly. If it's Virgin, you can just demand an engineer and they'll send one. If it's another company, you might have a bit of a fight on your hands but be firm until they sort it.

Yes you need an engineer call out. It will be one wrong port number inputted, probably. It's not something you can fix yourself and the agents are generally useless.

Sorry more questions

1. Were you on standard ADSL before changing to fibre?
2. Is the router the router the one provided by the ISP and who is the ISP.

Apologies if you did this - when you did a reset, was it by switching off and on or using the little reset button on the router

Ah fuck I was hoping to not have to try and get another agent round, I suspect it will take an age to get one over!

Unfortunately not virgin. At least it makes me feel better that it wasn't something I was doing wrong.

Don't appologise.

Yes we were on standard.

The router is from Vodafone.

Yes by reset I mean by pushing somethinginto the little hole by the on off switch.

I can see from your prior posts OP that you had an account with them previously and this is just an upgrade to fibre, so it's 99% likely there is no physical issue with the installation and no amount of switching on/off is going to achieve anything. It's an administrative issue on their end, most likely that the engineer support haven't flagged your account to actually receive the new service. Seen it happen before. Should be able to deal with it via a phone call rather than having an engineer visit, but getting through to the right people might be awkward. If it's AJ in India, he needs to get in touch with whoever supports the engineers in your local area.

so it's 99% likely there is no physical issue with the installation and no amount of switching on/off is going to achieve anything. It's an administrative issue on their end

This is reassuring to read. I tried very hard to keep my cool but honest to goodness when you're being asked to plug cables back in and reset it multiple times there comes a point where even a Saint would lose it.

It's encouraging to see it might be able to be resolved without another visit. Any idea how long it would take to get it working at there end? Would be be possible in the length of a call or is it more a this will take 24 hours sort of thing?

It's encouraging to see it might be able to be resolved without another visit. Any idea how long it would take to get it working at there end? Would be be possible in the length of a call or is it more a this will take 24 hours sort of thing?
Once they are aware of the issue it should be more or less instantaneous once they authorise the supply of the fibre service on your account. Your router might reset itself, but once it comes back on you should have connectivity almost immediately.

Best I can explain it is if you imagine going from a 50MB connection to a 100MB connection. Nobody has to visit your home to change that, or tamper with the cabinet, because the ability to supply you with that upgrade is already there. All it requires is a change of flag on your account. AJ in India can ping your router and is not detecting any fault, because your router is working just fine and there is no fault anywhere. All that has happened is when the engineer has installed and said to his support "Ok, all good to go!" whoever has needed to flag on your account that you are now receiving Fibre instead of your old ADSL or whatever hasn't actually actioned that, so your router is looking for a service you haven't yet been authorised to receive.

Once they are aware of the issue it should be more or less instantaneous once they authorise the supply of the fibre service on your account. Your router might reset itself, but once it comes back on you should have connectivity almost immediately.

So when I ring tomorrow, which I will be because what else would I do on mother's day what exactly should I say? Sorry for being so dense but I just want it working. I am fed up of being told by people following a script that it will be working on 24 hours or once they send this report then it will be up and running in 12 hours etc.

Probably not. It does sound exclusively an hardware issue.

@XDownwiththissortofthingX
Apologies I'm not questioning your answer but a quick question If I may.
If the the Internet light is flashing "no connection" how can the router be pinged sucessfully?

Presumably you are using a phone to post on here? If so, I'd have a look on their online support forum and see if there is a 'live help' function, or whether there is a thread where people can request support from an actual individual at a higher administrative level than the guys you get on the phone helpline. You might be able to tweet them if they do Twitter support? Just a 'hi, can you get someone to action this please?'

I know Virgin have this, but I don't know about your ISP. They tend to be able to get things actioned more quickly and efficiently than the helpline guys, but the nub of it is that you need to go through whatever their 'wait 30 minutes and it will come on' process that the engineer told you about is, which requires the people who were supposed to action that in the first place being nudged.

Only other thing that springs to mind beyond just requesting engineer support, is with Virgin if you demand to be put through to someone in account management/terminations you will usually get someone in the UK who can move pieces that aren't available to the outside call centre staff, but again, that's my experience with Virgin and I don't know if it's the same with BT or whoever.

Because all the flashing light is showing is that you do not have internet access, not that there is zero connectivity. If the router has connectivity to the cabinet it can still report and be pinged, its just sitting in a state where it's actively looking for an internet connection, but being told 'nope' because the Fibre service hasn't been approved on the account yet.

It is perfectly possible that the installation has been goosed and there is a fault, but I think that's highly unlikely if the guy in India or wherever is unable to detect any fault. It's sounds to me like it's 99% that the service just hasn't been authorised in the aftermath of the engineer visit.

Presumably you are using a phone to post on here? If so, I'd have a look on their online support forum and see if there is a 'live help' function, or whether there is a thread where people can request support from an actual individual at a higher administrative level than the guys you get on the phone helpline. You might be able to tweet them if they do Twitter support? Just a 'hi, can you get someone to action this please?'

You are correct that I'm using a phone so have some ability to access online support. Unfortunately Vodafone have a truly useless live chat and twitter support have ignored me.

Will try to track down support from an actual individual but I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks for your help by the way. I just realised I never said thank you.