Vodafone is still ‘recovering’ following a major outage – here’s what we know

(Image credit: Downdetector)

The Vodafone problems, which are hitting both its mobile network and broadband, started about an hour ago at 2.38pm BST.

That Downdetector spike (above) is one of the biggest I’ve ever seen in terms of concurrent reports – it stands at 126,905 reports and is still on the up.

There’s been no official statement about the outage yet, but I’ll be getting in touch with the network to see what might have happened – and more importantly, when it might be fixed.

(Image credit: Downdetector)

Our Computing editor Christian Guyton first noticed the issues when his Wi-Fi and mobile network abruptly stopped working this afternoon – and that’s been an experience shared by many.

According to Downdetector, most people (65% of reports) are reporting issues with their landline internet, but a significant number (27%) are also saying their mobile internet is also down.

In other words, this is a wide-reaching outage that also appears to be nationwide – the coverage map is spread across the country from London to Glasgow. I’ve asked Vodafone for comment and will report as soon as I hear back.

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I’ve just heard from Vodafone about today’s issues. A spokesperson told me: “We are aware of a major issue on our network currently affecting broadband, 4G and 5G services. We appreciate our customers’ patience while we work to resolve this as soon as possible.”

So there we have it – no estimate of a timescale for the fix yet, but Vodafone has admitted that it’s facing a “major issue”. That’s unusually strong language during an outage, which networks tend to play down – but it’s a certainly an accurate description given the numbers affected.

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I haven’t seen a network outage as wide-ranging as this for some time. Not only are Vodafone’s broadband and mobile networks down, the issues have also taken out its website and even its customer service phone numbers.

A TechRadar reader alerted me to the latter and I can confirm the 0333 304 0191 number isn’t working for me – the problems also seem to be affecting the 191 number that customers can call from their Vodafone mobile phone.

On the plus side, the number of reports on Downdetector appears to be dropping, so it seems some are now at least getting reconnected.

(Image credit: Downdetector)

A high number of customers on other broadband and mobile networks are also reporting problems today – that isn’t a huge surprise, given how interconnected the UK’s broadband and mobile networks are.

Voxi, which is owned by Vodafone, and Lebara (which is a so-called Mobile Virtual Network Operator that also uses the Vodafone network) are both showing significant spikes in reported issues on Downdetector.

We’re also seeing spikes on Virgin Media (currently around 1,000 reports) and Sky (about 400 reports), although these may well be a reflection of Vodafone’s issues rather than a sign of a wider outage. So far, only Vodafone has stated it officially has issues – if that changes, I’ll update this liveblog.

(Image credit: Downdetector)

There are some potentially promising signs on progress on Downdetector – though the falling number of reports (above) might simply mean large numbers of Vodafone customers have already reported their issues, or simply can’t due to their network problems.

Right now, the number of reports has dropped to 30,845, from a staggering high of about 135,000 (one of the highest I’ve seen on Downdetector for a UK outage).

Still, on the TechRadar team, those affected have been without internet or phone service for well over an hour, and there’s no word on Vodafone yet on a fix.

I’ll be chasing it up for an answer to see if its engineers have made any progress on an outage that continues to take out its own website…

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(Image credit: Downdetector)

I’m hearing some positive anecdotal reports from some that their Vodafone broadband and mobile services are now back up and running.

This has come from both inside and outside the TechRadar team, and seems to be reflected on Downdetector – although reports remain high, at just over 19,000 at the time of writing.

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With Downdetector graphs spiking across multiple networks this afternoon – and not just MVNOs who piggyback on Vodafone – you might have concluded that Vodafone wasn’t alone in having issues today.

But as I mentioned earlier, it’s common during outages like this to see spikes elsewhere as other customers attempt to call or connect to the troubled network. And Virgin Media has just confirmed to me that “our network is operating as usual and has been all day”.

That’s likely to be the case for other networks like Three and O2 – right now, this is solely a Vodafone issue. The best example is that WhatsApp also saw a spike in reports this afternoon, which will have likely been confused Vodafone customers wondering why they couldn’t even get a single grey tick in the messaging app.

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While many Vodafone broadband customers will have been worried about the hit on their TV streaming plans tonight, today’s outage could be more serious for businesses – and also staff waiting for payday.

If your payday is soon, you might want to brace yourself for a delay, according to Melanie Pizzey, CEO and Founder of the Global Payroll Alliance. “The timing, on a Monday rather than a critical payroll cut-off like Friday, may have softened the blow, but the potential impact remains serious and if any kind of disruption persists over the coming days, people could find their paydays being delayed,” she said.

“If this turns out to be more than just a technical issue, such as a cyber attack, the ramifications could be far-reaching. Business continuity could be affected well beyond the initial outage window, and it would raise serious concerns about the vulnerability of the UK’s core digital infrastructure,” she added.

So far, Vodafone hasn’t commented on the cause and cybersecurity experts say it’s still more likely to have been an internal issue, rather than an external attack. But whatever the cause, let’s hope those paydays aren’t affected.

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There’s still no official statement from Vodafone (I’ve asked again to check), but the evidence is growing that today’s network issues are drawing to a close. Phew.

Across the likes of X, relieved customers are reporting that their broadband and mobile service is back, which is something we’ve also seen on the TechRadar team.

And the Downdetector graph (above) is looking a lot more healthy, after the cardiac arrest-style spike earlier that saw 130,000 customers simultaneously reporting that everything in their digital world was broken.

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Vodafone has now confirmed that today’s almighty wobble should now be fixed and normal Monday service can resume.

A spokesperson said: “This afternoon, for a short time, the Vodafone network had an issue affecting broadband, 4G and 5G services. 2G voice calls and SMS messaging were unaffected and the network is now recovering. We apologise for any inconvenience this caused our customers.”

Your definition of a “short time’ might differ from Vodafone’s, particularly if you were frantically trying to tether for two hours as you contemplated a dark evening without broadband. Vodafone has also only said the network is “recovering” rather than fixed.

Still, that’s positive news on an afternoon that Vodafone customers will be hoping has packed in all their bad luck for the week.

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Vodafone told us its network is now “recovering”, but didn’t elaborate on what caused its broadband, mobile network, website and customer service phone lines to go down for over two hours today.

Without an official statement, we’d of course just be speculating. But during the outage earlier Daniel Card, a cyber expert with BCS (The Chartered Institute for IT) agreed with an earlier statement from the cybersecurity company ESET that it was more likely to be an internal issue.

“Incidents like this are often caused by a technical fault or configuration error rather than a major cyber-attack, so until more details are confirmed it’s best not to speculate. What we can see is that Vodafone UK’s network traffic has effectively dropped to zero, suggesting a significant connectivity issue. It’s not yet clear whether their DNS or routing systems are accessible outside Vodafone’s own network, and even their online status page is currently offline” he said.

Most of those things are now fixed, so it’ll be interesting to see if an official explanation materializes in the coming days.

(Image credit: Shutterstock.com / Butsaya)

Vodafone’s broadband and mobile internet may only have been down for a couple of hours today, but that’s still enough time to cause a considerable amount of bother for customers – particularly those working from home.

So can you get compensation? As always, the process is more complex than you might hope, but the short answer for most people from today’s incident is ‘probably not’.

Sabrina Hoque, telecoms expert at Uswitch.com, told us: “If your broadband connection goes down for more than two days, you could be entitled to compensation of £9.76 for each calendar day that the service is not repaired”. Clearly, the length of today’s outage means most Vodafone customers won’t qualify for that.

What about mobile customers? “Ofcom advises that compensation for mobile signal outages is ‘dependent on the circumstances’. But in extreme cases where repairs take much longer, you may be entitled to an additional refund or account credit,” she added.

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The Vodafone reports on Downdetector have settled to a base level of about 3,300 – a lot better than the peak of 135,000 reports at 3.20pm BST, but not insignificant either.

I haven’t received any more statements from Vodafone since the last one at about 7pm BST, so we’ll have to assume the network is still “recovering” rather than fully fixed. That would seem to be the case, with thousands still reporting residual issues.

I’m signing off for this evening, but will report back in the morning when there’ll hopefully be better news and that Downdetector graph will be back to normal. Until then, let us all pray to the broadband and mobile internet gods for better internet tomorrow.

(Image credit: Downdetector)

Good morning, it looks like Vodafone’s outage is now mostly resolved, but not completely fixed.

Right now, there are still 1,575 customers reporting issues on Downdetector and that number is slowly climbing again. On a normal day, that would still be a significant figure, so it seems there is still a hangover from yesterday’s massive wobble.

The good news is that there’s no sign we’ll get a repeat of yesterday’s peak, which struck at about 3pm BST. But if you’re still having Vodafone issues, drop me a line at mark.wilson@futurenet.com.

(Image credit: Shutterstock.com / viewimage)

Vodafone has just released an updated statement that hints at what went so badly wrong yesterday – and it’s dismissed any suggestions of a cyber attack.

“On Monday afternoon, for a short time, the Vodafone network had an issue affecting broadband, 4G and 5G services. This was triggered by a non-malicious software issue with one of our vendor partners which has now been resolved, and the network has fully recovered. We apologise for any inconvenience this caused our customers”.

(Image credit: Downdetector)

I’ve had dozens of emails this morning from understandably frustrated Vodafone customers who are still experiencing problems from yesterday’s outage.

(Image credit: Vodafone)

I’m continuing to get regular emails from understandably angry Vodafone customers, who are are reporting that their broadband and mobile internet are still down.

The Downdetector graph (currently at around 700 reports) isn’t showing any widespread issues on the scale of yesterday, but the issues are compounded by the difficulties many are having in contacting Vodafone.

(Image credit: Downdetector)

My great sympathies to the many TechRadar readers who’ve emailed to tell us they’re still experiencing problems with their Vodafone broadband. The lack of communication and ongoing issues do sound infuriating.