Use our Network Status Checker to find out how our network’s performing in your area, including NB-IoT service. You’ll find up-to-date information on anything going on that might affect your signal.
Simply enter your location or postcode and choose what type of service you want to check.
Frequently asked questions
Bad signal
If you are experiencing bad signal or reception it might be something wrong at our end. First, check the network near you for an incident or any maintenance happening nearby. This might be what’s weakening your signal.
Alternatively, your distance from a mobile phone mast or the thickness of walls in a building could be causing your problem. Try testing your signal in different locations if possible.
No signal at all
If you have absolutely no signal you should first check the network near you for any incidents or maintenance. Not our network? Try these steps:
Check you’re all paid up
Sometimes, if you’re on a Pay monthly plan, things can go wrong with your bill payment.
For example, you might have got a new bank account and forgotten to give us your new details. In this situation, we wouldn’t be able to take payment for your bills, and they’d go unpaid.
If, for any reason, you have unpaid bills against your plan, we might have to stop your service. This would mean that you wouldn’t be able to get any mobile signal until you can pay us back.
Turn on flight mode
If your device isn’t getting any signal, something’s stopping it from connecting to our network.
Turning on flight mode reboots all the behind-the-scenes parts that make it possible for your device to connect itself to our network.
When you take your device back out of flight mode, you might find that whatever was stopping you from getting signal has been fixed by the reboot.
If you need help with flight mode, we can show you how to use it. First, tell us what device you have
Restart your device
If flight mode didn’t work for you, it might be that you need to do a full reboot.
The way to do this is to simply turn your device off, then back on again – you’d be surprised how many glitches this old fix can sort out.
Let’s give it a try.
Check you’re connected to Vodafone
Sometimes, a device can auto-connect to the wrong provider’s network. This will stop your data from working.
Try opening your device’s network settings and manually selecting Vodafone from the list of available providers.
If you’re not sure how to do this, we can show you. To get started, choose your device
Check your APN settings are right
Your Access Point Name (APN) settings contain all the info your device needs to connect itself to our network.
If these aren’t right, your device won’t connect to our network – and you won’t get signal.
It sounds complicated, but it’s quick and easy to reset your APN settings. To get a step-by-step walkthrough, choose your device
Try your SIM in another device
You’ll only be able to try this if you have another Vodafone device you can use – maybe a friend’s or a family member’s.
Take the SIM card out of your device and put it in the other.
If you can get signal just fine with your SIM in the other device, your own device might have a hardware fault that’s stopping you from getting signal.
If this is the case, start a chat with us so we can talk you through what to do next.
Connecting to the internet can depend on the type of device you are using:
My Mobile device
My mobile data is slow
If you are experiencing bad signal or reception it might be something wrong at our end. First, check the network near you for an incident or any maintenance happening nearby. This might be what’s weakening your signal.
Alternatively, your distance from a mobile phone mast or the thickness of walls in a building could be causing your problem. Try testing your signal in different locations if possible.
My mobile data is not working at all
If your mobile data is not working at all, you should first check the network near you for any incidents or maintenance. Not our network? Try these steps:
Check your data is turned on - If your data is turned off, you won’t be able to use your mobile connection to get online. Find out how to turn your data on or off
Check you’ve got enough data - If you’ve used up your data, you might have problems getting online.
Check how much data you’ve got left
Check if your data is capped - You might also have a bar on your account. This stops you from using more data than you have in your plan, and racking up unexpected charges. You can change this whenever you like.
Check you’re connected to Vodafone - Sometimes, a device can auto-connect to the wrong provider’s network. This will stop your data from working. Set Vodafone as your network
Check your APN settings are right - Your Access Point Name (APN) settings contain all the info your device needs to connect to our network. If these aren’t right, your device won’t connect. Reset your APN settings
Restart your device - You’d be surprised how many problems sort themselves out with the old ‘turn it off, then back on again’ fix.
My Home broadband
If you are having home broadband problems, run a quick test to check for faults with your broadband connection – you’ll need your My Vodafone login details to do this.
If our test can’t find any connection issues, get more help in our Broadband Support hub
My Tablet, Dongle, or Mobile broadband
If you’re having issues connecting your dongle, make sure the SIM is inserted correctly, or check out our set up guide
Need a little more help? Start a chat with us.
First, you should try to:
Turn your phone off and on again
Test out different phone numbers – in case you’re trying to call or text an invalid number
If neither of those work, here are some of the most common issues.
Check your payment details or credit amount
If you’re on a Pay monthly plan, check that your payments details are correct and all your payments have been made. If you’ve missed one or more payments, we might have restricted your service
If you’re on one of our £10+ Pay as you go bundles or our Pay as you go 1 plan, you’ll have unlimited calls and texts. However, if you’re on one of our older plans, you may have run out of credit or used all your allowances. If so, please either visit our Top up page or our Extras page
Check you’ve got signal
Make sure you don't have airplane or flight mode switched on – check your device settings.
There could be coverage issues due to a network fault in your area. Check for any faults using our network status checker
If there are currently any faults or ongoing maintenance in your area, you might be able to use WiFi Calling
Turn off roaming bars
If you’re abroad, you could have an active roaming bar on your account. If you have access to local WiFi, you can check and remove bars.
Unlock your phone
If you bought it from another provider, you might need to get your phone unlocked
Uninstall calling and text apps
If you’ve installed a third-party calling or text app like TrueCaller or Textra SMS, try disabling or uninstalling it.
Internet speed can depend on the type of connection or network you are using:
Mobile data – including dongles and mobile WiFi
The speed and strength of your mobile data signal can change depending where you are. For example, if you’re in a busy public space, you’ll probably have a slower connection than when you’re at home.
If your data connection is often slow, you can:
Check the coverage in the area and get up-to-date information on anything that might be affecting your service
See our device guides to find out how to choose the right network and also how to restart your phone
Remember, some of our plans have a maximum download speed:
Unlimited Lite – 2Mbps
Unlimited – 10Mbps
If you’re still having trouble with slow data, chat to us online.
Broadband
If your internet seems slower than usual, check out our slow broadband support guide
Follow our device guide to set up WiFi Calling
A personal hotspot lets you share your mobile data with other devices. You can set this up in your phone settings and turn it on and off depending on when you need it.
How to set up a hotspot on your iPhone or Apple device
Head to our device guides to set up a mobile hotspot for:
How to set up a hotspot on your Android device
Head to our device guides to set up a mobile hotspot for:
You can set up status alerts to hear about unexpected issues and planned maintenance on our mobile network. We’ll keep you updated on how we're progressing as we address the issue and notify you once the problem's been fixed.
You can manage alerts based on locations you care about or frequently visit, such as your home or work.
There are occasions where we won’t communicate, such as our regular maintenance window during late hours or issues affecting service for a short period of time. Don't worry, we only send updates between the hours of 08:00 and 22:00.
To sign up for alerts:
Visit our Network Status Checker
Select My alerts, just below Enter location
Subscribe to alerts will be automatically selected. If not, just tap on it to open the tab
Follow the steps to subscribe
To manage my alerts:
Visit our Network Status Checker
Select My alerts, just below Enter location
Tap on Manage alerts
Enter your details to view your subscriptions
You can now manage existing locations, or add additional locations (up to a maximum of 3)
For business customers with in-building coverage solutions, these locations are not currently supported.
NB-IoT is a mobile network tailored to connect IoT sensors and devices, which perform differently from mobile phones, PCs and tablets.
IoT sensors are often used in difficult to reach locations, such as deep indoors or below ground level. In many instances they rely on batteries that must last up to 10 years and so often enter a sleep mode. To address this, we’ve deployed a network that specifically supports such deployments and device behaviours but sacrifices some capabilities typically expected by mobile phones, PCs and tablets.
There are features that allow a remote IoT device to improve its ability to connect where network signal strength is weaker. Providing a view of expected signal strength allows sensor operators to better plan their deployments.
The RSRP (Reference Signal Receive Power) range for the coverage categories are:
Good (-108dBm or better)
Fair (-118dBm< RSRP <-108dBm)
Limited (-128dBm< RSRP <-118dBm)
No coverage (RSRP<-128dBm)
We’re sorry to hear that – please refer to your customer support handbook to find the best ways to get help or contact your account or service manager.
We’re unable to serve IoT network specific alerts at the moment. However, setting alerts may still provide some insight from related 4G infrastructure.
We’re sorry to hear that - this may be due to a technical issue. Please use the chat to report the incident and we’ll investigate.
In the NB-IoT coverage checker NB-IN refers to the predicted availability and strength of the network for indoor devices, while NB-OUT refers to the same for outdoor devices.