With the country edging ever-closer to a full state of lockdown amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, our main means of communication among one another will be under a greater load than ever.
Schools and offices are closing, grounding thousands of people in self-imposed quarantine, looking for ways to stay connected and stay entertained.
This shift has already shown to have had an effect on our telecoms infrastructure, with mass outages reported from many of the nation’s biggest mobile networks – leaving some unable place calls or even send text messages for a time. These outages may have been short-lived but things have the potential to get worse before they get better, over the coming months.
This piece explains how best to check on the state of Vodafone’s mobile network and if there’s a problem, how to pinpoint whether the issue lies with your device or whether lots of customers are currently affected. You might also find our how to boost your mobile signal feature useful if issues don’t subside.
How to check whether Vodafone is down
- Start by heading to Vodafone’s Network Status Checker and inputting your postcode
- Check social media – particularly the ‘Latest’ column within Twitter‘s search feature – for reports from other users experiencing problems
- Use a third-party service such as DownDetector to see whether others are experiencing problems
- On Android devices, you can also check that voice services and data services are enabled by dialling *#*#4636#*#* and looking under Phone Information
What to do when the problem is local to you
- First and foremost, restart your phone
- Ensure your SIM card is correctly inserted
- Try moving to a different location and check to see whether your signal improves
- Check that mobile data on your device is switched on
- Make sure that Aeroplane/Airplane/Flight mode is switched off
- Head to your device’s settings to check whether its firmware is up to date
- If you’re outside the UK, check that data roaming is enabled on your device
- Verify that you have paid your bill and the payment has been accepted
If all else fails, back up your data and then perform a factory reset on your device, provided you’ve eliminated the likelihood of all other factors.