Mobile operator and ISP Vodafone UK has today launched their new triple-play “Together” bundle, which combines a fixed line phone service with unlimited home broadband (FTTC / VDSL2) and 5G based mobile broadband data into a single package from £31 per month. You also get the same router as their FTTH packages.
At present both of Vodafone’s FTTC based 35Mbps and 63Mbps (average speed) home broadband packages, which include phone line rental, an 18 month contract term, unlimited usage and a wireless router, are oddly being offered for the same monthly price of just £23. No setup fees are applicable (unless you need a new phone line installed from scratch).
Under Vodafone Together customers essentially add a 1GB 5G SIM to this for an extra £11 per month (total bundle price of £31), which rises to a total price of £35 for a 5GB SIM, £40 for a 20GB SIM, £43 for an unlimited lite data SIM (max speed of 2Mbps), £46 for an unlimited SIM (max speed of 10Mbps) or £50 per month when combined with the top unlimited max SIM (maximum network speed possible).
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As expected new customers will also receive a free Amazon Echo Plus and can use Alexa calling to make and receive calls out of their mobile allowances. The bundles also include a Stay Connected Promise, which means that if your home broadband “ever lets you down we’ll help you stay connected with a 50GB boost to all the mobile plans on the same account” (this is on top of their current speed guarantee).
Customers also benefit from a further 15% discount for any additional mobile plans added to the account (useful for families or households with multiple mobile plans). For £6 more on 20GB, Unlimited or Unlimited Max plans, a choice of entertainment partner can also be added (i.e. you can choose from Spotify Premium, Amazon Prime Video, Sky Sports Mobile TV and a Now Entertainment Pass).
Max Taylor, Consumer Director Vodafone UK, said:
“It’s exciting to be launching another game changing product with Vodafone Together – the UK’s first 5G mobile and broadband bundle. The free Amazon Echo Plus is the perfect partner for Vodafone Together, allowing customers to make even more use of their free mobile minutes. With our world first Alexa calls and Vodafone OneNumber, landline calls really will become a thing of the past.”
The new Vodafone Together bundles also come with 24/7 live chat support online or via the My Vodafone App. Plus customers will now be able to discuss or order both home broadband and mobile plans by visiting any one of the operator’s 400 plus UK retail stores. By the end of this year, an additional 20 new Vodafone or Vodafone franchised partner stores will open.
Vodafone are the first UK operator to launch a 5G and fixed line broadband bundle like this and the fact their 5G service doesn’t cost more than the existing 4G tiers is another bonus. The downside is that you’ll also need a new 5G phone or mobile router/modem to benefit and at present the network coverage of 5G remains tiny.
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UPDATE 1:37pm
One additional change that should be noted is with the bundled broadband router. Vodafone have decided to give their FTTC broadband customers the same router as they now supply on their Gigafast FTTH network with Cityfibre, which is quite a solid piece of kit.
The BCM63138 chipset inside this device packs a 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor and Broadcom suggests that the USB ports may have support or mobile broadband dongles too.
Gigafast Broadband Router Specification
Dimensions:
275 x 170 x 70 mmColours:
Vodafone brand GreyChipset:
BCM63138Ports:
1 x ADSL/VDSL/g.fast (RJ-11)
4 x Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ45)
1 x Gigabit Ethernet WAN (RJ45)
2 x FXS for analogue phones, fax, pos (RJ11)
2 x USB 2.0Wi-Fi:
WiFi 11ac: 5GHz 4×4 / 11n: 2,4GHz 3×3 dual band concurrent with MIMO and beam forming
2.4 GHz: BCM4360.2, 3×3
5 GHz: BCM4366e, 4×4Memory:
256 MB NAND Flash / 512 MB DDR3Networks:
Fibre GPON (via GE WAN port) ; ADSL2+ / VDSL2 (35b) / g.fast (+8dBm)Features:
SIP voice for analogue phones
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Glad to see at least one residential ISP uses Broadcom instead of Puma.
Great offer, but no use to those of us that can’t get Vodafone broadband (and only a poor 3G/4G signal) 🙁
Vodafone’s old FTTC modem was a pile of absolute cr*p!
Have been considering switching to Vodafone from BT as my contract is up for renewal. Seen reviews and the original router seemed to be the gripe of most existing customers, so the new bundled router has spiked my interest again. Just wondering if the staff at ISPReview could confirm if the new bundled router is only for new customers who take the FTTC/5G bundle or if it’s for all new customers even if they only take FTTC without the new 5g bundle? Thanks.
So far as I’m aware it’s for all new FTTC and FTTP customers, with or without 5G.
Thanks Mark, appreciate the reply.
I’m a new Vodafone FTTC customer (broadband only, no mobile) and I can confirm that I just received the Gigafast Broadband Router as shown in this article. I don’t go live (switching from Plusnet FTTC) until next week, so can’t comment on the performance.
I wonder if they’ll offer a similar offer for FTTH customers (although TBH, I’d rather pay less and have a 4G service, since the network’s not here yet. And my fairly new handset can’t get 5G.).
Mark Jackson, why is Check your broadband availability and speed Postcode doesn’t work?
I enter TF7 5NT and came back saying Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again later.
Useless waste of time!
Postcode works fine for me returns addresses at Willowfield, even lists the Cabinet at the bottom of all the address selections.
So based on that router spec its safe to say Vodafone will launch an VoIP product alongside SoGEA later this year
No plans for that or to support SoGEA as yet.
They 100% do have SoGEA plans and SoGEA lines in the field. It would be very odd if they didn’t given the Openreach WLR network closure plans.
If no VoIP plans why launch a router with 2 FXS ports? It would also make a nice fit with their onenumber strategy.
This router is given to FTTP clients (the Vodafone/City Fibre collaboration) and those clients can get VOIP from Vodafone.
So they maybe no other reason yet.
Sorry but this is not exceed glut related to your piece but fixed line service where I live is max 2mbps over copper and about 5mbps over fttc. I have no intention to take that. Voda 4g service is great although the 5g signal is not quite here yet but I’m on outskirts of Glasgow so it’s coming. No-one at the Vodafone shop could advise whether the new 5g tarrifs could be used on a 4g modem. Any idea? Thanks.
Apparently Vodafone is throttling their 5G Unlimited Max package.
So far I’ve not seen any solid evidence for that, although issues such as limited local capacity, signal strength and device capability etc. can affect performance. Worth considering that at present there are so few 5G users that feedback is virtually non-existent.
Just a remark about the definition of a 5G SIM: a 5G SIM is a tamper-proof secure element which is the only solution allowed to secure 5G network access. It has been specified by the 5G standardization body ETSI-3GPP in Release 15 UICC specifications (UICC: Universal Integrated Circuit Card, better known as a SIM). Basically it will provide more security, trust and confidentiality to the final end-users.
Just got Vodafone broadband and it seems they are still sending out the old router
It is supposed to be wall mountable but it’s not possible as the cables come 90 degrees out from the bottom of the router!!
Hi plz
i need login admin for configuration adsl or wan of this box vodafone shg3000
thank you
I have this router on a FTTC line. Previously I was with BT (2015-2017) and then SKY(2017-2019) and both times the line maxed out at 80/20. On Vodafone it is now 70/20 and the openreach engineers can not tell me why the speed have dropped by 10 (Have been with vodafone for 3 months now and DLM have been reset x 2). Also when downloading at peak I used to be able to max the line out and get around 9 MB/s on Vodafone it is more like 2MB/s. If I connect to a Vpn the speed increases to about 5 MB/s so Vodafone has got some funky stuff going on during peak times. Cheap, cheerful but not recommended if you want the max speed from your line at all times.