Unable to Connect to Virgin Media Wifi on TFL / Underground

[dollydagger]

I’m having an issue in joining the Virgin Media wifi network on TFL trains and stations, which I can tell you IS an O2 fault (for everyone on here saying that it’s down to Virgin Media).

I have literally been going around in circles for several months with Customer Services - by chat and over the phone.  I have dutifully followed every instruction I have been given. I even waited a week (!) for a scheduled call from an O2 technician (supposedly ‘booked in’ by Customer Services) which never materialised.

As a new O2 customer (I was previously with Three) I am horrified by the lack of support and service I am being given. With Three, you can call up and ASK for technical support from a technician. With O2, the mysterious technicians have a ‘one way phone line that only allows them to dial out’, apparently.

I can’t believe the hoops customers are supposed to jump through, just to ‘join O2 wifi’ in order to be able to get Virgin Wifi on TFL. Standing around on street corners waving my phone around to find an O2 network is quite frankly a ridiculous registration method.

Having trawled through these message boards for some clue as to how to resolve the issue myself, I can see this is NOT A NEW PROBLEM. There are posts on here reporting the same issue, going back at least as far as 2015.

When I try to connect, I get the following message : ‘Sorry, but wifi on the Underground is only for people on O2. If you've just joined us, it might take us a few hours to sort out.’

Yes, I am an O2 contract customer, and yes have signed up for O2 wifi (months ago).

Yes, I have tried the method of ‘deleting my O2 wifi account’ (which you can’t btw, as the link on your website is broken and there is no O2 wifi app for iPhone)

Yes, I have stood around on the street to connect to O2 wifi, delete my account, and then repeated this inane process 48 hours later in order to be ‘forgotten’ by the network so I can rejoin again afresh.

Yes, I did wait another 48 hours before trying to connect to Virgin TFL again.

NONE OF THIS WORKS.

With Three, I never had a single issue signing up and connecting to Virgin’s service.

I seriously can’t believe how much of my time and effort this process has wasted.  I’m getting very close to cancelling my O2 contract and moving to a new network.

Please can someone qualified contact me to resolve this issue - and solve every other customer’s misery by creating a user friendly registration process.

[MI5]

@dollydagger 

Have you tried this?

Take your phone into an O2 wifi (not london underground thats Virgin) Hotspot like your local McDonalds. Connect to the wifi and open the browser & you should see the O2 wifi front page - if not connect to the O2 wifi SSID and enter 1.0.0.0 in the URL bar and it will force the browser to the home page of the Hotspot.

Now in the top left it will say "Hello" and your name (or whatever you entered when you signed up). Bellow it is a small link that says "Not you?" If you press this you will see a message thay clicking OK will remove the device from O2 wifi. Press ok and the device will be deleted from O2 wifi. Now if you dont see the sign up page just enter 1.0.0.0 again in the URL bar and you can sign up to O2 wifi on your new phone number.

[Enlli]

As this is a community of customers it is unlikely that anyone here can help further. 

Staff who come on here are accounts advisors, so ditto.

Can only suggest you use the complaints process 

[dollydagger]

Thanks for your suggestion.

Yes, as per my post - I deleted my O2 wifi account and then ‘rejoined’. It didn’t work.

[gmarkj]

Given the struggle you have had with this @dollydagger, and the lack of help from normal customer services, I'll ask the community advisors to get in touch.

Can you see if you can help @O2Georgina @O2Daniel ?

[madasaf1sh]

@dollydagger 

Did you port the number in from 3 by any chance? 

If so then Three havent notified VM to remove your number from the authentication process, as VM still think you are a 3 customer. 

So what needs to happen, and probably wont as VM dont care about the WiFi on the Tube, as 4G is been rolled out. 

3 needed to contact VM to remove you from the Authentication Provider (usually a RADIUS Server), and from been associated as a 3 customer

At that point when you reauthenticate as an o2 user, it should let you through... 

Vodafone canned access to this pile of garbage a while back as the service from VM was awful, and is / was falling over, and hence they are now working on 4G with others...

EE have the same problems with the service as do others on 3 who have ported in...

[O2Georgina]

@gmarkj  Thanks for the tag

@dollydagger  I will send you a private message now

[BillyK]

@O2Georgina @I have the same problem only I ported from Vodafone. I would be grateful if you can contact me with any suggestions to resolve this please. 

[pgn]

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@BillyK wrote:

O2Georgina I have the same problem only I ported from Vodafone. I would be grateful if you can contact me with any suggestions to resolve this please. 

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It'll be @O2Sarah- on tomorrow morning, @BillyK - I don't see Georgina's number on the advisor rota at all tomorrow. Keep a watch out for a message from O2Sarah- after 8am Monday.

[O2Sarah-]

Thanks for the tag @pgn 

@BillyK I will send you a private message so we can check your account.