Day 47/ 365 – Internet sharing issues

Around a couple of months ago, I upgraded my phone and laptop from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and around the same time I changed my Vodafone 3G internet plan from unlimited to 2 GB. The two events occurred around the same time. Before the upgrade and change in the data plan, I was able to use internet sharing on my phone without any issues. However since the upgrade/ change in data plan, I am not able to connect to the internet. I am able to connect to the network, but when I open the browser, the net does not work. I didn’t pay attention to this problem since I always carry a 3G data dongle with me. But today, I had a presentation to make for my MBA classes and forgot to carry the data dongle with me. I really needed the internet connection to work. So I tried connecting through the phone and as usual it didn’t work. I called up the Vodafone call center, assuming that it could be a problem at their end as earlier internet sharing on the phone was working fine. After being repeatedly kept on hold, the customer service executive informed me that since I have a windows phone and windows machine, internet sharing would not work. I was extremely surprised at this answer and told her that everything was working fine earlier and only recently since the change in data plans, things aren’t working. She told me that there is nothing that they could do over the phone for this and it was a known issue and I could try my luck at the nearest Vodafone store. Not satisfied with the answer, I decided to connect through a Windows 7 laptop. The same issue occurred – I was able to connect to the network, but not able to use the internet. So it leads me to believe that this is a Windows 8.1 issue.

I am now trying to search through the issue on the internet to see if this problem exists and what is the resolution. I am also going to go to local Vodafone store to check the issue. Hopefully should be able to identify a resolution to this problem.