Vodafone faces DOCSIS 3.1 tech challenges in Germany

DOCSIS 3.1 testing in Germany has not gone smoothly for Vodafone, according to local news reports (hat tip to Telecompaper for translating.)

The reports said that in the initial portion of a friendly user test, which started in April after several delays, the Arris-made TG3442DE routers gobbled up 17 watts of electricity while overheating. 

Vodafone conducted two firmware upgrades to try to correct the modem issue, but participants also complained about outages and data losses. The routers never reached their promised 100 Mbps speeds. And the OFDMA channels suffered from disturbances because of installation problems. 

Local reports also say that Unitymedia—which was the first to activate a DOCSIS 3.1 deployment in Germany, flipping on the switch in the city of Bothum last month—is having deployment issues with the standards as well. 

According to the reports, “complex interactions between DOCSIS 3.1-compatible ended devices and remote stations are not meeting Unitymedia’s quality standards in certain circumstances. 

Reports of the German testing issues came as Vodafone announced completion of its DOCSIS 3.1 rollout to 3 million customers in Spain today. 

Billing it as the biggest DOCSIS 3.1 deployment in Europe so far, Vodafone rolled out 12,000 Distributed Converged Cable Access Platform sites.