Virgin Media
  • Doug
    I use Virgin Media (formerly blueyonder) cable service. I happened to speak to them today as they had put my bill up for no reason. They were very helpful and remedied the mistake, so I went on to ask if I should be getting the 10mb service as advertised instead of the 4mb previously provided, and they told me this area had been upgraded and I was now receiving 10mb. I ran a speed check and found I was still only getting 4mb and rang them back. They checked and found that I was right.

    This may well affect others. If you use Virgin Media, you might like to check what speed you are getting and bombard them with enquiries as to when 10mb will be available, as it would seem their records are wrong.
  • matt
    Cheers, will do.
  • Doug
    If you look at the (rather handy for once) Google ads on the left, the first one works well, and is fast and free, no software to download either
  • rainbow_carnage
    We've recently switched to Virgin and are barely getting 4Mb. It's extremely annoying because we had faster broadband through our phone line. I specifically phoned Virgin before to switch and they confirmed that we should have no problem getting close to 10Mb. Will have to call them again...
  • tosscat

    My download speed is really fast, pushing 10, but my upload speed it rubbish. I don't really understand.

  • Ed B
    Great stuff, thanks Doug. I'm with Virgin too and have just found out that i also can upgrade tp 10mb - nice one.

    It apparently only applies to people on the 'L' broadband package.
  • Ali
    Tosscat that is probably because the A in ADSL stand for asynchronous

    Also if you call Virgin and threaten to leave it is very likely that you will get a retention
  • Doug
    Ali, I'm not sure that explains it, as asynchronous means at different times. Also, as I understand it ADSL is what come out of your phone line and Virgin Media is cable.

    My original point was that Virgin are claiming that all those in this area on the 'L' broadband package are receiving 10mb, and at least some of us are not. This seems to have come as news to them, so if more people could bring it to their attention, they are more likely to do something about it.
  • matt

    tosscat, upload bandwidth is always a low fraction of your download bandwidth for reasons that belong in the eugene thread. it is designed that way

    ali, the A in ADSL stands for asymmetric. not that it matters because Virgin Media does not use ADSL but rather fibre optic as opposed to copper wire and so uses a totally different type of transmission and modem technology than phone line broadband.

  • Doug
    Can we get back to the original point? Which was that Virgin Media, delivering through cable, not ADSL; are claiming that subscribers in this area are receiving 10mb, while in fact most of us are getting only 4mb. So let's get on the phone lines and make them deliver what they are claiming to deliver. You with me?
  • Billy Bookcase
    I am getting between 12 and 14mb.
    I pay them to get 20.
  • matt

    I pay for 2MB and get that at all times other than when I am torrenting at peak times

  • unaestheticunaesthetic
    apparently this area's 10 meg connection isn't going to be giving 10 meg till the end of the year, until then we're stuck with 4ish.

    i don't quite understand this because the people on the 20 meg package get over 10, whereas the people on the 10 are all getting around 4 - aren't we all getting our internet juice from the same place?
  • Ed B
    unaesthetic, are you paying for an 'L' broadband connection? I am and i was on 3.8 or so. I called them and about a week ago and now i'm on 9.5 (ish).
  • Bernie

    I am on "M" package which is 2meg.

    I pay them £26 per month: Broadband Size: M £18.00 T V Size: L £11.50 Broadband & T V Bundle Saving £-3.50

    Am I on best deal? Don't want more channels and they never managed to put a phone in despite about 10 visits..

  • unaestheticunaesthetic
    ed, we're on the L package, but the guy we spoke to in tech support was adamant that the exchange we are on is only giving 4 to the L users, and it's being upgraded by the end of the year. i spent a while talking to him, and he seemed to know what he was on about, and he said that some exchanges nearby were able to give 10... just not the one we're on.
  • hellojo
    Can someone recommend a good site to test this? I tried a few sites which all said something entirely different - from 0.4 to 2 - but low, given that we're on L. If I'm going to call them and complain then it'd be good to have a site I can quote!
  • Bernie

    When I called Virgin, they immediately offered me a 6 month £8 discount, no explanation why. I was then talked into going on to L package (to get faster speed - 10 megs) but not pay more than now. I am trying it out and have someone's name if want to revert to M for the cheaper price.

    Anyhow, I need a reliable test site too as am confused about what speed is actually being achieved.

    Also, should it be the same on main PC and wireless laptops also or should I expect them to be slower?

    Confused, N4

  • slats
    i find this site is ok, http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/

    Bernie - I've no absolute knowledge to back this up but my hunch would be that a hardwired desktop would be the same as a wireless laptop or very slightly quicker. I wouldn't imagine there's a lot in it..
  • poxy
    I thought it was working a tad quicker this morning, so I checked...


    image
  • krappyrubsnifkrappyrubsnif
    My Virgin broadband has been total crap recently. So has my neighbour's, some other local friends and judging by the reports on this forum, the rest of Stroud Green.

    I complained on Saturday and they said 'temporary outage, back in four hours." Hah. Not got any better since.

    I'm going to give them until Friday and if it's no better, as far as I'm concerned they are not fulfilling their side of the contract and I'll stop my standing order. Maybe we should all threaten to do that.

    Even when it works, download speed is still pathetic compared to advertised rates too.

    Anyone have any recommendations for an alternative?

    Krappy
  • krappyrubsnifkrappyrubsnif
    @Jeremy Fisher

    Which provider are you on?

    I am getting 4mb today (when it works) but usually less than 2. I pay for 10 - I think.
  • becky
    I just checked. We are getting 18.5Mb download speed on Regina Road - paying for 20Mb but not unhappy with that. Our connection is pretty much 100% perfect at all times. You might be a little unlucky in terms of usage levels in your direct area since that can constrain your download speed on cable, but sounds like you need to complain...
  • krappyrubsnifkrappyrubsnif
    18.5Mb?

    Is that on Virgin Media?

    Our connection has been 100% OK most of the time, so no cause for complaint, but we've never had more than 10Mb download speed absolute top max where we are - near Tesco.
  • krappyrubsnifkrappyrubsnif
    How about a little survey? Andy, can we do a survey, like a poll? Just a thought.
  • Ian
    Yup - we are on virgin media. Usually get around the 20Mb mark there or thereabouts.
  • Ian
    Just out of interest did you upgrade your modem recently? Virgin swapped out the old modems, some of which were having problems with high speeds. Just in case you missed that.
  • rainbow_carnage
    We're with Virgin, too. Live on Woodstock Rd. Rarely get the 10Mb we're paying for. On good days, it's around 8Mb. On bad days, it's between 2-4Mb. Yep, I check.

    The last week and a half, it's been down three times, for 12+ hours. I had to work from Ariana's. (Their coffee, btw, has improved dramatically.)

    We've complained to Virgin lots of times. Got fuck all. Mind you, it's still not as bad as with TalkTalk. We left them almost a year ago. They still owe us money.

    I hate talking to technical support. They talk to you like you're educationally subnormal. I understand how a modem works. A router, too. And yes, I've tried turning them off and on, thanks.
  • krappyrubsnifkrappyrubsnif
    @Ian - thanks. I'll request that.
  • David

    Having endured a few minutes of the type of technical support r_c was having, despite explaining I'm pretty savvy at these things running a network for a living, I finally got a loose explanation that they're 'doing upgrades' that will last until the 27th, with random outages in the area to random customers during the period.

    Ian, thanks for the modem tip, is that for 20mb or relevant to 10mb too you think? What constitutes 'high speed' when dealing with Virgin?

  • wisteria53

    It is worth having them check your modem, especially if you've been with Virgin awhile! We had apparently been paying for a 20 MB connection on an older cable modem only capable of 10 MB. I got a credit all the way back to when we had started paying for XL, which meant we didn't pay anything at all for several months.

    However, my children still complain that Virgin is not giving us anything near 20 MB most days.

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