So, we’ve been with Virginmedia for years, and TBH, it’s just a really poor TV supply (set-top boxes going wrong 3x per year, WiFi constantly dropping out and back in again, and a customer service model that essentially doesn’t give a F###.

So, what are the recommended alternatives?

Don’t need top of the range package, just a reliable internet/ WiFi connection for a family of four (very little streaming/gaming etc), fairly basic TV package, with option to access Netflicks, occasional online movies, and Eurosport for the Spring Classics.

We went with Sky and it’s light years ahead. We managed to get fibre broadband at around 45mb and it seems better than Virgins 100mb, or at least no worse.

also interested in this, our bills creeping up to £48 p/m next month for internet only, so i think its time to bin it. i looked into this a while ago and wanted to try a three wifi jobbie, but i got as far as experimenting with tethering my phone to try and watch netflix on the tv, it kept freezing so i got no further.

i dont want to go sky or bt either, id like something cheaper that can stream tv, so ill keep an eye on suggestions here.

By a decent wifi router and put your virgin router into modem mode. They are shite when used in WiFi mode

I find BT very good. I work from home and use my own router/modem. Drops are rare. The even answer the phone now.

We’re on Virgin fibre-optics, 200Mb broadband that’s very quick and pretty bombproof. MIL’s Sky TV stops working when the neighbours trees get too high, needs constant fettling and the needs a BT landline

also interested in this, our bills creeping up to £48 p/m next month for internet only

although that’s their standard list price it’s crazy money for 100MB broadband. We pay £35/month.

Their business model is to punish loyal customers with continual above inflation price rises.

What you need to do is get a cheaper introductory price from eg Sky/BT/Talktalk then phone VM and say you are leaving because the price is high. Maybe throw in an excuse like your wife has been made redundant so you need to cut costs.

If you can’t get them to offer you a decent price for a 12 month contract then tell VM you are unhappy and will be leaving but will call them back once you have agreed a switchover date with new supplier. You can then decide at your leisure whether to take VM’s best offer or to switch.

But £48/month is robbery!

Virgin are hopeless right from installing infrastructure through to actually supplying internet access. How come a communications company is so utterly appalling at communicating.

Both Plusnet and Sky were leaps and bounds ahead of them although I think our preference is Plusnet – sorting problems just seems like less of a drama.

Ok, thanks … Some good suggestions to go at …

By a decent wifi router and put your virgin router into modem mode.

So, does that only solve the WiFi issues, or also the TV/set top box issues? Any recommendations for a decent router, and is set-up pretty straightforward?

We’re on Virgin fibre-optics, 200Mb broadband that’s very quick and pretty bombproof

Is that just a case of upgrading (and paying extra) what we have already … Or do we / our area need to have been fibre-optic connected?

need to have been fibre-optic connected?

Virgin Media use the term “fibre broadband” to describe their services delivered over the TV coax cable.

@hardtailonly

I bought a TP-Link router, can’t remember the model off of the top of my head. We never had TV problems but had very poor WiFi and it sorted it.

Have a look online about suggestions for routers when running superhub in modem mode. It is quite a common solution

Virgin are hopeless right from installing infrastructure through to actually supplying internet access. How come a communications company is so utterly appalling at communicating.

Both Plusnet and Sky were leaps and bounds ahead of them although I think our preference is Plusnet – sorting problems just seems like less of a drama.

It’s a BB lottery.

I’ve been with virgin for a year now, been superb, Plusnet dropped constantly the 2 years I was with them. Their CS weren’t interested, just kept blaming BT, which is a joke considering they bloody own Plusnet.

i looked into this a while ago and wanted to try a three wifi jobbie, but i got as far as experimenting with tethering my phone to try and watch netflix on the tv, it kept freezing so i got no further

I am using the three wifi router in the new house whilst it’s being renovated. It’s got 3 blink cameras running on it, and I use it for watching “telly” / listening to radio/ podcasts etc when I’m up there. Also using it for internet.
It is a lot different to tethering your phone.
Once we have moved in next year, I will see how we get on with it before getting a more permanent system installed. In the house we are in, we have virgin 100mb, with 2 kids streaming , We don’t have any other super fast alternatives so when you try to negotiate with virgin, they have the upper hand, and they know it.

interesting revs.

It is a lot different to tethering your phone.

see i was told different, that a three ‘mifi/dongle/router’ thingy, would still just have a phone sim in it so may as well try that first. looking back, i can see why that may be misguided information now but i just lost the will to investigate further.

we’re in the same boat as you, 100mb virgin, we stream netflix, 2 lads are on xbox or streaming wifi all at the same time in the evenings.

but….. i WILL be cancelling virgin, not paying close to £50. if they come back with a deal then all well and good but ive told the lads to be ready for a bit of pain if they dont. their offer would need to start with a ‘2’ before id accept it!

I think the technologies they use to get the signal are different. Something about Cat7 signals. I went with the Huawei B535 router as you can plug an external aerial into it if needs be. I spoke to what seemed a clued up bloke in our local Three shop when deciding. It’s a data sim and, as far as I know ,does not carry call signals, thus using it’s full potential to carry data. Or something like that 😁

What ever we end up using , I’ll keep it going to control the security side of things

Something about Cat7 signals.

It’s a data sim and, as far as I know ,does not carry call signals, thus using it’s full potential to carry data. Or something like that

You’re either misremembering or having the wool pulled.

We needed a static IP so moved from BT home thingy to BT business. Better router (including 3G dongle), much, much better support, slightly better contention ratios etc and it was cheaper too. Currently I have the router working in bridge mode as I have a bunch of Fortigate kit from work. Works an absolute treat.

then phone VM and say you are leaving because the price is high.

I did this, they obstinately refused to do anything to keep me and we’re actually quite nasty to me despite me being a customer for years. Went to Sky and got a lot more for a lot less money and a tv box that made the Virgin media one feel like a GCSE project.

while we’re on the subject, my lad says he doesnt mind contributing more but his internets a bit laggy. hes maybe at the furthest spot from the router, but its still not that far away so that surprises me.

rather than move the router, i hear that those plug in extenders that use leccy cable to extend the signal are quite good.

could anyone recommend any particular make/model for us to try please?

ive just had a google and see there are extender sockets too, i assume i wouldnt need one of those, just buy a plug and stick it into a normal socket?

(FWIW i bought a TP-Link thingy ages ago that had 5 settings on it but never got the hang of it so binned it, i want a plug and forget option please)

thanks

@Sadexpunk
I had extenders – TP-Link in fact – and they work well for fixed equipment (TV, printer etc) however not so good for wifi. I also had a TP-Link wifi booster and didnt really help that much.
I have just bought and installed a Tenda Nova system that seems to work very well (only first couple of days but already increased wifi speed across the house).
I bought the MW5 set with two plug in nodes (simpler than having extra cables around).

bit pricier than what i was intending thanks….. will these do a decent job do you think?

wifi extenders

his internets a bit laggy. hes maybe at the furthest spot from the router

Is he on 5GHz? Switching to 2.4 may help, 2.4 is slower but has a considerably better range.

Is he on 5GHz? Switching to 2.4 may help, 2.4 is slower but has a considerably better range.

[doofus mode] sorry, bit ‘tech-ignorant’, so wouldnt know how to check or change this. if i tried it, what could be the implications for our netflix streaming? and if its a better range but slower, might he still have the same problem but for a different reason?[/doofus mode]

thanks

I’d love to bin Virgin but we’re not able to install a Sky dish at our flat. As soon as Sky come out with a dish-less offering I’ll be gone.

@sadexpunk

As i understand it a wifi repeater, takes the internet it gets at that point and then sends it on at similar or lower levels… Ie it does extend range, but not at improved speed levels.

Maybe consider this Wifi Powerline system or look for something similar. I will be putting mine up for sale (not that exact set) but equivalent shortly – whereabouts do you live.

@Sadexpunk – also is your lad using Wifi or using fixed equipment (computer etc…?) if fixed equipment, will be cheaper as just need point to point powerline equipment.

I spoke to what seemed a clued up bloke in our local Three shop when deciding. It’s a data sim and, as far as I know ,does not carry call signals, thus using it’s full potential to carry data.

Technically true for 4G (as it has no voice in the standard) but would indicate the bloke was about as clued in as a finger of fudge!

Maybe consider this Wifi Powerline system or look for something similar. I will be putting mine up for sale (not that exact set) but equivalent shortly – whereabouts do you live.

so thats different in some way to the link i put up? shows what i know, they all just look like plugs to me 😀
im in lincoln mate.

also is your lad using Wifi or using fixed equipment (computer etc…?) if fixed equipment, will be cheaper as just need point to point powerline equipment.

er……both? haha. its fixed equipment as in an xbox, but its set to use wifi, its not directly connected to router. if thats what you mean?

thanks

Seems this ISP lark is a postcode lottery. I’ve had Virgin for many years. The annual renegotiation is always a bind, but seems to keep my price fairly stable if there’s nothing new, or reasonable if there is.

the only significant problem I’ve had was when we went to 350Mbps from 100Mbps and didn’t seem to get above 100Mbps. This was a cat5e cable I had in the route from Virgin’s box to my router that said it was 1000Mbps but performed at 100Mbps. One tedious cable swap later and it was all on-form.

we just got Gigabit access and this seems pretty on form too.

I’ve used Apple, ASUS, and TP-link routers with the virgin router in modem mode. While they’re all easier to configure than the Virgin routers I’ve found them no better in performance. The rest of my home network then goes into a couple of switches that connect to a few wireless routers around the house and garage to avoid dead spots and improve access and performance

swapping to any of the over-the-phone-line ISPs doesn’t appeal. We don’t have a BT phone line for a start, though the exchange is only about a 15 minute walk away neighbours who’ve used a variety of phone-line ISPs have not always been pleased with performance.

on connecting an X-Box or PS the power line adapters are pretty good unless you can run a cat6/7 cable between your router and the games console. A direct cable connection and a manually assigned IP address makes things as fast as possible and easy to diagnose any issues. Albeit I think of ‘lag!’ as the gamer’s ‘wrong tyres’ excuse.

I am currently renovating our house and have installed a network switch in the loft (hard wired to the tp-link router). I am installing network sockets in every room as I go. The immediate benefit is that both of my boys’ ps4s and pcs are hard wired and don’t hammer the WiFi.

I have also installed a NAS and WiFi access point in the loft.

As I mentioned earlier, the virgin hub is in modem mode.

Technically true for 4G (as it has no voice in the standard) but would indicate the bloke was about as clued in as a finger of fudge!

It sounded good at the time 😁
Although he was the same bloke who, when i was buying a new phone, was trying to sell me insurance . Told me a new screen was £450 , yet the piece of paper in front of me stated it was £230.

We’ve been with Virgin for years (ex NTL, CableTel) and we have had faultless performances. The only problems we have are TiVo boxes dying. We have the 200 Mb link and we get that. The Superhub3 is used in modem mode and we have a mesh network (in our case Orbi) to give us 200 Mb Wifi performance throughout the house.

Next door have BT and they have had a nightmare, to the extent they have moved to Virgin. From what I can work out, none of the cowboys are much different, but if it works for you don’t change

And lastly we all seem to complain about the price. Virgin, BT, etc are in the business of making money. It is not a social provision. As such they will try to charge as much as they can. Simple supply and demand.