Sorry your browser is not supported!

You are using an outdated browser that does not support modern web technologies, in order to use this site please update to a new browser.

Browsers supported include Chrome, FireFox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer 10+ or Microsoft Edge.

Geek Culture / Virgin Media Broadband

Author
Message
SpyDaniel
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Feb 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 02:01
Link
I just wanted to find out who else has Virgin Media as their provider? I am on the XL package, but I am only getting 3-4Mbits, when I should have 10Mbits.

I just want to know if its some thing up with my router, or if Virgin are just ripping every one off?


(This is for UK customers of Virgin Media... ?)

Home Page
Back to top
Profile PM
RalphY
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 6th Sep 2004
Location: 404 (UK)
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 14:33 Edited at: 16th Jul 2007 14:45
Link
From my experience - ripping everybody off. I'm suppose to get 8Mbits from them - currently I'm getting less than 1Mbit. Plus their unlimited thing is a joke, unlimited unless you dl over a certain amount, then they cap it - sounds kinda limited to me.

[Edit] Having said that seems to be better today, getting just under 2Mbits, but last week it was terrible.
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
BatVink
Moderator
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Apr 2003
Location: Gods own County, UK
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 14:45
Link
Quote: "I'm suppose to get 8Mbits from them "

The options are 2Mb (S), 4Mb (L), and 10Mb (XL). The 10Mb is currently being upgraded to 20Mb.

I have the 4Mb, and it works fine...at the moment.

They claim that the download throttling only affects the top 5% users of their service, and they are using it against the "fair usage" policy, affecting everybody else's service.

My last word on the topic is this...changing their brand to Virgin Media is fooling nobody. I have used Virgin for mobile before it became the Telewest/NTL rebrand. I know what a good service you get with Virgin, but I'm still getting shoddy Telewest-level service.

Back to top
Profile PM Email
SpyDaniel
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Feb 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 14:48
Link
I'm going to phone them up today and find out why I have such a bad download speed. They might throw some crap at me, saying they have capped the area because of over usage.

Ill post back when I have phoned them.

Home Page
Back to top
Profile PM
RalphY
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 6th Sep 2004
Location: 404 (UK)
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 14:48 Edited at: 16th Jul 2007 14:49
Link
Yeah, a while before they changed to Virgin media (when they were just virgin.net) they sent me an email saying they were upgrading it to 8Mbits, then I got an email confirming it. I guess they probably stuck me back at 2 or something but just didn't bother telling me.
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
BatVink
Moderator
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Apr 2003
Location: Gods own County, UK
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 15:16 Edited at: 16th Jul 2007 15:16
Link
Quote: "I'm going to phone them up today and find out why I have such a bad download speed"


Don't forget they now charge you to call them.
Cool service, huh. You pay them £25 - £35/month and they charge you again to report faults with their network.
It's not like they have to pay a Telco for the call, they are the Telco

Back to top
Profile PM Email
SpyDaniel
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Feb 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 16:36
Link
Hehehe....

Guess what I did?

I upped my connection to a nice 9mbit

I used TCP Optimizer to improve my connection.

No need to call virgin now, I fixed it by myself

I'm like, WOW!

Home Page
Back to top
Profile PM
RalphY
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 6th Sep 2004
Location: 404 (UK)
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 17:18 Edited at: 16th Jul 2007 17:19
Link
Nice, might have to try that myself. I figured out how I have 8Mbits when they only give you options for 2,4 and 10 - adsl has different pricing/options to cable (http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/internet/noncable.html).
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Manic
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 27th Aug 2002
Location: Completely off my face...
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 17:18
Link
wow, that really works?

I'm getting about 4Mb off peak from virgin at the moment, I have no idea what package we've got, but hey, it's always good to squeeze a bit more out.

One thing I've noticed is that it seems to slow down a lot at night, but oddly restarting the router fixes it, so I assume that it can't be a problem with the connection. I thought maybe the router's over heating, but if I leave it on overnight, and come back in the morning, it's back up to full speed. Go figure.

I don't have a sig, live with it.
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
SpyDaniel
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Feb 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 17:40
Link
Yeah, it worked. I had been getting 4-5Mb, but now I have 9.5Mb

It is also a good idea to put your router up some where high and dont place it behind tv's etc.

Home Page
Back to top
Profile PM
lagmaster
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Playing:
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 18:27 Edited at: 16th Jul 2007 18:28
Link
the situation with the capping is that when your on the 20mbits service, you cannot get 20mbits during peak time. you'll drop back down to 5mbits. pretty fair compared to the adsl isps. (pipex capping was like from 2mbits down to 256kbits)

i got upgraded to 20mbits 3-4 weeks ago. the reason why they dont want to give you 20mbits during peak time is to ensure everyone in your area can actually download at no more than 5mbits and have no problems. this limit will most likely be upped when they eventually do 50 or 100mbits, something which bt cant even offer! you gotta tahnk the cable companies for investing in fibre during the 90's so your not paying for it now.

i even had to change the firmware on my router since it had troubles going over 12mbits for some unknown reason, but now i can get the full 2mb/s down

Devhat IRC Network
Deviantaudio - Trance & Dance radio station!
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Jess T
Retired Moderator
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 20th Sep 2003
Location: Over There... Kablam!
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 19:37
Link
I'm so jealous...

Here in Australia, Telstra is exercising their monopoly of the phone lines and restricting anyone from getting ADSL2+, etc.
Meanwhile, my parents don't use the net so much, so while I'm at home (holidays from Uni), I have to put up with 512K

At Uni we charged premium price for the net: 2c/MB on a 10Mbit connection which is spread across the entire Uni. Offpeak, I get about 1Mbit d/l at the most, but otherwise it's about 800K. Which is much better than here at home which is about 40K at the best...

I'm so jealous...

Nintendo DS & Dominos :: DS Dominos
http://jt0.org
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
GatorHex
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Apr 2005
Location: Gunchester, UK
Posted: 16th Jul 2007 19:43 Edited at: 16th Jul 2007 19:44
Link
In the UK try Bulldog, I hear they are doing 16mbps down, 1mbps up for £25squid unlimited a month (intro off er at £19.99).

DinoHunter (still no nVidia compo voucher!), CPU/GPU Benchmark, DarkFish Encryption DLL, War MMOG (WIP), 3D Model Viewer
Back to top
Profile PM Website
Jess T
Retired Moderator
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 20th Sep 2003
Location: Over There... Kablam!
Posted: 17th Jul 2007 18:22
Link
... Once again, I'm so jealous:
75-year-old pensioner has fastest broadband



Nintendo DS & Dominos :: DS Dominos
http://jt0.org
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
dab
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 22nd Sep 2004
Location: Your Temp Folder!
Posted: 17th Jul 2007 20:46
Link
wow.... All I can say is wow.
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
5867Dude
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 26th Jun 2006
Location:
Posted: 18th Jul 2007 10:15
Link
Quote: "i got upgraded to 20mbits 3-4 weeks ago. the reason why they dont want to give you 20mbits during peak time is to ensure everyone in your area can actually download at no more than 5mbits and have no problems"


Man, that almost puts me off getting their VIP package!

It's like Talk Talk limited you're bandwidth during peak time.

I like Virgin because of unlimited downloads!
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Commodore kid
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 3rd Jun 2006
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posted: 18th Jul 2007 23:34 Edited at: 18th Jul 2007 23:39
Link
well im supposed to be getting 20 meg i get about 2.
then again i suppose the wireless network dusnt help.

(edit) oh and when my bro complained they gave him sum b**ls**t that its becus most websites on the net arnt advanced enogh to handle the high speeds what a load of b**ls**t oh whats worse is that he beleved them what a noob (/edit)

Dam no loo roll left!
Where's the bible?
Back to top
Profile PM Email
GatorHex
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Apr 2005
Location: Gunchester, UK
Posted: 18th Jul 2007 23:55 Edited at: 18th Jul 2007 23:57
Link
If you want TRUE unmetered unlimited try Force 9 Business for £35pcm it gives high priority on all packets, 8mbps down, 844kbps up (basicaly 2xADSL Max).

DinoHunter (still no nVidia compo voucher!), CPU/GPU Benchmark, DarkFish Encryption DLL, War MMOG (WIP), 3D Model Viewer
Back to top
Profile PM Website
BatVink
Moderator
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Apr 2003
Location: Gods own County, UK
Posted: 19th Jul 2007 00:02
Link
Quote: "then again i suppose the wireless network dusnt help"


Your wireless network will be at least 54Mb, that's more than 2.5x the speed of your internet connection.

Back to top
Profile PM Email
Commodore kid
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 3rd Jun 2006
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posted: 19th Jul 2007 00:03
Link
hmm dunno my sister uses the network as well and my bros on the wired computer.

Dam no loo roll left!
Where's the bible?
Back to top
Profile PM Email
GatorHex
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Apr 2005
Location: Gunchester, UK
Posted: 19th Jul 2007 00:04 Edited at: 19th Jul 2007 00:05
Link
Wireless Networks are crap for gaming, they have high latency (ping) especialy if somone is on the XBox 360 wifi remote or using the microwave

I wired my house with cat5 UTP coz i was so fed up of it. cables in the walls and proper wall sockets and everything

DinoHunter (still no nVidia compo voucher!), CPU/GPU Benchmark, DarkFish Encryption DLL, War MMOG (WIP), 3D Model Viewer
Back to top
Profile PM Website
Commodore kid
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 3rd Jun 2006
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posted: 19th Jul 2007 00:06
Link
yea i wanna get one of the but there limited 10 about 14mbps and they cost a lot

Dam no loo roll left!
Where's the bible?
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Commodore kid
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 3rd Jun 2006
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posted: 19th Jul 2007 00:07
Link
ive also heard rumers they trip fuses and make ur electrics dodgy.

Dam no loo roll left!
Where's the bible?
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Commodore kid
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 3rd Jun 2006
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posted: 19th Jul 2007 00:11 Edited at: 19th Jul 2007 00:11
Link
wait a min u are on about them adapters that utilise the elecric circuits of your house as a network arnt you

Dam no loo roll left!
Where's the bible?
Back to top
Profile PM Email
SpyDaniel
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Feb 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 19th Jul 2007 01:23
Link
I should point out, when an ISP says you have a #Mb line, it doesnt mean Megabytes, it is Megabits. So a 10Mb line is really 1Mb

Home Page
Back to top
Profile PM
jasonhtml
20
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 20th Mar 2004
Location: OC, California, USA
Posted: 19th Jul 2007 03:07
Link
Quote: "Wireless Networks are crap for gaming, they have high latency (ping) especialy if somone is on the XBox 360 wifi remote or using the microwave"


not true at all! i have a wireless network and my xbox360 is wireless, along with my pc which i play BF2 on highest settings, no lag

Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Cherd
17
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 30th Dec 2006
Location: Where I can see you.
Posted: 19th Jul 2007 03:10
Link
i was quite happy when it was blueyonder but tbh im not happy with virgin at all, they suck

Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
SpyDaniel
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Feb 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 19th Jul 2007 03:47
Link
My connection is unstable at the moment. Ill be getting 9000+kbps then it will drop down to a sluggish 2000kbps. I hate lag spikes!

Home Page
Back to top
Profile PM
BatVink
Moderator
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Apr 2003
Location: Gods own County, UK
Posted: 20th Jul 2007 15:52
Link
Quote: "So a 10Mb line is really 1Mb "


10Mbps = 1.25 MBps (minus overheads)

Back to top
Profile PM Email
GatorHex
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Apr 2005
Location: Gunchester, UK
Posted: 20th Jul 2007 17:08 Edited at: 20th Jul 2007 22:01
Link
yeah everyone confuses mega bits with mega bytes

big B little b

@Comodor kid, no not the electric socket thing, had to decorate anyway so chased proper cat5 solid core through the walls.

@jasonhtml, I'm talking wifi PC loses out to wifi xbox remote. It's way too strong a signal, you use a remote in the same room as the xbox so why does it need to be strong enough to go thru walls?! Walmart had issues too with XBox demo kiosks stopping the electronic tills from working too

DinoHunter (still no nVidia compo voucher!), CPU/GPU Benchmark, DarkFish Encryption DLL, War MMOG (WIP), 3D Model Viewer
Back to top
Profile PM Website
vibe runner
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 7th Aug 2006
Location: The Future
Posted: 20th Jul 2007 18:51
Link
Avoid Virgin. They are on the brink of being sold to the Carlyle Group, the "private equity" military firm headed by the Bushes and Bin Ladens.

Do you REALLY want a CIA-type company running your broadband?

(Don't answer, they can't do worse than the toothy beardboy)
Back to top
Profile PM Website
BatVink
Moderator
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Apr 2003
Location: Gods own County, UK
Posted: 20th Jul 2007 19:20 Edited at: 20th Jul 2007 19:21
Link
Quote: "Don't answer, they can't do worse than the toothy beardboy"


He doesn't own Virgin Media. Telewest/NTL bought the name to rebrand, using the purchase of Virgin Mobile to do so.
I wish toothy beardy boy did own it, because customer service is very good. My missus has had a Virgin Mobile for a few years, and their service was excellent.

Back to top
Profile PM Email
SpyDaniel
18
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 4th Feb 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 20th Jul 2007 23:05
Link


I thought this was pretty good, for my 10Mb connection

Home Page
Back to top
Profile PM
Back to top

Login to post a reply

Server time is: 2024-11-18 23:45:15
Your offset time is: 2024-11-18 23:45:15