Problem with my VM Broadband

[rockstar89]

Hi, i have had this problem for about 3 weeks, i have contacted the live customer support on their site about 4 times (you have to be lucky to have a chance of even getting through to them). The problem is my internet is running very slow, these are what speeds i am getting for an 8MB service.



The main problem is online games, java applications etc.. connect and disconnect a lot and it makes it unplayable at times, its normally ok before 4pm on weekdays but on fridays and weekends its terrible.

When i contacted them, the first time they ran a program that lets them take over my desktop, they tested everything and they said it was 'fine', second time they told me there was a fault and that the normal traffic was getting confused with the peer to peer traffic, third time they told me to remove the extension wire i had so i bought a 'high speed gold plated modem wire' and that seemed to solve the problem for a few days, it was still slow but not much problem but then yesterday, it came back, i contacted them again and their response was 'there is nothing we can do for you, we are invisting money into our network servers to improve our service, we cannot give you a date when this would all be done'.

A few days ago i did a phone line test on another site to test what speeds my line could handle, it said 7MB max, maybe i should downgrade to the 4MB package, would that work better?

I dont know what to do really, im close to cancelling but i really need the internet for my work and it normally takes a week or so to cancel and get a new one running, i dont have a contract.

[rockstar89]

anyone?

---------- Post added at 19:33 ---------- Previous post was at 18:27 ----------

tracert www.bbc.co.uk

Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.253.72]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 79 ms 89 ms 97 ms glfd-bam-1.inet.ntl.com [194.145.148.4]
2 68 ms 64 ms 62 ms glfd-t2core-b-ge-wan63.inet.ntl.com [195.182.179
.153]
3 77 ms 79 ms 85 ms gfd-bb-b-so-530-0.inet.ntl.com [213.105.174.157]

4 85 ms 81 ms 81 ms redb-ic-1-as0-0.inet.ntl.com [62.253.185.78]
5 91 ms 106 ms 89 ms 212.58.238.189
6 71 ms 82 ms 77 ms 212.58.238.133
7 107 ms 121 ms 98 ms fe0-0.rt0-frontpost.prodgw.bbc.co.uk [212.58.239
.222]
8 77 ms 87 ms 93 ms www3.cwwtf.bbc.co.uk [212.58.253.72]

Trace complete.

Pinging www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.224.115] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 212.58.224.115: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=247
Reply from 212.58.224.115: bytes=32 time=89ms TTL=247
Reply from 212.58.224.115: bytes=32 time=87ms TTL=247
Reply from 212.58.224.115: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=247

Ping statistics for 212.58.224.115:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 60ms, Maximum = 89ms, Average = 76ms

That might help identify the problem.

[Jambone]

Damn, Virgins Latency is so high lately, its annoying

[deed02392]

Sounds like you have some serious issues... if you really need fast internet, switch to VM's cable service. That should guarantee you at least better speeds and more reliability than what it appears you are getting at the moment.

[rockstar89]

Originally Posted by deed02392

Sounds like you have some serious issues... if you really need fast internet, switch to VM's cable service. That should guarantee you at least better speeds and more reliability than what it appears you are getting at the moment.

I dont mind if the internet is not too fast, i just want something that is worth what i am paying for and can play games without them connecting and disconnecting all the time.

Whats the difference between the two? would i need to get something installed and would i be able to use my current internet until the cable one activates? i see no other options than broadband 1, 2 (which i currently have) or 3 that i can switch to.

Thanks.

[deed02392]

The difference is that cable is far more reliable than ADSL since the cabling is newer and the signal quality is not reduced dependant on your distance from the exchange. The cable will not run down your phone line, but rather connect up to the same wiring that you get for your TV. You may need to have a cable modem, but it is likely you could just stick a cable into your set top box. Either way, an engineer would come and install it for you. Since ADSL and cable are different, you can have both services at the same time, so yes, you can keep your current broadband until the cable is working, and once it is then you can cancel your ADSL connection.

Cable will be more reliable for you than ADSL, as by the sounds of it your wiring is all a fuddle in your phone lines.

[rockstar89]

Hmm it says on their site they are having problems with broadband speeds and are fixing it, and the date said since friday which was when the problem started again (was fine from monday-thursday when i bought a new modem cable), i guess i'll have to wait until they have fixed it and if i have a problem i will change but i would prefer ADSL as i dont have to get anything installed and i heard that cable can cut in and out when gaming and i dont want that.

[Impz2002]

Cable is in every way more reliable than ADSL , FACT.

if its low latency and a solid connection that you want then go for cable its the way forward.

ADSL is a way of providing a new technology on an old antiquated phone system where as cable is provided on a mixture of fibre and coax cable which was designed specifically for high speed low loss connections. Imagine ADSL being two paper cups and a piece of string and cable as a modern digital connection.

I would never use ADSL over cable unless I was not in a cabled area and ADSL was the only option (something that may happen very soon as i am moving house ! scary thought !)

Impz

[simon8298]

Originally Posted by Impz2002

Cable is in every way more reliable than ADSL , FACT.

if its low latency and a solid connection that you want then go for cable its the way forward.

ADSL is a way of providing a new technology on an old antiquated phone system where as cable is provided on a mixture of fibre and coax cable which was designed specifically for high speed low loss connections. Imagine ADSL being two paper cups and a piece of string and cable as a modern digital connection.

I would never use ADSL over cable unless I was not in a cabled area and ADSL was the only option (something that may happen very soon as i am moving house ! scary thought !)

Impz

yeah you might be right that the technology is better on cable... but when you have a company like virgin media running the network down to the ground, i would have to say that ADSL would be the better option...
i have been thinking about making the switch back to ADSL for a little while now....
as today i have not been able to play counterstrike or anything... and it been like this on and off for ages!!! makes me very angry!!

[Impz2002]

i agree with you on that point.

my 20meg has always been reliable and fast but i can see why you might want to go back to ADSL if you are having problems.

When it is done properly then cable is king. something VM may have overlooked when they decided to run the network into the ground for profit !

Impz

[rockstar89]

If virgin media cable broadband is crap too then i'll just change ISP.

[deed02392]

Yes, first you should definitely try them out.