View Full Version : Virgin broadband speeds
Hi all
This is my first post. Joined this forum to see if any of you guys can help me. I've had my Internet connection with Telewest Blueyonder, now Virgin, for over the past 8 yrs or so. I've always been on there top speed, but it's always ran a lot slower than it should. For the past 3 months I've been on 20mb. I didn't even know I'd been upgraded, cause there was no speed increase. I found out the other day that my modem could not handle 20mb (16mb tops), so they have sent me a new modem out. This has not made the slightest bit of difference.
Phoned there tech help line today, and the got me to download some files from Virgin game files site. The first one maxed out at just over 720 kb a sec. So I was asked to start another download at the same time, this maxed at 520kb a sec. I was then told that the combined speeds were equal to a 20mb connection.:shocked: Does anyone know if this is correct. I know it's not the pc as it's new. The old one ran Win ME, and the connection speeds were no different.
If they would just send an engineer out to check everything from the box in the street to my house, I would be satisfied, but they just say I don't have a problem. I don't want the hassle of changing IP, but this connection is £37 a month, and I really don't feel as if I'm getting the speed I am paying for:mad:
Rant over
Any advice would be gratefully appreciated ;)
fatassmichael
29-09-2007, 18:52
First of all, :welcome: to the forum, Second, have you tried to optimise your connection?
http://www.virginmedia.com/help/20mb-broadband-optimisation.php
:welcome:
520k + 720k = 1240kB/s = 10.16Mb/s - roughly what you'd expect from a 11meg connection after you've taken overheads into account.
If you open a third download at the same time, does the total speed increase? Use this (http://web.forret.com/tools/bandwidth.asp) calculator- input the output from your browser (kilobytes per second- expressed on that site as KiB/s) then look in the "M" column at the "bps" figure- a figure around 19 is the max you'll achieve.
It is possible that you are being limited by the speed of the sources you are downloading from- think of it this way- just because your connection can pull data in at 20mbps, doesn't mean servers can push it out at that speed. When you are talking about connections as fast as 20mbps the only way you will max it out is by downloading from multiple sources, or by using a download manager to download multiple threads.
if you read the post it says he was downloading from gamefiles.virginmedia.com/blueyonder.co.uk which is a server which can certainly handle 20meg dl speeds across 2 files.
as chris said tho, its nowhere near the 20meg connection you are supposed to be getting.
do u use a router at all, and if u do have u tried it without it connected to see if its any better?
tech support have been given this link (pc optimiser or sumthin) iv not had a chance to check it yet to see what it actually is so it might b crap
http://tinyurl.com/3cf2rr
worth a go tho if ur having problems.
Thanks for the welcome guys. Had a look at that link to optimize my connection, but as I'm on Vista it doesnt apply, Just to add, when I've tried Speedtest.net I've had as low as 1mb and the highest is 5 mb on the London test.
Speed tests are notoriously unreliable on 20Mb - you are better off testing using a download from the blueyonder games site (http://gamefiles.virginmedia.com/blueyondergames/), or downloading a large file from Microsoft; this will give you a more accurate representation of your actual speed.
I do use a router, but when I've done the tests, I've done it through the router, and direct from the modem to the pc, and the speeds haven't been any different. Must complement you guys on the help. When I've tried Blueyonder and Virgin tech support, it just feels like I'd been fobbed off.:tu:
Always used Blueyonder games files to test speeds as I was on BYGames forums . Was gutted when they closed :(
hi
upgraded to V+ today was trying to follow this advice you are giving but this is what i get
instead of 100Mbps full duplex i get 100base tx full duplex is it sill the same.
if you read the post it says he was downloading from gamefiles.virginmedia.com/blueyonder.co.uk which is a server which can certainly handle 20meg dl speeds across 2 files.
I did read the post thanks :rolleyes: Having never used the site i didn't know how much it can handle over 2 files- clearly it didn't manage more than 720k on 1 connection, but did manage 1240 over 2 so it would be quite logical to suggest it might be able to manage more over 3 connections.
fatassmichael
30-09-2007, 02:55
Thanks for the welcome guys. Had a look at that link to optimize my connection, but as I'm on Vista it doesnt apply, Just to add, when I've tried Speedtest.net I've had as low as 1mb and the highest is 5 mb on the London test.
You can still optimise your network card whilst running vista, although VM don't support it ATM, IIRC, click start, right click computer, left click properties, on the very left hand side of the screen in "common tasks" click device manager, then left click the + next to the network adapters, then double click on your network card, click on the advanced settings tab and look for something like "link speed" or "speed/duplex settings. then change as appropriate.
fatassmichael, thanks for the reply. "link speed" or "speed/duplex settings" are not listed. This is a list of all the settings that are available.
Bundle ID
Flow Control
Interrupt Moderation
Max IRQ per second
Maximum Frame Rate
Media Type
Network Address
Number of Receive Buffers
Number of Transmit Buffers
Shutdown wake up
Task Offload
Wake up Capabilities
Are any of these what I need??
Mick Fisher
01-10-2007, 20:10
fatassmichael, thanks for the reply. "link speed" or "speed/duplex settings" are not listed. This is a list of all the settings that are available.
Bundle ID
Flow Control
Interrupt Moderation
Max IRQ per second
Maximum Frame Rate
Media Type
Network Address
Number of Receive Buffers
Number of Transmit Buffers
Shutdown wake up
Task Offload
Wake up Capabilities
Are any of these what I need??
Is that all your setting, maybe you can scroll up/down to reveal some more?
slowcoach
02-10-2007, 02:14
Now I don't want to get anyone's hopes up but,,,,, since we had loads of VM vans flooding the area a few weeks ago browsing has become faster than it ever was (new DNS Servers?) and speeds are 19Meg most of the day dropping to 17Meg for about 3 hours in the evening, now considering that the nights are drawing in and more kids will have to be home earlier (on their computers) it looks like things have been sorted, in this area at least. Maybe your area is next, the VM vans have moved on from here so keep a lookout for them.
Just like to add, ABOUT BLOODY TIME. :monkey:
Wild Oscar
02-10-2007, 12:24
Thanks for the welcome guys. Had a look at that link to optimize my connection, but as I'm on Vista it doesnt apply, Just to add, when I've tried Speedtest.net I've had as low as 1mb and the highest is 5 mb on the London test.
I'm on Vista and it definitely helped my connection! ... your not seeing all the options in the 'Advanced' tab for some reason!! ... this is what I see ...
Download Failed (1)
What motherboard are you using? Perhaps you need to install drivers again?
Tweaking this I went from 1-2mb download to the full 20 so it's definitely worth getting it right!!
I'm on Vista and it definitely helped my connection! ... your not seeing all the options in the 'Advanced' tab for some reason!! ... this is what I see ...
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6307/capture2lc0.jpg
What motherboard are you using? Perhaps you need to install drivers again?
Tweaking this I went from 1-2mb download to the full 20 so it's definitely worth getting it right!!
Thanks for the reply m8. Had another look tonight, and they are defo all the options that are there, there is nothing else in a drop down menu. It's really getting to me now as my speeds are utter crap:mad: Don't want to phone Virgin Tech Support line anymore as there a complete waste of time and money. Tried writing a letter of complaint when it was Telewest, and that was a waste of time as well. Wonder if it would be any different with Virgin?
By the way, my mobo is Asus
Hi
I am on 20Mb after optimizing this is my download speed is it ok
1.08mb/s 1.19mb/s = 2.27mb/s
Wild Oscar
02-10-2007, 23:55
@ stunt ...
What Asus motherboard model is it? ... from that we can work out what drivers you might need! .. mine is Asus M2N-E SLI with latest Nforce drivers.
I'm sure you should be seeing more options there ...
@ scorp24 ...
try tweaking your duplex settings again .. change to 'Auto Negotiation' if possible
Don't forget if your d'loading a lot of stuff you might get 'capped' between 4 and midnight!! ... after that ... no restrictions ..
restrictions can last til 3:59 am rmr if u reach the limit at 11:59 pm
The supposed 20mb it totally unreliable. Sometimes you get full speeds (rare occasion these days) its just got worse and worse. It was better when it was 10mb at least it was consistant. At the minute it can range from 2mb up to 20mb, up until about 5 weeks ago i was getting full speeds obviously alot more people have signed up to virgin in my area. With the addition of it going off a few times completely and then Virgin wanting me to pay them more money to try and resolve a issue at there end the service has slowly gone down hill.
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