Virgin is the Best ISP

[mundakudi]

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am a proud customer of Virgin Media since last 5 years and I have never had any problems with them.

I recommend if you are using any other provider please switch to Virgin and enjoy one of the best internet service in the world.

Thanks

[MovedGoalPosts]

Nice to know there is a satisfied customer out there :)

[pigmoth]

Wait till you get a utilisation issue on the upstream of the uBR!!!

[Peter_]

I may be staff but have been a customer for a lot longer around 15 years and as yet have never had any major issues apart from cutting the cable with a spade which they repaired due to it being to shallow and unshielded.

[gotcabled]

i've been been with them about 8 yrs had 2Mb:angel:10Mb:angel:20Mb:angel: and now 50MB:angel::angel:
all worked well

[pip08456]

I haven't had any serious problems just a couple of minor ones quickly corrected so I'm happy but I certainly wouldn't say VM are the best ISP, that's stretching things a little too far.

Improve U/L speeds, bring CS back to the UK etc, etc. There are several areas that need improving before they get close to being the best.

[|Kippa|]

I have had the odd problem now and then, but when I have, it has been fixed pronto. I am a happy customer.

[Toto]

Same here, the odd problem but generally a rock solid service, even when I lived in student land. :)

And some news on VM leading the speed stakes here (http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/vmed_-uk-average-broadband-speed-4-28-mbps-in-january--759947.html).

[Tony.]

Been with them for 4 years without major service problems, now billing is a different issue and needs a radical overhaul including transparent pricing :mad: so in my opinion they are a long way from best. In my area they are still 'fastest' until 21cn comes online fully.

[pip08456]

And some news on VM leading the speed stakes here (http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/vmed_-uk-average-broadband-speed-4-28-mbps-in-january--759947.html).

They may be leading in the download stakes but they are still rank outsiders in the upload area.

OK they're trialing quicker U/L speeds but until implemented................

[Bonglet]

Who got one of the non-uk support staff to start a praising thread cmon own up lol.

[Toto]

They may be leading in the download stakes but they are still rank outsiders in the upload area.

OK they're trialing quicker U/L speeds but until implemented................

Rank outsiders?

They don't have the fastest u/l true, but compared to a lot of the bog standard ADSL services, its better. :)

[xxxxxx]

Rank outsiders?

They don't have the fastest u/l true, but compared to a lot of the bog standard ADSL services, its better. :)

Like these cracking upload speeds?

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/41.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/42.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/43.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[Toto]

Like these cracking upload speeds?

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/41.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/42.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/43.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

No, these.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/36.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

And some more, http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34960488-post10.html

[xxxxxx]

No, these.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/36.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

And some more, http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34960488-post10.html


And let's be honest, that's pretty poor for 50mb.

[Toto]

Like I said, not the fastest, but certainly not as poor on average as some ADSL suppliers.

[jazzward]

Or these amazingly poor Latency stats

Download Failed (1) (http://www.pingtest.net)

I think you lucky few, and you are a lucky few, should count your blessings.

Not the worst ISP but definatley a long way from the best and definately not good value for money.

[Welshchris]

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/40.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[pip08456]

This may be worth a look Toto

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html?isp_4=1&isp_12=1&isp_86=1&isp_84=1&commit=Compare

[Toto]

This may be worth a look Toto

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html?isp_4=1&isp_12=1&isp_86=1&isp_84=1&commit=Compare

Fine, but what does it prove overall?

I'm giving you my opinion, being a Broadband customer for nearly 10 years with ntl, then ntl Telewest and then Virgin Media. My view of the service still stands, and that report changes nothing in my opinion.

[pip08456]

Proves overall that reports cannot be taken at face value. You produced one with VM as being the best download speed provider, I produced one saying Be is. So they are not to be relied upon.

I gave my opinion in my original post saying I had no problem with my service but VM needed to improve on a range of issues before they could be considered the best ISP. U/L speed being one of them.

[J_walsh]

Tracing route to www.wireplay.co.uk [94.136.46.40]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 jon [77.99.67.250]
1 10.184.0.1
2 osr01tonb-v11.network.virginmedia.net [62.30.129.2]
3 osr02croy-tenge74.network.virginmedia.net [62.30.242.65]
4 pop-bb-b-ae2-0.network.virginmedia.net [195.182.178.86]
5 tele-ic-2-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.184.6]
6 42-14-250-212.static.virginmedia.com [212.250.14.42]
7 vl258.ar01.ld4.dco.webfusion.com [194.143.162.218]
8 community.wireplay.com [94.136.46.40]

Computing statistics for 200 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 jon [77.99.67.250]
2/ 100 = 2% |
1 --- 100/ 100 =100% 98/ 100 = 98% 10.184.0.1
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 32ms 2/ 100 = 2% 0/ 100 = 0% osr01tonb-v11.network.virginmedia.
net [62.30.129.2]
1/ 100 = 1% |
3 31ms 6/ 100 = 6% 3/ 100 = 3% osr02croy-tenge74.network.virginme
dia.net [62.30.242.65]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 31ms 10/ 100 = 10% 7/ 100 = 7% pop-bb-b-ae2-0.network.virginmedia
.net [195.182.178.86]
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 31ms 3/ 100 = 3% 0/ 100 = 0% tele-ic-2-as0-0.network.virginmedi
a.net [62.253.184.6]
1/ 100 = 1% |
6 --- 100/ 100 =100% 96/ 100 = 96% 42-14-250-212.static.virginmedia.c
om [212.250.14.42]
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 36ms 4/ 100 = 4% 0/ 100 = 0% vl258.ar01.ld4.dco.webfusion.com [
194.143.162.218]
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 34ms 4/ 100 = 4% 0/ 100 = 0% community.wireplay.com [94.136.46.
40]

Trace complete.

or

Tracing route to burstfire.net [82.136.1.21]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 jon [77.99.67.250]
1 10.184.0.1
2 osr01tonb-v11.network.virginmedia.net [62.30.129.2]
3 osr02croy-tenge74.network.virginmedia.net [62.30.242.65]
4 osr01croy-v99.network.virginmedia.net [195.182.179.57]
5 bre-bb-a-ae2-0.network.virginmedia.net [195.182.178.82]
6 bre-bb-b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.174.226]
7 telc-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.185.74]
8 ge-3-22-0-cr1.thn.as9153.net [195.66.226.71]
9 po-2-0-700-cr2.sov.as9153.net [82.136.0.205]
10 www.burstfire.net [82.136.1.21]

Computing statistics for 250 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 jon [77.99.67.250]
1/ 100 = 1% |
1 --- 100/ 100 =100% 99/ 100 = 99% 10.184.0.1
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 29ms 5/ 100 = 5% 4/ 100 = 4% osr01tonb-v11.network.virginmedia.
net [62.30.129.2]
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 31ms 4/ 100 = 4% 3/ 100 = 3% osr02croy-tenge74.network.virginme
dia.net [62.30.242.65]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 32ms 4/ 100 = 4% 3/ 100 = 3% osr01croy-v99.network.virginmedia.
net [195.182.179.57]
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 31ms 9/ 100 = 9% 8/ 100 = 8% bre-bb-a-ae2-0.network.virginmedia
.net [195.182.178.82]
0/ 100 = 0% |
6 33ms 6/ 100 = 6% 5/ 100 = 5% bre-bb-b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia
.net [213.105.174.226]
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 32ms 4/ 100 = 4% 3/ 100 = 3% telc-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedi
a.net [62.253.185.74]
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 32ms 1/ 100 = 1% 0/ 100 = 0% ge-3-22-0-cr1.thn.as9153.net [195.
66.226.71]
1/ 100 = 1% |
9 38ms 2/ 100 = 2% 0/ 100 = 0% po-2-0-700-cr2.sov.as9153.net [82.
136.0.205]
5/ 100 = 5% |
10 30ms 7/ 100 = 7% 0/ 100 = 0% www.burstfire.net [82.136.1.21]

Trace complete

Date 08/02/10 21:37:38
Speed Down 769.70 Kbps ( 0.8 Mbps )
Speed Up 478.78 Kbps ( 0.5 Mbps )

surely this is just ridiculous?

[mojo8472]

My experience with Virgin has been the worst amongst any company I've had dealings with. Constant disconnections in the evening (8 this hour) and very poor speeds (~15Mb in the evening on the 50Mb line). Tech support is 'aware of the problem' but doesn't expect a fix anytime soon. Considering writing to Ofcom and most certainly won't be renewing!

[broadbandking]

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/39.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

Can't moan looking pretty good to me, had issue with 20Mb as the UBR needed upgrading took nearly a year, other than that had nothing but good service, esp the 50Mb

[beasty54]

I had 20mb for 1 year and then i moved to 50mb when it first became available in my area about 18 months ago. Ive never had a problem with speed and in the last 18 months i think my connection has been down 3 times with the longest being about 2 hours so no complaints from me at all.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/38.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[DocDutch]

havent had many problems with NTL/VM since joining them 7 years ago..just some minor niggles that normally have been sorted pretty swiftly :) only gripe that I have is the upload speed.
Even the times that I've had to speak to India they have been pretty good and some are pretty on the ball with IT training...just depends on if you are lucky or not ;)

[Toto]

Proves overall that reports cannot be taken at face value. You produced one with VM as being the best download speed provider, I produced one saying Be is. So they are not to be relied upon.

I gave my opinion in my original post saying I had no problem with my service but VM needed to improve on a range of issues before they could be considered the best ISP. U/L speed being one of them.

Couldn't agree with you more. Any improvement VM can make to their U/L speeds will place them at the top of the tree as it were.

You're right though, that report can be taken in a number of ways. If you look at the count for Be against VM in terms of speed for Jan 2010, one of the things I noticed is that whilst Be scored 75% against VM's 59%, Be's sample was based on 502 ratings, however VM's was based on 3092 ratings. Had the sample size been near equal we may have had a better comparison overall.

As you say though, our own opinions of the service we get is more important than raw data.

:)

[roger skillin]

Proves overall that reports cannot be taken at face value. You produced one with VM as being the best download speed provider, I produced one saying Be is.
.

Yeah thats fine if you can actually receive BE in your area, i for one can't, and if i search for BT it tells me the speed i can get in My area is 5mb hmmm i can get 50mb with virgin so i think i'll stick with virgin

[Rik]

No, these.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/36.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

And some more, http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34960488-post10.html

Thats slow ;)

Im happy with mine.

VM are the best ISP ever, rock solid service 9.5/10 :)

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/37.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

---------- Post added at 10:18 ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 ----------

Yeah thats fine if you can actually receive BE in your area, i for one can't, and if i search for BT it tells me the speed i can get in My area is 5mb hmmm i can get 50mb with virgin so i think i'll stick with virgin

Fastest ADSL speed I can obtain is 1.5Mb! wow ;)

I think I will stick with the 50Mb VM :)

---------- Post added at 10:27 ---------- Previous post was at 10:18 ----------

Tracing route to www.wireplay.co.uk (http://www.wireplay.co.uk) [94.136.46.40]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 jon [77.99.67.250]
1 10.184.0.1
2 osr01tonb-v11.network.virginmedia.net [62.30.129.2]
3 osr02croy-tenge74.network.virginmedia.net [62.30.242.65]
4 pop-bb-b-ae2-0.network.virginmedia.net [195.182.178.86]
5 tele-ic-2-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.184.6]
6 42-14-250-212.static.virginmedia.com [212.250.14.42]
7 vl258.ar01.ld4.dco.webfusion.com [194.143.162.218]
8 community.wireplay.com [94.136.46.40]

Computing statistics for 200 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 jon [77.99.67.250]
2/ 100 = 2% |
1 --- 100/ 100 =100% 98/ 100 = 98% 10.184.0.1
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 32ms 2/ 100 = 2% 0/ 100 = 0% osr01tonb-v11.network.virginmedia.
net [62.30.129.2]
1/ 100 = 1% |
3 31ms 6/ 100 = 6% 3/ 100 = 3% osr02croy-tenge74.network.virginme
dia.net [62.30.242.65]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 31ms 10/ 100 = 10% 7/ 100 = 7% pop-bb-b-ae2-0.network.virginmedia
.net [195.182.178.86]
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 31ms 3/ 100 = 3% 0/ 100 = 0% tele-ic-2-as0-0.network.virginmedi
a.net [62.253.184.6]
1/ 100 = 1% |
6 --- 100/ 100 =100% 96/ 100 = 96% 42-14-250-212.static.virginmedia.c
om [212.250.14.42]
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 36ms 4/ 100 = 4% 0/ 100 = 0% vl258.ar01.ld4.dco.webfusion.com [
194.143.162.218]
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 34ms 4/ 100 = 4% 0/ 100 = 0% community.wireplay.com [94.136.46.
40]

Trace complete.

surely this is just ridiculous?

Certainly not very good.
Here is the pingpath in Hemel Hempstead

Tracing route to www.wireplay.com (http://www.wireplay.com) [94.136.46.40]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 W7 [192.168.1.3]
1 192.168.1.1
2 heme-cmts-10-lback-20.network.virginmedia.net [81.104.40.1]
3 lutn-core-1a-ge-300-2548.network.virginmedia.net [80.4.221.85]
4 pop-bb-a-as5-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.175.149]
5 pop-bb-b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.174.230]
6 tele-ic-2-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.184.6]
7 42-14-250-212.static.virginmedia.com [212.250.14.42]
8 vl258.ar01.ld4.dco.webfusion.com [194.143.162.218]
9 community.wireplay.com [94.136.46.40]

Computing statistics for 225 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 W7 [192.168.1.3]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.168.1.1
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 9ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% heme-cmts-10-lback-20.network.virginmedia.net [81.104.40.1]
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 7ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% lutn-core-1a-ge-300-2548.network.virginmedia.net [80.4.221.85]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 13ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% pop-bb-a-as5-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.175.149]
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 9ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% pop-bb-b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.174.230]
0/ 100 = 0% |
6 9ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% tele-ic-2-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.184.6]
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 10ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 42-14-250-212.static.virginmedia.com [212.250.14.42]
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 16ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% vl258.ar01.ld4.dco.webfusion.com [194.143.162.218]
0/ 100 = 0% |
9 13ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% community.wireplay.com [94.136.46.40]

Trace complete.

[pip08456]

Couldn't agree with you more. Any improvement VM can make to their U/L speeds will place them at the top of the tree as it were.

You're right though, that report can be taken in a number of ways. If you look at the count for Be against VM in terms of speed for Jan 2010, one of the things I noticed is that whilst Be scored 75% against VM's 59%, Be's sample was based on 502 ratings, however VM's was based on 3092 ratings. Had the sample size been near equal we may have had a better comparison overall.

As you say though, our own opinions of the service we get is more important than raw data.

:)

It would also be interesting and informative to see what percentage of the customer base those rating numbers represent. VM have a much larger customer base than Be.

[oliver1948uk]

Been with NTL/VM 10+ years and am a generally satisfied customer. Most of the few problems I have had have been sorted out quickly, though customer services has often not been good, but definitely better than that of several other mobille phone and utility providers I have had the misfortune to deal with. I have been given a discount when very occasionally things have gone very wrong.

A couple of years back that were threads on this forum recommending people swap to Be. Then they stopped and from time time to time people were saying they were dissatisfied with Be. Surely, if lots of people transfer to a provider providing a reliable service, then they will hit the same contention problems as the other ISP's. I wonder how long it will be before people complain about the wonderful offering that O2 is bringing in

[ileikcaek]

I am on the wagon for people not saying it's the best ISP.

We've had nothing but trouble with them. mostly for billing.

Not one single bill has turned up from them. we're on paper billing and pay via pay-point. The only paper bills that have showed up are the ones that say they're adding a £10 late payment charge onto the account.

We have complained and they've given us 4 months of 20Mb broadband at our usual 10Mb price, and they've also sent us out the new D-link N router.

Still doesn't mean bills are going to start turning up though does it?

We were also told you're supposed to have 2 weeks to pay the bill, before our internet was cut off a day before even the bill was due, let alone 2 weeks after. I only expect we will loose services again on or around the 17th again :(

In regards to technical problems, they have been quite good. there was a serious utilization issue on the uBR so they've moved us and many others services to a new 'central location' Internet runs at top speed all day now, not even the evenings make any difference.

[Ignitionnet]

Threads like these that just make me think of one thing.

YMMV (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/your_mileage_may_vary)

Virgin's reliability has sucked so hard in this area I've an O2 installation going live in 2 days, Virgin are yet to manage to deliver internet service to me across any of their 3 component networks for any length of time without having outages of a week or more per year, but...

YMMV!

[Milambar]

Well, to add my 2p'orth to this thread.

We joined VM back when it was known as Nynex, originally getting cable TV. I was with BT dialup back then. As soon as they offered broadband cable (via the stb), I took that service too.

We had one problem in those early days, attrocious lag around 5pm. It took them a while to trace the cause with me phoning up daily, but eventually I got a call from someone calling himself "networks manager", who assured me that the problem had been identified, and fixed.

Had a few years smooth running, until mom died in 2005, when I had to get the billing changed over to my name. Customer services bullixed things up then (they somehow changed the contract to my name, but didn't implement my Direct Debit instruction, still tried to take the amount from my deceased mothers bank account which obviously failed). Got that fixed with the help of someone from another forum (chet...).

Had a few years more smooth running, when I started getting horrible speeds all day. The offshore call-centers were unable or unwilling to help. This was fixed with the assistance of someone on this forum (needed a repull).

Since then, have had only very minor issues which are to be expected, in reality, from a company of VM's size. Easily fixed by rebooting the modem usually.

Overall, I have to admit, that VM have given me good service at a reasonable price, and I am quite content with it.

Also, the posters here are usually knowledgeable, and helpful.

So, congratulations to VM, and congratulations to CF.

[ahardie]

So what do people make of the Ofcom review (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/features/broadbandspeedsjy) from last July? That looks highly favourable to VM doesn't it?
Puts flak jacket on and retires to a safe distance. :D

[pip08456]

So what do people make of the Ofcom review (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/features/broadbandspeedsjy) from last July? That looks highly favourable to VM doesn't it?
Puts flak jacket on and retires to a safe distance. :D

Get ready to come out fighting!:D:D:D

As VM have signed up to this

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/features/broadcodejy

Why aren't customers in oversubscribed areas being informed as required?

[bonzoe]

Certainly the best of the ISPs I have been with, not saying that they are perfect but who is?

[frogstamper]

Not the best ISP, but imo they are up there in with a shout, bring CS back to the UK continue upgrading the network and vastly improve u/l speeds, that'll put them on top for me.
Anyone who has experienced Tiscali's "super-fast broadband" will know who Britain's worst ISP is, that is backed up thinkbroadbands comparable speed test results....the words Tiscali and superfast broadband are a complete oxymoron.

[Burt-Kwouk]

"Best ISP" as in: Given a choice of being punched in the face or kicked in the spuds, being punched in the face is the best!

I was a very happy Telewest customer but am now an extremely disillusioned Virgin Media customer, along with many thousands of others.
Their provision is degrading by the month, to the point where I can barely get 5MBit down at any time of the day (on the 20MBit tariff), often as low as 2MBit.
That's when the service is there of course, which it isn't at least once a week now, along with random dropouts and hiccups throughout the day.

They even managed to palm me off with a phone deal (that we're stuck with for twelve months) in return for a cheaper deal for six months.
The phone actually does work, but from the first day it was connected we've had so much nuisance calling that the phone has to be muted and all calls (95% of which are spam) intercepted by the answerphone.

Just search Google for terms like "Virgin Media sucks", "Virgin Media are crap" etc.
You'll see (what's probably just a fraction of) people's disgust for this 'company'.

[ahardie]

"Best ISP" as in: Given a choice of being punched in the face or kicked in the spuds, being punched in the face is the best!

I was a very happy Telewest customer but am now an extremely disillusioned Virgin Media customer, along with many thousands of others.
Their provision is degrading by the month, to the point where I can barely get 5MBit down at any time of the day (on the 20MBit tariff), often as low as 2MBit.
That's when the service is there of course, which it isn't at least once a week now, along with random dropouts and hiccups throughout the day.

They even managed to palm me off with a phone deal (that we're stuck with for twelve months) in return for a cheaper deal for six months.
The phone actually does work, but from the first day it was connected we've had so much nuisance calling that the phone has to be muted and all calls (95% of which are spam) intercepted by the answerphone.

Just search Google for terms like "Virgin Media sucks", "Virgin Media are crap" etc.
You'll see (what's probably just a fraction of) people's disgust for this 'company'.

Searching google for "Virgin Media sucks" brought up 67 hits. If I put in a similar company I got thousands of hits even after putting in filters to reduce the amount of false hits.

That doesn't help you with your complaint of course and I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble. I'm just saying it doesn't prove they are worse than other companies.

[Turkey Machine]

While I was with them, I had 3 gripes:

They wouldn't transfer the MAC address for the 2Mbit cable modem to my account for a 10Mbit service, so I ended up with both 2Mbit and 10Mbit cable modems. Virgin simply didn't want to know about the 2Mbit one, so it's sitting in a box in my room in a non-cable town until I move. :)

They sent a letter claiming that a file was downloaded from the IP address supposedly registered to our account. I passed it to the flatmates and they filed it under "bin".

When they get their billing wrong, you will never ever get the same bill twice or the one you originally signed up to (VAT change December 2008 meant my bill were interestingly adjusted for VAT credit month to month as they played catchup), but boy do they put you through the wringer when gods forbid you miss a direct debit or card payment! My word, took 2 members on here to sort my problems out with cancelling a service and stopping being charged for things I wasn't using!


Other than that, the service was fine. Pings solid, transparent traffic management, and unlimited downloads as advertised. Gaming on the 2Mbit modem was fine! The flatmates never complained about the 10Mbit service we shared. :)

[newbie1001]

Virgin may be the quickest but i was paying a premium for a managed service. I am still finding myself downloading just as much on my 4MB ADSL as i was on my 20MB Cable service but with ADSL i am paying less than a 3rd. True a lot of my downloadingetc was during the day and i may have been able to download more overnight but the fad of downloading everything on the web soon wore off with me. With all my years on ADSL (UKONLINE,SKY,O2) and cable (NTL,VIRGIN) i can't say i've had a problem with any service with at most ones days outage.

The only time i have only been capped or restricted is with Cable though which does leave a bitter taste in the mouth considering the premium you do pay for cable.

[xpod]

3 years 11 months i`ve now been with Virgin Media.
In fact it`s only been 3 years 11 months i`ve been using a computer & Internet so Virgin are the only BB providers i`ve ever actually had. We kept with them even after moving home back in late 2008.
We had some absolutely laughable billing & communication issues to start out with back in 2006 and some speed problems with the jump from 10Mb to the new(at the time) 20Mb. We also had one or three other little issues along the way but nothing too major. It was often just the communication that was the underlying problem.
I have of course done the hours & hours on the phone trying to just communicate with the poor sod on the other end and i did actually come close to sacking them(vm) on more than one occasion. Also came close to pishing myself with laughter on that phone too mind you although i never actually did that either.:)
When all`s said and done they`ve not been tooo bad in reality and i doubt any other provider could have done much better over that time. Some more home grown Call Centres would have helped with earlier frustrations no doubt.
We very rarely get any actual downtime though and with seven of us here at home there can be quite a lot of devices needing connected including Desktops, Laptops, Netbooks, PS3, Wii and DS/i`s so the connection can get a wee bit busy of an evening but nothing it dont cope with.

[Burt-Kwouk]

Searching google for "Virgin Media sucks" brought up 67 hits. If I put in a similar company I got thousands of hits even after putting in filters to reduce the amount of false hits.

That doesn't help you with your complaint of course and I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble. I'm just saying it doesn't prove they are worse than other companies.

Did you read all the comments (if any) associated with those sites/pages, and try other searches?
Each comment is a disgruntled customer.

I do know that BT (for example) are actually worse, which is why I'm stuck with VM.
Scanning the threads here, I just took offence to someone having the nerve to post a subject exclaiming: "Virgin is the Best ISP".
It's like having a discussion about who's the best genocidal dictator?
Hitler, Stalin or Chairman Mao?

[fireman328]

Those of us who are on ADSL might disagree with that.

[Burt-Kwouk]

Never thought of checking out VM's own user forums!

Here's a thread for my area:

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Fibre-optic-broadband-cable/Broadband-in-the-Evenings-Plymouth-PL4-Area-Ref-18/td-p/14608

Sounds as though there might be an upgrade or some kind of fix happening in a couple of weeks time!?!?

The whole site is brimming with enraged broadband customers.
Warms the cockles of my heart! :D

[Sephiroth]

Under the heading "PLYMOUTH AREA" in the VM 2md line support newsgroup, there is this transaction:

Doug wrote:
> The last 3 days we've been experiencing stupidly high packet loss,
> ping flucuation and generally ****-poor speeds.
> This seems to be mirroring a similar situation around November 2009-
> Is there any news on this?
>
> cheers Much,
> Dougie

Hi Doug,

We currently have an open issue of F001133563 for this issue. An upgrade
plan is currently in place and should be compelted by mid May.

Once resolved your speeds should be back to normal.


--
Kind Regards
xxxxxxx
VirginMedia Technical Support

[Risco]

Or these amazingly poor Latency stats

http://www.pingtest.net/result/9962330.png (http://www.pingtest.net)

I think you lucky few, and you are a lucky few, should count your blessings.

Not the worst ISP but definatley a long way from the best and definately not good value for money.

I feel lucky

Download Failed (1) (http://www.pingtest.net)

[pip08456]

I feel lucky

http://www.pingtest.net/result/10361428.png (http://www.pingtest.net)

If you are feeling lucky, how should I feel?

http://www.pingtest.net/result/10362395.png (http://www.pingtest.net)

[darren.b]

Indeed, out of all the DSL ISPs, VM come out on top by a country mile. STM or not, no-one can provide even a quarter of what VM can provide in my area. So STM isn't an issue even if I wish to trigger it as most DSL providers can only pump 2, 2.5Mb to my humble home.

ping
Download Failed (1) (http://www.pingtest.net)

speed
Download Failed (1) (http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk)

It has by-and-large always been this way for me. Only real issue has been the Motorola BSR issue which *touch wood* seems to be behaving itself of late.

[Welshchris]

It would also be interesting and informative to see what percentage of the customer base those rating numbers represent. VM have a much larger customer base than Be.

Phaps a good idea to get a representation of customers on here would be have a page where we can rate different things such as speed, reliability and tech support and phaps add a small note to why we scored the way we did.

Phaps the mods who have links with VM could also pass this info on and VM make take on board what customers think and maybe how they can improve.

---------- Post added at 02:04 ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 ----------

Indeed, out of all the DSL ISPs, VM come out on top by a country mile. STM or not, no-one can provide even a quarter of what VM can provide in my area. So STM isn't an issue even if I wish to trigger it as most DSL providers can only pump 2, 2.5Mb to my humble home.

ping
http://www.pingtest.net/result/10364768.png (http://www.pingtest.net)

speed
http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk/results/15814531.png (http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk)

It has by-and-large always been this way for me. Only real issue has been the Motorola BSR issue which *touch wood* seems to be behaving itself of late.

Glad urs is, Swansea is still playing up i was given ANOTHER!! Fault number earlier as they are performing more maintenance and upgrades to solve the issues which have been ongoing since August on the BSR here.

[III]

Perhaps we could also have a:
Why have you just signed up for another 12 month contract on 50Mbit service when all you did was bitch about the service you were on. Why didn't you go elsewhere, section.

BTW:
Download Speed: 10340 kbps (1292.5 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 1553 kbps (194.1 KB/sec )

ADSL, I'm meant to get 20Mbit download but I ain't bitchin because I can wait to get those unpaid for wares!

[pip08456]

Phaps a good idea to get a representation of customers on here would be have a page where we can rate different things such as speed, reliability and tech support and phaps add a small note to why we scored the way we did.

Phaps the mods who have links with VM could also pass this info on and VM make take on board what customers think and maybe how they can improve.

---------- Post added at 02:04 ---------- Previous post was at 02:02 ----------



Glad urs is, Swansea is still playing up i was given ANOTHER!! Fault number earlier as they are performing more maintenance and upgrades to solve the issues which have been ongoing since August on the BSR here.

Unfortunately Chris, a representation of customers on here would not be a true representation of VM's user base as by far the majority of visitors are people with problems. There are far more out there who are quite happy and have no problem at all.

[Welshchris]

Unfortunately Chris, a representation of customers on here would not be a true representation of VM's user base as by far the majority of visitors are people with problems. There are far more out there who are quite happy and have no problem at all.

i know that but its better than nothing at all, we will get a representation of atleast some wheather people are happy, not happy and what they want and dont want.

What it may show is in some areas for example what services people are happy with and what services people are unhappy with for example if i was to fill it in..
It would show i was happy with TV and Phone, Unhappy with internet because of its unreliability but speed is good now power levels are sorted.

It would also show i am not happy with support since they still havnt sorted the issue out on the BSR in Swansea even tho it was due to be done on dec 18th last year....

BUT!! my mate who lives in a Town a few miles away it would show that
He is happy with his TV and 20mb broadband but unhappy with his telephone has he has an ecco affect on it and sounds like he is shouting through a tunnel.

It would also show he would be unhappy with support as they claim theres no fault and have blamed his phone even though he has tried a different one.

So as u can see it would get different things from different areas that phaps virgin could take onboard.

[Maggy]

Phaps a good idea to get a representation of customers on here would be have a page where we can rate different things such as speed, reliability and tech support and phaps add a small note to why we scored the way we did.

Phaps the mods who have links with VM could also pass this info on and VM make take on board what customers think and maybe how they can improve.


Well this moderator is more than happy with their service.However I know I'm in the minority at CF BUT I would never assume that this is the case out in the wider world.Such info would therefore be flawed.

You are of course free to visit one of the numerous sites that do such comparisons and offer up your experiences to them.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/

[ahardie]

Well this moderator is more than happy with their service.However I know I'm in the minority at CF BUT I would never assume that this is the case out in the wider world.Such info would therefore be flawed.

You are of course free to visit one of the numerous sites that do such comparisons and offer up your experiences to them.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/

Thanks for that link Maggie. I might otherwise have missed VM's latest advertising ploy. :shocked: :erm: :)

[Peter_]

I have no issues at all and my speed is fine.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/22.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[Welshchris]

Well this moderator is more than happy with their service.However I know I'm in the minority at CF BUT I would never assume that this is the case out in the wider world.Such info would therefore be flawed.

You are of course free to visit one of the numerous sites that do such comparisons and offer up your experiences to them.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/

For the most part so am i but i cant understand why they would allow such a problem thats affecting so many users on the swansea BSR to go on and on and on....

The problem started affecting users last August, the problem was meant to get fixed by Dec 18th thats the deadline Virgin had set motorolla last year and now ive been told this on the newsgroups...

"The issue you are experiencing is down to the current issue you you
mentioned with the BSR. Once fixed your connection should be fully
restored.


--
Kind Regards

VirginMedia Technical Support"

[MovedGoalPosts]

For the most part so am i but i cant understand why they would allow such a problem thats affecting so many users on the swansea BSR to go on and on and on....

Why are you so surprised? Time after time after time we know the government gets it's IT procurement programmes wrong. It affects every sector of industry that uses IT. Why should Virgin Media be immune? If IT was perfect it wouldn't employ anywhere near so many people. Just because someone says there is an issue doesn't mean it can be easily fixed, even if deadlines are set and go.

[Welshchris]

Rob but you would have thought though Motorolla have now had 3 attempts at coding to sort the issue, Virgin are having to pay out for monthly loss or degraded service to people left right and center, and this problem as far as im aware doesnt ONLY! arise in Swansea on their BSR so ive been told. You would have thought the ammount its costing them they would either give Motorolla a deadline to get what they paid for to work as they should or find something else that does the job.

[MovedGoalPosts]

We will never know the terms of contracts between Virgin Media and their suppliers in terms of payments, penalties for breaches or even cancellations. No doubt a lot of funds will already have changed hands for the kit to be installed. Going else where may not be an easy or even practical option. There may be no other supplier whos kit could just be "slotted in"

Anyway this is all :notopic: for a thread, started by a spammer,that is supposed to be about whether VM is the best ISP. There are plenty of other threads where your BSR issues are more valid discussion. It's time for us both to move on please.

[Welshchris]

I agree Rob but around the topic i still think that some kind of scoring system for people on here as i mentioned above would be a good idea to see how good Virgin truly is and seperate their services.

[III]

You can't 'truly' score VirginMedias performance/service unless all VM customers take part.
AFAIK this forum does not have each and every VirginMedia customer as a member.

[Burt-Kwouk]

Just a note to the people posting their little speedtest banners....

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2010/02/20.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
(^ This is as good as it ever gets here ^)
(I'm on the 20Mbit tariff, in case you're wondering)

There's more to running an ISP service than just providing a few lucky customers with the speeds they were promised.

I used to live right on the outskirts of Plymouth (a stone's throw from Dartmoor) where I had my first cable installation from good old Telewest.
They installed it, I used it and never had a moment's worry for a good few years.
So, if you're lucky enough to live in say, Wales (just as an example), where the population is fifteen people and a cow, you'll probably never have cause to become entangled in the web of insanity that is VM 'customer services'.
That being said.
If you've had a run-in with BT, EDF or British Gas etc., then you'll probably have a reasonably good idea of the experience.

[Stuart]

You can't 'truly' score VirginMedias performance/service unless all VM customers take part.
AFAIK this forum does not have each and every VirginMedia customer as a member.

It doesn't. It has 64,941 members (at the time of posting), not all of whom are VM customers. VM have at least 3 million customers so it's not even 1%. Then factor in that a lot of our members won't want to fill in a survey.

I think any survey done on here would not provide VM with the info they need. They would need to do the survey nationally, and probably hire one of the survey organisations (Gallup or someone like that) to run it.

[darren.b]

You can't 'truly' score VirginMedias performance/service unless all VM customers take part.
AFAIK this forum does not have each and every VirginMedia customer as a member.
Agreed.

I bet most people who find this site were searching Google or something for "problems" related to their service. So it is expected the majority of votes on this forum would be negative which compared to the number of happy chappies who wouldn't vote or even find the site kinda makes the result predictable.

I have never searched Google to find a site to post praise to a company! I registered here way back before it was CF (simply to read the rants about NTL's 1GB per day limit - I was with BT at the time and knew they'd copy it) and then "re-found" the site after searching Google for my slowdowns in the evenings (discovered thanks to CF it was STM)

A fairer poll would be to reveal whether the irritated punter is ex-ntl or ex-telewest. Would be interesting to see who out of those two really were the worst. And still are. Merged/rebadged or not, there seems to be a wide variation on service provided.

Some ex-tw have said it got worse "after VM took over" (LOL) and the same has been said by ex-ntl.

I have no complaints over the service provided, it's the deceptive pricing, unenforcable "penalty charges", lies and hype they use that get my gander up.

*deceptive pricing* - despite choosing a phoneline as part of the bundle package, the cost of it is not included in the total displayed, but instead buried in small print. Whether the rivals do it or not, it doesn't make it any less deceptive. VM should set the standard, not copy everyone else. Why stop at just phoneline? Why not just claim all packages are free and bury the real cost "when you take" blah blah blah". Why is phoneline excluded from the total displayed cost and hidden underneath in small print?

*unenforceable penalty charges* - charges related to late payment, non-DD etc are not legally enforceable in court. It does not cost VM £5 to process a payment by card, by paypoint or any other. Ask them for written justification of their costs - watch them back down. It's a cash-cow, nothing else. There is no law anywhere in the UK that says a company can "penalise" a customer for late payment. VM (and their competition) do it because they can. There's no law saying they can't. Yet.

*lies* - Fibre optic broadband. The cable coming into my home is definitely not Fibre Optic. BT have Fibre Optic in their network too, only not as extensively as VM. So why does it make it better for VM to spout it than BT? Also, many people seem to believe VM are owned by and were "taken over" by Beardy. This is an ideal that NTL/Telewest like to play on. They even pay Beardy to be a figurehead/spokesman!

*hype* - "fastest broadband in the land". Maybe for download, but their upload sucks and many DSL providers have them licked on that.

VM have excellent technology, it's such a shame the company is run by clueless monkeys.

/whinge over :p:

[pip08456]

solcuerda,

You covered every one of my gripes except one. Bring CS back to the UK and staff it with personnel who don't need to read a script and guide you through all the things you've already done before you made the call.

[HowardCanning]

I have to say that on the whole I agree with the OP. My 50MB connection is, for the most part, rock solid. I also rarely have any speed issues, touch wood. Perhaps my neighbourhood is inhabited by mostly older people who don't know what Bit Torrent is, who knows :cool:

It might go down on rare occasions briefly, but show me where it states a 99.99% uptime SLA in the terms and conditions ;)

Can't say I'm quite as enamored with the V+ box, although I can't directly blame VM for the fact the SA boxes are noisy, clunky, unresponsive, ugly chunks of crap.

[Welshchris]

solcuerda,

You covered every one of my gripes except one. Bring CS back to the UK and staff it with personnel who don't need to read a script and guide you through all the things you've already done before you made the call.

Some of the Indian staff are quite helpful.

Its not ONLY! the fact that they read from a script its the fact you have problems understanding one another also and people get annoyed and just cant be bothered especially if the problem is ongoing.