New install planned, would like advice!

[Arty-Media]

Hi all, long time no post!
I have an install booked on 15th March to install phone & 30Mb broadband & I'd like a bit of advice & tips please!
The guy above us has virgin already as is evident by the grey box on the wall & the leave running up to his living room, would they need to do a new pull or would my phone & net come from his box, wouldn't this crossover with his phone & whatever else he has?

I was told when ordering online I'd get a shiney new superhub, its been a long time since I had virgin net, so can some1 help with what I should expect from the engineer & the kit?
If some1 could also point me 2 where I could find up-to-date signal levels & also how I'd access the hub for setting up the wireless.

Also do they include a free USB wireless dongle at all? (also, anyone know if the PS3 & Wii are Wireless N compatible?)

Thanks in advance and I promise to keep you all posted how it goes! :-)

[zekeisaszekedoes]

In my experience the Super Hub is terrible and you don't get a free wireless N USB dongle. PS3/Wii are G only.

[StevenJohnson]

I think you only get the N Dongle on 50mb. PS3 is Wireless G.

I'd love to post some positives about the SuperHub but I have none. Wired is fine, Wireless is terrible.

I don't want to burst your bubble, so I hope all goes well with you and the Superhub.

[Milambar]

I have to agree with "Wireless is terrible" after a few weeks of using it.

Domain lookups take an age, absolute bloody age. 30 seconds is usual, upwards of a minute and multiple "server could not be found" errors is not unheard of. Yet when I plug it in wiredly, all's fine.

Yes, ip flood protection and firewall is turned off (before someone comments).

[Arty-Media]

Hi all and thanks for all your replies!

I'd only be using wireless for the Wii & our HTC phones.

If I find that the superhub is in fact rubbish, could I ask for a normal hub to ae sent?
What are the differences between the normal & superhub please?

[Nopanic]

See, I posted a poll to see who liked and who didn't like the SH, and the results suggest that more work (even on a forum of complainers) than don't.

[qasdfdsaq]

On the other hand we didn't have any numbers of non-superhub users to compare against, so have no idea of the significance.

[zekeisaszekedoes]

See, I posted a poll to see who liked and who didn't like the SH, and the results suggest that more work (even on a forum of complainers) than don't.

In all fairness those statistics aren't extensive enough to draw a conclusion from. Even if the results were weighted towards dislike, because forums are typically sounding boards for those having troubles (after all, who would go on a forum about their internet connection when it's working flawlessly, apart from bragging a little?) I'd still say they are too biased to be useful.

I'd love to post some positives about the SuperHub but I have none. Wired is fine, Wireless is terrible.

In my experience wireless is worse, but both are pretty suspect. If I did transfers between my laptop and my desktop using gigabit ethernet (backup ISOs of my Blurays for example, long sustained file transfers) sometimes the whole thing would grind to a halt requiring an on/off reboot.

Basically any time you try any "real" routing work with a Super Hub, it fails. If you're a light user you'll be far less likely to run into troubles, but trust me they'll often be there whether you notice them or not.

[Nopanic]

In all fairness those statistics aren't extensive enough to draw a conclusion from. Even if the results were weighted towards dislike, because forums are typically sounding boards for those having troubles (after all, who would go on a forum about their internet connection when it's working flawlessly, apart from bragging a little?) I'd still say they are too biased to be useful.




but that's my point, the results were in favour of the SH, which was a surprise.

[weesteev]

Hi all, long time no post!
I have an install booked on 15th March to install phone & 30Mb broadband & I'd like a bit of advice & tips please!
The guy above us has virgin already as is evident by the grey box on the wall & the leave running up to his living room, would they need to do a new pull or would my phone & net come from his box, wouldn't this crossover with his phone & whatever else he has?

I was told when ordering online I'd get a shiney new superhub, its been a long time since I had virgin net, so can some1 help with what I should expect from the engineer & the kit?
If some1 could also point me 2 where I could find up-to-date signal levels & also how I'd access the hub for setting up the wireless.

Also do they include a free USB wireless dongle at all? (also, anyone know if the PS3 & Wii are Wireless N compatible?)

Thanks in advance and I promise to keep you all posted how it goes! :-)

A new pull would be completed by the installs team, unless that Omni box has 2 drop cables to it already.

Full details on the equipment supplied by VM can be found at... http://shop.virginmedia.com/broadband/broadband-extras/wireless-routers.html

Superhub has varying reviews, I prefer the older VMNG300 modem as I use a Dlink router myself, but the superhub is adequate for use in my opinion, no patch on your own purchased router though.

Signal levels vary by franchise, the tech will make sure you have a working service before you leave. You shouldn't need to worry about signal levels on your equipment.

PS3 and Wii are both wireless G.

Wireless N adapter is £30 with 10Mb or 30Mb, free with either 50Mb or 100Mb connections.

HTH

[Another_Account]

I don't usually piggy back on the post of someone else. (Not a Newbie) - just had to set up a new account from my work as I can't remember my password :(

I am on 20mb and asked for an upgrade to 30mb and bawked at the £30 charge but Virgin put me onto the 50mb with little difference in monthly cost + free Super Hub. Due for intsall on Saturday.

When I read this post I started to panic with reference to the PS3 G and N debate..... I have 3 PS3's running off my current wireless and got from the above (forgive me if I wrong) that they wouldn't be compatible with the Super Hub? although they could be at a cost?

I've just phoned Virgin and they told me this is not the case and there are no add ons required, no additional costs..... I like the guy at Virgin Media and I like the Cable Forum.......there's only one way to find out

Can someone tell me if I worried over nothing - happy to cancel if need be - I've lived with 20mb for long enough and meets my needs

[weesteev]

Have responded in your other thread...

;)

[qasdfdsaq]

but that's my point, the results were in favour of the SH, which was a surprise.
I wouldn't say a 40% unhappiness/failure rate was much in favour of anything.

In my dealings anything above 5% is considered seriously bad.

[Nopanic]

I wouldn't say a 40% unhappiness/failure rate was much in favour of anything.

In my dealings anything above 5% is considered seriously bad.

on a forum full of complainers ?

You take the total number of members on the forum and it doesn't even factor into the success rate of the SH.

The fact that everyone has come here to complain, suggests its not that bad.

[Peter_]

Considering how many of both hubs are actually in circulation at the present time, then the posters complaining on here are a very, very , very small minority of users and the same goes for the community forum or any other forum.

[qasdfdsaq]

on a forum full of complainers ?

You take the total number of members on the forum and it doesn't even factor into the success rate of the SH.

The fact that everyone has come here to complain, suggests its not that bad.
Like I said, we can't draw any real conclusions from the numbers without anything to compare them to. The only thing we can say with any kind of certainty, is at most 40% of people "in the wild" have problems with their Superhubs. Nothing more.

And you forget this *isn't* a forum full of complainers, a lot of the people voting were forum regulars, VM staff, or forum staff, none of which are here to complain. Also let's not forget the people with serious problems with their superhub wouldn't be able to vote as they wouldn't be able to get online at all.

If you done the survey fairly with a comparison of non-superhub levels of dissatisfaction to account for the "forum of complainers" aspect we'd actually be able to draw something meaningful from the numbers.

[Arty-Media]

Thanks all for your comments!
If the wireless is not up to the job then I can easily connect my old Belkin 54G router that I am using now, I just thought the SH would be perfect as both my desktops & PS3 are gigabit LAN and I do quite a bit of streaming movie from PC to PS3 and have found out with 100Mb connection it don't like to advance more than x10 without it stopping for ages while it catches up, which also is a problem with rewinding too!

But all in all I cant wait to get the net installed, I am fed up with really slow Edge network speeds!
Till next time, tc all! :-)

[Nopanic]

Like I said, we can't draw any real conclusions from the numbers without anything to compare them to. The only thing we can say with any kind of certainty, is at most 40% of people "in the wild" have problems with their Superhubs. Nothing more.

.


Rubbish, the members on a forum like this are likely to be having problems so getting a positive result is a good thing.

At least it shows that in this community more people are having success with the Superhub than failing.

If it were 40% of the user base then there would be an issue.

[qasdfdsaq]

Care to explain what part of my post you think is rubbish? All I've stated are concrete facts.

All the numbers show is that out of the people who answered the poll, over 40% are unhappy with their superhubs. Of the positive votes, at least 5 are VM staff or CF staff and therefore not people who are here just to complain.

Nobody ever said there's less people having success with the superhub than failing. All I'm saying is your numbers have no significance without a meaningful reference. The true numbers of unhappy people could be anywhere between 0% and (likely) 45%. A poll with no statistical significance doesn't teach us anything more.

[Peter_]

As I said on the previous page you cannot use posters on any forum as positive proof of anything as the percentages will be very low in comparison to the amount of hubs actually in circulation.

We have maybe 30 plus people on this forum complaining out of say 250,000 or more in circulation, then factor in say another 10 forums with a similar amount that makes maybe 300/500 possibly a 1000 people on forums complaining making it less than 0.5% of actual issues with the hubs.

[qasdfdsaq]

Mostly my point, yes. We can't infer anything about absolute numbers but we can get a reasonable idea of relative numbers if we were to compare the percentage of people with Superhub problems versus those with a standalone modem and router. However we don't even have that yet as Nopanic's poll didn't include a control

[Peter_]

I realise that and it is a pity that the are not more complaints simply to get the Bridge mode firmware update accelerated.

[pip08456]

We have maybe 30 plus people on this forum complaining out of say 250,000 or more in circulation, then factor in say another 10 forums with a similar amount that makes maybe 300/500 possibly a 1000 people on forums complaining making it less than 0.5% of actual issues with the hubs.

That only includes users who actually use forums. At a guess I would say the users using forums would equate to no more than 25% of VM's user base.

A poll on a forum concerns only forum members and those who have superhubs and in no way indicative of the problems of VM's customer base.

[Peter_]

That only includes users who actually use forums. At a guess I would say the users using forums would equate to no more than 25% of VM's user base.

A poll on a forum concerns only forum members and those who have superhubs and in no way indicative of the problems of VM's customer base.
How many posters are complaining about the hubs on here, say fifty so add all posters on forums you get maybe a 1000 out over 250,000 or more hubs a very low percentage.

As the are relatively few complaints coming in that fits in with the above posts as the are hundreds of thousands of hubs out there and relatively few fault calls, so any complaints on help forums cannot be used as a yardstick.

Also I said above if more complaints were made then maybe the bridge mode would be brought forward.

[pip08456]

so any complaints on help forums cannot be used as a yardstick.



Basicallly what I was saying.

[Peter_]

Basicallly what I was saying.
Apart from the 25% which would be around 65,000 people.:D

[Arty-Media]

How many posters are complaining about the hubs on here, say fifty so add all posters on forums you get maybe a 1000 out over 250,000 or more hubs a very low percentage.

As the are relatively few complaints coming in that fits in with the above posts as the are hundreds of thousands of hubs out there and relatively few fault calls, so any complaints on help forums cannot be used as a yardstick

but surely 1,000 faulty super hubs are not good for business! Maybe an odd few screwing up would be acceptable, but not that figure!

I see Virgin are STILL NOT fully testing their hardware before rolling them out to the public!

[Peter_]

but surely 1,000 faulty super hubs are not good for business! Maybe an odd few screwing up would be acceptable, but not that figure!

I see Virgin are STILL NOT fully testing their hardware before rolling them out to the public!
As I said it is a low percentage and how many are actually calling up as well to complain, you have noticed that I said more complaints might help with getting bridge mode earlier.

[Arty-Media]

As I said it is a low percentage and how many are actually calling up as well to complain, you have noticed that I said more complaints might help with getting bridge mode earlier.

I doubt that very much, and even if they did rush it out, we'd be in the same situation as we are now, rushed product without fully testing and would cause many more problems!
It all comes down to Virgin not fully testing & "quality control" their stuff before they rush it out!
If I have pros when I get mine I'll soon demand a normal modem & separate footer setup!

[Peter_]

If I have pros when I get mine I'll soon demand a normal modem & separate footer setup!
I would not hold your breath on getting a VMNG300 modem.

[pip08456]

I wonder what the result of the same poll would be if posted on the VM support forum?

Then again the mods would delete it!

[Peter_]

I wonder what the result of the same poll would be if posted on the VM support forum?

Then again the mods would delete it!
The would still no be enough members to make it a viable and accurate poll.

[pip08456]

Pehaps not but I bet a different result from the poll here!

[Arty-Media]

Something else I'd like clarified is the status of the upload upgrade for here.
I looked on the official vm site but it dont show Paisley at all, the closest it shows is Renfrew which isn't far from here, that says upgrades have completed but my fathe in law lives in Linwood, about 20 mins away from mine hasn't been upgraded, have switched modem off for 5 mins then back on again but its still set on 786k or whatever it used to be, so can someone tell me if Paisley HAS indeed been upgraded yet or not, If not when lol

[zekeisaszekedoes]

on a forum full of complainers ?

Hmm. Not the most delicate choice of description, eh no?

The fact that everyone has come here to complain, suggests its not that bad.

Well of course they do. It's that kind of forum, isn't it? I think it exists to augment VM's own end user support. And people will continue to complain if issues aren't resolved, which is fair enough.

If the wireless is not up to the job then I can easily connect my old Belkin 54G router that I am using now

In my experience connecting other routers to the Super Hub tends to make the problems worse.

We have maybe 30 plus people on this forum complaining out of say 250,000 or more in circulation, then factor in say another 10 forums with a similar amount that makes maybe 300/500 possibly a 1000 people on forums complaining making it less than 0.5% of actual issues with the hubs.

Yeah, but a lot of VM customers don't even know this place exists. Also they might be having problems resolved by VM's own channels. This is why regardless of the poll result the statistics are meaningless because there isn't enough scope. A quick non-stickied survey on a third-party support site like this is hardly extensive enough to be valid.

I think the "30 plus people" is more persistent complainers like myself and there have easily been over a hundred seperate members trying to resolve Super Hub issues in the last week or so if you're going on people who make threads or contribute to them. Then of course you have to factor in people who have a problem, see a thread describing it and maybe solving it so never posting or even joining.

See what I mean? You look at situation closely enough and see there are no valid conclusions to be drawn, other than the conclusion that no valid conclusions can be drawn. :D

I realise that and it is a pity that the are not more complaints simply to get the Bridge mode firmware update accelerated.

Absolutely agree and think this is easily the best post I've seen since I joined. I'm so vocal because I don't like waiting and I don't like faffing about looking at other solutions which VM are actively trying to block (i.e. the VMNG300 idea).

That only includes users who actually use forums. At a guess I would say the users using forums would equate to no more than 25% of VM's user base.

That's optimistic! I'd be very surprised if it's more than half that.

A poll on a forum concerns only forum members and those who have superhubs and in no way indicative of the problems of VM's customer base.

Not to mention how easy it is to skew results with multiple accounts or different IP addresses. Given a few hours and some use of automation (i.e. form AutoComplete) I could skew the result to maybe 80% negative with very little effort. Although I wouldn't do that.

Something else I'd like clarified is the status of the upload upgrade for here.
I looked on the official vm site but it dont show Paisley at all, the closest it shows is Renfrew which isn't far from here, that says upgrades have completed but my fathe in law lives in Linwood, about 20 mins away from mine hasn't been upgraded, have switched modem off for 5 mins then back on again but its still set on 786k or whatever it used to be, so can someone tell me if Paisley HAS indeed been upgraded yet or not, If not when lol

I can't remember the URL now, but a member with a name like aprycyrax has a site which grabs the details of your uBR and tells you when upload/100Mb speed upgrades will be available if everything goes according to plan. Actually I had it bookmarked but had to restore a backup from January recently so would appreciate someone posting it again. ;)

[Peter_]

Yeah, but a lot of VM customers don't even know this place exists. Also they might be having problems resolved by VM's own channels. This is why regardless of the poll result the statistics are meaningless because there isn't enough scope. A quick non-stickied survey on a third-party support site like this is hardly extensive enough to be valid.


We also have 5 technical support call centres and I think we would notice if a large percentage of our calls were suddenly just purely Hub issues, but up to now the has not been an excessive amount as we would have been made aware of it by senior management.

[Nopanic]

Hmm. Not the most delicate choice of description, eh no?



No, it's not an insult, most of the people have come here to complain.

[Arty-Media]

Hi all!
Thought I'd bring this thread back on topic!
I have just had my services installed, was supposed to be here between 10am & 2pm, got a call at just after 8 to say it'd be nearer to 2pm which was fine, at half 2 still no sign, so called the guy up & he said their previous jobs were taking longer and what with bad snow here I thought I'd just let it slide!

About half 3 they came, no nonsense & set everything up all OK, did a speedtest and was only getting just over 20Mb & 1.5Mb upload, a reboot of the superhub & pc later, speeds were bang on, and happy to say I even have the upload speed upgrade too :-)

As I type this I have downloaded loads today already, what with Win7 SP1 & windows updates plus a PS3 & Wii update & its still going as it should!

To be honest I was expecting the worst, and not to jinx things, the super hub so far seems to be working correctly, as soon as the engineers left I was into the settings & changed things, specially the IP flood & firewall(I think) and I must say even though I haven't had the chance yet for some hardcore wireless testing it seems all ok!


So all in all I am really happy so far with Virgin, makes a change for a positive post about VM, their services & the install guys!

Well farewell all, am off to enjoy my new fast internet hehe :-)

[RELZ]

Hi all!
Thought I'd bring this thread back on topic!
I have just had my services installed, was supposed to be here between 10am & 2pm, got a call at just after 8 to say it'd be nearer to 2pm which was fine, at half 2 still no sign, so called the guy up & he said their previous jobs were taking longer and what with bad snow here I thought I'd just let it slide!

About half 3 they came, no nonsense & set everything up all OK, did a speedtest and was only getting just over 20Mb & 1.5Mb upload, a reboot of the superhub & pc later, speeds were bang on, and happy to say I even have the upload speed upgrade too :-)

As I type this I have downloaded loads today already, what with Win7 SP1 & windows updates plus a PS3 & Wii update & its still going as it should!

To be honest I was expecting the worst, and not to jinx things, the super hub so far seems to be working correctly, as soon as the engineers left I was into the settings & changed things, specially the IP flood & firewall(I think) and I must say even though I haven't had the chance yet for some hardcore wireless testing it seems all ok!


So all in all I am really happy so far with Virgin, makes a change for a positive post about VM, their services & the install guys!

Well farewell all, am off to enjoy my new fast internet hehe :-)

Exactly what I was thinking when I got my services installed yesterday, today. I have 50 ping, 2.1 download and 3 upload. Great. (I have 30mb btw)

[pip08456]

Nobody is denying that basic users have no problems. They surface with advanced users (who are also customers) when they wish to continue what they were doing before.

[Arty-Media]

Nobody is denying that basic users have no problems. They surface with advanced users (who are also customers) when they wish to continue what they were doing before.

Excuse me, who is saying I am a "basic user"? I know a fair bit about VM & how the network is run, so much so I was talking to the installers "like i was a co-worker" as they said!

I am just saying that it was a pleasant surprise for me that everything worked as it should, going on previous experience of 10 years with NTL /Virgin! :-)

Anyways, here is my speedtest I just took, still running perfect even if I do say so myself :-)

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/03/42.png

[weesteev]

Something else I'd like clarified is the status of the upload upgrade for here.
I looked on the official vm site but it dont show Paisley at all, the closest it shows is Renfrew which isn't far from here, that says upgrades have completed but my fathe in law lives in Linwood, about 20 mins away from mine hasn't been upgraded, have switched modem off for 5 mins then back on again but its still set on 786k or whatever it used to be, so can someone tell me if Paisley HAS indeed been upgraded yet or not, If not when lol

Renfrew is the hubsite that feeds Paisely, keep your eye on that site for more information.

HTH

[gstadt]

Had my Superhub installed (30MB), just a few minor account set up issues that's all :)

Disabled ip flood detection, firewall and wireless as I have a dd-wrt dir-615 doing the routing (put it in the dmz, with an assigned dhcp lease), getting 20-25MB over wireless G using Dynamic DHCP and approx. 10MB through PPTP to a VPN server in New York.

Just wondering if I should get a Wireless N router + adapter/card but maybe that's overkill.... :D.

[zekeisaszekedoes]

Wireless N is overkill? Considering most of the time it gives performance comparable to 100Mbps "fast" ethernet I'd say it's hardly that, more of a welcome and very useful step up from G.

[jimmyhorns]

Excuse me, who is saying I am a "basic user"? I know a fair bit about VM & how the network is run, so much so I was talking to the installers "like i was a co-worker" as they said!


I dont think the comment was meant as an insult to your abilities, more that what you are doing with your hub isnt particularly tricky. The majority of people who are having trouble with the hub are doing so when their setup doesnt mirror the common:

Desktop, laptop x2 and console setup.

This is a very basic setup, and if VM couldnt get it right for this then they are really in trouble.

A large proportion of problems (and annoyed customers) seem to come from more advanced setups, where other network switches, or server based systems are used.

Having had no trouble whatsoever on 10M with a cable modem and my d-link router, linux server and various streaming media devices (as well as the usual computers and consoles), I was utterly disgusted that there was no modem only option and I HAD to have a netgear 'superhub' to replace my current modem and seperate router setup.

There is ZERO benefit to me from having the superhub, even if it worked flawlessly, over my exisiting setup. If VM used seperate modems rather than the hub, my exisiting equipments specs are just as good as the superhubs for wireless N and gigabit ethernet. VM seem to think that one size fits all. Advanced users know this isnt the case.

Even after setting up all the port forwarding e.t.c. I am left with a setup that will not allow me to have a fully functioning network as I did before. The only change in the system is the 'superhub'. Machines do not talk to each other properly any more, server resources cannot be found or used.

A basic user will not need to reconfigure the router side of things at all, and there is nothing wrong with being a basic user. Most of the subscribers will be.

What VM seem to have lost sight of is why people would want 50MBit or 100MBit connections. A Good proportion of people with such high bandwidth requirements will not be running conventional setups. Offering no flexibility with the install is completely inappropriate. My first formal letter of complaint to VM is in the pipeline

[zekeisaszekedoes]

Right on the money with everything you wrote. Especially VM epically missing the point as regards users getting the fastest connections to make the most of them, lots of moving data around, exactly the thing the Super Hub is terrible at.