Virgin Media to Double Broadband Speed
 

MOD EDIT: To help those in this large thread looking for just details of the upgrade speeds here are the detail:



======================original post=======================================
I just got a email from virgin claiming my speed will be double for free but im on 50mb so im getting 100mb? i suspect this is adoggy email jsut wondered anyone knows if it true

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Why not remove the identifying features and show us the email ?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Great news. You're among a few thousand of our customers we've handpicked to double your broadband speed. And best of all, it won't cost you a penny more. It's a nice extra we're doing to say thanks for being with us. We call these nice extras Virgin Media tickles, and we only give them to people we know and like - our customers. They're things to make you smile.

Do all the things you love online, twice as fast

Virgin Media already offers the fastest broadband in the UK. And our commitment to leading the way in broadband download speeds has been proven by Ofcom for three years in a row. But just imagine doing all the things you love doing online twice as fast - like sharing photos or downloading the latest blockbusters and tunes. And, you could say bye-bye to buffering too with super streaming of HD movies.

Your upgrade kicks off in 2012

Your upgrade will take place next year, and will happen by area. But you don’t need to do a thing, we’ll keep you updated and will be in touch when your upgrade is ready. In the meantime, get an idea of when your broadband speed will be doubled.









Connect a friend

Help

My Virgin Media

This email has been sent to the following address: by Virgin Media

Don't miss out on our news and offers! Just add theteam@mailing.virginmedia.com to your address book

For more information about us, or to view our privacy policy, please visit the links below:

Privacy - About Us

Remember, Virgin Media will never ask you for personal information via email

You can unsubscribe from receiving future emails from Virgin Media by clicking here




Fastest broadband download speeds widely available to consumers according to 2011 Ofcom report. EML20955

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Looks genuine to me, Has not asked for any info and says its next year. If its true it means i get 200 meg :LOL:

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Only those that get the e-mail get an increase

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I did not expect it anyway as i am staff we always get things last :LOL:

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Maybe one of the VM staff on here van verify if the e-mail address shown is genuine??

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Are you sure?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Yup

---------- Post added at 16:55 ---------- Previous post was at 16:53 ----------

It's genuine

Re: Speed doubling?
 

So that means that all of us who are already maxed out bet bugger all (except for the sachet of drinking chocolate I received from VM today). :(

---------- Post added at 16:57 ---------- Previous post was at 16:57 ----------

That's good to hear.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

What about the customers who pay the biggest bills to VM surely these are the ones that should get it.:(

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I have no idea about the criteria VM are using for this, but why should it just be cost criteria?

Normally it's 'new customers get better deals than existing customers' and 'I've been with ntl for 20 years and don't get anything' so I would hope that VM are looking to reward customers on more than just who can afford to pay the most

---------- Post added at 17:02 ---------- Previous post was at 17:01 ----------

Also weren't people complaning the other day that the Tickles were just PR uselessness?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

You will probably get the sachet of drinking chocolate like I did.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

So really at the end of the day it is just based on a random selection process.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

As I said, haven't a clue, but to be honest no matter what criteria they use, it's always going to be 'unfair' and 'rubbish' to those who don't get the one they want

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I thought tickles were supposed to be to reward loyalty?

Drinking chocolate!!!!!!!!!....need I say any more?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I think this thread will get interesting :LOL:

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Yes but what I was trying to say is the spending the most does not equal loyalty

Re: Speed doubling?
 

l have actually got a sachet of drinking chocolate for later tonight but l bought mine.:D

---------- Post added at 17:11 ---------- Previous post was at 17:07 ----------

l did not get that but a silly 08 tickle and in my mind that was just a cheap gimmick.

---------- Post added at 17:12 ---------- Previous post was at 17:11 ----------

So what does in your mind then Ben.:)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

My personal view? It's also things like length of time you've been with the company, and how many services you have in addition to how much you spend

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Well you are saying you have been with the company since the NTL days so one would hope that you would be awarded good loyalty discounts and l have been a Cable customer for the last 12 years and have got many services so one would hope that myself and many others who have been loyal would be rewarded from time to time accordingly.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

And who says you won't be.

This and the other Tickles that people have been getting recently aren't all that Virgin are going to be doing.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

But you are not going to say much are you because of NDA's.;)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Re: Speed doubling?
 

well if it to do with loyality i have been with virgin since blueyonder way back in 2000 so if might be loyality

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Lucky you mine was empty:D:D:D:D

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Hows that.:D

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I see your 2000/blueyonder, and raise you 1994/Jones Cable/Bell Cablemedia/C&W Comms/NTL/VM...:D

Re: Speed doubling?
 

eurobell/telewest/vm.. no tickles as of yet.. I'll sit here patiently waiting for a doubling :)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

i think it is great that they are rewarding customer loyalty like that. It is nice to get perks when you have been with a company for a long time

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I too have been with VM since it was C&W, then NTL... However, I hate to suggest that long term customers probably won't get anything as we've already proven to be loyal customers, and therefore, don't need bribing to be loyal.

Or I'm just paranoid.

Just to add, this comment is meant to be mostly tongue in cheek.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

This is very true, perhaps all subscribers will get a free speed increase in time to come.
I am on 50 meg and have thought seriously of getting 100meg but as the 50meg is more than adequate i see no reason to at the moment.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I see your 1994 and raise you Nynex in June 1993 :)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Maybe not. But spending 20 years with the same company, and moving all phone lines, TV and BB (including business services), certainly does constitute loyalty. Especially when I have had no end of problems with CS.

---------- Post added at 19:18 ---------- Previous post was at 19:15 ----------

I see you have been ignoring my comments about the drinking chocolate....apparently that's all my loyalty is worth.

---------- Post added at 19:20 ---------- Previous post was at 19:18 ----------

Hey, don't complain. At least you got a sachet of nothing as a tickle ;)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

As a businessman, I am sure you didn't move/stay through loyalty, but because it made sense fiscally.....

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Did it say the drinking chocolate was a tickle? that reminds me of the time my bank (SMILE) sent me some sunflower seeds to sow :)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I wonder if they will try and entice 10/20Meg customers like myself onto 30/50Meg.
(One way of retiring the Ambit 256 and any others using old technology)
Another user since C&W days, how time has passed?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Yay it's official.

Yep all 50Mb customers are being upgraded to 100Mb progressively.

Sorry to disappoint but 100Mb customers are not being upgraded to 200Mb, they're having their price dropped to the 50Mb price of £25/month if taken with a phone line.

100Mb will probably be subject to STM with this upgrade / price reduction, details to be confirmed.

I'm being upgraded in March 2012 if they ever get around to doing the ****ing upstream upgrades here.

---------- Post added at 21:39 ---------- Previous post was at 21:37 ----------

If you've a Superhub or VMNG 300 you'll be upgraded to 30Mb else if you're a 10Mb customer you'll go to 20Mb, if you're a 20Mb customer you'll go to 30Mb.

For the bored the 30Mb upgrade is to 60Mb.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

that is going to be their sneaky way of getting round 100mbit not being stm'd. I just hope they set some realistic limits because you can download a tonne of stuff in no time at all without even realising it. I left some uploads going uncapped the other day just to see what I could do and I maxed out just over 1mb/sec and uploaded 3gb before i even realised it. I could never do that on 50mbit.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

This is interesting. SO how do we know when we'll be upgraded? and what about upload speeds? Im sure this is a war against BT Infinity.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

For this Tickle you will only get the upgrade if you get an e-mail. You'll then get further details when they do the upgrade next year

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I'd rather pay my current 100mb bill than be subject to STM :(

Re: Speed doubling?
 

very good point dude, I have made a couple of comments over the last week about how it has been blasting away on newsgroups and stuff in the afternoon/evening when 50mbit used to crawl to a halt. Upload speed has been fantastic as well.

I would rather pay the extra £10 a month than be stm'd. VM can put all those extra £10s together and use it for upgrades rather than banging everyone up to 100mbit, killing the network and then we only get 50mbit anyway ;)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Mine was CableNorthwest in 93 or 94 not exactly sure which but as soon as they laid the cable we got connected.:)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

They won't have to! After speaking to someone in Retentions yesterday, they confirmed to me (after a game of 20 questions) that it had been suggested in various meetings that 10mb will be on the way out at somepoint to make 30mb/50mb and 100mb the only tiers available as its too confusing to customers having all the different options currently.
They also confirmed that at present they have the following connections speeds available

2mb (for as they classes it 'the little old granny in the village'
10mb
20mb
30mb
100mb

So really it does make sense to migrate everyone onto a more simpler grading scale.

Again, this is what the Retentions person told me, dont shoot the messenger lol.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

why are VM acting like a startup isp that has no customer base and capacity to fill.

When they one of the biggest isps in the uk with significant capacity issues.

I think they quite possibly the most incompetant at capacity management in the country.

Can someone explain to me the logic of the following.

(a) upgrade loyal customers for free who are already paying you a set amount.
(b) give customers who clearly are willing to pay XX amount for 100mbit a discount (presumably when this free upgrade is done to match 50mbit price)
(c) give out free upgrades when the network in place cannot handle it especially when it generates no revenue.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Because, frankly, the competition at the moment is dire! Most areas in the UK struggle to get close to the advertised ADSL speeds. Cable on the other hand is far more reliable (or so the stats would show) when it comes to delivering close to the advertised speeds. Sure, there will always be those who have a rough experience BUT percentage wise I think VM provides a better product as a whole compared to the bigger ADSL based companies.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

You also have to consider that with 50mb you get 24 hour technical support. For some reason when you pay more and get 100mb, you only get support 8am until 12 midnight.

---------- Post added at 09:33 ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 ----------

I'm actually right on the verge of leaving VM completely, if they don't sort my current problems out.

---------- Post added at 09:35 ---------- Previous post was at 09:33 ----------

Exactly....I think it's a bit of a slap in the face. And it isn't going to do anything to keep me with VM, if they don't sort my current problem.

---------- Post added at 09:38 ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 ----------

Is this a sneaky way of cutting technical support costs, as 100mb don't get 24 hour support, when 50mb do??

In the past you have had to contact VM to get any price reductions, They don't just do it automatically.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

All tiers can be supported by any agent as they use the same kit so that should not be an issue unless they are fobbing you off.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Just to point out - ALL broadband customers get 24/7 Technical Support. Has never mattered was speed they are on

It is support for TV and Phone that is currently 8am to midnight 7 days a week

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I think the poster who saw this as a spoiler for Infinity hit the nail on the head.

Check any TBB chart from an ADSL or Infinity customer and you will see a huge difference in jitter even against fairly lightly loaded VM areas. So along comes Infinity and VM must be saying goodbye to loads of gamers. Then take the areas where there is high congestion - given the lack of any credible traffic management or capacity upgrades in a reasonable timescale and Infinity will grab some more VM customers.

VM could sort out their capacity issues but as the company is run by marketing they are instead offering headline speed upgrades which will in all probability make the reasons people leave for Infinity more widespread although it must be said that it isn't the speed itself that causes congestion but the sustained use of that speed.

It will be interesting to see how much of that 30Mbps I'll be able to get in this supposedly upgraded area which is already showing high levels of congestion less than a month down the line. At least it makes my decision on whether to risk an upgrade to 30Mbps a really easy one to make.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

So does that mean anyone with 100Mb now are going to get screwed, on the monthly bill payment of a extra £10 per month till they update the 100Mb price?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Right now 100Mb is £35. It will stay that way until 50Mb is uplifted to 100Mb when it will be reduced to £25.

There is no 'screwing' involved, both will happen at the same time.

---------- Post added at 10:36 ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 ----------

Your current bill isn't covering the pain 100Mb customers are causing on the network right now.

Probably won't be downstream management but upstream most definitely.

---------- Post added at 10:37 ---------- Previous post was at 10:36 ----------

The extra £10s per month wouldn't pay for much upgrade. Torrent fiends seeding 24x7 are causing a fair amount of issues.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

It seems like you get a different story depending on who you speak to at VM. But I was told that there was no way that technical support from their call centre in India could help me, because I am on 100mb, and the 100mb team finish at midnight.

If they were fobbing me off, then I will have a very serious complaint.

---------- Post added at 10:39 ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 ----------

You need to check your companies policies. The 100mb BB team only operates 8am to midnight.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Perfectly true, I wouldn't mind one of those but given I don't have the upload upgrade yet let alone 100Mb available full stop it's not likely ;)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

The dedicated team may close at Midnight but all agents can support 100Mb due to it using the same kit, I am not a 100Mb agent but support 50Mb and have supported 100Mb calls.

They can help if they want to and this has been mailed out quite recently to all agents so regardless of the actual time help can still be offered.

The 100Mb team are all 2nd line agents who only work to Midnight that why it stipulates the hours.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I really enjoyed the drinking chocolate, anyone know the make?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Well all I can say is that VM are in a complete mess, and that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing, because I was refused help because I am on 100mb.

---------- Post added at 11:11 ---------- Previous post was at 11:11 ----------

Do you want mine?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Was this just the once, Tim? or are you getting refused help out-of-hours continuously?

---------- Post added at 11:38 ---------- Previous post was at 11:37 ----------

Thorntons, I think :)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

And there I was hoping it was an upgrade for everyone :( hope I get a tickle ;)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

but everyone on these lower tiers will require a new modem/hub to move up speed, who is going to pay for that?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

More likely 20 60 100

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Are SHs now being shipped out left right and centre?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Nope, regular hubs for ten meg and twenty meg customers

Re: Speed doubling?
 

you sure? I've seen a few threads now from 10-20Mb customers having the SH sent to them, not sure whether their mistaken or not :shrug:

Re: Speed doubling?
 

But of course, I was referring to the past re loyalty vs fiscal sense equation.....

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I expect that will be offshore agents as it is out of hours and expect the support to degrade once our office closes.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Do you always go through retentions?

I never called the foreign 'tech' lines as its all scripted answers..

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Now I have to wonder if I will be lucky and have this apply to my current 20Mb connection considering that I am only paying for 10Mb was given the upgrade after having connection issues on and off for couple of weeks quite a while back.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

20 (L, non-DOCSIS 3 modems)
30 (L DOCSIS 3, all non-DOCSIS 3 XL)
60 (DOCSIS 3 XL)
100 (XXL)

As far as I know.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Is this for everyone or just people who get an email ?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

It's entirely separate from this email.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I hope not, certain folk paying for L getting 30 some paying for xl getting 30, too confusing!

---------- Post added at 15:35 ---------- Previous post was at 15:33 ----------

Positive, any superhub put in for ten or twenty meg gets investigated, call centers may be able to do what they want

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Thanks for the offer Tim but as Digital Fanatic reckons it's Thorntons, which seems plausible, I'd better not get into a habit which is beyond my modest means. Aldi's drinking chocolate is going to taste even weaker from now on though. :dozey:

Re: Speed doubling?
 

yeah I didn't understand that, don't really like the look of it. I thought VM would get rid of everything below 30 shifting everyone onto docsis3 - SHs.

call centres :shrug: this guy got a SH - http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12...3-upgrade.html

not sure whether they charged him or not. Initially I thought as above, everyone getting shifted onto docsis3 reading posts of heads getting SHs for services lower than 30meg.. ready for the upgrades? Can those standard Hubs and modems handle 30meg?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Does it make a difference?

It was both the first operator, and their manager at the call centre. Now it's bad enough the first operator not knowing. But there is no excuse for a manager not knowing.

Looks like huge training needs at VM.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Is there a link to the official announcement? :)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

THere comes a stage when you have just had enough I'm afraid,

---------- Post added at 16:04 ---------- Previous post was at 16:03 ----------

And that's the whole problem with VM using overseas call centres...they don't have a clue what they are talking about.

---------- Post added at 16:05 ---------- Previous post was at 16:04 ----------

And that's the problem

Re: Speed doubling?
 

What makes you think there is any official announcement yet?

This gives XL non-DOCIS3 more incentive to shell out the £30 for a Superhub I suppose. Plus how well is 30Mbps on non-DOCSIS3 going to perform? I'm expecting an answer of badly as sfaik there is only a single downstream.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Well Ignition said it was official so it would be nice to find out where that info came from. :)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

thanks for clearing that up kwik. apologies for being thick :(

Re: Speed doubling?
 

You really are trying hard not to answer my question, aren't you? ;)

I'll try again - did you, before this issue, stay with VM through loyalty or because it was fiscally advantageous to you?

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I'm guessing this is one of those cases where he could tell you but then he'd have to kill you....

I can't see VM keeping it under wraps for long now it's released into the wild though - after all they'll consider it to be good news. I might too if it weren't for the fact that my connection is borked through oversubscription already.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

With respect it was a business decision, and none of your business, or any of VM's business as to why we have been loyal to them. But the fact remains that we have (for whatever reason).

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Yes it does... Myself and other VM Staff on here have said already, you should have been given help when you called.

I'm trying to find out if it's happening all the time or you got a "bad" agent/Manager when you called the offshore centre.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Please don't think that I am blaming you, or any other member of VM staff on this forum. I know it must be very embarrassing when the company you work for doesn't operate to your standards.

Thanks for that.

This is just another example of why VM shouldn't use overseas call centres.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Where have you moved? I'm sure they have offshore call centres too.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

You haven't been following this thread have you??

Re: Speed doubling?
 

To be honest I haven't followed a few things today.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

lol :D

Re: Speed doubling?
 

With respect, you were the one who raised the topic of spending a long time with a company constituting loyalty in the first place....

Surely they rewarded your loyalty by giving you a better deal than you could get elsewhere.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

i assume i will need to have the superhub :s and not accept a degraded service with vmg300 as i rather have the vmg300 which i know is stable and not have the superhub which last time i check was still unstable i assume modem mode works fine i dnt want to use the built in rotuer rather use my own network which is a advance

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Will we be seeing these increased channels with the new upgraded speeds? from 4 to 5 ? etc

Re: Speed doubling?
 

that's exactly what I thought dude. The good news is that I have heard it from the horses mouth this morning that you can defo keep your vmng300 and they'll upgrade you over the phone (no engineer visit :) )

Re: Speed doubling?
 

all 8 were being quoted on some tiers.. I think :erm:

Re: Speed doubling?
 

Yes, areas will go up to 8 channels as needed, new line cards.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

I just got an extra downstream channel added on Tuesday on my SuperHub. They obviously did something to ruin my upstream too which is now at 31 from 37. Father won't do anything about it with the approach of 'it works'. Really, it's been iffy, but whatever.

Is this part of the upgrade process? Would love to know what they did as it was down for quite a bit. (cpc9-heck-6-2-0)

Re: Speed doubling?
 

To be honest I think they have taken advantage of the fact that I haven't changed to anyone else despite the very very poor CS.

If things don't improve in the next week I will be taking the whole lot to another provider.

Re: Speed doubling?
 

why should one week make a difference? if it has been that bad just go it likes your staying hoping to get something better for free or to get it cheaper. the impression i am getting is yoru CS has been crap to put it lightly so i aint sure how one week would change your views

---------- Post added at 20:26 ---------- Previous post was at 20:24 ----------

ill happily take teh superhub if i can have garantees the modem mode works perfectly and the rotuer is disable completley no signal coming form it at all, trust me when i say two rotuers close to each other will caue major signal inferences and cause drop out. also i want it to work like the current modem so i log in and it be liek anormal modem only way ll use the piece of ....