Virgin Media 70, 150 & 200 Mb Upgrades - Page 64

chrispy2000 · 08-07-2016, 21:41

The crafty bar stewards.
Last December I got my free BB upgrade from 100mb to 150mb.
This month my loyalty discount ended so at the end of May I phoned CS to sort something out and thought I had got the same deal as I had before.
But checking this months bill online I found I've been conned!
My Free 50mb upgrade as been removed and I'm back down to 100mb.

I'm back on to CS in the morning.

BenMcr · 08-07-2016, 22:07

All current deals are only available with the current tiers of service ie 50, 100 and 200Mbps.

To keep the speed increase you have to stay on your existing bundle deal.

This should have been made clear so you could then make the choice that best suits your needs.

mjl123 · 08-07-2016, 22:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus

It is the other way round. You get it before everyone else even if the network isnt ready for it yet.

You'd think they'd advertise the new speeds when you sign up if you get them straight away, make it look better value for money. I guess they may get more people selecting a lower tier if they did though.

BenMcr · 08-07-2016, 22:12

That only applies to 200Mbps though. The other two speed increases are only available to existing broadband customers from before November 2015 who remain on their deal from that time.

mjl123 · 08-07-2016, 22:23

Ah, so people signing up now will probably get it once all the existing customers have been upgraded?

BenMcr · 08-07-2016, 22:26

There aren't any announced plans to do that, so there is no guarantee it'll happen.

ntluser · 20-07-2016, 12:40

Given that Virgin cannot guarantee speeds irrespective of what speed level you are on they tend to rely on the "up to speeds of" description.

However if you are receiving 50Mbps, this may well be OK on the 50Mb service but not so good on the 100Mb or 150Mb service.

I'm wirelessly using the 150Mb service on my Windows 10 Laptop but on a number of speed test sites I can barely get over 100Mbps.

Surely as a minimum one should be getting more speed than on the lower, cheaper service. If you don't then what is the point of paying more for the higher speed level if is not significantly better that the level below?

RobboEdin · 20-07-2016, 13:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntluser

Given that Virgin cannot guarantee speeds irrespective of what speed level you are on they tend to rely on the "up to speeds of" description.

However if you are receiving 50Mbps, this may well be OK on the 50Mb service but not so good on the 100Mb or 150Mb service.

I'm wirelessly using the 150Mb service on my Windows 10 Laptop but on a number of speed test sites I can barely get over 100Mbps.

Surely as a minimum one should be getting more speed than on the lower, cheaper service. If you don't then what is the point of paying more for the higher speed level if is not significantly better that the level below?

You are, of course, completely sure that the wifi adapter in your laptop is capable of speeds higher than 100Mb?

ntluser · 20-07-2016, 14:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobboEdin

You are, of course, completely sure that the wifi adapter in your laptop is capable of speeds higher than 100Mb?

I have a wireless Gigabyte LAN 802.11/n adapter with a Virgin Superhub3 modem and an Airport Extreme 801.11ac router so I'm hoping that they should be able to give me the best speed.

japitts · 20-07-2016, 15:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntluser

I have a wireless Gigabyte LAN 802.11/n adapter with a Virgin Superhub3 modem and an Airport Extreme 801.11ac router so I'm hoping that they should be able to give me the best speed.

I recently fell foul of the exact same problem - I always used to get 75Mb/s consistently wirelessly on the "upto" 70Mb tier. Moved to 100Mb/s and would not exceed ~85Mb/s for want of trying. I just didn't even contemplate WiFi being the hold-up, expecting to max-out at 90-95Mb/s.

Sure enough though, WiFi and 100Mb ports on my (now old) router were the hold-ups. Lesson learned for me, router kit might only be capable of 90% of what it claims via wireless, in the real world...

ntluser · 20-07-2016, 16:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by japitts

I recently fell foul of the exact same problem - I always used to get 75Mb/s consistently wirelessly on the "upto" 70Mb tier. Moved to 100Mb/s and would not exceed ~85Mb/s for want of trying. I just didn't even contemplate WiFi being the hold-up, expecting to max-out at 90-95Mb/s.

Sure enough though, WiFi and 100Mb ports on my (now old) router were the hold-ups. Lesson learned for me, router kit might only be capable of 90% of what it claims via wireless, in the real world...

In my case I have 2 laptops. One has an I5 processor and the other has an I7 processor.

Despite the fact that I have the 150Mbps service the I5 can just scrape over 100Mbps but the I7 which I just tested now can do over 150Mbps.

I suppose the moral of the story is that updating your internet speed also means upgrading your hardware too!! LOL!!

BenMcr · 20-07-2016, 16:26

To be honest, I'd expect you'll probably find that the two wireless cards in each laptop aren't identical and that the one in the i5 laptop isn't as good as the one in the i7 one.

ntluser · 20-07-2016, 16:38

That's quite possible. I think one is gigabyte LAN /n and the other is gigabyte LAN /ac. Helps to explain why users with the same 150Mb service can derive different internet performances.

Kushan · 20-07-2016, 22:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntluser

That's quite possible. I think one is gigabyte LAN /n and the other is gigabyte LAN /ac. Helps to explain why users with the same 150Mb service can derive different internet performances.

There's more to wireless than just the letter used (n/ac). There are wireless-n cards that will only ever hit maybe 70Mbit on a good day.

It's because wireless-n onwards can make use of what are literally multiple antennae to get additional speeds. Usually you'll see something like "1x1" or "2x2" to indicate the number of up/down links available. You might have to find your wireless card and google to find out.

mathfan · 25-07-2016, 15:31

Quote:

The crafty bar stewards.
Last December I got my free BB upgrade from 100mb to 150mb.
This month my loyalty discount ended so at the end of May I phoned CS to sort something out and thought I had got the same deal as I had before.
But checking this months bill online I found I've been conned!
My Free 50mb upgrade as been removed and I'm back down to 100mb.
I'm back on to CS in the morning.

I also took advantage of the 100mb to 150mb free upgrade even though to be honest, it's far more than I need.
Recently, I called VM with a view to cutting costs on my TV, broadband and phone package what with their relentless inflation busting price increases. They offered to reduce the monthly cost by £18 by;
a) changing my unlimited calls to evenings and weekends, (£6)
b) reducing my broadband from 150mb to 100mb!

There is a distinct lack of clarity in VM pricing which is certainly making me think about looking elsewhere. The only downside is when I read about the horror stories of users with other suppliers. From my point of view pricing is now the real issue.