virgin media fibre optic broadband review

snooping_around

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KillerWatt

I signed up for 100Mbit, I get 100Mbit, and I'm not subject to any download/upload restrictions unless I make myself look like a total n00b by using P2P software.

The only other BB package on offer that is not subject to bandwidth restrictions (unless it's P2P) is the 50Mbit service (again, you actually get the 50Mbit).


PS
It's only fibre to the cab, it's coax from the cab to your front door.

spike7451

KillerWatt wrote: »

I signed up for 100Mbit, I get 100Mbit, and I'm not subject to any download/upload restrictions unless I make myself look like a total n00b by using P2P software.

The only other BB package on offer that is not subject to bandwidth restrictions (unless it's P2P) is the 50Mbit service (again, you actually get the 50Mbit).


PS
It's only fibre to the cab, it's coax from the cab to your front door.

Wrong..

It's Fibre to the Mux & DA,it's then copper to the cab (DP) & the home.The Mux/DA can be up to half a mile away from your home however it's amplified from the DA (Distribution Amplifier) to the DP (Distribution Point) however the smaller 'E' cab's aren't amplified.

kwikbreaks

As KillerWatt says you mostly get the speed you pay for although some areas can be oversubscribed and abysmally slow. They get fixed but it can take a while.

Whatever package you take it is "unlimited" but the slower packages get throttled for 5 hours if you exceed the specified amount...

http://shop.virginmedia.com/help/traffic-management.html

Also recently introduced is P2P and newsgroup shaping between 5pm and midnight on all packages. They don't quote degree of throttling for that as it varies by how congested your area actually is. I don't think it's as draconian as O2's new policy seems to be but I don't use P2P or NNTP so don't know for sure.

There is also an undisclosed Acceptable Usage Policy on daytime download volumes on all products. Exceed that and you get a snotty letter. Do it too many times and it's hasta la vista baby...

KillerWatt

spike7451 wrote: »

Wrong..

It's Fibre to the Mux & DA,it's then copper to the cab (DP) & the home.The Mux/DA can be up to half a mile away from your home however it's amplified from the DA (Distribution Amplifier) to the DP (Distribution Point) however the smaller 'E' cab's aren't amplified.

To be honest Spike, I couldn't give a monkey's crotchpiece how it gets to me, so long as I get what I'm paying for (and I am).

I do however bow to your superior knowledge on the subject (seeing as you've actually done the job rather than just look it up on Wiki )

Bargain.hunter_4

To cut a long story short, we have moved from an area with cable to an area without... And telephone broadband in my opinion is rubbish compared to cable.

The virgin service is exceptional... I mean difference between a focus and a ferrari... although I must say customer service wasnt always the best.... Temperamental like the ferrari i guess!!

Honestly however... With the full package, speed is exceptional and service very relliable.

Nilrem

I've had cable for about 11 years now (we started with 512k, went to 1mb, 5mb, 10mb, 20mb, and now 50mb from memory), and it's been on the whole extremely reliable.

None of the current packages have any hard cap (IE you download this much a month we'll cap you until the end of your billing period/charge you more), however most of the packages have temporary caps, where if you download more than a set amount during certain hours your speed will be capped for 5 hours at 25% of what it normally is.
However as long as you're either sensible with the package you choose (don't go for the lowest one if you've got 3 people constantly playing games with voice comms/watching youtube), and when you download (overnight!), you're very unlikely to ever get the temporary cap imposed (I think it happened to me about 2-3 times in a couple of years on 20mb).

However there are some areas that are badly congested/over subscribed (usually student areas it seems), where your normal speeds may be affected.

spike7451

Nilrem wrote: »

I've had cable for about 11 years now (we started with 512k, went to 1mb, 5mb, 10mb, 20mb, and now 50mb from memory), and it's been on the whole extremely reliable.

None of the current packages have any hard cap (IE you download this much a month we'll cap you until the end of your billing period/charge you more), however most of the packages have temporary caps, where if you download more than a set amount during certain hours your speed will be capped for 5 hours at 25% of what it normally is.
However as long as you're either sensible with the package you choose (don't go for the lowest one if you've got 3 people constantly playing games with voice comms/watching youtube), and when you download (overnight!), you're very unlikely to ever get the temporary cap imposed (I think it happened to me about 2-3 times in a couple of years on 20mb).

However there are some areas that are badly congested/over subscribed (usually student areas it seems), where your normal speeds may be affected.

Yup,that's been my experience as well.Basically the are not enough tap ports in the cabinet so they fit a splitter to get two connections from one,which halves the speed in effect.It's more noticable the further away you are from the cabinet.
The was around this it to fit a reverse line powered HDU in the ETB (gray box) & the HDU Isolator where the modem/tv point is in place of the standard isolator (the white box on the wall the tv/modem connects to)

mumpig

A few months ago I was on the 20meg service & got the "detrimental use of your broadband connection" letter. Yes, my household is a heavy user, so not wishing to risk my connection, I upgraded to the xxl 50meg service. Virgin clearly show on there website that this service is exempt from ANY restrictions.
http://www.virginmedia.com/images/tm-table-su-large.jpg
So no fear of limits or threats of disconnection?
Yesterday I receive another "detrimental use of your broadband connection" plus it is dated 24th Feb so any monitoring of my service looks like I have completely ignored the warning for 3 1/2 weeks!
I phoned the number on the letter (long hold on an 0845 number) to be told that when I signed up to the 50meg service I should have been told a fair use policy applies! How can they say this when they openly advertise NO limits WHAT SO EVER on 50meg service??? and for many heavy users this must be a major selling point! How can they get away with this blatant misrepresentation? Beware!

KillerWatt

VM are only traffic shaping P2P users on their 50Mbit and 100Mbit services, they do make that quite clear.

Basil1234

mumpig you need read http://virgin.net/allyours/faqs/trafficManagementFAQ.html and
traffic tables http://shop.virginmedia.com/help/traffic-management/traffic-management-policy.html#table

and traffic tables with people with faster uploads http://shop.virginmedia.com/help/traffic-management/traffic-management-faster-uploads.html
and yes the 50mb is limited on uploads only between 3pm and 8pm upto 6000mb or 5.86gb then speed reduction of 65% on uploads apart from p2p traffic which they don't want on there network.