slow internet connection

soolin

Apologies if my questions are dumb, but I am a real technophobe.

I am with Virgin on their super fast broadband, have been with them for years and years paying just over £22 a month. However the service is appalling, it drops out several times a day and if more than one device is connected it just times out and none of us can use it.

I've had endless service calls with them as the service has got progressively worse since the last upgrade to super fast optic about 5 months back and we've reset everything, checked lines done 'pings' the lot. Today for instance I'm running at a download speed of 6.1 and it was off (red light on router despite turning it off and on ) for about 45 minutes.

I've tried to talk them into a new router as we haven't tried that and I either have to pay just over £60 for the privelege or tie in for another year. I have now got my MAC code but wonder if in fact it could be something else causing problems which won't be cured by changing to say BT

Is there anything else I should be trying before i commit to a new service as doing a check on speed Virgin shows as fastest for my area .

I've just done another test here

http://www.speedtest.net/

and it says download 6.23 mbps and upload 0.76 mbps

espresso

It doesn't sound like you are actually on Virgin "super fast broadband" especially if you have requested and been given a MAC e.g. here

Post your router line stats. more info here

macman

Are you on Virgin National (resold BT Wholesale service)?
If you have VM TV services, then you are on VM cable. If the latter, insist on an engineer call.

soolin

macman wrote: »

Are you on Virgin National (resold BT Wholesale service)?
If you have VM TV services, then you are on VM cable. If the latter, insist on an engineer call.

As far as I know I am with Virgin media, I do not have my TV or my phones with Virgin. I am using a wi fi router that has been set up on a desk PC as the 'main' link.

My router is plugged into the main socket, the one that is by the front door and the desktop PC is upstairs. It has been a poor service for a couple of years but has got considerably worse since the upgrade about 5 months ago.

earthstorm

Our Sky has been doing the same for that week and Sky say it cant be the router as its their new Hub

soolin

espresso wrote: »

It doesn't sound like you are actually on Virgin "super fast broadband" especially if you have requested and been given a MAC e.g. here

Post your router line stats. more info here

The first link returns:
Your street is already connected, so it’s easy to turn you on

Our new Collections come with:
The fastest broadband in the land
With speeds of up to 120Mb, no-one else comes close

the second link shows:

Netgear DG834/ DG834G

You need to have firmware at least v 1.05.
From the web interface http://192.168.0.1
> Router Status
> "Show Statistics" Button

alternatively click this link --> Show Statistics.
Default username = admin, password = password

Notes on the DG834(G).
v1 and v2 are based on the TI (Texas Instruments) AR7 ADSL chipset.
v3 is based on a different TI AR7 chipset and has different firmware.
v4 has a broadcom chipset (BCM6348 V0.7). As such firware versions are also different.
v5 uses a Conexant chipset (CX94610).
New firmware released Feb 2007. - Bug fixes in DG834 and DG834G Release Version 3.01.31_UK/3.01.32 software, which cures the frequent drop outs. More info.
Netgear owners may also be interested in a nice little tool called RouterStats for monitoring their SNR Margin.
How to Check for interleaving

grumpycrab

soolin wrote: »

My router is plugged into the main socket,

If that's the main PHONE socket, you're not on cable.

EDIT: Netgear DG834/G is not cable.

Before doing the router stats (as requested for above) prove you're on a BT (wholesale) line by doing the following :-

1. goto http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/
2. click YES and BEGIN TEST
3. at the end of the test click FURTHER DIAGNOSTICS
4. Enter your landline number in the firrst box and click RUN DIAGNOSTIC TEST
5. Click OK to the box that pops up.
6. If the test worked, tell us what it says EG
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :7.81 Mbps(DOWN-STREAM), 0.45 Mbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 6.5 Mbps

soolin

grumpycrab wrote: »

If that's the main PHONE socket, you're not on cable.

EDIT: Netgear DG834/G is not cable.

Before doing the router stats (as requested for above) prove you're on a BT (wholesale) line by doing the following :-

1. goto http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/
2. click YES and BEGIN TEST
3. at the end of the test click FURTHER DIAGNOSTICS
4. Enter your landline number in the firrst box and click RUN DIAGNOSTIC TEST
5. Click OK to the box that pops up.
6. If the test worked, tell us what it says EG
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :7.81 Mbps(DOWN-STREAM), 0.45 Mbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 6.5 Mbps

I can't do that as I don't have a long enough cable to get my PC connected direct. The last time I had to do that for Virgin as one of their tests I had to disconnect everything upstairs and carry it all downstairs and it took hours and I struggled to get back onto wi fi afterwards.

soolin

Thinking about it I am not on cable as I have nothing across my drive, or underneath it that would connect me.

grumpycrab

soolin wrote: »

I can't do that as I don't have a long enough cable to get my PC connected direct.

Just do it on your PC as you would do normally!
EDIT: I didn't ask you to connect a cable did I?
EDIT2: Oh, ignore what the BT instructions say. Follow mine though!

soolin

grumpycrab wrote: »

Just do it on your PC as you would do normally!
EDIT: I didn't ask you to connect a cable did I?
EDIT2: Oh, ignore what the BT instructions say. Follow mine though!

I read the instructions- I always do (i'm female and it is what we do) and it says :

2. Your computer is directly connected to your modem/router via an Ethernet Connection (i.e. not via a wireless or powerline adapters).
3. Any wireless adapter in your computer is switched off.

just doing it now