Virgin Media - pay for 8MB, get 0.11

PasturesNew

Just checked my "up to 8mbps" - a stunningly fast (for me) 343kbps.

Before I moved I relied on internet access through BT. I was working from home 9am-6pm answering support calls over the Internet using Skype.

Skype is now unuseable so that's that job off the list of "ways I can earn a living" now. They did say I could come back any time and work for them again, but c'est la vie.

Seems a lot of hassle to get it changed - added to the fact that I am in rented accommodation, it's a nuisance as any 12-month contract is already something to think about when you're on a 6-month rental agreement, so trying to change supplier would be a pain as that would be another 12-months when you know the first 12-months might be a problem.

And still no free TV box like they promised.... nor no email back from support.

globalds

This is my speed on virgin. friday


So it is possible to get a fairly good connection .

and tonight .

MINANTRA

WOW, wish I got speeds like that globalds!

Dutchie71

Dutchie71 wrote: »

I have spoken to VirginMedia and they have admitted that they are having serious network problems affecting most broadband users with typical download speeds of 240kb/s. The cancellation team (0845 045 0709) stated that the fix will be in place by Friday 16th November and you should see speed improvements back to normal...

<cut>

...Let us see what happens next week. If the speeds continue to be the same and VM Tech Support have been fibbing (even the Cancellation Team said "I hope that they are not fibbing") then I will take this matter further.

Good luck and will keep you posted.
Brian

Latest Update:
Speeds have improved and I have managed 4700Kbps at 00:30, but during peak times it is more like 450Kbps. Last night during peak times I got 1700Kbps. Therefore speeds have improved but are inconsistent, which no doubt will be caused by how busy it is . VM seems to have implemented their fix as promised, as in general there is an improvement, so they have kept their word. Still haven't received my £10 credit (I pay £10 per month for UP TO 8Mb), so will be chasing VM Cancellations.:mad:

Seems to be that there is a more general issue with broadband in the UK and that due to the increase of traffic with new streaming services coming online (YouTube, Joost, BBC iPlayer, 4OD, and many more) it is eating bandwidth at astronomical rates, hence getting inconsistent speeds and the problem will only get worse! :eek:

Please can you all support the Gadget Show's Broadband Truth Campaign, which you can find at http://gadgetshow.five.tv/jsp/speed_test.htm :T

Ofcom are already investigating the ISPs (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7037278.stm), :T so the issue will not be resolved until the UK upgrades the Internet backbone and upgrade equipment at the local exchanges to ADSL2+ with a THEORETICAL speed of 24Mbps, which is still slow compared to countries like France, Japan and Taiwan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7112373.stm)

It seems that for the moment we will all have to suffer the inconsistent speeds, although I am sure that the smaller ISPs will be able to provide a better service, such as Nildram before I moved to VM. This will change as over the next few years, these smaller ISPs will be gobbled up by the bigger players (Nildram was bought by Tiscali UK, which is one of the reasons why I moved!)

I would love to sign up with BE, as I have heard rave reviews with speeds UP TO 24Mbps, but unfortunately they have not upgraded my Exchange yet :mad: and therefore will have to suffer <sigh>.

mcbazza

Virgin Media have now admitted that they implemented changes to their traffic management system last week - despite support not knowing about it. Which means we can only assume that they didn't communicate it to their own support dept.!!?!? Who on Earth runs a company like that? I'd get the sack if I did that.

Anyway.... it turns out that they misconfigured the traffic management setup. They configured gaming/VoIP/etc traffic as though it were P2P - making it so slow and unreliable as to be unusable.

Which is basically what online gaming (if you are with Virgin Media's ADSL service) has been since last Thursday/Friday - UNUSABLE.

And remember - this latest c*ck-up by VM (traffic management) is *their* mistake. Yet *you* have to dial the 25p/min number to support, to be kept on hold, then fobbed off with 'have you tried rebooting it?'.

Even worse, you could be a 'gamer' - in which case support will probably say to you, "I'm sorry, we don't support gamers".

If you took your car to a garage to receive a service, and were treated the way that VM treat their customers, it would be on the front of every newspaper, on the evening news, and featured in a 2hr special on Watchdog. It would probably be mentioned in Parliament.

But, because they are an ISP, they can get away with it. No one can/will take them to task.

All we can do is vote with our feet. And pity the poor fools left behind, or the suckers that sign-up after we've gone.

SilverScooby

Hi bazza - welcome to this forum!

Using your script I now get reasonable speeds, but it's a real pain having to go to the trouble when really VN should be managing their network better so it all happened automatically.

I'm on the point of leaving as their network is so unreliable.

it's just so inconsistent, which is what makes it tiresome. For the moment it's OK, but how long for?