Cancelling Virgin and finding new provider

barrettefc

Hi All,


Sorry if this is covered elsewhere...


I'm not very technical when it comes to internet packages and requirements.


I've been with Virgin Media for many years now. Full package of TV, Broadband and Phone Line. Currently paying £80 per month.


TV - Mix Bundle (inc. 1 x TiVo box and 1 V6 box + TiVo monthly fee)
BROADBAND - M100 Fibre Broadband (100mbps apparently)
TELEPHONE - Line rental, filly itemised billing, free voicemail and & talk more anytime package.


I generally call up every 12-18 months to try and reduce my package and they normally give me around £10-£15 discount for 12 months.


However, we hardly ever make use of the phone line and television package. We mainly watch the main terrestrial channels and alot of streaming services like Netflix.


Going forward I don't want to be paying such a high amount each month for services we hardly ever use. We would like to just have a strong, fast and reliable broadband service where we can watch the likes of Netflix and BBC iplayer, ITV player, C4 on demand etc...


We also have a son who likes to play online on his Xbox.


I've spoken to Virgin Media retention services who said they can downgrade the whole package to just a 100mb broadband service which would cost £39 per month.


They said we currently use 290gb of data per month??


We are currently on a rolling contract and I believe we can cancel with no feee due to the upcoming price rise.



Could anyone advise me if this is a good deal they are offering compared to other providers and what all the 100mb and 290gb jargon isand what it means for me?


Sorry again if this should be something I should be understanding easily


Many Thanks
Mark

Neil_Jones

If you want the fastest internet going at a semi-decent price nothing will touch Virgin.

There is an option such as FTTP (Fibre To The Premises) which can in theory support 330Mbps up to 1Gbps but as you might expect this is not going to be particularly cheap and it isn't universally available across the country anyway (plus if it is available you go for it don't expect at this time to be able to move to another provider quickly and/or easily).

However that being said purely from a cost point of view you can get cheaper but it will only be probably up to (key phrase) 76/80Mbps speeds.

With regards to the 100Mb that's the speed of the internet connection. Think of it as like a pipe and your internet traffic (downloads, Netflix films etc) is water. The fatter your pipe the more water that can come down it. So you've used 290b of "water" over 30 days.

JJ_Egan

Rolling 30 day contract you can cancel anytime with 30 days notice .

If you are on a rolling contract then its going to be at full price usually .As opposed to a negotiated 12 month contract .


100 meg should cover your needs no problem .


Other providers do not use the high speed VM cable .
Usual max on OpenReach via Bt Sky Plusnet etc is 80 meg depending upon how far from the local cabinet and the quality of the phone line .

barrettefc

Thank you for your replies.


I've found this featured deal on a comparison website...


PlusNet - Unlimited Fibre Extra
- 66mb average download speed
- 18mb average upload speed

- Unlimited Downloads
- 18 month contract
- £70 reward card
- £0 setup cost


Total - £27.50 per month (£495 total cost over 18 months)


Do you think this is a good deal for a family who will just want to watch Terrestrial TV with a child who likes to play on his xbox?


What are PlusNet like as a provider?


Many Thanks
Mark

oldernonethewiser

That deal would be good enough for your needs.

Plusnet, like most providers, get good and bad reviews but I would happily recommend them.

Neil_Jones

Plusnet is owned by BT but run as a separate company - basically BT in different packaging. Nothing wrong with them as a company.

If you do go down this route there is a slight possibility that you may not be able to keep the phone number you have. However if you don't use it and you hardly get any incoming calls anyway (save for the junk ones about "faulty computers" and "Police will arrest you if you don't pay 'HMRC' a fortune here and now") then that may not be an issue to you.

Also note that the Virgin service will not cancel itself if you sign up to Plusnet. You need to do it yourself with your 30 days notice. Once you get yourself onto the BT network then in the future you can move around by just signing up with somebody else, no need to cancel anything yourself.

[Deleted User]

barrettefc wrote: »

Thank you for your replies.


I've found this featured deal on a comparison website...


PlusNet - Unlimited Fibre Extra
- 66mb average download speed
- 18mb average upload speed

- Unlimited Downloads
- 18 month contract
- £70 reward card
- £0 setup cost


Total - £27.50 per month (£495 total cost over 18 months)


Do you think this is a good deal for a family who will just want to watch Terrestrial TV with a child who likes to play on his xbox?


What are PlusNet like as a provider?


Many Thanks
Mark

With that usage the 36Mbps (average) fibre deals would suffice and save a bit over the 18 months. If you use the house phone much, NowTV do a straight £25 a month deal (no requirement to chase down vouchers) with Anytime calls thrown in.