Current Virgin Customer vs Vodafone Broadband / WIFI Blackspot issues

Under_the_Radar_2

Anyone else from Virgin switched or experienced Vodafone, are they decent as a broadband provider?

I am more or less happy with Virgin with the exception that the router struggles badly with blackspots (as has BT previously) so taking up a deal that offers up to 3 boosters to resolve this is tempting. Just wondered how they are, or alternatively are there any recommendations for buying equipment to resolve blackspot issues - currently use the powerline TP-Link boosters, but they cut out and have lost the ability to mirror the connection so I have to manually switch depending on where in the house I am. 

Price wise for what I want they are very comparable after a renegotiation with Virgin (both at around £50 with anytime calling), Vodafone has some perks that I probably wouldn't use other than Wi-Fi booster, Virgin has a slightly higher speed 67mb vs 100mb. Quite torn.

Swoosh84

Virgin's main selling point is usually speed, if you are not fussed about that then by all means switch. Unlikely to help with your black spots though. The routers you get with any broadband packages are enough for basic needs only, I've personally never been able to make use of any of them due to the large number of connections in my home.

I would reccomend upgrading to a decent wifi-6 router. HONOR 3 / HUAWEI AX3 router is relatively cheap (look for quad core version). The great thing with Wifi 6 routers is that you can have more than one and connect them up to create a mesh network which offers greater coverage throughout your home.

As for Vodafone as a provider, used them in the past, had no issues. But broadband providers are a lot like Electricity suppliers. Great until there is a problem!

J

 

[Deleted User]

Money saving answer - factory reset those TP link extenders and get them working again as they should, no cost, just a bit of time and patience. Check that your main wifi router is positioned well, high up, away from solid objects and near the centre of the house to give a good signal everywhere - I see so many people sticking their wifi router in a cupboard / under / behind the TV / on the floor etc and wonder why there are black spots - wifi doesn't like passing through solid objects including glass and so position as such to minimise that. 


My personal choice - don't use ISP equipment whether it is routers or wifi extenders, invest in your own equipment that you can use with any ISP and you will get better quality internet and can switch and change suppliers knowing your home network will work just the same.

Under_the_Radar_2

Thanks for the reply - sadly a factory reset wasn't a fix for me with tp link, even after a factory reset it would refuse to mirror a new network so I was stuck with a rather irritating workaround manually switching wifi depending on whether I was nearer the tp link or the main router. Weirdly when the tp link adaptor was plugged in to a laptop via ethernet it would display a display router name for a hub I replaced 2 years ago even after multiple factory resets and on a laptop that had never connected to that router. I was also losing quite a bit of bandwidth with them and quite regularly dropped connection. 

Router is located in a pretty decent location, to be honest I've had issues with wifi ever since it became the norm to have in a household, the only thing I can think is there is some external interference that messes with the signal. I gave the AX3 router a go, Huawei had quite a good deal for a pack of 3 to set up a mesh and the connection now is pretty stable and solid with them all strategically placed. Lose a bit of bandwidth by the time it hits my main work desk but other than knowing its technically slower I don't seem to have any actual problems thankfully at it saves me buying a long drill bit and messing about to get some rj45 cables through the walls as that was my next plan .

Thanks for the advice.