Advice on broadband options - stick with Virgin or switch broadband?

ExperienceSnowdonia

Hi, 

I am looking for some advice on what to do with my broadband.

I am currently with Virgin Media on their M350 Broadband package. Issues that I have with this are....

• my current contract expires at the end of this month, with a price increasing from £38.59 to £71.33
• We experience drop-outs during work calls (image below shows packet loss and latency for the last 24 hours)
• The way it is installed is appalling - the cable from the street to the house is not hidden, with our options being the cable crossing the drive so that we drive / trip over it every day, or it being dangling inbetween 2 trees across the drive (which is where it is at the minute)

In terms of requirements

• there are 5 people that live in the house
• the 3 kids constantly stream tv content or game, often individually
• my wife and I rely on the broadband to be able to conduct work calls, working from home most of the time.

What i'm hoping to understand a bit better are my options, which I think are...

1. Stick with Virgin and try and hustle an improved price & install through retention offers. Accept the packet loss / try and resolve through technical support or service upgrade with new hardware
2. Switch away from Virgin and accept the reduction in Mbps - max I can get is 76Mbps at the moment, with full fibre on Openreach not expected until December 2026

...and whether or not

• I should expect much impact to performance between Virgin's higher Mpbs with packet loss, vs. a lower Mbps with hopefully better performance on packet loss?
• There's a chance that the packet loss would be resolved by negotiating a upgraded Mbps and hardware with Virgin?

The download speed that I am getting wirelessly sitting in the same room as the Virgin router is 116Mbps



Thanks in advance

Ben

Mark_d

The current service you're receiving from Virgin is unacceptable.  I would leave them without a second thought.

76MBps should be plenty enough for the work calls but I'm not sure it would be enough for the kids streaming/online games.

Maybe consider  Three broadband https://www.three.co.uk/broadband/home-broadband

silverwhistle

I've been happy with my fibre provider Toob, if they're available in your area. Currently £25 a month with (just checked) atm 918Mbps download and 929 up. I've seen it a little bit higher at quieter times.

Vitor

- the 3 kids constantly stream tv content or game, often individually -

You don't say what/if you're using a router or relying only on the Virgin Media Hub. I'd get a decent router that allows Quality of Service (QoS) controls to prioritise traffic from your work devices.

- with a price increasing from £38.59 to £71.33 - 

Follow the MSE guidance on belling Virgin to ask to cancel as you're moving to BT and see what their Retentions team offers.

-  I can get is 76Mbps at the moment, with full fibre on Openreach not expected until December 2026- 

Personally I'd go for that option assuming it's a decent install by Openreach. 

JohnSwift10

Vitor said:

- the 3 kids constantly stream tv content or game, often individually -

You don't say what/if you're using a router or relying only on the Virgin Media Hub. I'd get a decent router that allows Quality of Service (QoS) controls to prioritise traffic from your work devices.

- with a price increasing from £38.59 to £71.33 - 

Follow the MSE guidance on belling Virgin to ask to cancel as you're moving to BT and see what their Retentions team offers.

-  I can get is 76Mbps at the moment, with full fibre on Openreach not expected until December 2026- 

Personally I'd go for that option assuming it's a decent install by Openreach. 

If they respond to you like they responded to me "£55 take it or leave it" when I said I could get 500 Mbps FTTP for £27 I would do what I did, cancel.

I've not had a single call or email since then pleading  with me to stay.

Einst

Firstly regarding VM.. the infrastructure is over 25 years old, as is the technology they use..
They are now one of the slowest "full fibre" networks, note the Usain bolt adverts are gone !
I put Full Fibre in comma's as it is technically NOT full fibre, is is a hybrid service.
You are paying for 350mb, and only getting 116, which is unacceptable.

Secondly, You need to use as many broadband comparison sites as possible, to try and cover as many providers as you can.. a lot of them are left out.  You need to check what is available in your area.. some providers use their own networks, and are not reliant on openreach.  As an example, BRSK use their own, and offer 2gb speed, way faster than EE on openreach, and it is symmetrical, so you get the same speed upload as well as download..
It is also one of the few who do not put their prices up every April.  however, you may not be able to get it.

hareng

Must mention most of these comparison sites only list those that pay them to do so, exactly the same with Energy providers!.

Gocompare, Comparethemarket, Uswitch, MSE etc etc none list even the network we are on the last 2 1/2 years yet alone the ISP. Only list Virgin and OpenReach network not CityFibre.
https://cityfibre.com/