Forum Discussion

hackneyuser's avatar
hackneyuser
On our wavelength
8 months ago

VM speed test is not the one their technicians use

I recently upgraded my package to get faster download speeds, but if anything the speeds seem slower and still getting interruptions to service that a new hub was meant to have fixed.

So I have been using the VM internet speed checker https://www.virginmedia.com/broadband/speed-test which was telling me my download speed was on 95Mbps and I am paying for 250Mbps.

But VM kept telling me they could see I was getting my contracted amount.

So found out today that VM uses https://samknows.com/realspeed/ to check on customer speeds.

This is a more sophisticated test which shows the difference between the speed to the router and the speed on the device.

Which indicates there may be a problem with my computer which I find hard to believe as it is new this year and quite high specifications. It is the only device connected to the hub, and is a wired connection.

But why on earth doesn't VM have the more sophisticated test on their web site, which shows the 2 different speeds plus a clear explanation as to what the reason for any difference might be.

I no longer expect anything sensible and straightforward from VM but this is just ridiculous. Not even a link on their speed test page to say you could try this more sophisticated one.

Will wait to see what the technition who has been booked to come and check what is going on, so that I know whether the problem is with VM or some defect on the new computer.

Just so frustrating as I have spent time collecting download speeds via the VM web site which doesn't give the full picture.

Had I seen that I would have asked for assistance based on the inference it is a computer problem or even gone back to the computer manufacturer.





9 Replies

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  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    8 months ago

    https://samknows.com/realspeed/  is mentioned in absolutely hundreds of recent posts.
    It is the worst kept secret on this forum !

    Folks are all too regularly head in the sand about the possibility that their purchased PC / laptop / network cable, routers etc ...  could possibly be at faulty or the root cause of their speed / connectivity problems.

    Retail Windows computers are very often delivered weighed down with ad-ware and security package bloat ware that customer takes no care to remove until they discover how much it degrading the network or CPU performance.


    • Tudor's avatar
      Tudor
      Very Insightful Person
      8 months ago

      Yep. When I used Windows machines the first thing I did with a new machine was wipe the HDD and install Windows xx vanilla.

    • hackneyuser's avatar
      hackneyuser
      On our wavelength
      8 months ago

      You seem to have totally missed the point.

      So I will spell it out for you.

      The issue is the VM web site. It should have information that is useful and helpful, and not in this instance actually misleading. If not deceitful

      Its irrelevant that those who have time to loiter on forums know about it.

      At least if the many who knew about it had shamed VM into stop their deception it that at least would have made being on a forum having some point.


    • jb66's avatar
      jb66
      Very Insightful Person
      8 months ago

      Why are virgin sending technicians out to tell a customer there own equipment is faulty?

      Are they just doing it so they can charge the customer a call out fee?

      Have you tried another ethernet cable? Some can only do 95mb

       Have you tried it on a smartphone near the router?

      Have you checked to see if you ethernet speed is set to 100mb and not 1000mb?

       

      In regards to your point about the sophisticated test, older hubs were not compatible with that test so they have put the basic one on the website.

       

      I imagine when the network has got rid of all the legacy hubs they would then update the website 

      • WorstISP's avatar
        WorstISP
        Superfast
        7 months ago

        Virgin send techs for everything because they're a useless company run by incompetent managers who reward obstructive jobsworths.

        They should be able to check hub functionality via TR-069 which is the standard industry standard for managing & monitoring CPEs. The reason they send techs out is to inconvenience the customer. They'll send up to 10 engineers out just to cost you time and wear you down. Their goal is to make it more annoying to keep complaining so hopefully you just accept a crappy service and keep paying them.

    • Matthew_ML's avatar
      Matthew_ML
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
      7 months ago

      Hey hackneyuser, thank you for reaching out and I am so sorry to hear about this.

      I cans see there was an area issue, this has now been fixed.

      How has it been over the last 48 hours, still the same?

  • IPFreely's avatar
    IPFreely
    Fibre optic
    8 months ago

    Realspeed is run from the router and needs you to be on a VM connection and your Hub not in modem mode. It uses resources only accessible from a VM connection and is a secondary diagnostic. 

    The test on the website is public and has no requirements besides a web browser.

    One of the first statements on the page is that it's public. It's a sales tool to try and sell folks that aren't VM customers higher speeds that might be available.