Forum Discussion

mjcharlton71's avatar
mjcharlton71
Joining in
6 months ago

WiFi pod frustration

I’ve had the 1g up/down VM fiber since November 2023 and on the whole it’s been great.

However, on the top floor of my house (3 floors), the WiFi just drops off completely a lot of the time, no real drop in speed as such, it just doesn’t reach the room fully!

Now if I stand in the door to the bedroom, and scan with the VM Connect app, I can get 250-300 up/down to an iPhone. If I sit on the bed, around 8-10ft from the door, straight to 4g/5g and no WiFi.

The rest of the house is fine for the most part, and even the back garden gets a decent connection from the Hub 5x WiFi.

I’d like to at least give the WiFi pods a shot, but actually managing to order them without utter frustration seems to be next to impossible.

Regarding the router, it’s in the best location possible, related to where it comes into the house, and there’s also no other place I can move it to given the fiber enters the house next to the front door.

Would be grateful for any help and advice to get a pod or two ordered if I can please.

  • jbrennand's avatar
    jbrennand
    Very Insightful Person
    6 months ago

    Try this first...

    VM Wifi is now “guaranteed” to 30 Mbps/room it’s now called… Wifi Max
    See if anything in here helps….

    https://www.virginmedia.com/wifi-max

    You call 0800 064 3850 to order the first one after scanning for blackspots using the connect App.- or just wait here for a VM person to respond in a day or two and they will sort the first one for you. If you do call dont get fobbed off by the offshore CS agents' saying you aren’t eligible - if you are - it is clearly stated on the webpage.

    You can also text VM on 0753 305 1809 include account name/number and what the issue is, there is also a “Chat” option on their website - but note that replies usually take longer. Or you can speak to the team on WhatsApp by logging into your online account via a mobile handset and there will be a link to speak to VM by Whats App (the number is 0780 3089 684 ) - you can use the same number for their other social media platforms too (TwitX/Fbook. etc) - so try them all

    If not free to you… you will be charged £8/month for up to 3 pods. It’s a simple solution and should work for you. However, you would soon pay off that cost by buying your own wireless solution that will be yours to own and use forever, although the VM Pods should be a simpler option.

    If you do want to invest in better equipment, you would need to get either a… (1) Mesh System, (2) Wireless router, (3) Wireless access point(s), (4) a pair of good quality Wifi Powerline Adaptors, or a combination of (2&3).

    £40-100 (that’s ~4->12 months of Max Pod rental) should sort it for most customers with an average property and usage. Spend more for additional advanced“features” - if required.

    • mjcharlton71's avatar
      mjcharlton71
      Joining in
      6 months ago

      I've been in contact with Zach_R - the connect app just won't connect in the part of the house I'm having the problem, so won't run the network check for blackspot etc

      I've previously used Eero and would upgrade to take advantage of 1g down/up, but I'm looking at a fairly big chunk of money to get enough speed via wifi... also can't use modem mode I believe, as I have a Hub 5x

      • Robert_P's avatar
        Robert_P
        Forum Team
        5 months ago

        We can see Zach_R has responded to you via Private Message. We'd ask yo keep you conversation in relation this there as posting multiple times can cause delays and convolute the information. If you respond to Zach's PM he will be happy to continue to assist you.

  • Zach_R's avatar
    Zach_R
    Forum Team
    6 months ago

    Hi mjcharlton71,

    Thank you for your post and welcome to our community forums. We're here to help.

    I'm very sorry to hear that you're having some trouble with your Wi-Fi service reaching certain areas of the home. If you've been using the Connect App and it detects a black spot in the home then you should be able to order it directly via the app.

    If that's not working for any reason then please respond to the private message that I'll be sending your way shortly and we'll go from there with this.

    Thanks,