Thinking of getting Virgin Broadband and Phone

[IvesyM]

Hi, I'm currenlty with Now Broadband and while it's VERY cheap - I pay £23.99 for around 36mb broadband and anytime calls I'm finding when my son is on his game we struggle to get anything streaming to play withoout buffering.  I've got a MESH set up to extend the WIFI as we have some dead zones around the house and until recently it's been fine but we need faster speeds and and good WIFI.

Virgin has recently become available in or area so I thought I'd give it ago. I've seen the M250 package and with anytime calls comes to £39.99, weirdly there's another package with 100 channels and comes with the TV box? Anyhoo, I'm more or less set on this and wondered what the router was like......I see from reading here and other places the HUB 5 is the latest device. So, when I went on chat today I was surprised to be told the router I'd get would be the HUB 3?? one of the better reviews for this device mentioned a pro was it was free!  I asked chat why the 3 and was told if I went ahead with the order I could request a HUB 5 once I had it set up - this would be FOC.  I said I'd heard bad things about trying to contact Virgin (Now is rapidly catching up!) so would prefer if I could have the HUB 5 at the get go.  No, I was told but they could provide the HUB 4.  Being usually a laid back type of person I agreed but when it came to confirming the order I was told it would be a HUB 3!!! I'd get and NOT a HUB 4 until I was signed up and then I could request a more update to HUB.

Is this normal?  I am VERY wary signing up to Virgin because of their poor customer service.  I accept I'll be paying more but as long as the WIFI is good and we don't get buffering when more than a couple of our family are using it I'll be be quite content.  But, what I don't want to do is start spending hours on the phone or online trying to speak to someone to get this newer HUB if I start having issues.

What are your experiences of Virgin and their customer service? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[goslow · Accepted solution]

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@IvesyM wrote:

Hi, I'm currenlty with Now Broadband and while it's VERY cheap - I pay £23.99 for around 36mb broadband and anytime calls I'm finding when my son is on his game we struggle to get anything streaming to play withoout buffering.  I've got a MESH set up to extend the WIFI as we have some dead zones around the house and until recently it's been fine but we need faster speeds and and good WIFI.

<snip>

What are your experiences of Virgin and their customer service? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. 

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Short answer is that when VM is working, it generally works well (in my past experience). When you have to contact VM about anything, the experience is very often ... sub-optimal!

As for the VM hub's, as with most ISP-routers they offer basic functionality which suits many people. Poor wi-fi coverage is often a source of complaint on the forums. Many regular forum members put the VM hub into 'modem mode' (where it does nothing more than provide a connection point to the VM network for broadband and phone), then use their own superior networking equipment.

The Hubs 4 and 5 are used on VM's higher speed service 1Gbps. The Hub 5 still has plenty of teething issues (wireless compatibility with legacy devices and some telephony issues being some).

There are supply issues with the Hub 5 at present. Recent topics have reported customers signing up with the promise of getting one but actually being sent a Hub 4 as no Hub 5's were available.

[goslow]

And a final thought, if you do decide to give VM a go ...

The usual advice on here (if you can) is to keep your existing broadband running until such time as you have VM fully installed and working to your satisfaction and to overlap the two services (your old one and VM).

Plenty of complaint topics in the 'Quick Start' forum relate to delayed installations by VM (particularly if you need a new VM cable to your home). Overlapping the two services may cost you a bit more for a few weeks but means you will still have a connection if there is a VM installation delay. You will also be able to evaluate VM in your 14 day cooling off period and still revert back to using your original provider if VM does not suit you.

[Alby41]

Super advice given here to you as mentioned , you will be able to keep your mesh system , I have the 250 mb set up, but my own router

WiFi 6  reaches all rooms in my house without assistance .... it all depends on your wall floor ceiling thicknesses and of course

location of the router keep it off the floor and give it air space all around .. initially I was supplied a Superhub 2AC .. now time expired but functions great in 

modem mode .. VM customer service ok and usually calls get answered on time but they get busy .... best of all you will be able to get a great deal deal 

being a brand new customer ... they will be dead keen for you to come " on board " .... I would take the the Hub 3 if it is free ... it is easy to stick into modem

mode use your own router ... many WiFi 6 models to look at not too expensive ...I would wait a while talk with your friends or neighbours and see if they 

have VM ... ok good luck 

[Adduxi]

In all the years I've had VM they are usually good at maintaining the speeds contracted.  However I use my own networking kit and have run every Hub from VM in Modem mode. In the years before the Hubs, VM only supplied modems anyway, and they were good as well, VMNG300 I'm thinking of you......

Agree with keeping your old ISP until such times as you can stress test the VM connection, bearing in mind the 14 day cooling off period !!

[Gildarts]

anyone telling you to get virgin is just scared of admitting its absolute dog garbage go for literally ANYONE else for anything and I promise you will be a lot happier than you would if you picked this shoddy excuse for a company

[Andrew-G]

I asked chat why the 3 and was told if I went ahead with the order I could request a HUB 5 once I had it set up - this would be FOC.  I said I'd heard bad things about trying to contact Virgin (Now is rapidly catching up!) so would prefer if I could have the HUB 5 at the get go.  No, I was told but they could provide the HUB 4.  Being usually a laid back type of person I agreed but when it came to confirming the order I was told it would be a HUB 3!!! I'd get and NOT a HUB 4 until I was signed up and then I could request a more update to HUB.

Any promise of a Hub 5 being FOC and on-request is being made purely to secure a sale, there's little chance that it will be honoured anytime soon.  More than a few new customers here are complaining how they were made similar promises, only to find out later that they'd get whatever hub VM chose to give them, like it or not.  The wifi from all VM hubs is pretty mediocre, but if you've got a competent mesh system then use that and keep whatever hub they offer in modem mode.

If you're speed restricted on an Openreach connection, VM can be a good choice, but in addition to my comments about the hub and other members advice on customer service standards, you should also be aware that any VM installation date you get even in writing is only a guess - many customers get connected on time, some have to wait many months.  And finally, VM have announced big price rises - if you order today you'd see a big increase in your bill in a couple of months, and because new customer pricing is heavily discounted, and the price rise is calculated on the undiscounted price, the proportionate increase you'd see may well be in the 20-30% range.  Obviously you'll have incoming price rises with your current ISP, but just don't bank on the VM advertised offers being fixed price, because they are not.