At Virgin Media we understand your need for speed. You want to get online and get your stuff done fast. Nobody’s got time for the spinning wheel of doom, and we do everything within our power to make sure you don’t have to put up with it.
Here on our forums we’re often asked for help to get Broadband working at its very best, so we’ve put together this guide to help the Community help you.
Before we start, it’s important to know the Broadband package you’re signed-up to. If you’re not sure, then this information can be found by signing into My Virgin Media.
This shows your ‘up to’ speed – in this case VIVID 200 Optical Fibre, or 200Mbps. We use the phrase 'up to' because download speeds are affected by things beyond our control. For example, the website you're on, the number of people online, or your computer's specifications. With Virgin Media, you'll get much closer to the broadband speed you pay for.
Check out our How to video for our top tips for improving your broadband speed.
Step 1: Check your home network
First of all, we recommend checking your home network to ensure everything is working at its best.
If your device connects to your home network using a wire then take a read of Getting the most out of your wired connection for tips on the best type of ethernet cable (Cat6) and making the most of your Ethernet card.
If your device connects to your home network using WiFi then our WiFI Wins are the videos to watch.
When you’re happy that your home network is running at its optimum capacity, it’s time for step two.
Step 2: Check your speed
You can test the performance of your broadband connection between your device and the Internet by using a speed test site.
There are many speed test sites available, however we recommend using speedtest.net as we’ve worked with the site to offer reliable tests to our customers.
Speed test essentials
Where possible, run tests using an Ethernet cable from your hub to a computer.
If you do get a slower than expected result using WiFi, please retest using Ethernet where possible.
If you don’t have an Ethernet device available to test your speed, you can always use the SpeedTest.net app for Android, iOS, Windows phone and Android.
Make sure you run the test in the part of your house with the best WiFi signal.
Where possible, run several tests at different times of day to help with troubleshooting.
Just so you know, the actual speed of your Virgin Broadband might vary from the speed advertised, especially during peak times. For more info on broadband performance, traffic management policies and other reasons why broadband speeds may vary please check out the FAQs on our website http://www.virginmedia.com/shop/broadband/speeds.html
To run a test on speedtest.net:
- Go to speedtest.net using a computer browser or download the speedtest.net app from the app store for your mobile device
- Click Begin and speedtest.net will determine the best performing server to run your test on. This may not be the closest location to where you live
- Speedtest.net will test your connection
Once the test has run you’ll be presented with your results. But what do they mean?
Ping – this is reaction time of your connection. The faster the ping the better your connection will be for gaming and other uses where a fast reaction is required
Download speed – this will tell you how fast data can be downloaded from the Internet to your device. This is normally what we talk about when we talk about speeds.
Upload speed – this will tell you how fast data can be uploaded from your device to the Internet
Step 3: What next?
So, how do the speed test results compare to your ‘up to’ speed?
- If they are within a few Mbps then you’ve nothing to worry about. Sounds like you’ve got a pretty tip-top connection there. Enjoy!
- If your speeds are fine, but you’re finding using the internet sluggish – it could well be your device, or the software on it. Trying another browser (Edge, Safari, Firefox, Chrome) is worth a go.
Pop a post in our Set up and Connections Community forum board for advice, letting us know what version of Windows you have, and what browser you’re using. - If you’ve completed your test via WiFi and it’s not what you expected, then do test again on other devices, and do try to test via Ethernet if you can.
- If the speeds are great on Ethernet but WiFi could be better, then check out the WiFI Wins and our guide to optimizing your Wireless connection.
The Community are happy to help out on our Networking and WiFi forum – just pop a post on there with as much info about your set-up as possible. - Finally, if you’ve tested on Ethernet and you’re not seeing the results you’d like, we can help.
Please create a new thread in our Speed board and the friendly Virgin Media Community will check things over for you, and offer some assistance.
Providing a copy of your Hub’s power levels and network log will make it easier to spot any potential problems. Don’t worry about the jargon: our Community members are fluent in this.
To get this info, simply:
- Use your browser to navigate to 192.168.0.1 (Modem Mode users will need to go to 192.168.100.1)
- Superhub and Superhub 2/AC will find “Router Status” in the right hand corner. Click this to access your hub stats. Hub 3 users will find “Check Router Status” below the log in screen to access this information.
- Copy and paste your Downstream, Upstream and Network log into your post and we’ll do the rest.
Once you’ve posted, just sit back and wait for an answer.
Sometimes it can take a couple of days to get to the bottom of things – especially if it needs further diagnostics from a Virgin Media Forum Team member – but you’ll get an email whenever someone replies.
