Virgin Media Community

[PeteRooney]

Good afternoon - I'm looking to be able to provide a wired connection for my son upstairs via one of these Ethernet adapters that utilizes the home electric circuit.

Is there a VirginMedia-approved one, and if not, does anybody have any recommendations as to what's best on the market and what I should look out for or be wary of?

Thanks in advance - Pete

[apcyberax]

any will work. Your internal network is a standard ethernet connection there are no VM compliant extenders

[gary_dexter]

They’re hit and miss, mainly miss.

They're reliant on a good electrical mains with little to no interference and both sockets being in the same ring main.

You won’t get fast speeds either - maybe 100Mbps if you’re lucky, even with “gigabit” extenders.

[Andruser]

If you want a "VM compliant" solution, phone up and ask about the new "pods" that link to your hub to create a wifi mesh system.  They don't use powerline networking, but they're a technically competent solution, and if you get them free, then you're laughing. 

If you have to rent them then you need to consider buying your own mesh wifi setup, and judge what works best for you, as the monthly rental of the VM pods soon mounts up.

[PeteRooney]

Thanks for your reply - not being very savvy with electrical stuff, it's a reasonably new and small three bedroom house, but given your comment about ring mains, might the fact that the hub is downstairs and my son is upstairs potentially be a problem?

Cheers

[PeteRooney]

Thanks for taking the time to reply - I'll give them a call!

[Andruser]

Regarding the ring main, depends how the house is wired.  Often upstairs and downstairs sockets are on different circuits, in my own house there's two rings that serve the sockets, but serving both upstairs and downstairs, split north/south side.  Personally I'd avoid powerline boosters, but as VM don't (publicly) offer them now it may not matter. 

If you're planning to call VM about the pods, be aware that if your package doesn't allow you them free, then they'll charge you £5 a month per pod, for a system you'll never own.  On the plus side that's continually warrantied and supported, on the minus side its a very well padded price.  A decent mesh system like the one I use is around £100-130.  So even with a single rented pod - which with the hub is a two node system - within 21 months you'd have paid as much as buying a standalone system with three nodes.

There are no "wrong answers" on this.  If you're the sort of person that chooses British Gas boiler servicing and maintenance plans and don't quibble on the price, the VM pod system is for you, and that's fine.  If you're the sort of person that concludes a Skoda is a cheaper Volkswagen, just built more carefully, then buying your own mesh system is the way forward.  Guess what car I drive!