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Fibre checker reliable?

jorday10
Joining in

Hi there,

Just looking at renting a flat I like the look of and on the VM fibre checker I can select the flat on the drop down and it offers up to 1Gb fibre. Just wondering if this is the only check I need that confirms this flat can indeed get VM fibre before I proceed as I am working from home and want to be absolutely sure before its too late. 

Reason I am skeptical is because in the past I've lived in places that BT wholesale confirms having fibre but on this property it says only basic broadband, but shows full 1Gb on VM fibre checker, thanks. 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

Andrew-G
Alessandro Volta

No the online checker is not reliable enough to base your plans on.  Staff here may be able to help get a spotter sent out who (in theory) will given an accurate assessment.

See where this Helpful Answer was posted

6 REPLIES 6

Andrew-G
Alessandro Volta

No the online checker is not reliable enough to base your plans on.  Staff here may be able to help get a spotter sent out who (in theory) will given an accurate assessment.

VM-Jon
Forum Team
Forum Team

Hi @jorday10 

Welcome to the community and thank you for considering joining us, It would be great to have you onboard.

I am confident our postcode checker is accurate however I am more than happy to double check things for you. I will drop you a private message for some more details and look into it for you.

thank you

Jon


Here to help! I'm an install manager helping out whilst working from home. Find out more


Thanks Jon, I have replied to your private message 🙂

nodrogd
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

@jorday10 wrote:

Hi there,

Reason I am skeptical is because in the past I've lived in places that BT wholesale confirms having fibre but on this property it says only basic broadband, but shows full 1Gb on VM fibre checker, thanks. 


All the checker shows is that the connection you get will be 1Gb capable. Whether it is Fibre or not is immaterial. VM uses DOCSIS Cable Broadband & only 5% of their network uses fibre-to-home. This can deliver up to 10Gb download speeds over local copper coaxial cables. The fibre cabinet could be up to 1Km away from your location.

However, there are two things you should bear in mind with a non FTTH connection:

1) DOCSIS over coax (HFC) is a shared resource with everyone on the network segment. So it is possible for other customers to hog some the bandwidth at peak times.

2) Upload speed is limited to 10% of download speed (in some areas it has increased to 20%). So on 1 Gig your upload is likely to be 100 Meg maximum.

VM 350BB 2xV6 & Landline. Freeview/Freesat HD, ASDA/Tesco PAYG Mobile. Cable customer since 1993

I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media. Learn more

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Andrew-G
Alessandro Volta

Despite the assurances from forum staff, we've seen instances where the postcode checker says "yes", and when the order is placed VM say "no".  It is generally accurate, but if you're making big decisions about buying or renting property I still say you need to have a much stronger assurance before committing to buy or rent. 

Fundamentally VM's checker is based on the Post Office postcode address file (PAF), mapped onto VM's service area, and then with an overlay to rule out known non-serviceable addresses or areas where due to congestion they're not taking new connections temporarily.  Unfortunately this is still a big generalisation, and at a default level assumes a postcode is serviceable until proven otherwise.  Especially for flats there's potential for multiple complications - wayleaves for cables across private property, letters of permission if there's a service company, cable routing and access challenges if using service ducting, potential for connection costs that are easily outside the limited budget for individual installs.  We've even see instances where some flats are already served, and VM refuse to connect others in the same block.  I've worked for large businesses with infrastructure assets, and no matter what the GIS database says, no matter how proudly the company announce it's unerring accuracy, there's always instances where the GIS is completely wrong.  And in this case, we're not even talking about a proper GIS, just a cobbled add-on to PAF.  

If staff can give you assurance that you'll trust that's good, but bear in mind if the company later on turn round and say "no", then you'll be stuck with a flat that has a slower connection than you want, and your only recourse against VM will be formal complaint + adjudication, and probably small claims court action.  

jpeg1
Alessandro Volta

Installations in flats are always contentious, as both Virgin and the landlord have to be satisfied with the arrangements.

The very first thing I'd do is to speak to the landlord and confirm in principle that they would be happy for new cables to be run outside and inside the building.  Can a cable be run from the road without disturbing e.g. car parking? 

- jpeg1
My name is NOT Alessandro. That's just a tag Virginmedia sticks on some contributors. Please ignore it.