Virgin Media Community

[Ethernet123]

Hello,

I haven't yet received my setup package from Virgin but I've gone for the 350mb/s deal. I want to know what my best options are for maximising the speed. It's only me in the flat, and I plan to have my PS4, PC, work laptop and TV all connected via ethernet as I don't need wireless, but will for the most part only be using one device at a time, but I would like to be able to use WIFI for my phone for instance, and for guests to use if they need. I'd also like additional features which I'm not sure the virgin hub has such as QoS and increased security. 

Apologies if this is very general but I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to internet connections as I've always just used what's there, but now I've bought my own place I want to utilise the speed of the package I'm paying for. 

[tehwolf · Accepted solution]

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@Ethernet123 wrote:

Hello,

I haven't yet received my setup package from Virgin but I've gone for the 350mb/s deal. I want to know what my best options are for maximising the speed. It's only me in the flat, and I plan to have my PS4, PC, work laptop and TV all connected via ethernet as I don't need wireless, but will for the most part only be using one device at a time, but I would like to be able to use WIFI for my phone for instance, and for guests to use if they need. I'd also like additional features which I'm not sure the virgin hub has such as QoS and increased security. 

Apologies if this is very general but I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to internet connections as I've always just used what's there, but now I've bought my own place I want to utilise the speed of the package I'm paying for. 

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as all of your devices will be wired in, they should have no problems with speed. 

If you want more control and additional features, then you'll need to invest in your own router and use the VM hub in modem mode - but you can do this any time - you may as well see how the hub performs when you get it and decide afterwards if you want to spend the money for richer features / better wifi etc.

[Ethernet123]

Okay I did think this might be the case, thanks. 

Is speed loss only a factor when using wireless? 

If i put the hub in modem mode, can i then not connect my phone to wifi for instance? I could then just get a cheap router to use purely for my wireless devices?

[tehwolf · Accepted solution]

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@Ethernet123 wrote:

Okay I did think this might be the case, thanks. 

Is speed loss only a factor when using wireless? 

If i put the hub in modem mode, can i then not connect my phone to wifi for instance? I could then just get a cheap router to use purely for my wireless devices?

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if you use cat5e or better cables, then the devices will negotiate a 1gb connection to the hub - that exceeds the speed of the broadband connection so they should have no issue with speed. there's also very little interference with cabled connections (not impossible, but most ethernet cables have good shielding these days, so a vastly reduced risk).  Conversely, there's lots of interference for wifi connected devices that can come from all sorts of sources.. so it's inherently less reliable.

If you put the hub in modem mode then it disables the wireless connection and you will need another router to provide that service, it will also mean that you need the new router to provide all of the gateway services (nat, firewall etc..) so whether you get a cheap or expensive one really comes down to what features you want/need from the device..

[Ethernet123]

Thanks for the advice!