Is Virgin Media Broadband really as bad as reviews say?

[amrutomi6]

So I moved into a new house, congrats to me. My old setup was a 4G+ mobile router with a SMARTY sim worked well for near enough a year!

Signal is garbage in this new house though so since this is a long term place I've looked into ISPs. The only one who is even offering speeds faster than 100mbps in my area was Virgin and my friend recommends they are good so I have arranged to have someone come out to install it for me.

Yet online, the company is absolutely blasted for poor customer service, slow speeds. Etc. Yet I was told if I did not get at least 250mbps of the 500mbps odd I have paid for I could back out though that's yet to be seen (that's like half too! Why wouldn't I just be on a lower package at that point?)

I've had an experience with customer service as I contacted them about a extra I accidentally opted for and didn't want and they seemed a bit clueless honestly.

Though being an IT guy I'd suppose I can use ethernet to test this and my laptop should be more than capable, with a usbc dongle of the maximum speeds offered.

Though that's just context, I will not know if the speed suffice until it happens in just over a week from now.

So, in your opinion if you've used Virgin Media Broadband. Is it really that bad? Surely not for everyone?

[jb66]

I find the actual broadband connection was fine but the WiFi the hub 3 gave out was one of the most hopeless ive ever encountered.  The hub 4 was slightly better.

My BT hub on the other hand has been working perfect for over a year and I've never had to reboot it, I just forget it's there, the way a router should be.

If your willing to spend extra getting your own router VM will be fine (second hand ASUS wifi 5 routers are so cheap on ebay) but you shouldn't really have to do that.  I've never had a hub5 so can't comment on that

[jbrennand]

Its perfectly fine for me and most customers.  But see this I have posted before FYI..

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if its a wifi only issue (ethernet connections are ok?), if it is - then On a Hub3/4/5, you could first try separating the SSID's of the 2.4 and 5 GHz wifi bands by renaming them in the settings At the same time switch off "channel optimisation/Smart wifi” and “ apply and save the settings. All wifi devices will now need reconnecting to the best SSID at each location. Also use a wifi scanning App to find the best wifi channels to use (just select and use channels 1,6,11 on 2.4GHz) - this often helps Hub users get better wifi performance - so its worth trying - but its still no substitute for getting better kit 🙂

To address the wifi issues, VM now supply “wifi Pods” (no longer doing cheap and cheerless and poor value “boosters”). However, their Pods are only free to customers on the 1GB, Volt (or old Ultimate Oomph) packages - is that you? If so they are worth trying - they should work for you. VM Wifi is now “guaranteed” to 20 Mbps/room it’s now called… Wifi Max
See if anything in here helps….

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/wifi-max

You call 0800 064 3850 to order the first one after scanning for blackspots using the connect App.- or just wait here for a VM person to respond in a day or two and they will sort the first one for you. If you do call dont get fobbed off by the offshore CS agents' saying you aren’t eligible it will be £5 or £8 month - you are… and it wont be - just look on the webpage.

If not free to you… you will be charged £8/month (note - BT charge £10/mo for their whole home wifi solution). It’s a simple solution and should work for you. However, you would soon pay off that cost by buying your own wireless solution that will be yours to own and use forever, although the VM Pods should be a simpler option.

If you do want to invest in better equipment (like I and many other customer do) , you would need to get either a… (1) Mesh System, (2) Wireless router, (3) Wireless access point or (4), A combination of (2&3).

£40-100 (that’s ~4->12 months of Max Pod rental) should sort it for most customers with an average property and usage. Spend more for additional advanced“features” - if required.  This equipment is usually of far higher quality and tech specs than that provided by most other BB suppliers - its a solid investment.

[derek765]

Roll on ISPs giving the option to just have a modem and use our own far better routers !
I know the Hubs can be used in modem mode but that's another lumpy piece of kit sitting on the shelf ...

[Client62]

ETA for that is never on CATV platforms out side of the the USA.

[goslow]

My own past experiences of VM have been that when it is working, it generally works well.

If you have to interact with the company in any way though (such as make changes to the account, report a fault, make a complaint etc.) the experience is often an ordeal. This is due to the fact that most of the phone support is outsourced. The topics on here typically describe those answering the phones for VM have little/no knowledge of what they are supporting other than scripted responses appearing on the screens in front of them.

If you browse through this support forum, the common themes for problems include lengthy delays for new installations, poor wi-fi from the VM hubs, poor handling of claims under the automatic compensation scheme, complaints about being unable to cancel and leave VM and poor complaint handling amongst others. Complaint handling and claims of obstructive processes when trying to leave VM are now being investigated by OFCOM it has been announced today.

Having been with BT on a full fibre connection for the last year or so, the comparison is night and day. The BT connection hasn't skipped a beat whereas it was quite common for the VM service to drop out for varying periods of time. The quality of service though may be highly area-dependent. My VM area was served by 20+ year old cabling infrastructure from the days of NTL.

Once you get installed, you can evaluate the service in your 14 day cooling off period and come to your own conclusions.

[Client62]

We have had VM via RFoG since it was first available in winter 2017, it just works for all our SOHO kit and Cisco VOIP phones plus our TV streaming too. We almost never have a reason touch the Hub 3.

If we are issued a Hub 5 we will instantly buy a 3rd party Wi-Fi Router, we have no plan to be plagued with Hub 5's plethora of Router mode issues.

[Sephiroth]

In an area not plagued by troubles (such as tired optical nodes - getting rarer, or high contention) VM broadband is excellent.

Heaven help you if you need to speak to anyone except sales; they hate their customers.

[Roger_Gooner]

I'm in a legacy HFC area with 24-year-old coax coming into my house to a hub 3, and I can barely remember the last time I had a problem (although I do protect myself from VM upgrades by running the hub in modem mode). My V6 works well, too. I also haven't had any particular problems with CS although I know that many have had issues. Judging from surveys it's clear that VM's biggest problem is more in complaints handling than actual problems.

[japitts]

It's also the nature of support fora such as this, that users tend not to post to say "My service is good and thankyou Virgin".

The vast majority of posts will be from users with problems.