Virgin Media Community

[Pixelking]

Upgraded to 500 mbps from 200 as result of renegotiated contract. Desktop in my study connected via ethernet cat6  to router  confirms upgrade but wireless speeds are same as before. Queried whether router upgrade was required at time of closing new contract and was told current router (white) was perfectly adequate.

Any comments appreciated?

[tehwolf]

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@Pixelking wrote:

Upgraded to 500 mbps from 200 as result of renegotiated contract. Desktop in my study connected via ethernet cat6  to router  confirms upgrade but wireless speeds are same as before. Queried whether router upgrade was required at time of closing new contract and was told current router (white) was perfectly adequate.

Any comments appreciated?

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the wifi provided by the hub is constraining the connection.

what speeds are you getting on the wifi? you can expect 30-70 on the 2.4ghz channel, and potentially up to 400 on the 5ghz, but that is very dependent on distance from the hub (amongst other things).

if you're happy with the way the connection performs when wired you could always buy yourself a decent router that provides better wireless performance. 

[Pixelking]

Hi sorry for delay in response. I only get  about 30mbps on most devices but get 175mbps on a Firestick only about a metre away from the router, this is exactly the same as I got on this device when I was on 200mbps before the upgrade to 500mbps. This Firestick is on 5GHz.however I can find no way of telling let alone switching as to whether my other devices are on 2.4 or 5Ghz? By the way one thing I have noticed is that upload speeds have improved to the extent that now upload speeds are some 20% higher than download speeds.

I got an e-mail today saying that my Hub 3 had been remotely upgraded to improve my wi-fi experience. Have tested this but can see no difference.

[tehwolf]

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@Pixelking wrote:

Hi sorry for delay in response. I only get  about 30mbps on most devices but get 175mbps on a Firestick only about a metre away from the router, this is exactly the same as I got on this device when I was on 200mbps before the upgrade to 500mbps. This Firestick is on 5GHz.however I can find no way of telling let alone switching as to whether my other devices are on 2.4 or 5Ghz? By the way one thing I have noticed is that upload speeds have improved to the extent that now upload speeds are some 20% higher than download speeds.

I got an e-mail today saying that my Hub 3 had been remotely upgraded to improve my wi-fi experience. Have tested this but can see no difference.

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You can see which band devices are connected to by logging into the hub at http://192.168.0.1 and looking at Device Connection Status - this should show you which band each of your devices is connected to.

Ultimately, though, if you're getting full speeds on a wired connection then you're going to get a better overall wifi experience if you add your own wireless router/mesh system - put the hub into modem mode and install a device that is fit for purpose.. the hub is a cheap router that's designed to be as cheap as possible.. 

[mjpartyboy]

For the best chance of achieving high wireless speeds, you need to be using the 5 GHz network on its higher channel bandwidth, such as 80 MHz.

Personally, I would avoid using a combined channel feature (can't remember what this is called on a Super Hub) and run separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks, so you have control over the band devices connect to and can put your better performing ones on 5 GHz and less important ones on 2.4 GHz.

[Pixelking]

Many thanks for your replies. However I do not seem able to sign in to router as seem to have forgotten password - I tried all my usual passwords. Could it be still on the default whatever that is?

I have also noticed something else. In my list of possible networks I get a new option with a max signal strength. It just says Virgin Media! If I attempt to sign in it has several fields requiring completion; PEAP Identity, Password, Select CA certificate,and MAC address type. It is not a neighbours as nearest neighbours on VM have similar Network names to mine (VM followed by 7 numbers) and whilst seen are much lower signal strength. Any Ideas where this is from.  Could try turning Hub off and see if it disappears but other half is on virtually continuous Zoom, or other video calls this afternoon.

[tehwolf]

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@Pixelking wrote:

Many thanks for your replies. However I do not seem able to sign in to router as seem to have forgotten password - I tried all my usual passwords. Could it be still on the default whatever that is?

I have also noticed something else. In my list of possible networks I get a new option with a max signal strength. It just says Virgin Media! If I attempt to sign in it has several fields requiring completion; PEAP Identity, Password, Select CA certificate,and MAC address type. It is not a neighbours as nearest neighbours on VM have similar Network names to mine (VM followed by 7 numbers) and whilst seen are much lower signal strength. Any Ideas where this is from.  Could try turning Hub off and see if it disappears but other half is on virtually continuous Zoom, or other video calls this afternoon.

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The password for teh hub is on a sticker on the bottom of the hub - there are two there - the settings password and the wifi password - you need the settings one.

The Virgin Media SSID is the VM hotspot - it uses a completely separate connection back to the VM network than your own and is kept completely separate to your LAN etc.. You can disable it somewhere in My Virgin Media, though based on the posts around here, disabling it doesn't always work..

[Pixelking]

Thanks again for recommendations and info but on the base of my router is only the wifi passcode and the serial no.?

So also from  your replies I deduce that my router is being used to provide a VM hotspot without my permission? Whilst I appreciate that this is a totally different link to my personal access it surely it must compromise the wifi speeds from the router? So I am a VM customer so how do I access this hotspot  or I assume many others when I do not have a clue to the sign in answers?. Why of over 70% VM users (!6) in my small close (22 houses) have I been selected to provide the Hotspot?

[Andruser]

If you want optimum wifi performance, then you might start thinking about spending a wad on your own wifi kit.  As indications, a credible mesh system is around £100-130, a premium router is about £160, and a premium mesh system £250-350.  On a 500 Mbps contract I'd suggest the cheaper mesh systems would be fine (I'm using one myself).

[tehwolf]

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@Pixelking wrote:

Thanks again for recommendations and info but on the base of my router is only the wifi passcode and the serial no.?

So also from  your replies I deduce that my router is being used to provide a VM hotspot without my permission? Whilst I appreciate that this is a totally different link to my personal access it surely it must compromise the wifi speeds from the router? So I am a VM customer so how do I access this hotspot  or I assume many others when I do not have a clue to the sign in answers?. Why of over 70% VM users (!6) in my small close (22 houses) have I been selected to provide the Hotspot?

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On the sticker is also the “settings password” - bottom left hand corner of the sticker I believe...

The hotspot function is enabled by default, you have to opt out of it. You used to be able to do this through my virgin media site but that appears to be broken at the moment.  You can forcibly opt out by buying your own WiFi kit and putting the hub into modem mode. I guess that your neighbours have done one of these two things which is why you don’t see it on their networks.