@DrewAB wrote:
I don't understand the lunacy in restricting this to the customer as Virgins largest competitor BSkyB offer free Cloud Hotspots to all customers to connect to regardless whether it be Phone, Tablet or Laptop. Surely they must be loosing customers hand-over-fist for something so easily resolved?
Where is the customer loyalty and satisfaction these days? It just seems a redundant practice to create silly restrictions which are not in place with the competition
The reason Sky can do that is normally 'The Cloud' is an open wireless network i.e. there is no direct wireless security. So to connect, you just connect to the hotspot, and the login using your browser. This means that any wireless device can use it, but the downside is that your connection between the device and the hotspot network isn't encrypted, and can also be open to spoofing of the wireless name.
Virgin Media WiFi uses Enterprise WPA security to connect, meaning that a device can connect once an appropriate security certificate is installed. On mobile devices, this is done by the app during setup. This means that when you do connect, not only is your wireless connection secured, but you'll only connecting to authorised Virgin Media WiFi hotspots and not any that spoof the wireless network name.
Sky do have a secure version of 'The Cloud' network which Virgin Media use as part of their Virgin Media WiFi service, but I can't see this available as part of the general 'The Cloud' connection options, so I'm not sure if or how their customers connect to that.
To connect computers to the Virgin Media WiFi network, the same security certificates would also need to be installed, but that requires more detailed technical knowledge to complete than on mobile devices using the app, and isn't always possible for corporate computers etc.
So Virgin Media have focused the service on those devices that are most likely to be moved around and used on the go i.e. Android and iOS mobile devices, and also where those devices have a simple and easy setup.
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I work for Virgin Media - but all opinions posted here are my own
