Virgin Customer and Technical Support

[LukeN]

Has full fibre installed in the last few weeks.  In the room the box is in, the signal is great...leave that room however and connecting is a near impossibility.  I raised this with the engineers before they left my house who said if it didn't settle then it'd be easy to get WiFi pods to boost the signal to the rest of the house later.

I've now been trying for about a week to make contact with virgin support to seek a resolution, in fact I'm currently on hold 

 Virgin are by some margin, the most frustrating company I've had the displeasure of trying to deal with (I say trying because I'm still waiting) in the last few years...

Any tips from anyone else on how I might be able to speak to someone who can actually offer some assistance.

[jpeg1 · Accepted solution]

Virginmedia customer support ratings come at the bottom of every list - Ofcom, Trustpilot, Which? - so as a new customer you'll have to get used to this level of support. 

However if you wait here for a while a VM staff person should pick this up and offer to help. 

[Adduxi]

The official route is to use the VM Connect App and scan your property. When completed, the app should allow you to order the first Pod. If this is not working, just wait here a day or two for a VM Mod to pick this up and discuss directly with you.

[Cardiffman282]

Stick the thing in modem mode and use your own better router. 

[LukeN]

Yeah I tried the connect app and customer services when I eventually spoke to someone couldn't seem to get their head around it but the issue is down to signal strength, so I have a 3 storey house, bottom floor things are generally fine, middle floor is poor signal in most rooms including the one I work from and the top floor has no signal unless you stand by the door or on the stairs which isn't totally practical ...everywhere else you can't even connect to use the VM connect app to scan 

• I managed to test the speed by the door today and it falls below the speed guarantee but they still want me to pay £8 a month for a WiFi pod (I suspect I need at least 2) and I don't think that's particularly fair.  Is it the norm that there is always a charge for these or should they be free if you need them because of the signal as a result of install location? 

[jpeg1]

If your contract includes free pods go for them.  If not buy your own devices that will be yours forever instead of renting them for £8 every month. 

[LukeN]

Yeah I get that but when they came to install they told me the pods were free if signal was inadequate and just wondered whether this was actually the case. As it stands I'm debating having a read through contract to see if there is a provision to terminate early due to speed guarantee because I've found this quite frustrating...contrary to the evidence (my posting here) I really don't tend to complain about anything unless it's really tipping me over the edge 

[Roger_Gooner]

No, you cannot terminate as failure to get at least 30Mbps in every room entitles you to get £100 bill credit. But there is a way forward: as wired always trumps wireless, look to run Ethernet cabling upstairs to connect the pods (either by chaining them or directly connecting each to the hub). I think it's the black pods which have two Ethernet ports.

[Adduxi]

I doubt very much if any ISP can supply a single router to cover three floors.  I can see two choices here. 
1 -  Get VM to relocate the Hub centrally on the first floor for £25 and see how that works. 
2 -  Buy a decent three or four unit MESH system and use that. 

[Kath_F]

Hi LukeN, 

Thanks for taking the time to contact us via the Community. It's lovely having you on board with us in the Forums. ⭐

We're sorry to hear the WiFi signal isn't the greatest. There are so many things that can influence a WiFi connection some of which include but are not limited to, a fish tank being in the same room, walls being built with concrete instead of brick, it could even be that your next door neighbours router is interfering with yours. Due to this, we are only able to offer limited help. Please have a look here.

The Hub's location could also be causing the coverage problem so we do need to check the positioning of it. Can you please ensure the following: 

• > Out in the open
• > Next to the TV not behind it
• > Away from large bodies of water (e.g. fish tanks)
• > Away from baby monitors and cordless phones
• > Away from microwaves

Think of the Hub as a radio, and WiFi as the sound - the further away you are from the radio, or the more obstacles that are in the way (walls, electronic devices etc.), the quieter the radio & the poorer the WiFi. 

I can see that since posting you've been able to speak to the team and they have sent a WiFi Pod. How have things been since this was installed?

Keep us posted on how you get on. 

Thanks,