Virgin Media's mesh system for M600

[Dasco]

I have the standard wifi extenders that you could get from Virgin for ages but they have never really worked very well.
When I had my 360 box and two 360 minis fitted last year I asked the engineer about fitting a mesh system as the extenders just don't work reliably he said to wait till now and phone and ask for the mesh system.
I am on the Ultimate Oomph bundle and have been since it came out.

My wife is a teacher and is now teaching via live video link to her class in their homes and with both my kids using the live video teaching from their schools the wifi just can't handle it, which is not great for my kids but is terrible for my wife as she is trying to teach 35 kids at home everyday.
So i've tried to call Virgin today to try get the pods sent out to me but I just get no lines available, is there anyway one of Virgin Media staff can contact me so I can get these ordered and hopefully fix the wifi or at least make it more stable.
Many thanks

[jonathanpye]

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@mjpartyboy wrote:
Most home Wi-Fi issues can be resolved with a decent third-party router. Most of the great preforming ones will have external antennas and decent specs to be able to cope with serving your bandwidth to multiple devices with ease.

Personally, I wouldn't bolt anything onto a Super Hub and expect much in the way of performance gains. If you need to rely on your broadband for more than web surfing and the odd stream, then a decent router is the way to go in the long-run and may mean you don't need any additional access points or mesh nodes for a simpler solution.

For example, I've been using the Asus AC86U for a few years now (Merlin firmware) and it deals with multiple devices streaming video and music, online gaming, and working from home (lots of Teams and Zoom video calls/meetings) simultaneously daily across two floors without a problem, despite it not being placed in the optimal position. I even get our max 200 Mbps down speed on the 5 GHz network in our environment.

I still had my old AC68U, that the 86U replaced, collecting dust in its box, so just to make use of it I added it as a mesh node in the first 2020 lockdown. Overkill for our setup really, but hasn't had any negative effects on our home network, so left it active upstairs.

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This is an option I am still considering but will delay on that decision depending on the performance of virgins new wifi promised land when I get it and if I can get hold of someone to request it

[Dasco]

It seems we are all in the same boat. 
Is there anyone on these forums that have got the Virgin pod mesh system and can give us real speeds and coverage data.
If it is like mentioned above that they will only provide 450ish Mbps, then I can't see the point of getting them with 1Gig speeds just around the corner even if they are free.
Prior to this I have looked at Wifi 6 routers and Wifi 6 mesh systems and if looking to future proof yourselves a little dependant on house size you are looking at £200ish for a router or £500-£900 for a three pod mesh system.

[sayekm]

The Asus AC86U is a awsome router. I tried this before settle for a BT twin disc mesh kit.
The AC86U is a gaming router with powerfull processor and so many tools it was overkill.

The only reason I replaced it was my router is placed front of house. I have a rear kicthen extention so after passing 2 brick walls the speed was dropping in kitchen. If I had a underfloor ethernet cable from the Hub3 to the middle room the AC86U would have been perfect for me.

[Dasco]

I've just been looking in a cupboard and found a old hub 3 that was replaced by my current hub 3 for wifi issues. Is there a way I can use this upstairs via a cat6 cable to extend the wifi?

[sophist]

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@Dasco wrote:
I've just been looking in a cupboard and found a hub 3 that was replaced by my current hub 3 for wifi issues. Is there a way I can use this upstairs via a cat6 cable to extend the wifi?

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maybe, though if you had it replaced for wifi issues, i wouldn't expect too much from it..

Firstly you'll need to change the IP address of the spare hub - you can do this by changing the DHCP range it offers to something other than the default - You can't use 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.100.1 but anything else in the 3rd octet should be fine (e.g. 192.168.34.1).

You will then need to disable the DHCP server on the spare hub, so that it doesn't offer IP addresses out on your network.

Configure the wireless network with whatever name you want to use and then connect the ethernet cable from your main hub to one of the four ports on the old hub. 

it's a bit of a potch, and because the hub is so inflexible, you may find it doesn't work.

You'd be better off buying an access point to go upstairs, but if you want to try the free option first, the above is what you'll need to do. 

[Dasco]

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@sophist wrote:

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@Dasco wrote:
I've just been looking in a cupboard and found a hub 3 that was replaced by my current hub 3 for wifi issues. Is there a way I can use this upstairs via a cat6 cable to extend the wifi?

---

maybe, though if you had it replaced for wifi issues, i wouldn't expect too much from it..

Firstly you'll need to change the IP address of the spare hub - you can do this by changing the DHCP range it offers to something other than the default - You can't use 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.100.1 but anything else in the 3rd octet should be fine (e.g. 192.168.34.1).

You will then need to disable the DHCP server on the spare hub, so that it doesn't offer IP addresses out on your network.

Configure the wireless network with whatever name you want to use and then connect the ethernet cable from your main hub to one of the four ports on the old hub. 

it's a bit of a potch, and because the hub is so inflexible, you may find it doesn't work.

You'd be better off buying an access point to go upstairs, but if you want to try the free option first, the above is what you'll need to do. 

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It was swapped out for the same problem I have now, poor wifi from what you have said it ain't worth the mucking about to set it up.

[dazkgoodwin]

Just moved to VM, and to be honest, I've never rated any ISP-provided hub/router.  Previously I replaced the PlusNet router straightaway with a tp-link Archer VR2800 ADSL wifi router and never looked back.  Near perfect home home coverage over 3 floors, but I've used inexpensive powerline/wifi combo devices to extend to the weaker areas like the garage.

I knew the Hub 3.0 wasn't up to much, there's not even any external antennas, so soon it was into modem mode.  The tp-link router works in wifi router only mode, but have decided to invest in a tp-link Archer AX90 tri-band 8 stream router (supports onemesh).  (there's plenty of other good tp-link router options below £150), but in the end, a little extra outlay for a busy household will pay off, and you have a router you can use with other ISPs later if you change.

I'm on the M500 package, and upstairs can get 400 meg over wifi on my iPad.  It's well worth the investment.

[Dasco]

Well i've bit the bullet and ordered Asus ZenWiFi AX Whole-Home Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System (XT8) 2Pack will be here Saturday. Will let you know how they perform.

[dazkgoodwin]

Good luck, I’ve no problems with the tp-link router and a onemesh compatible WiFi repeater 2 floors up. Works for me,

[jonathanpye]

You have me tempted