Virgin media connect app - Can't enable wifi hotspots

[tuckova]

I'm a Virgin Mobile customer and I'm trying to enable hotspot access on my Pixel 4a via the Virgin Media connect app and it's failing every time I click on the "Get set for wifi hotspots" after a short period of time with "no server response" despite a strong wifi and 4g data connection as per the screenshots below.

      

I've followed all the advice I can find like:

• Confirming the hotspot account status and that it is retrieving all my other account details correctly
• Checking for existing saved wifi networks and removing them (there aren't any as it's a new phone)
• Confirmed that the app has the required permissions
• Deleting the app cache/data and reinstalling the app
• Tried activating at multiple time across various days in case it's an issue at the server end

Is there anything else I can try or does the application simply not work on android 11? (note: I've recently installed the app on an android 8 device with a different sim card and that worked fine).

[marty3]

Your not wrong my friend. They are an absolute rip off. My bill is now £62 per month for 50mb only. No phone. No TV. This started on a 24month contract being the first 6 month was 18 pound. But they failed to mention they can charge what ever they bloody please for the remainder and keep raising it every few months by at least a fiver. 

I'm going to check right now to see if I can get this fttp from bt on my street. I been out of virgin contract for over a year now but no other isp controls the street I live. Well I'm no longer not even able to work and for a while it was looking like I will have to downgrade to dsl which means getting a phone line re installed and monthly fees on that, who on earth even uses landlines other than businesses these days anyways??  I simply can't afford 60 a month no more. My phone on a 4g signal beats my home top speeds which is 55mbps. My phone on a full 5g signal is really quick. Vm customer support is non existence. I was once told about a package for people like me disabled on pip benefits that cost 15 pound per week which is 100mb. When i heard that from a neighbour was a real hard kick in the place that hurts. But after several hours of trying to get any info on this at all they just hung up the phone on me. Twice actually but the first i believe was a accident and he called back immediately. But no one has any kind of clue what I was talking about.. even tho I later found it on there website, very deeply hidden.. that isn't something they want to advertise is it let alone award it to people that really actually need it. Now more than ever

[Jarric]

marty3 I tried to call VM when my contract was up and they charged me £70 odd quid without warning, and they were totally useless. I then found that there's a contact option on the website where you can get them to discuss it with you via WhatsApp (I think it diverts from the online chat), and after a couple of hours of messaging them I got myself down to £35 for my 2gb connection.

Might be worth trying the WhatsApp route if you're stuck with them as the only fibre in your street like I am.

[Adri_G]

Hi Jarric, thanks for your post on our help forum and this thread.
We're sorry to hear of the issues you faced recently when your previous deal with us expired, glad to see you've sorted this out by chatting to our WhatsApp support team.

We'd like to advise that in the future you may text us on WhatsApp at +447305 327 112 directly, should you wish to speak with one of our staff about your account or package.
This way you won't have to go on the live chat and get redirected from there 🙂
Please, visit here for all our communication methods available to you for future reference.

We hope this info is of benefit to you, let us know if you have any more questions or concerns.
Happy to help out.

[Jarric]

Hi Adri_G

Thank you for replying. I do have one more question; is there any news on getting Virgin hotspots working on Android phones? That is what this thread is about after all, but we don't seem to have got anywhere in the couple of years we've been discussing it.

Cheers

Jarric

[Nathan_B]

Hi there @Jarric, thanks for coming back to us.

We're sorry you're unable to use the hotspots on Android 13 currently. Our team knows there's a compatibility issue and we're working hard to resolve it. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Regards

Nathan

[HandyHat]

Hey @Jarric, not sure what @Nathan_B is on about. As I said a few days back, the hotspots do now work on Android 13.

The update to the Virgin Media Connect app to fix this was released on the 29th of November, so I'm not sure why forum staff still don't know this.

[Jarric]

Sorry @HandyHat, I missed that part of your post. It does now seem to work for me, thanks for the heads up!

[dbrjrievcdhdkeb]

I'm out of contract in a week. VM is increasing the cost of my package by 33% if I don't swap to another provider or take out a new contract.

I'll use a VM wifi hotspot today just to say that I did.

And then I'll either leave VM or negotiate a new contract with a better price... and never have access to the hotspots again.

Losing the London Underground hotspots is showstopper, so I'll leave VM.

What a disappointing outcome.

What a waste of time. 

#VMfail

[Ilyas_Y]

Hey @dbrjrievcdhdkeb, thanks for reaching out to us on the Virgin Media forums.

I'm sorry to hear that you're thinking of leaving us.
If you do wish to look for a new package, you can check here.
Alternatively you can ring us on 0345 454 1111 and our packages team can get this done.

Let us know how it goes.

Kind regards,
Ilyas.

[HandyHat]

With hotspots being phased out, I assume most people will have stopped caring about whether they are still working or not.

For those still keeping track, however, the hotspots once again do not work on Android 14, with the exact same error message of "No Server Response" as before.

It additionally appears that they cannot be setup on Android 13 anymore either.

I managed to set them up one phone last year while running Android 13 and they continue to work on that phone now that it has been upgraded to Android 14.

On another phone, however, I cannot set them up today - neither on Android 13 nor 14.

What a shambles.