Virgin Media Community

[Luca_Mahdi]

Hi u have had virgin media in since April. 

I have had issues with signal. 

So the engineer came out and split the box into 2 bandwidths. This is not ideal as i have to split from 2.4ghz to 5ghz on 2 different WiFi networks this is so frustrating. Also the signal upstairs is so weak my phones offen go to 4g mode. They say its got no black spots. And it's very close to the hub. 

I'm really thinking of cancelling. 

I am wondering would a WiFi extender help, if so I don't think I should be paying for it. 

[Andruser]

On the assumption that you've got a Hub 3, if you mean the VM wifi boosters, they're not offered free any more, and you'd have to rent them at £3 a month, which is poor value, so don't do that.  In a year you'd have paid almost the amount to buy your own outright, and their has been criticism from some users of the quality of the VM boosters, but I've never used them so can't say.

You say you don't think you should pay for it, and I'm not here to say whether you should or should not, all I can say is that the VM hubs are built down to a low price, and have very modest wifi capabilities.  In an easy wireless environment they can be entirely adequate.  Demand more of them, or have a house with challenging wifi conditions (eg steel beam construction, solid brick internal walls, three or more floors or other issues) and they struggle.  If you want to go down this route then consider spending £50 on the Tenda Nova PH5 AV1000.

Even if buying your own, a powerline booster will only help if you can meet the setup requirements.  There's two units, both must be plugged directly into a wall socket (not an extension lead or multiplug), the first unit then needs a network cable to the Hub.  And both wall sockets must be on the same electrical circuit.  If they are on different circuits performance is usually impaired, or they may not work at all.  So not that convenient a solution unless you can tick those boxes.

On the assumption that you don't want to run ethernet cables around the house, and you want a fit and forget wifi setup that's a big step up from a powerline booster, you should consider a mesh wifi system.  I use and would recommend the TP-Link Deco M4, there's plenty of other options if you prefer.  Avoid cheaper systems without gigabit ethernet ports.  That'll set you back around a hundred quid, but its a one off expense and will work with all future ISPs if you leave VM.  The Deco M4 is simple to setup and uses a single network name for 2.4 and 5 GHz, but manages this very well, unlike the Hub 3.

So, I think those are your options - or just putting up with the poor wifi of the Hub 3.

[Luca_Mahdi]

Thank you for your advice. 

I have ordered the TP-Link Deco M4 kit,

Hope this sorts the issues I'm having! And also wondering if I plug one into my garage would it reach? It's about 30m away from the main hub 

[MikeRobbo]

The only thing to do is try it.

[Andruser]

Plugging one into the garage is worth a try, but 30m outside is a long distance for wifi, particularly for 5 GHz and if the straight line signal has to pass through the house wall and the garage wall, you'd most likely find that the wifi isn't useable, but it costs nothing to try.  If there's "line of sight" between one of the Deco units in the house and the one in the garage via a window things might be better, but still no guarantees, and I'd think probably not.  Powerline adaptors usually won't help because a detached garage is usually on its own circuit.

If you need wifi in the garage, then if it is at all possible you should consider running a long Cat 6 ethernet cable from a Deco in the house to the one in the garage - I appreciate that's a long way for an outside cable run, and that domestic considerations may make cable routing difficult, but it is the only 100% certain way of ensuring strong wifi in the garage.  An outdoor grade Cat 6 pre-terminated cable of 40m or so is around £25, or less if you're prepared to put the plugs on yourself, but allow for any ducting, tools, and materials to make good if drilling holes or fastening the cable.  As a rough estimate, doing it yourself for a wired connection to the garage at that distance is going to cost around £75-£100.  Or half as much again if you go for a fancy job with wall mounted ethernet sockets, and junction boxes.

Things to consider are that you need to put the cable somewhere it won't get damaged - perhaps in mini-trunking along a fence, or buried at least 10 inches deep somewhere you know you'll never dig (and even then ideally in a cheap conduit or .   Also, if using pre-terminated cable then any holes drilled need to be much bigger than the cable to accommodate the plug.  For a cheaper and easier (if slightly bodged) job you can just lay outdoor grade ethernet along the surface say at the foot of a hedge or fence where you're unlikely to dig or tread, but if you do this, you MUST make sure that it is easy to replace the exposed outdoor length when it gets damaged.  

If money's no object you can probably get somebody to do this for you - I'd start asking the sort of small IT support businesses who normally work for other local businesses if they'd do it and how much, or the small businesses that advertise their skills in smart homes and home networking.

[tehwolf]

If your cable run it’s looking like it’s going to cost that much then an alternative is point to point wireless.. I use a pair of unifi devices that cost a bit less than that and provide a very stable 150mb connection over a 50 ish metre distance..

cable is probably simpler though 😉