Virgin Media Community

[folkbeard]

Hi, I'm considering taking out a fibre broadband contract (upgrading from standard broadband), and wonder if someone could give me some guidance on whether it'll improve and issue I'm having...

My existing standard broadband says it can operate up to 11mb/s, but because of the poor signal in the South Manchester area it's actually more like 3mb/s. This is actually fine for me working from home on my own, and I never have issues. But when my partner comes over, and there are 2 computers on the network, it'll crash one or both of us out. I guess this is because I just don't have the bandwidth to handle it?

My question is - if I get fibre broadband advertised at 108mb/s, will it really be close to that or will I still be stuck in 3mb/s and having the same issue?

Thanks

[Christy_D]

Good Afternoon

Thanks for reaching out to us and yes going for a higher download speed package will definitely improve things for you. 

Who is your current Internet Service Provider?

Christy

[VM-Jon]

Yes, you will get the speed we advertise. Our minimum is 100meg, raising to 1000meg in some areas.

[jbrennand]

Yes you will (should!) get the bandwidth advertised on ethernet cable connected devices. Whether you can achieve that on wifi is another question 🙂

The connection you describe is useless for "modern" connections. A 4K UHD Netflix stream needs ~25Mbps, a HD stream needs about 5Mbps - per device! So going up to a 100 or greater packge should solve all of your woes.

I am in South Manchester too (Didsbury) on the 200 package and have no bandwith issues at all

[carl_pearce]

The 'official' stance on speeds:

https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/broadband/speeds 

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Our estimated broadband speeds

To make our broadband speeds crystal clear, we’ve set them out in a handy table. These estimated speeds apply to all new customers who buy our broadband services, and to existing customers who change their broadband services, on or after February 28th 2019.

  Download Speeds                                                                              Upload Speeds

Product	Advertised Speed*	Expected Speed Range**	Minimum Guaranteed Download Speed	Advertised Speed*	Expected Speed Range**
M50	54 Mbps	52 - 54 Mbps	27 Mbps	5 Mbps	5 Mbps
M100	108 Mbps	108 - 111 Mbps	54 Mbps	10 Mbps	10 Mbps
M200	213 Mbps	209 - 218 Mbps	107 Mbps	20 Mbps	20 - 21 Mbps
M350	362 Mbps	350 - 380 Mbps	181 Mbps	35 Mbps	34 - 37 Mbps
M500	516 Mbps	463 - 545 Mbps	258 Mbps	36 Mbps	35 - 37 Mbps
M600	636 Mbps	510 - 647 Mbps	318 Mbps	41 Mbps	38 - 42 Mbps
Gig1 Fibre Broadband	1140 Mbps	1120 - 1140 Mbps	570 Mbps	52 Mbps	48 - 52 Mbps

* The advertised download and upload speeds for our Virgin Fibre packages are calculated by taking the median average, or the mid-point between the fastest and slowest speeds for each package at peak times (8-10pm), each month. This is in line with the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) guidance.

** The expected speed range is the normal download and upload speed that you could expect at peak times (8-10pm, Monday-Sunday). This is in line with Ofcom’s guidance.
 

Our advertised speeds

The advertised download and upload speeds for our broadband packages are average speeds, calculated by taking the mid-point between the fastest and slowest speeds for each package at peak times (8-10pm). We’ve done this in line with the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) guidance.

As these are average speeds, they’re not guaranteed.

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[folkbeard]

Thanks for all the help everyone. Some really useful information here 🙂