Possible return to Virgin

[Mark2260]

Hi,

I'm currently thinking of changing provider, Im with BT at the moment and due for renewal on the 13th Feb, BT have jacked there charge up to £37 for my 28meg service (currently paying £31), our street is an old one (previous house was only 3 streets away and was great, both lines run into the same cabinet) and I have them out once or twice a year on average with slow speeds due to the age of the cabling in the ground according to the engineers, my connection comes in and connects to a Vigor 2865 router then to a switch then to an access point bang in the middle of our bungalow, all of our problems are outside according to Ping Plotter and confirmed by engineers so....

My questions are

1. I left Virgin 10 years ago because of the crippling low speeds of 2.5 meg, I had to call every month and try to claim money back, it was constant lies, I had been with them from Telewest days when first installed in Wigan and it was dial up, has anything changed with the service or the porky pies they used to tell, I'm in Ashton in Makerfield for a location.

2. Im assuming the hub can go into modem mode and connect to my Vigor 2865 without problems, I have a connecting point outside the house but it goes up a steep driveway and will need to go in through the garage and up the wall over the loft space and down into the utility cupboard where all my services are to mount the hub on a shelf or wall near the router, a distance of approx 26m will there be a problem with that, I will make the trench for them and drill through to inside the garage and run the cable over the loft.

3. I'm thinking of the M264 with TV as its similar to what I pay for now just for broadband, my son has Virgin at his address, problem free for all the time hes had it a few years but a couple of streets away he knows those that have problems. Ive noticed some new cable cabinets that have just been installed over the past few  days on my dog walk, is this part of upgrading the area.

At the end of this is have they changed, is the service better in Ashton, is the customer service better or better stay with the devil I know.

Thanks for any help

Mark

[Adduxi · Accepted solution]

If ( and it's a big if ) the new cabs are for the fibre XSGPON, then the Hub 5X has no modem mode at present, so you will have to double NAT with two routers, or side line the Draytek for the moment.  I believe VM are hoping to have modem mode within the next few months.

If you don't get fibre, but a co-ax Hub, i.e. 3, 4 or 5, then all of these models will do modem mode and will connect to your Draytek.  I have a Hub 5 and a Draytek in modem mode at present, and use 3 PoE AP's for Wifi.

One thing I would strongly suggest, is a BQM setup from the get go.  This is a great tool for checking and recording the state of your circuit.

Also, if your route to the preferred location is "awkward" I would suggest you install suitable conduit with pull ropes.  Anything to make the tech's life easy will be appreciated.  The actual install of the outside omnibox will be done by a 3rd party, and sometimes this can cause delays.

[Mark2260]

Hi , thanks for the reply, a bit of conduit is not a problem and I think its just coax outside, the big question is the service in my area and customer service, I've been reading posts today and it seems like a horror story but as its been said you only really hear of he problems.

[Roger_Gooner]

Does "over the loft" mean through the loft or over the roof of the loft.

[Mark2260]

Hi, its through a stub wall on the outside (garage is internal to the bungalow), I would pre drill then mount the box on the inside wall then its up the inside garage wall through the loft and down the other side into the utilities cupboard, I would do that as I know my loft, installation is not the problem from my side anything to make it easy for whoever does it, its the service that I'm worried about, I don't know if the infrastructure has been upgraded in my area after my previous experience with customer services.

Thanks

[Roger_Gooner]

So long as it's pre-drilled and with a pull rope, then the VM tech can get his cable into the utilities cupboard. This would be a coaxial cable but there is a small chance that you are in one of the new XGS-PON areas which are going live (in which case you'll have a hub 5X with no modem mode, TV or landline).