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Customers fobbed off

MaxInfinity
Tuning in

I don't normally feel the need to post stuff on forums, but my conversation today with Virgin Media has changed that.

I have an M200 connection which is running at under 50mb/s constantly. Before I go further I will list my connections and previous experience with the M200 connection.

2 Laptops connected, 2 phones connected 2 Tv's connected these are the permanent connections.

i have other stuff but they are only connected now and then. This has been the same for maybe 2 years or more. when my connection was upgraded from M100 to M200 I was getting 170mb/s constantly and at certain times actually over 200mb/s. Once a month regular it would drop and noticeably slow down so I would phone them up they would do their checks and it would be straight back up to full speed (Yes sounds suspicious to me too). Thats a very basic history outline.

Now today after having to look up how to get through to someone real to speak too (you cant do this normally. will ask you you type 1 if this info is correct etc and tell you they cant find any faults and then cut you off 100% of the time. Try it yourself if you don't believe me they really do not want to talk to customers.) I am asked things I have never been asked before like 1) is your router too far away. 2) is your router too close. 3) is your router close to any electrical items wth.

now bare in mind my router has been in the same position since it was installed god knows how many years ago now so unless my plug sockets or electrical items are able to move themselves around the room without any help, then there's no possible way that can have any barring on the situation. Maybe my next door neighbours have installed a magnetron that is affecting my Speeds.

They tell me they cannot guarantee download speeds. Then why are you allowed to advertise them as such. That's like a bank offering a £100 loan and saying we cannot guarantee you will get the full £100 pound, then don't advertise it as £100 loan.

I am sick and tired of these large companies that have no interest in their customers problems as long as the money keeps rolling in.

Now watch the reply I get from a token Virgin media rep saying sorry for your bad experience but we do care about our customers, because just like the call centres in countries where you cannot understand what they are saying half the time, its all read from a sheet. I spend half the phone conversation repeating or getting the rep to repeat what he said because I cannot understand him/Her

18 REPLIES 18

jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person
Can we start with some basic trouble shooting as you havent said much about the "permanent" connections

Are the issues only evident on wifi connections or do you see them at the same times on devices connected (permanently?) on ethernet cables? If you don't have ethernet connections, can you check on one - to help diagnose whether it is just a wifi issue or it could be network connection/Hub related?

Is it just speed issues or is it dropping out completely on you?

What Hub model is it? What are the various Hub lights showing/doing when this happens?

We can look at other stuff once we know that.

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John
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I do not work for VM. My services: HD TV on VIP (+ Sky Sports & Movies & BT sport), x3 V6 boxes (1 wired, 2 on WiFi) Hub5 in modem mode with Apple Airport Extreme Router +2 Airport Express's & TP-Link Archer C64 WAP. On Volt 350Mbps, Talk Anytime Phone, x2 Mobile SIM only iPhones.

Firstly Thanks for replying

I will try to answer as best I can

The tv is the only device with a wired connection apart from the XBox and PS4 which are Very rarely even turned on.

the 2 laptops are on wireless connections and these are the only devices that i use for web surfing and internet use

My phone is only used for web stuff when I am at work so is not connected to my home network when I am using it. As for speeds on these other devices I have no idea as i have never felt the need and would not know how to test them as I do not use them for internet stuff, with the exception of downloading the odd game here and there.

The router is a virgin media Hub 3.0 with just the yellowish white light showing at the front

I have even moved the router on top of the tv unit directly facing my main laptop with no difference at all

I should mention the second laptop just runs my plex server the same as its always done. I have turned this off and that also has made no difference as well.

Paulina_Z
Forum Team (Retired)
Forum Team (Retired)

Hi @MaxInfinity,

Welcome to our Community Forums! Thank you for your first post and I'm very sorry to hear that you've not had a good experience with us and that you've been having some ongoing issues with your speeds recently! I understand how frustrating this must be for you and I'll do my best to assist with this.

I can see that @jbrennand has reached out to help with your issue. I understand that it is speeds that you're having the most problems with. Have you been able to taken a look at our Speed Up page for more tips on how to improve your speeds? There's also a WiFi SOS page that you can take a look at which may help in regards to this ongoing problem.

I was able to run some further checks on our systems and look at your power levels. At the moment, I cannot see any issues that would be causing you problems. However, if you provide us with more information about this, we'll be happy to investigate further.

Can you tell us what speeds you're receiving on a wired connection on your laptops at home?

Thank you.

 

Paulina_Z
Forum Team

New around here? Check out the do's and don'ts, in our Community FAQs


Unfortunately I do not have a cable to test wired connection well actually I do but they in cable routing and would be a nightmare to remove and replace.

That being said I just did a speed test. Now bare in mind nothing has changed except my router has been put back to its original position from which I repositioned it after trying things I was told to do, so its now back where it was when i was getting the 30 to 50 mb/s speeds. Now today suddenly im getting 278mb/s download and 36mb/s upload on a wireless connection and these are the speeds i would expect from a m200 connection and then some. Now it may be coincidence but whenever I complain i get great speeds then a week or so later It will go back down to the slow speeds. I am now talking to sky broadband as the have guaranteed speeds and although they are not as fast as virgin, I would rather have 150mb/s all the time than 50mb/s 90% of the time and 270mb/s 10% of the time. Thanks for your help guys its most appreciated.

Just gonna say, its coincidence.
Someone is not reducing your speed because they don't think you'll notice, thats a genuine crackpot conspiracy theory right there, so please just put that idea to bed.
I am fairly critical of Virgin as my post history suggests, but even that is a step way too far for them.

Realistically, it will probably be that some of the joints or connections are old or weathered and potentially need replacing, and or an engineer visit to resolve a power level issue.
If you wait, a more experienced forum community member will come along and ask (with explanation) of how to post your power levels etc... and from tehre the forum mods will either dm or ask in the thread if they can arrange an engineer if needed based off of those readings.

jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

To run the tests just get a 10/20/50 metre run of Cat5e/6 cable for less than a tenner and run it from the Hub to the device you can test on. Just run it along the floor, up stairs, through doorways etc... run the tests for an hour or so to see if the speeds are stable on that connection. Do this at the time your wifi speeds drop again

If the speeds are ok then..... just roll the cable up put it in your "bits" cupboard and focus on sorting out the wifi issues.  If not it may well be a bad wiring connection somewhere

If not, then you have already discovered that it may be "cured" by simply putting the Hub in a position where it is not subject to external interference or blockage.

As an example, whenever we switch on our new Panasonic microwave oven (it's near the router in the kitchen) the wifi signal upstairs drops completely. Just happened an hour or two ago to me when my son went down to microwave soup for his lunch (thanks Panny!!) 😞

It can almost certainly be cured permanently by putting the Hub into modem mode and getting your own better quality router and wireless equipment than that provided with the Poundshop VM Hub - and also locating it away from any Panasonic microwave oven (or lots of other sources of interference)


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John
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I do not work for VM. My services: HD TV on VIP (+ Sky Sports & Movies & BT sport), x3 V6 boxes (1 wired, 2 on WiFi) Hub5 in modem mode with Apple Airport Extreme Router +2 Airport Express's & TP-Link Archer C64 WAP. On Volt 350Mbps, Talk Anytime Phone, x2 Mobile SIM only iPhones.

thanks

Just to clarify the hub is back (behind the tv unit) where it has always been I only moved it on top of the unit to see if i would get better speeds it was there for a day and made no difference. I put it back behind the tv unit and re checked and was still getting 30 to 50 mb/s. Then today i ran a check and am getting 270/36 mb/s. as for cables being withered, the outside cable was replaced about 2 years ago as some workers cut through it while i was having my driveway concreted and the inside cable was replaced because when it was installed they stapled through the wire to fix it to the skirting board.

crackpot theories are only crackpot when there is no evidence pointing in that direction. Getting good speeds only when i phone and complain does have merit no matter how far fetched it maybe, but as i said it maybe coincidence.

these are the speeds im getting today JFYI

PING ms
13
DOWNLOAD Mbps
290.40
UPLOAD Mbps
36.69

jbrennand
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

Wonder if there perhaps is a bad connection on the co-ax connector going into the Hub and when you physically move it it remakes a good connection in the connector? Does it feel nice and tight and solid and speeds stay "solid" when you tweak it about?


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John
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I do not work for VM. My services: HD TV on VIP (+ Sky Sports & Movies & BT sport), x3 V6 boxes (1 wired, 2 on WiFi) Hub5 in modem mode with Apple Airport Extreme Router +2 Airport Express's & TP-Link Archer C64 WAP. On Volt 350Mbps, Talk Anytime Phone, x2 Mobile SIM only iPhones.