Virgin broadband N.Ireland

[Dieselglider]

Hi, I'm considering signing up fo £49 broadband/TV deal, are Virgin broadband users in N.Ireland getting decent performance from the network?

I'm seeing plenty of speed complaints in the forum, just wondering if this is nationwide.

Cheers

[jbrennand]

Your best option is to look around your location for those neighbours with VM connections and ask them what their connectivity is like. Much better to ask locally rather than "nationally" as it can depend on things like how many customers are connected into your nearest street cabinet, etc

[Dieselglider]

Thanks for that, it's all brand new to the area where I live, but I am putting some feelers out.

[Andrew-G · Accepted solution]

If it's a new build area for VM, then chances are it will be RFoG (FTTP) and the likelihood of unresolvable performance problems is low.  If you want it, order it, but keep your existing arrangements in place until you're happy that the VM service is everything you hope for.  You'll have two weeks from the installation to cancel without paying a penny if you decide that the service doesn't meet expectations.

[Dieselglider]

Yep, They've been very busy in our town lately, laying underground cabling, and up every telegraph pole mounting boxes with tails.  Door to door cold calling too.  I think my main concerns would be if the congestion I have read about on here is nationwide, or localised, and also if WiFi performance would be similar to my BT Hub 5?

[Roger_Gooner]

Broadband problems outside N Ireland have nothing to do with you as the equipment (like hub site) you would connect to is probably based in Belfast.

Nobody can tell you what the service will be for you. Sign up with VM and get out with no penalty within a fornight if you don't like it.

[Adduxi]

VM don’t use telegraph poles, that would be Openreach. However I’ve been with NTL/VM for a very long time and 99% of the time the Broadband has been good. However I have always used the Hubs in modem mode and run my own networking kit. 
NI based as well. 

[Dieselglider]

Definitely VM kit getting installed on poles around here.  They even put their labels at bottom of poles with VM name, and access date.

I have heard another positive report today from another VM user, who has been with VM for nearly five years, and works from home with zero issues, so that's good.

[Roger_Gooner]

In a small percentage of cases VM makes use of OFCOM’s physical infrastructure access (PIA) which enables operators to use Openreach's poles or ducts to get fibre to customer premises. This is for the FTTP network and not for the legacy HFC network.

The first time that I'm aware of VM doing this in Northern Ireland was in 2019 in the town of Lurgan, County Armagh.

[Adduxi]

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@Dieselglider wrote:

Definitely VM kit getting installed on poles around here.  They even put their labels at bottom of poles with VM name, and access date.

<snip>

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Well there you go now.   Everyday is a school day !

I've also been with NTL/VM for many years, and 99% of the time it is all good.