Virgin Media Community

[FEDUPWITHVMBB]

I am fed up.

As soon as lockdown hit my upload speeds slowed to under 1MBps during office hours. Late in the evening and pre-9am and also at weekends, the upload speeds picks up to a usable rate 6-35MBps range. My download speeds are fine.

I am working from home and has two kids home schooling we all need video calls at some point during the day but this is currently impossible at sud 1MBps. 

I am on the 350MB down and 35Mb up package.

The engineer says it is a network problem because my cables and hub are fine. He was dealing with a similar call in the local area but said that Virgin won't fix it unless enough people are affected?

How can I force Virgin to provide a better and more reliable service. I will have to break covid restrictions and travel to an office so that I can work.

When I phone Virgin Media I am put on hold for 35-40 minutes and then cut off repeatedlty. The online chat service never responds.

I am appealing to Virgin Media to fix the service in my area - either at the cabinet or the exchange.

I am a broadband, tv, phone and mobile user - please help a good customer!!

T

[Andrew-G · Accepted solution]

Sounds like over-utilisation, which is spreading across VM's network like a form of digital Covid at the moment.  And VM senior management are as effective as Matt Hancock.  To check this, setup a BQM, that'll show what's going on with your VM connection.  Post a link to a live, shared graph here and we'll see what's happening.  Usually needs to run for 24 hours before we can draw reasonable conclusions, but the live graph will continuously update so you can do that immediately.

If it is over-utilisation nothing you can do to improve matters. In some areas VM do undertake work to rejig the local networks to balance loads and eliminate over-utilisation. But often that's either not possible, or judged uneconomic if there's a need to spend money on more equipment. And VM won't ever admit the truth, so even if there is a fault reference and a "fix date", there's no way of knowing if that fix date is actually backed by an actual plan of action and programme of works. Quite often it seems not, and as the fix date approaches it is simply moved a month or two ahead.

Your options if it is over-utilisation:

1) Sit it out, and hope that either VM do carry out improvement works, or it resolves of its own accord (ie, other customers throw in the towel and leave before you do).

2) Get yourself a new ISP. If you're in a fixed term contract you'll probably have to use the VM complaints process (and arbitration at CISAS if need be) to try and be released from contract without penalty.  But if you go down the new ISP route, make sure you speak to a competent ISP (AAISP, uno, Aquiss, IDNet, CIX, Zen Internet) to establish your expected speed and whether there's any existing contention (over-utilisation) issues on the Openreach network around you.  Failure to do so could mean you jump ship and find the situation is no better, but your broadband is slower.

[FEDUPWITHVMBB]

ok thanks. I am only 40 yards from the cabinet and there are only two other local users of Virgin Media services. Surely they can provide better than 1MB upload speeds on weekdays? Openreach are always in that cabinet - could they have damaged something?

[Nerog25]

Hopefully this will help you conclude...I raise another forum post earlier complaining about my upload speed being at 5Mbps max. I've just run another speed test this evening (23:30) and the upload speed is back at 20Mbps as it should be. Seems like Lockdown is causing over utilisation as mentioned.

[Pete-StAlbans]

We're experience this every afternoon. Due to slow roll out of Openreach  whole street seems to be on VM.

An alternative, that may help short term, is I use my work phone on EE and tether and setup a Wifi Hotspot then use that for my work laptop. I can join meetings zoom, MS teams etc fine. My EE network coverage isn't great in the house so I might be on 2G/3G. 

Watch out for network charges but we get 4Gb each per month, so I monitor that. Also everyone's at home so there's not actually much use of the EE data plan from colleagues making calls downloading stuff on the phone etc.

HTH

[audetto74]

---

@Andrew-G wrote:

But if you go down the new ISP route, make sure you speak to a competent ISP (AAISP, uno, Aquiss, IDNet, CIX, Zen Internet) to establish your expected speed and whether there's any existing contention (over-utilisation) issues on the Openreach network around you.  Failure to do so could mean you jump ship and find the situation is no better, but your broadband is slower.

---

How do you actually do that?

BT are coming to connect my fibre at the begin of March and I hope I will get a better service, but if I could check what you suggest, I would feel better.

Given that it is impossible to talk to my own ISP (to whom I give money every month), I don't see how calling another one and asking if their service is "good" will add much.

[BoneMatrix]

And right on Q... Just after 19:00 and speeds down/up almost back to expected values ! 

Are VM intentionally rationing bandwifht between 09:00 and 19:00 and if so, why?

[FEDUPWITHVMBB]

certainly looks like Virgin Media are rationing badnwidth? Dead-on 9am and start to release it at 5pm? Can you see lunchtime on the graph..lol

they are either rationing it or there is damage in the cabinet?

How do I get the underlying numbers from the BQM? Do you need to see them?

Thanks.

[audetto74]

You must be on a better timezone.

Mine only comes back at 9PM.

[FEDUPWITHVMBB]

why won't the forum allow me to show you what the BQM showed?