Slow speeds since moving to new sim

[archercj]

I have a Virgin SIM in an Archer mr600 router. I was getting speeds of over 60mbs.

Just swapped it with the new Sim Virgin sent me and I now get speeds of less than 1mbs. Anybody any ideas. I can't put the old SIM back in by the way as the swap process disables it. 

[enlli · Accepted solution]

Probably the move to Vodafone, but why so many Virgin customers are getting slow speeds we don't  know.

Don't expect much help from Virgin as using their SIM cards in a router is against their Terms and Conditions.

[archercj]

Thank you enlli. It is reassuring to know that the slowdown seems to be a common issue. Annoying but at least I can stop racking my brains trying different APN settings.

And strike the reference to using it in a router. The speed issue is happening when I there from from mobile 🙂

[archercj]

I'm am going to have a little rant here.

I am fortunate to have a '2nd' home, a static caravan on the east coast. It's rural so signal is big issue. Hence tethering from a phone is flaky, with speeds as low as 1mbps. And seeing as in this brave new post pandemic world a lot of us can work from 'home' I needed to boost signal so the new norm of Teams meetings (urghhh) could be achieved. So an investment in a router that can take a sim plus a dedicated 4g aerial was the answer. My speeds rose to between 40mbps and 75mbps (dependant on weather conditions as line of site to the nearest mast is pretty good albeit a fair way away).

So to find myself with speeds a half or even a third of what they were as Virgin move away from  EE to Vodafone is a little frustrating. And I am sure there are plenty more 'rural' folk who may experience the same. Even if when they have a trip into the nearest big city they can enjoy 5g.

[Paulina_Z]

Hi @archercj,

Welcome back to our Community Forums! Thank you for your post, and I'm very sorry to hear that this has been your experience with us. 

Can you clarify what you mean in regards to putting your SIM in a Router? Are you referring to a SIM card in a Dongle which can provide a broadband connection? 

Are you able to attach a picture of your set up, so we know more about this, and see how we can help?

Thank you.

[archercj]

I am using an Archer MR600 which is basically a glorified dongle. You put the sim in that and connect via wifi. The benefit of this is that I am in a rural area with poor signal so with this setup I can attach a 4g antenna (Bluespot) which is located on a pole outside.

With proper positioning (pointing at the nearest 4g mast) I was able to obtain constant speeds of around 40-75mbps. Note: simply having the sim in my phone would result in speeds of 1-4mbps. No good for streaming and Teams.

The 40-75mbps speeds I mention worked with the old (EE) sim. Since moving over to the new sim (Vodafone) this weekend with the exact same configuration (although the Archer MR600 auto detects a new sim and reconfigures it for Vodafone) the speeds are significantly less.

[Paulina_Z]

Hi @archercj,

Thank you for your Private Message, however, please do not message staff directly, unless we initiate this first. This way, if one of our team is off on annual leave, another member of the team can help you with your query, and you're not left waiting until the person you messaged comes back online. You can read more about the Forum Rules here.

Thank you for coming back to me and explaining the situation a little more. Can you confirm that this is a third party device, and not something that Virgin Media provided for you?

You can take a look at your Mobile Network Status to see if you're impacted by any area issues. 

Can you tell us a little more in regards to the issue you mentioned in the Private Message? Anything we can help you with?

Let us know.

[archercj]

My private message to you contained personal details of my mobile number that I am hardly going to post it in this public forum now am I.

May I make a suggestion that either your company improve the response times when phoning (I have better things to do than sit around for 30+ minutes waiting for a response) or indeed have a proper online helpdesk service rather than rely on a public forum that often results in the general public sorting out your company problems.

A s I stated in my private message I would like my phone number checking as I got an error message via text during the switch. And yes teh sim is in a 3rd party product which worked fine BEFORE the sim switch!

[Paulina_Z]

Hi @archercj,

I understand, and I'm more than happy to help you look into this once I ask a few more questions about your switch issue.

Can you please confirm if you're able to send and receive texts on your current SIM?

Are you able to access the internet via Mobile Data?

Can you tell me what the error message was saying? I'll be happy to investigate this further for you.

Thank you.

[archercj]

Thank you for your prompt response. To answer your questions:

 - i can confirm I can send/receive texts

- i can access the internet but the speed is significantly slower than with the old sim

- the error was that I got a text message during the sim swap exercise saying the swap had failed and to contact support on 789 but using the OLD sim. Unfortunately if I reinserted that sim i get no mobile services at all

Regards