Cancelled Virgin...what do I need with a new BB provider?

[Tiggsy]

Sorry to hijack but I'm about to get VM installed as the current BT line is too slow (cant ever get over 30mbs.....have been told that the VM should run up around 300mbs as they have run fiber from the cabinet round the corner to all the new build houses here (whatever that means)

Anyway - most of my stuff in the house (tv, pc, etc) runs off wired (theres a cat5 hub by the router under the stairs that feeds the whole house)

But the phones still need wifi (and the kids are on the 3rd floor) so good wifi is a must....

In simple terms - how simple is it to put VM into modem mode and what router do I then buy? Happy to spend up to £100 on it....flexible budget if there's something better (or cooler!)

[WinstonWolf]

Very easy. Virgin fibre with your own wifi is about the best solution on the market. I'm a big fan of the Ubiquiti kit. It's a bit more tricky to set up than some of the consumer stuff but worth it if you're fairly techie.

To the OP, BT won't be as good as your existing fibre with your own source of wi-fi. You'll live to regret it if you go to a copper service.

Virgin are pestering me to upgrade my service to 300mb...

[t2007p]

Tiggsy said:

Sorry to hijack but I'm about to get VM installed as the current BT line is too slow (cant ever get over 30mbs.....have been told that the VM should run up around 300mbs as they have run fiber from the cabinet round the corner to all the new build houses here (whatever that means)

Anyway - most of my stuff in the house (tv, pc, etc) runs off wired (theres a cat5 hub by the router under the stairs that feeds the whole house)

But the phones still need wifi (and the kids are on the 3rd floor) so good wifi is a must....

In simple terms - how simple is it to put VM into modem mode and what router do I then buy? Happy to spend up to £100 on it....flexible budget if there's something better (or cooler!)

If you have cat5 points on the other floors I would keep the hub3 to do wifi down stairs and then have a wireless access points on the upper floors to create a good network that way.

[dmsims]

The Hub3 is a POS and I wouldn't use it for anything - wired or wireless

Make them give you a Superhub 2AC and buy an Asus/TP-Link router (other are available ) router

If the former you can put Merlin's firmware on it

[98elise]

dmsims said:

The Hub3 is a POS and I wouldn't use it for anything - wired or wireless

Make them give you a Superhub 2AC and buy an Asus/TP-Link router (other are available ) router

If the former you can put Merlin's firmware on it

Oddly they did offer a "downgrade" as part of the retention conversation. Give that it was probably my 20th call to them I was in no mood to give them any more chances to fix the problem.

I cannot overstate how crap their offshore support is. Shortly after the initial installation VM called me to confirm all was ok, I honestly thought is was a scam because they were not listening to what I was saying, and just wanted to install their antivirus on my devices.

There is no continuity with their support and they only treat your current symptom. If you call 20 times (as I have) they will just try to get you working and off the phone. There is no concept of it being a persistent problem. It's just treated as 20 seperate issues, all resolved and finished with.

[Tomo1971]

OP, you will really regret this - stick with VM. I agree that their offshore service isnt the best but there are still UK staff that do support, just a case of ringing at the right time to get them.

You should have googled Virgin superhub poor wifi or similar before terminating as everyone and their dog will recommend the same as people on here, modem mode & your own router. Even a cheapy from eBay is better than the SH POS.

It is EXCEPTIONALLY easy to set up modem mode and your own router - plenty of Youtube Videos and comments on virgin's own community forum to help you along.

Virgin is fibre to the cabinet and then coax from there to your home. Coax is just better at carrying the signal to your home than BT's twisted pair.

[98elise]

TheDrBrian said:

98elise said:

WinstonWolf said:

98elise said:

WinstonWolf said:

Personally I'd reinstate it and ditch the SH3. Put it in modem mode then get your own access point. You won't match VM 'fibre' for speed.

I don't need speed, I need a reliable service. I'm paying a high price for what I thought was a premium service.

I want a working service, and some form of customer support. I've been trying to to get this from VM for about 3 months now and I've run out of patience. I would rather do without BB than pay them any more money.

The virgin fibre service is very reliable and fast as a rule, the SH is a bit pants at wi-fi. You will get the best internet by using the Sh in modem mode and providing your own wi-fi. Most of the supplied routers with all providers aren't very good.

You're probably moving from one problem to a different one.

The adverts for BT seem to be saying their WiFi is significantly better than VM. I don't mind paying a top money for a decent service.

I have no issue with VM wired BB. It's the WiFi and their customer service that sucks.

I had an automated call from VM today to check how the support call went. I gave them a crap score and left a polite message about not fixing the issue, and the call handler hanging up on me.

Their calls are recorded so I hope they go back and listen to the support call.

Edited by 98elise on Friday 26th May 20:29

Their router might be better at wifi but the speed is wk and if you roll your own router you get a bunch of neat features that nether company offer on their own routers. It doesn't matter if the wifi is 802.11ac if you're connecting to the wider world via a 56k modem.

I just need enough speed to play Netflix. I've had all manner of speeds from VM over the years and it's never been a problem before.

The two things I want are:

1. Decent WiFi
2. Decent customer service

I get neither of those from VM. I tried to ring them again last night as I was getting 1 meg. The queue was 30+ minutes and the call handler just did the usual switch it off and on, and ignored my requests to fix the problem.

My mother has talk talk and she has no issues with netflix and WiFi. She is on their cheapest unlimited service.

[WinstonWolf]

I give up. Don't say we didn't warn you...

[hyphen]

WinstonWolf said:

I give up. Don't say we didn't warn you...

OP just wants to watch Netflix, and I'm sure many ISP's will provide this service to his satisfaction.

I think Netflix actually pays many ISP's to maximise their content delivery so ultimately speed is not the factor.

Edited by hyphen on Tuesday 30th May 20:31

[WinstonWolf]

No point in downgrading though. The BT HH isn't particularly good at providing wifi either.

[gobuddygo]

WinstonWolf said:

No point in downgrading though. The BT HH isn't particularly good at providing wifi either.

The new BT smart hub is very good, I had the home hub and upgraded, i used to have 2 wifi extenders as the range was rubbish don't need them anymore and get a strong wifi throughout the whole house.

[MissChief]

Some good advice, some terrible in here.

Your chosen Openreach network provider will check your address details and then decide if a line exists to your house or not and if an Engineer visit is required.

Do you want to keep your landline number? If so you'll need to get Virgin to revert your telephone service, as a minimum, back to 'active' (rather than pending cancel/termination) so your chosen new provider can port the number. if you don't have or care about your landline number, just approach your new provider.

First of all, check here: https://www.homeandwork.openreach.co.uk/when-can-i... to see if Fibre is available. Unless you're less than a mile from your exchange your speeds will likely be less than 10 meg which for 4k Netflix just won't do!
You can also check here: http://dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.address with house number/name and postcode to get an idea of speeds. Post up the results (remembering to remove/edit your address details from the top of the results)

Both BT, PlusNet and EE have terrible customer service. the latest OFCOM survey shows they have far more complaints about them than any other provider, even taken individually rather than as a whole group. Plusnet also have the longest average wait time as well at over 7 minutes.

While Virgin have great headline speeds there are many and numerous threads on the Virgin official forums and elsewhere about terrible contention issues across the country with reports of supposed 200Meg connections struggling to get into double figures at peak times. i.e. when you're most likely to be settling down to watch something on Netflix.

Regarding Wi-Fi, if you have an Apple device (and I'm sure someone in the house does) download the Airport Utility on it. It's an official Apple app and free. Then: enable Wi-Fi scan mode for the iOS AirPort Utility, as follows:
Settings > AirPort Utility > Wi-Fi Scanner and enable it
 
Now when you run the AirPort Utility, you will find a Wi-Fi Scan option in the upper right-hand corner. Select this, and then choose the scan duration, I recommend 20-30 seconds. Select Scan and let the scanner run. Depending on the duration time set, you should get a number of results that includes the channel your Router and your neighbours are on. Then you can change your wireless channel to a free or less congested one, using the instructions here: https://help.virginmedia.com/system/templates/self...

Edited by MissChief on Wednesday 31st May 09:50

[dmsims]

Bu that still leave him with the SH3 (if he stays on Virgin) which is no solution at all!!

[MissChief]

dmsims said:

Bu that still leave him with the SH3 (if he stays on Virgin) which is no solution at all!!

I've never used one but yes, I haven't heard good things about the Wi-Fi it's true. At least it might help improve things.

[WinstonWolf]

MissChief said:

dmsims said:

Bu that still leave him with the SH3 (if he stays on Virgin) which is no solution at all!!

I've never used one but yes, I haven't heard good things about the Wi-Fi it's true. At least it might help improve things.

The SH3 is fine as a modem, just don't use the wi-fi. I've got Virgin with a Ubiquiti AP and all is well with the world.

[98elise]

MissChief said:

Some good advice, some terrible in here.

Your chosen Openreach network provider will check your address details and then decide if a line exists to your house or not and if an Engineer visit is required.

Do you want to keep your landline number? If so you'll need to get Virgin to revert your telephone service, as a minimum, back to 'active' (rather than pending cancel/termination) so your chosen new provider can port the number. if you don't have or care about your landline number, just approach your new provider.

First of all, check here: https://www.homeandwork.openreach.co.uk/when-can-i... to see if Fibre is available. Unless you're less than a mile from your exchange your speeds will likely be less than 10 meg which for 4k Netflix just won't do!
You can also check here: http://dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.address with house number/name and postcode to get an idea of speeds. Post up the results (remembering to remove/edit your address details from the top of the results)

Both BT, PlusNet and EE have terrible customer service. the latest OFCOM survey shows they have far more complaints about them than any other provider, even taken individually rather than as a whole group. Plusnet also have the longest average wait time as well at over 7 minutes.

While Virgin have great headline speeds there are many and numerous threads on the Virgin official forums and elsewhere about terrible contention issues across the country with reports of supposed 200Meg connections struggling to get into double figures at peak times. i.e. when you're most likely to be settling down to watch something on Netflix.

Regarding Wi-Fi, if you have an Apple device (and I'm sure someone in the house does) download the Airport Utility on it. It's an official Apple app and free. Then: enable Wi-Fi scan mode for the iOS AirPort Utility, as follows:
Settings > AirPort Utility > Wi-Fi Scanner and enable it
 
Now when you run the AirPort Utility, you will find a Wi-Fi Scan option in the upper right-hand corner. Select this, and then choose the scan duration, I recommend 20-30 seconds. Select Scan and let the scanner run. Depending on the duration time set, you should get a number of results that includes the channel your Router and your neighbours are on. Then you can change your wireless channel to a free or less congested one, using the instructions here: https://help.virginmedia.com/system/templates/self...

Edited by MissChief on Wednesday 31st May 09:50

Thanks for the comprehensive reply!

The fibre checker says its in my area

the dsl link says:

"There is no data available for this number. This could be either because it is not a BT line or it is a new BT number that has just been provided. Most new numbers will appear on the checker 24 hours after BT has installed the line."

obviously its a VM line!

We don't have any apple devices in the house. Laptops are windows, phones and tablets are Android, and TV's are google chromecast.

We're in a detached house and only have 1 neighbour who's Wifi we can see. VM have tried changing the channels a few times, and they have split the two frequencies so that our devices don't switch back and fourth. We still struggle every day with disconnections and very very slow speeds.

[98elise]

WinstonWolf said:

MissChief said:

dmsims said:

Bu that still leave him with the SH3 (if he stays on Virgin) which is no solution at all!!

I've never used one but yes, I haven't heard good things about the Wi-Fi it's true. At least it might help improve things.

The SH3 is fine as a modem, just don't use the wi-fi. I've got Virgin with a Ubiquiti AP and all is well with the world.

Wait until you need to use their help line for anything!

I've had everything from from "Its being cause by a virus on your TV" to "we're not trained to deal with that". I was particularly impressed with their offer of putting me in touch a third party (at my cost) who could fix my problems, or the time they hung up on me when i asked what they changing on the router.

[MissChief]

98elise said:

Thanks for the comprehensive reply!

The fibre checker says its in my area

the dsl link says:

"There is no data available for this number. This could be either because it is not a BT line or it is a new BT number that has just been provided. Most new numbers will appear on the checker 24 hours after BT has installed the line."

obviously its a VM line!

We don't have any apple devices in the house. Laptops are windows, phones and tablets are Android, and TV's are google chromecast.

We're in a detached house and only have 1 neighbour who's Wifi we can see. VM have tried changing the channels a few times, and they have split the two frequencies so that our devices don't switch back and fourth. We still struggle every day with disconnections and very very slow speeds.

Sorry I thought I linked to the address checker here: http://dslchecker.bt.com/ Use the address option although it's not quite as accurate it'll give you an rough idea of what you can get.

[WinstonWolf]

98elise said:

WinstonWolf said:

MissChief said:

dmsims said:

Bu that still leave him with the SH3 (if he stays on Virgin) which is no solution at all!!

I've never used one but yes, I haven't heard good things about the Wi-Fi it's true. At least it might help improve things.

The SH3 is fine as a modem, just don't use the wi-fi. I've got Virgin with a Ubiquiti AP and all is well with the world.

Wait until you need to use their help line for anything!

I've had everything from from "Its being cause by a virus on your TV" to "we're not trained to deal with that". I was particularly impressed with their offer of putting me in touch a third party (at my cost) who could fix my problems, or the time they hung up on me when i asked what they changing on the router.

I have, I do this sort of stuff for a living hence my frustration. The problem isn't their service, it's the poor wi-fi performance on the SH. Swap that and never need to call them again.

[anonymous-user]

OP
You can take this as its intended.

First up analyse what the wi fi channels are in your house There are apps available both for android and windows users
If you find that there are several wifi users SSIDS on the same frequency as your wifi that will cauyse issues
on 2.4ghz wifi the main channels to use are 1/ 6 /11 this is because they have the least overlap of any of the channels

If you can find one of these channels that is not being used by anyone else then switch your superhub to transmit on that channel
Auto means that the suoerhub is changing its wifi channel to avoid conflict with other users it sounds great but it isn't

I too have had issues with VM though mine are of the network issue side I don't use their own wifi I use their superhub in modem only mode and have also used other wifi routers as wireless access points