Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Gadgets & Tech Virgin Media National : Problems

Must be because its not cable broadband but telephone wire broadband

If you are getting your internet over the phone lines, the speed you get is fixed by the quality of your line to your house. In general the longer it is the lower the speed.

Individual companies have access to the BT exchange, and install their own equipment there. It is pretty similar for all of them though and works the same way.

Individual companies may be more prepared to 'tweak' their kit to give you a faster service, but it is your line that really fixes the speed.

None of this applies to cable. You can expect full speed.

That said, all networks, however, tend to slow down at peak times when everyone is using it. Also, if you are using your network to down load tons of HD movies or other large files, you will be 'throttled back' by your ISP to stop you hogging the available bandwidth at peak times.

Distance from your home to the Exchange is always the main factor.
Quality of the line can also be a factor when things used to be ok and something has changed.
If you have BT Fiber then its to the Cab at the end of the road.

Your internet will always be as slow as the slowest connection.

* Note when performing Speed Tests you should trust in a Wired connection for an accurate result. Wifi speed tests can quickly telly you if everything is working but a true speed test is via a cable to your router.

Equipment can fail as you have mentioned.

Your right Excoriator and Mark. Last time it happened about 2 years ago the BT engineer said he tweaked some kit back at the exchange and it was much better---for a while.

My lad is suggesting using a mobile phone to get satellite internet and then use that as a router or something like that . Not sure if that would improve things or if it would work

The main thing to give problems is the cable I think. It is not well maintained, and the many of the connections are subject to damp and corrode.

Years ago, BT experimented with copper clad steel wires from the pole to your handset. These were much cheaper and worked fine until, inevitably with two dissimilar metals, corrosion started happening. We were with BT at the time and noticed a high level of hissing and crackling on the line as well as poor internet performance. I complained and linesman came out and replaced ALL the wiring from the pole to the phone socket. That improved thing significantly.

What the rest of the cable to the exchange is like I have no idea, but there are probably quite a few other points at which corrosion can occur.

I can't advise on your idea of using a mobile phone. It may well be better than ADSL, but won't it prove expensive? You can get 4G internet dongles too, but I think they are relatively slow (21 MB comes to mind) and have quite low data limits.

It may be worth your while writing to Virgin to ask them to consider spending some of the £3 billion they are spending to extend their network, on extending it as far as where you live. Cable is much better, and they can only say no! Its not a crime to ask.

text yesterday from VM asking me to ring them as they need more information to fix it. Finally got through after going through press option 2 etc etc etc. Was put on hold while he found another person to speak to who said its been fixed but monitor it again over the next 24hours. Mentioned BT engineer said problem was with router but they said router is fine if its got green lights.
checked speeds several times again and cant get above 1mbs. Getting the feeling they are just taking the p before they finally pass it over to Talk Talk. Which was due to be 8th March but now put back.
Off to cancel my direct debit with them and see how fast they act.

When you call them they have an optional number to press if you're thinking of leaving them. It may be worth trying that?

I'm confused as to who you actually get your service from fish as you mention VM, BT & Talk Talk.
Have you had an engineer call out and talk through the issues on site? When you phone up you don't usually speak to someone truly technical to start with (there are individual exceptions). Front line operators are trained to talk you through common faults which they are directed to do so from a screen led system.

anyone that doesn't use Virgin Media .. connects through a BT line as far as to the exchange ... i guess that its the outdated BT line that keeps dropping your connection .. .. changing to talk talk etc .. still use that line ,, virgin go straight out from your home , bypassing any exchange

Am with Virgin Media National but they have sold that bit to Talk Talk and I become a Talk Talk customer. The telephone lines still belong to BT. Bit like Virgin Rail and Railtrack. Different companies own different bits of the network.

Last 2 days download speed not got above 0.9. Apparently now it is the router and a new one on its way. Cancelled direct debit but just missed out on last bill being paid. Will wait to see what happens then complain and see if i can get some reimbursement on the line rental at least--they make enough out of me on call charges .

Thanks for that Fish, its a service I had never heard of. When I first got cable it was called NTL prior to being taken over by VM and they didn't offer a service to non cabled areas at that time. You live and learn.

I was confused also as there used to be a distinctive separation between cable under the path (NTL / Virgin) but also to reach more subscribers it looks like Virgin have been pretty smart about this Virgin National.

Read about Virgin Media National Click Me

So now a Virgin Customer could be Dedicated Cable or Copper Wire to the door. So now I'm also educated WOW clever move Virgin media.

So your max speed via Virgin Media National could be as much as 20Mbps (There web page says).

* This would be if there was Fibre to the Box at the end of the street.

Dropping Connection :
Also considerer the environment for the problems.

Damp ground can cause problems with cables,
Cables from the pole passing through trees can cause problems too.

4G
you may get a good speed, but you will be capped at the amount of bandwidth you can use. Your Son is thinking about "Tethering" not all phone providers support this.

You can buy a dedicated 4G dongle to hang on your wall at about £30 a month, but if you have netflix or similar you will be lucky to watch a movie or two before you have exceeded your limits.

As frustrating as the situation is, via your copper wire telephone line is going to give you the best Internet experience.

Dont Cancel your Direct Debit : They can still claim back the money as your still in contract. You should ring up and say you want to leave and say you have not had the service you expect and don't see why you should be paying in full for a service your not getting. If they still do not give you peace of mind, tell them you are now looking at moving to BT as they have a deal on at the moment.

Your Own Tests :

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Try this Performing the Quiet Line Test : Click Me
The number listed is :

1. Once you have your telephone connected to the BT test socket dial 17070.
You will reach BT's line test facility.
Choose option 2 from the menu presented - "Quiet Line Test".
If your telephone has the option, put it on mute.
You should hear nothing through the handset.

Hope that helps. . .

Yes Virgin Media do piggy back BT,for non cabled areas, I got offered this when I first moved in. parts of new Brighton is like this, a Virgin engineer said are road In particular cant have cable TV because of the tunnels around new Brighton, somethink to do with how deep they have to put the cable in to the ground

New router arrived and duly connected with Ethernet cable. First speed check the dial hit 1.0mbps. Ooh looking hopefuly. Blurb says "it takes a few hours to get up to maximum speed and may fluctuate over the next 10 days , but after that you will always receive the fastest speed we can deliver down your phone line.."

Tested 6 hours later 0.9 then 0.6 uhm! we will see.

Sounds good Fish, a mate of mine just outside Ipswich never gets over 0.5mbps. I never new he was on VM National till talking to him about your situation. So you are not alone.