Virgin Announced broadband speeds are doubling for free in February

[namuk]

Didn't say it was a bad deal; just not as good as everyone elses

yea but it is better than a kick in the nuts, and you could always pay more for the BB package.

 

[Curly99]

whoa! can everyone take a step back and chill in this thread...agree to disagree or whatever, things posted in jest never translate well when written down as they lose context no matter how many smilies.... anyway it is always nice to get a speed update what ever speed your on.

Curly

 

[carl.waring]

... it is always nice to get a speed update what ever speed your on.

Indeed

 

[Ben-H]

My upgrades due March-April (Solihull, Birmingham)

20mb to 60mb

Looks like i'll more than likely need a superhub too as I've got an ancient modem!

 

[lee667]

My upgrades due March-April (Solihull, Birmingham)

20mb to 60mb

Looks like i'll more than likely need a superhub too as I've got an ancient modem!

you will indeed mate, anyone on 20mb will need a new all in one doofah

 

[LFC]

Sounded nice at first but when I saw Mr Bolt point out that North London woudl be upgraded between October and June 2013 but less. Contract is up before then so will be a point of haggling re discount or free upgrade as currently on 20 but if by october large parts of the country are getting 60 for the same price when my contrcat is up will be jumping ship as BT have cable in our area.

 

[Ben-H]

you will indeed mate, anyone on 20mb will need a new all in one doofah

Great, that means I'll have to put up with that ridiculously bright blue light when im trying to sleep!!

 

[carl.waring]

you will indeed mate, anyone on 20mb will need a new all in one doofah

I thought it was 30mb and above?

Great, that means I'll have to put up with that ridiculously bright blue light when im trying to sleep!!

I've got on on a new mouse I just had given. Ruddy annoying

 

[Ben-H]

I thought it was 30mb and above?

Well once they double\triple my speed i'll be on 60mb so i'll need one then, just thinking ahead really.

I've got on on a new mouse I just had given. Ruddy annoying

My Ex had one, used to drive me mad!! Will have to find some way of blocking it! Well apart from sunglasses!

 

[namuk]

things posted in jest never translate well when written down as they lose context no matter how many smilies.

Curly

your not wrong there

 

[lee667]

if anyone needs a new router/superhub then they'll bosh them in the post i would imagine rather then sending engineers to everyones homes. I've already got one of the netgear all in 1 modem/routers but not sure if i'll get a superhub or not as I don't know up to what speeds this one handles.

Edit: Just checked on the Vm site and the VMDG280 all in one media hub is only good for up to 20meg, the superhub is good for over 100meg. Looks like they will be sending out a lot of new superhubs.

 

[Badger0-0]

if anyone needs a new router/superhub then they'll bosh them in the post i would imagine rather then sending engineers to everyones homes. I've already got one of the netgear all in 1 modem/routers but not sure if i'll get a superhub or not as I don't know up to what speeds this one handles.

Edit: Just checked on the Vm site and the VMDG280 all in one media hub is only good for up to 20meg, the superhub is good for over 100meg. Looks like they will be sending out a lot of new superhubs.

I might be wrong here, but I'm fairly sure 50Mb or over meant that an engineer rolleyes had to come out to do the connection.

I wonder if that's still the case?

 

[namuk]

I might be wrong here, but I'm fairly sure 50Mb or over meant that an engineer rolleyes had to come out to do the connection.

I wonder if that's still the case?

when i went from 20mb to 50mb an eng had to come out which i though was daft all he did though was check the cable and the new modem that i was getting 50mb and then i could not get on the tinternet but i was getting it as his tool he had said i was,
but he said he could not fix this due to not good on Pc's (whats that all about?) he gave me a tech number though which was a freephone

thing is even after updating the realtek drivers on the system i still could not get online correct but was better even tried changing the Ip ect, so i phoned the number i got on to a tech bloke and he tested the line at his end and i was running around 10mb he synced the line and modem and everything has been fine since.

i think thats why VM get a bad rap as allot of people just do not phone the tech side to check there line ect, and Lan drivers help and rarely get updated in windows as they think that is the be end all of everything for updates.

 

[Curly99]

I have just gone from 10mb to 30mb and they send you the superhub a spanner, Ethernet cable and a quick start guide for a self install...my nephew Sam works as a VM installer if I can get in touch with him (facebook) I'll ask if it's still going to be the case of an engineer visit for 50mb and + installs, this would add all of the 20mb and 30mb users to the engineers work load...maybe VM are looking to keep there installers in work/busy.

Curly

 

[Ben-H]

Surely its just a case a unscrewing the coax cable from your old router and screwing it into your new one, then going through a few instructions on how to get it working!?

I think they'll probably post them out, but i could be wrong!!

I may call them at lunch to see what they say as im due to be upgraded by March...

 

[Curly99]

Surely its just a case a unscrewing the coax cable from your old router and screwing it into your new one, then going through a few instructions on how to get it working!?

I think they'll probably post them out, but i could be wrong!!

I may call them at lunch to see what they say as im due to be upgraded by March...

yes it is as easy as that...if there are no other problems...maybe the faster speeds are more susceptible to fluctuating signal levels which an engineer can check and adjust...etc.. but thats o ly a guess on my part.

Curly

 

[carl.waring]

Yes, Curly. I think that's right. It's the same with the Tivo. They have to be installed by an engineer as it's not just a case of "swapping the box" (ie from say a V+). Some people just don't seem to understand that.

 

[Matt_C]

HA! When I signed to VM (back then was a 2mb line) I was told I *HAD* to have an engineer come out to install it (at a cost of £25), and all he did when he got there was plug the modem into the wall, the coax into the modem and an ethernet cable into the computer. Then told me I needed to wait half an hour to an hour for it to be activated, and if I didn't have internet access by then I had to ring up (the wait was because he was going to activate it from his laptop in the van and it takes time to process)

An hour later no internet connection, rang up, tech guy told me the activation hadn't been sent through, pressed a couple buttons and said try now, and presto - internet access.

2 months later a friend choose VM for 2mb line, and was allowed a self installation (no £25 cost) which I was told wasn't possible with first time broadband customers in my area

 

[carl.waring]

How times - and speeds - change. I think my first Blueyonder broadband speed was 256, or maybe 512. It was so long ago I can't remember now!

 

[MikeTV]

We can all play that game - my first modem was 300 baud (bits per second). And that was only a theoretical maximum. You could watch the bytes arrive! But now I can download a full 5Gb HD movie in about 15 mins...

 

[blue max]

Just trawled this thread and some interesting points.

I'm on 30mb and paid for the superhub to upgrade from 20mb. I was able to retain my 'loyalty bonus'. Moving any higher would be prohibitive as I would lose it, so in reality I am being manipulated into taking a particular package.

I would say that 30mb is pretty impressive. I would also suggest that if every single virgin media customer doubled their speed, probably less than 1% would actually have any benefit from it.

It's more about bragging rights and statistics than really useful technology. This just as the net is under pressure of impending regulation. You just know that governments would love to be able to control it to some degree. I wonder if the Arab spring is in some small part down to the freedom of speech the internet has opened up.

Anyway, let's hope the speed increase doesn't just cause unnecessary unrest because of the extended upgrade times.

Gotta love a boost though!

Graham

 

[Badger0-0]

Just trawled this thread and some interesting points.

I'm on 30mb and paid for the superhub to upgrade from 20mb. I was able to retain my 'loyalty bonus'. Moving any higher would be prohibitive as I would lose it, so in reality I am being manipulated into taking a particular package.

I would say that 30mb is pretty impressive. I would also suggest that if every single virgin media customer doubled their speed, probably less than 1% would actually have any benefit from it.

It's more about bragging rights and statistics than really useful technology. This just as the net is under pressure of impending regulation. You just know that governments would love to be able to control it to some degree. I wonder if the Arab spring is in some small part down to the freedom of speech the internet has opened up.

Anyway, let's hope the speed increase doesn't just cause unnecessary unrest because of the extended upgrade times.

Gotta love a boost though!

Graham

That's a very good post mate.

The only time I found 20Mb better than 10Mb, was when I wanted a really big file fast.
The increased speed makes no difference to browsing speeds whatsoever, imo.
And browsing is 99% of what I use the net for.

 

[Matt_C]

Browsing is probably 99% of what the vast majority of the population use it for. Then you've got online gamers - and not being one myself I don't know if a faster DL speed will be of noticeable benefit (relative to the speeds they/we are getting currently - ie, 30-60Mb) - and then you've got the downloaders, that are a small portion of the general internet users.

I expect it won't make any difference to my daily useage of the net, but that it may help with downloading large files. I downloaded 35Gb last night - but rather than do it during the day or evening, I just set up the download and run it when I go to bed. Came down in the morning, all done. It was on between 1am and 10am, no idea what time it actually finished mind. But that should cause minimal disruption to anyone elses service since I ran it during "unsociable" hours

 

[Paul D]

Download speeds are going to get very important.
As are upload speeds. This will combine with any usage limitations.

The simple reason to this is cloud based computing and streaming.
It will increase more and more over the years.

I never once went anywhere near my download limits until i got an iPhone and a iPad.
It wasn't so much my personal downloads that did it, rather the constant App updates.
Then cloud sharing came about, my up and download use increased again.
I had three warnings from my previous IP company, so maybe it was a good time to change.

I recently started the Netflix trial. I never thought it would appeal to me, but i am using it so far.
To get the best image. you need a good download speed. This helps prevent pauses/buffering.
I didn't even notice that my wife was watching iPlayer on the iPad whilst the kids were watching a Netflix film. A good download speed was important to allow this to happen.
The next big thing will probably be cloud based gaming/computing.

Another factor is how many people in the house use the same connection.

When you add up all that bandwidth happening at the same time in the same house, then download/upload speed will play a big part...

 

[Matt_C]

^ Yes, but also no. More devices on at the same time, more streaming up and down : DL and UL speeds are important yes. But so is bandwidth. A faster pipe isn't necessarily a bigger pipe Take the motoway analogy : two lanes of traffic, 1000 cars, it's going to bottle neck. Double the amount of lanes, it flows much smoother. Not necessarily faster - they can still all only do 70mph - but smoother