Virgin broadband: how to improve WiFi speed

[chukwe]

I moved into a new house 3 weeks ago, Virgin installed broadband with the hub 3. I've the M500 package which gives 500Mbps spped.

When I connect my laptop to the hub 3 with network cable, I get around 530Mbps speed but on WiFi i get around 200Mbps speed.

Is there a way of improving the WiFi speed?

 

[bubblegum57]

If you google you will find lots of complaints about this.
In the end I got homeplugs.

You could try a mesh system, or a router & just use the hub for the modem part.

 

[Deleted member 24354]

Yes install wired, wireless access points.

 

[TheHighFlyingBirds]

Ive got hub 3 but only on 100 connection. I have the hub 3 in modem mode as @bubblegum57 suggests, paired with an asus router. Works better and allows for more control.

Wifi will always drop as you move away from the router. You could either add wireless extenders (mesh type which effectively see the signal and repeat it) or access points. Access points are usually connected to the router with a cable directly or by use of powerline adapters (mileage varies depending on your house wiring). As an example I have a cat6 cable fed from my router which runs external to the house and feeds an access point via a switch in my back room. This gives me a far better wifi signal at the rear of the house and garden, whilst also allowing all my other gear (laptop, tv, nas, music and video streamers and games consoles) to be hardwired. Use of powerline with this method negates the need for running a lan cable, however speeds will vary depending on your house wiring.

 

[Deleted member 24354]

The Virgin Hub 3 really is a piece of garbage and isn’t really fit to be given away in a cereal box. Best to use it only as a Modem in bridge mode and as others have said use a decent wireless router instead. It can only handle about 20 devices as a router, which in a connected world is a joke.

 

[chukwe]

Which router model should I buy?

 

[Deleted member 24354]

How much do you have to spend?

 

[Deleted member 24354]

WiFi and internet is the cornerstone of the modern home. I wouldn’t scrimp on it. I would look at something like a Ubiquiti Dream Machine but they are not cheap.
Or you could look at something like an Asus or TP Link.

 

[mickevh]

You would be well advised to also check the capabilities of your client devices - if your laptop is only capable of 200mbps, then 200mbps is the best you will ever get, not matter what router/AP you have.

My laptops has a rubbish 72mbps Wi-Fi NIC (and it's BIOS locked so I cannot change it,) so despite my router being 450mbps capable, 72mbps is the best I ever get.

You need to really drill into the spec. sheet - things like "N capable" "dual band" and "AC capable" doesn't really mean anything in terms of speeds - you need to be drilling into the real numbers, or at the very least the Modulation Coding Schemes (MCS) that are supported.

 

[ChuckMountain]

I moved into a new house 3 weeks ago, Virgin installed broadband with the hub 3. I've the M500 package which gives 500Mbps spped.

When I connect my laptop to the hub 3 with network cable, I get around 530Mbps speed but on WiFi i get around 200Mbps speed.

Is there a way of improving the WiFi speed?

I am going to be slightly radical and ask the question why?

What warrants a wireless connection of more than 200Mbps?

The reason I ask is that there are a few perfectly valid reasons for wanting a quick connection (which include because I can). However, the vast majority of services will quite happily work over a 50Mbps connection including UHD streaming etc.

I would rather have a stable system that works everywhere at a given speed, which usually involves as others have said doing it properly. If you look at how organisations organise their WiFi it is usually to give a minimum speed to all clients as required rather than how fast you can go.

I think with VM particularly (apart from the upload speed) that we end up often overpaying for what we need. I would argue that very few people benefit from having much more than 200Mbps connection.

If you google you will find lots of complaints about this.
In the end I got homeplugs.

What BB do you have? Powerlines are usually not suitable for getting to the speeds the OP wants. Even the quickest ones don't generally go past 200Mbps in real-world speeds so this introduces a limiting factor.

 

[chukwe]

If you google you will find lots of complaints about this.
In the end I got homeplugs.

You could try a mesh system, or a router & just use the hub for the modem part.

I'm using homeplugs in our bedroom which far away from the router and I'm getting around 50mbps which ok as my wife uses it to watch movies on her iPad

 

[chukwe]

WiFi and internet is the cornerstone of the modern home. I wouldn’t scrimp on it. I would look at something like a Ubiquiti Dream Machine but they are not cheap.
Or you could look at something like an Asus or TP Link.

I can spend any reasonable amount to get close to 500mbps on my laptop as I'm working from home

 

[ChuckMountain]

I'm using homeplugs in our bedroom which far away from the router and I'm getting around 50mbps which ok as my wife uses it to watch movies on her iPad

Introducing more home plugs won't be a good idea as they will contend for "wire" time.

Where is your laptop in relation to the router? If it is the same room then what spec is your laptop as Mickevh has already asked?

 

[chukwe]

Introducing more home plugs won't be a good idea as they will contend for "wire" time.

Where is your laptop in relation to the router? If it is the same room then what spec is your laptop as Mickevh has already asked?

My laptop is in the lounge as well as the hub 3. Around 4m apart.

My laptop is Dell XPS 17 9700. The wifi card is
Killer(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX1650s 160MHz Wireless Network Adapter (201D2W)

 

[ChuckMountain]

Are you connected to the 5ghz network?

 

[BrightonChris]

The hub 3 is garbage, and can barely operate as modem without overheating. Unfortunately we don't get a choice. I use a netgear nighthawk that's a few years old now but on my 400 down package I get around 250 in my bedroom, whereas the hub 3 was getting about 30. I'm not sure what your use case is but there isn't many day to day things that the difference between 200 and 500 would be noticeable. Unless you're downloading large files regularly, then fair enough. The big problem with virgin is latency. Even in modem mode that useless hub results in higher latency than should be acceptable.

 

[bubblegum57]

I have Virgin 100Mbps package. Using 4 homeplugs, with NAS for plex jellyfin or Kodi

Not a lot of 4k stuff, but they play ok for me. Not sure of the speeds.

 

[ChuckMountain]

The hub 3 is garbage, and can barely operate as modem without overheating. Unfortunately we don't get a choice. I use a netgear nighthawk that's a few years old now but on my 400 down package I get around 250 in my bedroom, whereas the hub 3 was getting about 30. I'm not sure what your use case is but there isn't many day to day things that the difference between 200 and 500 would be noticeable. Unless you're downloading large files regularly, then fair enough. The big problem with virgin is latency. Even in modem mode that useless hub results in higher latency than should be acceptable.

Yep, most people would agree the VM Hubs are not that good even the 4th one. However, the OP is in the same room as the Hub and therefore should be getting better speeds than that. However if for some reason he is on connecting to the 2.4GHz range then that's about as good as expected. Hence me asking the question.

How much latency are you seeing? They have fixed that considerably, the chipset has some issues but on the whole it is better than were it was.

 

[chukwe]

Are you connected to the 5ghz network?

I always connect to 5GHz band. I never use the 2.4GHz

 

[ChuckMountain]

So you have them configured separately, thought they were merged at one point.

What does Windows say the Wi-Fi connection speed is?

 

[BrightonChris]

So you have them configured separately, thought they were merged at one point.

What does Windows say the Wi-Fi connection speed is?

You can disable the 2.4ghz WiFi in the admin settings

How much latency are you seeing?

Usually 16ms

 

[ChuckMountain]

You can disable the 2.4ghz WiFi in the admin settings


Usually 16ms

You can do but then you lose support for slower devices. Just wondering how the op has configured it. The beauty of better devices like Unifi is that you can see what is connected at what speeds etc.

16ms isn't bad, is that upstream or downstream? What are you expecting as good and how much of that comes from VM's sprawling network rather the modem.

The original latency issues were much higher than this.

 

[chukwe]

So you have them configured separately, thought they were merged at one point.

What does Windows say the Wi-Fi connection speed is?

My WiFi Status says it's connected at 400Mbps

 

[psychopomp1]

OP, have a gander here:

Question - Router

hi there everyone i have the superhub 3 And it is shocking on wifi . So i am looking at getting a router and putting superhub 3 into modem mode. But dont know any good routers to use with hub 3 anyone any ideas which are the best to pair with it please

www.avforums.com

 

[ChuckMountain]

My WiFi Status says it's connected at 400Mbps

That explains why you are getting the speeds you are. Does Windows quote the "duplex" link speed still? In which case 200Mbps would be the expected speeds.

So something is not quite right in your current setup and is restricting the speeds.

Under the settings page, you need to double-check 2.4GHz is definitely disabled. Then check the wireless mode and channel width.

If you can change the wireless mode to ac only and channel width to 80MHz. Not sure whether you can as I only have a Hub 4 and then test. Also make sure nobody else is on the same channel.