Virgin fibre optic internet

[Hicks12]

I only have 1 issue with virgin, the throttling but thats bareable as they upgrading 4mb--> 10mb(soon for me ) so limit goes up more, never had incorrect billings and always have a constantly 3900kbps it hard;y ever goes down from that(somtiems its 4.2) but when im throttled to 1mb its not very stables with it constantly falling and rising around 650-900 kbps. Only had my connection gone down for 2 days in total and 1 of them was just a high ping issue(both because of mass floods).

If you can get it id recommend it but only if you dont plan on downloading loads of torrents and stuff because your limit is reached quickly.

[a1210]

i've currently got the 20mb virgin package and for the price it's pretty good.
i dont think anyone in the area i'm in offers anything higher than adsl 8mb and they all cost a lot more.. even if the connection was throttled down to 5mb after dling a lot it's not that noticeable.

[nichomach]

More or less agree with Hicks, here. Unless you're hoicking down huge amounts of stuff, they're great.

[Betty_Swallocks]

I really don't understand why people love to hate VM. I'm on the 20Mb connection and I almost always get close to the full speed. Downloading from Giganews I get about 2100kb/s which by my maths isn't far short of full speed.
Yes they throttle you if you download a lot but on the 20Mb service it takes you down to about 4Mb which is the same as the very best that I can get on ADSL.
So my choice is 20Mb that slows down to 4 if I use it a lot or 4Mb that stays the same all the time.
Really not a hard choice.

[Hicks12]

yup thats why its bareable, at the moment im on 4mb/s but i get throttled to a unsteady 1mb which is hardly good but since they bumping everyone to 10mb it will be 2.5mb/s which is very much bearable . Their customer support maybe from abroad but they are pretty good at sorting things and giving you good discounts if you feel sky etc are doing better.

[s_kinton]

The three best options for hassle free, reasonably priced, non-throttled broadband are Be, O2 and Sky.

[BUFF]

technology-wise yeah Virgin Media wise not always. Unless you live in a village or somewhere far from your exchange it'd probably be better and cheaper. If you're an O2 phone customer it's even cheaper.

I've been with NTL/VM for ~20 years with very few complaints & whilst I don't reliably get 20Mb (more like 14Mb) it only costs me £12.50 pm.
By contrast my mother (also in Glasgow so not exactly rural) is on O2 & yes, they are very good too but all she can get is 3Mb.

[moogle]

I've been with NTL/VM for ~20 years with very few complaints & whilst I don't reliably get 20Mb (more like 14Mb) it only costs me £12.50 pm.
By contrast my mother (also in Glasgow so not exactly rural) is on O2 & yes, they are very good too but all she can get is 3Mb.

It's all good if you can get those discounts with VM. I'm guessing you have other services with them to get it at that price. I don't so it's not a good deal for me and I really wouldn't go back as the pings and spikes are horrible, plus the overcharging everytime you don't check the payments.

When comparing the ISP's you've got to compare them with customers in the same area. If you're far from the exchange then VM would be better in your area etc. But even so it's still cheaper with Be* or O2.

I've mainly got it because of all the PC's sharing the internet. VM don't take that into account with their throttling so over here the limits reached 3 times faster.

Nothing but hassle since NTL -> VM but no hassle here at Be*

But if they want to try out a 12 month contract with VM feel free to
You might have a good 12 months or a bad one.

[Hicks12]

Well the pings here are fine as i only get around 16ms sometimes less which is pretty good, but it does depend on your area i guess as ive never had an issue with telewest/ntl/blueyonder/virgin so id say plymouth is good , we get the 4mb for about £10 but its better than any other places as far as i remember i always had issues with BT and stuff.

[eiamhere69]

I reach 20Mb usually, but with streaming, gaming, and my partner using her laptop, I am soon throttled.

The biggest problem with Virgin is the scams they pull. When they first took over they stopped charging for the basic tv (didn't stop charging me though), still haven't refunded as your always past from pillar to to post before being assured that it will be credited - to your next bill.

I have the XL package for phone calls, ie. all inclusive, still billed for calls, due to my own stubborness i refuse to pay for itemised billing, so don't know how they are scamming me. Oh well, I'll not list the other various techniques they use to steal money from there customers as I may get a reputation as a negative person.....

[moogle]

Oh well, I'll not list the other various techniques they use to steal money from there customers as I may get a reputation as a negative person.....

No you won't. It's better to be out with the truth about them or any other company for that matter so others can see the real side of them.

[Thorsson]

Some of us are stuck in the sticks and can't get cable anyway, or fibre optics. OTOH my ADSL comes at a price of £0 a month from TalkTalk, so it's not all bad.

[CrazyMonkey]

Im paying for 20MB Virgin Media internet but am currently trialling there upcoming 50MB service. I get the full wack (50MB). And i do alot of 'downloading' if you get my jist. I never get throttled (I believe because i am trialling the new service).

I have experienced throttling when i was first connected to the 20MB service and i didnt think it was too bad - Still got 800KB/S =]

If you live in an area like me where ADSL provides a maximum of 300KB/S - Cable/Fibre Optic is a damn godsend

[MantisCSS]

im using Virgin 20mb and its been great so far. getting some nice download speeds.

[Deadlight]

For me, VM is loads better. I was on the Sky MAX (up top 16Mb speeds), but the internal wiring in my house is crap, so I got between 1.5mb - 4mb. But even if VM throttle me down to 4mb, I can live with that!

[moogle]

Where do you live? Your ping is really high for that server.



It differs for everyone but whoever is choosing an ISP should check how close they live to the exchange.