Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Broadband
My broadband (Talktalk) is really slow. My needs are few - no films, music etc. just basics. Any ideas as to a faster one?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter
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Bridget, is your computer connected to your broadband router by Wifi or by cable (Ethernet)?
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Permalink Reply by Bridget Methuen
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Wifi
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OK, try a cable (Ethernet) connection.
Other things equal, a direct cable connection to the router will give you the fastest possible speed (it is also more secure than the radiated Wifi signal). On your computer, you can switch back and forth between WiFi and Ethernet so you could at least see if using an ethernet cable improves the speed.
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Very helpful. Is the Community Fibre any good?
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Last year I switched away from Virgin Media and would probably have switched to Community Fibre, were it available to me.
Community Fibre was highly rated by Which? ~
Results based on an online survey of 4,347 members of the public in January 2024. Sample size for Community Fibre: 59. Customer score combines overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend. (-) means we didn't receive enough responses in order to give a rating.
Pros: Fast speeds, very cheap deals available, 12-month contracts on offer
Cons: Only available in parts of London and a handful of small towns in the South East
Community Fibre received solid ratings in our latest customer satisfaction survey. Community Fibre's average speeds run as high as 3,000Mbps and are affordably priced – this, alongside its happy customers, makes it one of our Great Value broadband providers.
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I moved from Virgin after one nightmarish customer service experience too many to Community Fibre.
Had a couple of hiccups around customer service (that were resolved ok) but the service itself has been faultless for me (although I think they did have a couple of big outages that affected a lot of people for half a day or so) and it has been pleasant to not have to mess around with my price doubling (and subsequently halving when you threaten to leave) at the end of the contract.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson
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Hyperoptic knocked on my door yesterday. After repeatedly saying that wasn’t interested they offered the first year free. I haven’t taken them up on the offer as I’m very happy with BT but they might be worth having a look at.
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Thanks, I'll make enquiries
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Permalink Reply by adamvietnam
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Out of interest , which is the company that runs the sketchy cables from telegraph poles to people's houses?
We've got one going through a tree on Effingham and I noticed another ripped off the other week lying in the road.
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I got Hyperoptic and the same guy discussed above knocked on my door anyway. He gave me some offer where if I refer people each of us gets £100 I think. Try to get the year free and the £100!
You can see if you can get HO on their website checker.
(Community Fibre's website laughingly (to me) confirms that my neighbour whom I share a wall with can get their service but I cannot.)
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Permalink Reply by Hugh
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I too recently had a door knock from Hyperoptic: a charming young Italian named Simone offered the first year free straight off the bat. After I explained that I don't buy on the doorstep, he offered to "start off" the process without commitment. This would entail an engineer making an external inspection with a view to assessing the viability of providing a service. It also meant registering online. I agreed and semi-signed up. This kicked things off, including triggering an email to my current provider (Virgin Media) that I was leaving them.
After I checked the Hyperoptic offer online, I read that after the first year (or was it the second) the cost of the service would reach £53 pa. For the past year I've been on a "discounted" Virgin package for £45. This incudes 250MB internet (fine for me these days), basic phone and one of the more basic TV packages. And, despite the many complaints about Virgin, for the past five or so years our service has been reliable and uninterrupted (I know now it can be patchy elsewhere).
The Hyperoptic registration triggered an email from Virgin along the lines of "We hear you're going - sorry to learn that - if you need to talk about it, call customer retentions on....". After calling the number, I joined what quickly turned out to be a long queue. So I found a better number online, was quickly connected and after a very short conversation I was offered the exact same service I currently have for £27 per month for 2 years with £3.50 annual increases in each of the next two Aprils. Even after two years that would still leave us £16 cheaper than this year and at least £20 cheaper than Hyperoptic's broadband only offer. I took the offer without hesitation because we've been happy with Virgin's service for the past number of years and the price is very competitive.
I know Virgin can be a poor provider - we had some awful years with them when I sorely need reliable internet, but, perversely, just as that need decreased the service got much better (he writes furiously touching wood). I know also that Virgin's retentions team can be inconsistent and they don't always make an offer you can't refuse, but this year it worked for us. I guess my message is, but don't necessarily discount Virgin as an option - although because their service does seem rather curate's egg, do check to see if any of your immediate neighbours have Virgin and if so how they find the service. If you already have Virgin and you're happy with them. I offer my experience as a possible pattern to lower pricing.
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HUGH, you did the right thing.
I left Virgin due to their high monthly bills (c. £100).
I spoke to a friendly Retention bloke in India who noted that I had been with Virgin for more years than he had been alive! (I'd stayed with the predecessors Cable London, TeleWest and Blueyonder).
Later I spoke to a Retention woman (in Scotland?) who offered me the same deal as Vodafone which was a little more than a third of Virgin's previous bills.
She knew exactly what I would be paying and presumably, Virgin would still be making a profit!
I said it was too late and told her several times that her company relied on customer inertia (she did not comment, which I took to be acknowledgement).
I continue to believe that Virgin's dedicated, coaxial cable is technically superior to copper telephone wire (ADSL: Asymmetric digital subscriber line) but their pricing is extortionate. Thus anyone using Virgin Media for broadband might consider threatening to leave. Again, an extract from Which?
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Pros: Easy to get your connection installed and set up when you sign up, customers are fairly satisfied with the reliability of their connections
Cons: Subpar customer service, disappointing speeds, prices go up every year
Virgin Media shares bottom spot with Now Broadband in this year's customer satisfaction survey. It stood out for all the wrong reasons, with appalling ratings in several categories.
- Customer service and support: Virgin Media's most dire ratings were around customer service and support, with a quarter of customers also telling us the company is difficult to get in touch with.
- Broadband speed: While there's no denying that Virgin Media offers high speeds, it doesn't seem to meet expectations – it got just two stars out of five in this category. More than a quarter of customers told us they often experienced disruptive dropouts, and they were most likely to tell us they'd had issues with their router.
- Value for money: This was also an issue – Virgin Media customers were the most likely to tell us they felt they were receiving poor value for money, giving it just two stars out of five.
To make things even less appealing, Virgin Media also puts up the cost of its packages annually. It's also regularly the provider that Ofcom (the telecoms regulator) receives the most complaints about.
- Customer service and support: Virgin Media's most dire ratings were around customer service and support, with a quarter of customers also telling us the company is difficult to get in touch with.
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