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Virgin internet is rubbish - any suggestions?

We're constantly having to restart our router and the service often goes off completely for periods of time.

Any suggestions for a decent service that I can use instead?

Tags for Forum Posts: broadband, internet, supplier, virgin media, wifi

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Permalink Reply by AndrewAW1 on August 22, 2016 at 17:51

Depends partly where you are. Virgin is my only high-speed option and, on the whole, it's very reliable (the Tivo less so).

Full speed at all times, even when downloading hefty files. I don't use the Virgin box for Wi-fi, it's not great compared to a dedicated unit.

I did used to have a problem where it would sometimes stop working and needed the router restarting (this tended to happen when I was away). My solution for this was a cheap plug timer (like those used to automate lights when you go away) which turns the router on and off again in the early hours of the morning. Since then it's been fine.

Permalink Reply by DavidJ on August 22, 2016 at 19:02

I went with Zen a year or so ago after getting fed up with Virgin.

It is more expensive - but is more reliable.  We no longer have drops and freezes at busy times - and the upload speeds are much, much better.

Permalink Reply by AndrewAW1 on August 22, 2016 at 21:30

The max Zen internet speed I can get is 6Mbps compared to the 150Mbps with Virgin though (and it costs nearly as much).

Plus now I have the modem set to turn off and back on each night it seems to be fine.

Permalink Reply by DavidJ on August 22, 2016 at 22:08

I get about 75Mbps download and 20 upload with Zen - that is pretty steady.  Virgin seemed to fluctuate far more although the upload speeds were consistently poor. 

Permalink Reply by AndrewAW1 on August 23, 2016 at 10:30

I'm not in a fibre area (BT Infinity has been coming soon for the past 5 years) so that makes the difference.

Virgin upload speed is generally about 10% of the download speed.

Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on August 25, 2016 at 9:44
I'm a BT customer and have been getting the "BT Infinity coming soon" for about five years too. When's soon? The next ice age?
Permalink Reply by John D on August 25, 2016 at 10:28

That's very odd Michael. I think you know where I live and I've had Infinity for at least three years ( to the cabinet, thence wire to the flat ).

Permalink Reply by Alison P on August 22, 2016 at 22:15

Hi Andrew

We've an ongoing problem with our router and computer seeming to stop communicating, which is usually fixed by turning the router on and off - s I'm interested in your turning it off each night, what's the logic behind that?

Would be great to fix ours - they can disconnect many times a day and it's driving us round the bend. We're on Sky ...

Permalink Reply by NeilT on August 23, 2016 at 7:38

I really recommend ditching the stock wifi router that comes with your broadband package and replacing it.

Wifi is a black art. I had terrible problems with the stock virgin router.

Something like this - a top end product - will make a serious difference to performance.

http://goo.gl/ftBkVd

Or go for a wireless access point that you can connect to your router. The reviews on amazon are usually helpful in picking the right one.

Also the check your true broadband speed connect an ethernet cable between your PC and router. 

Permalink Reply by Alison P on August 24, 2016 at 18:21

Thanks Neil (and Andrew). I've looked into this a bit and it sounds as though you've got to be pretty technically minded to use a non-Sky provided router, which puts me off a bit. We've had our for ages so I'll see if I can get a new one ..

Permalink Reply by Sophie Smith on September 1, 2016 at 7:05

Thanks this is helpful advice I'll consider it.

Permalink Reply by AndrewAW1 on August 23, 2016 at 10:29

It came about because I often go away for a week or two but still need to access my home network. Sometimes it would stop working and, whilst a reboot would solve the problem, being away meant I wasn't there to do that. The next best solution was just a cheap switch to cycle the power every day.

I don't know about Sky so don't know about them and whether it would solve issues with computers connecting. Personally I use one of these for Wi-fi rather than relying on the supplied router https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016K5A06C/ It's not cheap (although cheaper than a good router with similar wi-fi performance) but the signal is much stronger and consistent (it's really aimed more to the professional than home market so reliability is more of a priority).

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