Virgin Media - worth the hassle?

Having had 38Mb fibre for a few years (with different ISPs), I've now had my appetite whet by Virgin Media's new broadband only bundles.

I have read many posts on forums about the issues regarding the SuperHub 3 and that a new firmware has been released recently to fix most of the main issues e.g. single threaded performance and rebooting when in modem only mode. Can anyone confirm if the new firmware has indeed fixed these issues?

I'm also worried about the numerous posts regarding drop in speeds during peak hours and would welcome any non-biased opinion from those who live in the Ilford, Essex area.

I did call Virgin Media sales team with the above questions but they had no clue whatsoever and transferred me to the technical department who advised me that they only helped fix customer connection problems but were not trained from a technical standpoint (seriously? so what should they call themselves? The technical non-technical department?)

A few minutes later, a "Customer Service Representative" from the area that I live tried to reassure me that there was no problems with Virgin and gave me the whole marketing spiel and tried his best not to answer my questions directly.

My experience with Virgin Media so far? Sales staff have no clue whatsoever, Technical department seemed clueless and the local Virgin rep sounded like a car salesperson. If, but only if I can get say 100/6 or 200/12 Mbps package that is reliable so that I don't have to call dreaded customer service then I would definitely consider switching.

Appreciate anyone out there who can give me a true and unbiased opinion with their experience of Virgin - good or bad.

Thanks.

headline speed at 4am - 3mbps or less at 4pm

You make the call.

Six things that forced my hand in quitting VM forever were:

1. Weekly extended periods of downtime - and the lies told by their CS that everything is OK. I am now with TalkTalk of all people and other than the 5 mins of downtime when OR switched my line to "Fibre", been solid.

2. The very frequent and rather sharp price increases. With TalkTalk, my bill since joining has come down (re-contracting worked for me in this instance)

3. The marketing lies and childish slogans "the magic in our cables". "Fibre Optic" but copper coming into the home. "Widely available", but about 44% coverage etc. Had more ads banned than anyone else. They have been peddling lies about their service ever since they laid the cables and will never stop.

4. Embarrassing upstream speeds that are throttled if you use it "too much". Tell me how can it be "too much" on an unlimited service? Again, the usual lies.

5. Every router/modem they ever sent apart from the Motorola Surfboard had been problematic, either the firmware in the device itself or the way it interacts with their BSRs.

6. The pings and jitter were horrendous. Useless for gaming.

Your first experience of them should sound a loud warning alarm to you about what to expect from them. VM used to put all their best staff on sales - and India on aftercare. Says it all if even their sales are now useless. They've slashed and hacked at their customer service for years and you've experienced the result. Best to just avoid them to be honest unless you really are having serious issues over BT's OR network and there's no alternative.

Unlike other posters, I have never had a bad experience with VM. Solid and reliable high speed provision since installation five years ago. The brown box on the pavement was smashed by a passing pram or something and was replaced within days of reporting it. I don't understand any of the pings & threads jargon, just that I've never been let down. I'm not in Ilford though.

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/5904794547

Virgin's problems are localised (usually) so it might be worth searching on their forums for your Postcode area - or just ask your neighbours. You have a couple of weeks to try it (check when ordering just in case they've changed their T&Cs) - so probably best to run both before you cancel the worse service.

I tried them and wasn't impressed that my 5mb ADSL service could maintain a better stream (on YouTube) than the supplied 50mb service. But we are in a heavily congested area due to lack of Openreach connected Fibre, you maybe be fine.

I could not wait to leave virgin broadband, like the reasons stated, I game a lot on FPS games and the jitter made the games difficult at time (peak time), throttled between 11am and 11pm on an 200mb unlimited package, customer service shocking bad, the most untechnical support staff ever, weekly downtime, what feels like constant price rises, constant lies, congestion was terrible and giving fix dates 12 months away!!! While they continued to sell congested areas. I used the superhub's in modem mode and used my own quality router too. I then while waiting on my VM contract ending I got sky fibre 38mb installed and it was night and day, the sky connection was reliable and always felt quicker than the VM one, I could game during the day!! Yippee!! My think broadband ping graph took a massive step up, on avg about 100ms from about 5pm every weekday and about 11am every weekend until after 11pm every night. Online streaming services buffered lots unless at 3am. I have now moved home again and on a 20/1 ADSL2 connectin and i feel that was better than my VM connections

here's a current example of their reliability http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-40525...

I was accused of lying by the sales staff when i mentioned the price rises that were announced in the media a week or so after signing up.

Customer services are only interested when you ask to be put through to cancellations team. To be fair to that team they did what I asked (although they did try to offer me 100mb for the same price as 50mb to stay first).

I got accused of not understanding technology lol and then they hung up me, I'm an electronics engineer lol
I took the 20gb mobile deal, but did not realise that when you go above 3.5gb usage they throttle you back to 384k, edge speed....I was paying for 20gb!! Yes, I know now its in the t&c's but foolishly I thought it would be when over 20gb! Thats the sort of customer regard your getting. VM did also offer me deals to stay but if they say upgrade your 50mb to 100mb, will that magically fix my congested connection? I already had the top tier so its was price cut they offered me.

All that said - they do a 28 day money back guarantee so feel free to give them a try. I've had and terminated twice under that agreement so they do honour it - along with getting out for free when they do their 3 times a year price rises.

No - not kidding. They raise the prices a LOT

In reply to a post by gmangt4:

I got accused of not understanding technology lol and then they hung up me, I'm an electronics engineer lol
I took the 20gb mobile deal, but did not realise that when you go above 3.5gb usage they throttle you back to 384k, edge speed....I was paying for 20gb!! Yes, I know now its in the t&c's but foolishly I thought it would be when over 20gb! Thats the sort of customer regard your getting. VM did also offer me deals to stay but if they say upgrade your 50mb to 100mb, will that magically fix my congested connection? I already had the top tier so its was price cut they offered me.

I saw someone say they got told it was unlimited and then the 3.5GB cap kicked in - ouch!. For an MNVO using EE it's shocking. At least with the likes of BT (who I am on right now) you get 20GB at their 30mbps speed - even when you tether you get the same speed. VM Mobile, no such luck. I think they were good when few others were doing unlimited mins/sms but now everyone does it I think they have lost their edge and place in the market. I remember when they used to be really good rates and 10P a call to CS no matter how long it lasted. I also remember visiting them in Trowbridge all those years ago for work, these days, They really gave the personal touch.