Router Swap Out

So the Virgin router died on me. Virgin turned up to replace it. Found it was not possible to have anything other than 192,168.0.xxx making it necessary to change the LAN address on all my numerous devices.

Why on earth is the router locked down to inhibit your choice of LAN address?

Work around is to use your own router by switching the Virgin router to modem mode, but that is a rather unnecessary expense.

I suppose we should be grateful that we can at least set our own SSID and password,

That would be unacceptable to me. I can see some reason in locking down to RFC1918 addresses, but locking it down to 192.168.0.0/24 is a step too far. It is YOUR lan, not theirs. I would put it down to something of a lack of competence on their part.

DOCSIS coax or Nexfibre? On DOCSIS, just put it in modem mode and use your own router.

What model is this? Hub 3, Hub 4, Hub 5 or Hub 5x ?

Edited by jchamier (Tue 27-Jan-26 21:25:32)

HUB 5 Model F3896L G-VMB

Why should I have to spend more money for another router?

Edited by trolleybus (Tue 27-Jan-26 21:31:05)

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

HUB 5 Model F3896L G-VMB

So DOCSIS then.

I have a Hub 3 and I'm sure I could change this.

Why should I have to spend more money for another router?

I personally prefer to control the boundary device, and I remember the days when you got a cable modem and a single ethernet port. If your requirements are not met by what VM provide then you can work around. In most cases the ISP provided routers are simple so that the ISP Helpdesk doesn't have to spend hours supporting users, as this is very costly.

You should ask on the Virgin Media Community - https://community.virginmedia.com/ - to see if there is an option somewhere to let you set change the range.

Edited by jchamier (Wed 28-Jan-26 12:34:56)

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

HUB 5 Model F3896L G-VMB

So DOCSIS then.

I have a Hub 3 and I'm sure I could change this.

Why should I have to spend more money for another router?

I personally prefer to control the boundary device, and I remember the days when you got a cable modem and a single ethernet port. If your requirements are not met by what VM provide then you can work around. In most cases the ISP provided routers are simple so that the ISP Helpdesk doesn't have to spend hours supporting users, as this is very costly.

You should ask on the Virgin Media Community - https://community.virginmedia.com/ - to see if there is an option somewhere to let you set change the range.

As suggested, I went to https://community.virginmedia.com/ only to discover that the feature is currently moving to a new platform as Virgin's agreement with its current provider is ending. The migration will take a quite a while as they move everything over. The community forum has switched to read‑only later going offline for a bit. However, phone help is available at 0345 454 1111. For me, knowing all this is too late as an instant fix was needed.

I had to spent over a day switching all my hardwired devices over to the only available LAN network of 192.168.0.xxx - Computers, door bell, cameras and Digital Voice devices when it would otherwise be a two minute task to configure the router to use my preferred choice of 192.168.79.xxx - I can assure everyone that having a LAN address of your choice is not available from the supplied router. I suppose for many, it doesn't matter what the LAN address is but for me it did.

How Virgin can waltz in for installation fee of £50 and swap out a router and departing leaving me with no service at all, is in my humble opinion, quite unacceptable. Do I have any redress with Virgin for my down time and inconvenience? For over a day, I had no phones or internet access.

You do you, but I prefer *NOT* to have a router from any ISP. I'll build my own and take care of my own networking thanks, so I don't need to complain when they set stupid arbitrary limitations on what networking I can use.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

How Virgin can waltz in for installation fee of £50 and swap out a router and departing leaving me with no service at all, is in my humble opinion, quite unacceptable. Do I have any redress with Virgin for my down time and inconvenience? For over a day, I had no phones or internet access.

At £50, I would complain loud and long that they had not swapped out the router fully, because they had not set its IP range. And if they daid that the router could not be made to conform, I would be off to the ombudsman for non compliance with RFC1918. It is downright shonky.

In reply to a post by gorebrush:

I prefer *NOT* to have a router from any ISP. I'll build my own and take care of my own networking thanks, so I don't need to complain when they set stupid arbitrary limitations on what networking I can use.

Yes, the router Virgin have supplied here is downright disrespectful of Customers' networks.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

So the Virgin router died on me.

What was the original router? AFAIK in the dim, distant past you could set the LAN IP, but that has long gone.
VM don't want users to change anything, so the usual route is modem mode. Be thankful that the Hub 3,4 and 5 still have modem mode as the latest XGS-PON Hub 5X does not. However there is, at present, a workaround if you have a suitable SFP+ port on your Router. When Project Mustang finally removes all the old co-ax DOCSIS infrastructure I'm guessing that will kill off modem mode as well, and that for me is a non starter. Also note XGS-PON has only streaming TV and as yet no phone service.
As for compensation for your LAN, I would very much doubt it. Even in normal cases, it only starts after a full 48 hours of total loss of service.
The VM Community is read only at present as they are merging with the O2 Forum. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this, as the VMO2ID account merger didn't fair so well it seems, judging by the ongoing complaints.

Edited by Adduxi (Fri 30-Jan-26 12:27:07)

In reply to a post by DFScale:

Yes, the router Virgin have supplied here is downright disrespectful of Customers' networks.

I would suggest that Virgin Media are not selling an enterprise service and would likely suggest there are alternatives in most areas to their products. (except for me, where its Virgin coax or flaky VDSL).

For a company that charges as much as Virgin Media it is frustrating, especially as back in 1999 to get on the network you had to buy your own cable modem which was a simple box, with no web interface, that had RJ45 one side, and DOCSIS Coax the other. (3Com CMX), and they charged £150 for it.