Problems With Virgin Broadband

[beezaneez]

we have been having very bad problems for more than 1 year now with virgin broadband. it keeps cutting off, especially when we look at youtube vids etc or open a new page too quick in google chrome. i have reported this to virgin and they sent engineer out once, he said it was ok. that was 6 months ago. it is still happening and internet stops about 20 times a day, sometimes more, everytime i call virgin they say there is excellent signal strength but that is no good to me . can i stop my account with them, i signed up for 18 months a year ago . they are not giving me good broadband !!! anyone else know of any good deals i can get off talk talk or sky ? i just want cheapest tv as we dont watch a lot of telly, we want broadband only so im thinking of taking out a talk talk internet only package and buying a freeview box for the tv . any suggestions folks ? THANKYOU

[daffy654]

I binned Virgin for the same reason and went with Sky, the reliability is not an issue at all no I am very happy to report :)

[sunny-dave]

Are you connecting to your router by wireless or by ethernet cable.

If wireless try connecting to the router with ethernet cable - if the problems still exist then at least you can be sure that it is Virgin's problem not your own wireless connection.

If you have an 18 month contract they will charge you a termination fee if you leave early.

[Octavius]

It rather deends where you live, I went from Sky to Virgin for the same reason, and never had any issues since (well except when the rabbit chewed the router cables - but even then, they replaced it with no cost or bother).

Have you tried talking to neighbours to see what experiences they have?

[tonyav]

Glad I've seen this thread, I WAS thinking changing to Virgin Broadband from BT c'us they are crap to.

[mccfluff]

if your contract was a 12 month one, you only have to give 30 days notice

I have virgin bb and its excellent can't fault it, virgin however, in particular their customer service are awful

[beezaneez]

virgin have sent us a new modem 6 mths ago, no use, problems still same. vigin asked if we had thin walls in house as next door could be interfering with signal . we are paying £47 a mth for crap broadband and basic tv. can i make compliant to a consumer watchdog or something ? i want to change

[Kevink]

Basically, what you seem to be complaining about is not your broadband connection, but your wireless connection from the computer to the router. You can't really hold an ISP responsible for this - their job is to supply broadband to the house. Wireless connectivity depends on hundreds of variables which may be unique to your circumstances. Just a few examples are:
Position of the router
Position of the computer
Quality and positioning of the wireless adaptor on the computer
Presence or absence of external wireless aerial on the computer
presence of potential sources of interference
materials of which the house is constructed.

If you are getting a lousy wireless connection, then changing ISP is not going to help you at all.

[daffy654]

I didn't pay a cancellation fee as they were in breach of contract because they were not supplying the service I was paying through the nose for (I had 100mbps package).

[daffy654]

KevinK, the op doesn't mention wireless at all, where did you get the idea that is what their issue is?

[Octavius]

I did recommend talking to neighbours because its often location factors, if they are having good/bad experiences with a broadband supplier then it'll help you decide who might be best for you.

You can always check the speed of your broadband - fee online checkers - against what you are being sold, and then go to Ofcom.

http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/telecoms/

[beezaneez]

hi,
i did check upload and download speed few times and it was good.....but why does it cut off sometimes 30 times a day when im watching youtube ?

[sunny-dave]

As has been asked several times before

"Are you connected wirelessly to your router"

"Do the problems persist if you connect to it using a cable"

Without this info we are guessing in the dark.

[knowabit]

I am with Virgin and was having the same problem for a couple of months, the internet signal would just keep dropping off when using the laptop or ipad. I finally phoned them up, and the man on the phone logged himself into my laptop and i could see him doing stuff on my screen and checking the router. He then told me there was something wrong with the router, which i could see might be the problem as we had a new one a couple of month previously. Anyway, he booked the engineer to come along that weekend. Engineer came, did some test and told me it was nothing to do with the router, but it was the strength of the signal coming into the modem that was far to high, so he said he had turned it right down and tested it again... he did change the router also though, to one of those new super hub things... all has been fine since..... so maybe you could ask them to test the signal strength that you are receiving?? i don't understand all that stuff myself... he told me that the strength was 11, and it only needed to be between 2 and 3?? what ever that means, but as i said, all has been fine since.

[LazyGun]

I share your pain, beez. For over 18 months now i have put up with sub-standard service from Virgin broadband, but it has got markedly worse in the last 4 months or so. Had 2 visits from engineers, changing the signal frequency or somesuch, but to no avail. Continual outages, pauses and disconnects during video streaming.

I have terminated their service contract and gone back to BT with their fibre optic broadband service. Noticeably better service, faster and more reliable downloads, so I do not regret it at all.

I suspect that Virgin are currently victims of their own success. I think that their infrastructure cannot cope with all the demands of their customer base...

[Alston]

@knowabit......It's the first time I have heard of signal strength being too strong. I think the 'Engineer' was hoodwinking you. A speed of 2 or 3 is relatively poor.

You can check your speed and what other providers are giving-out in your area, along with price deals,..... from the following link. :-

http://www.uswitch.com/broadband/speedtest/

Al.

[beezaneez]

yes i am wireless sorry...i have router/modem near 52" tv also. should i move modem away ? if so i will need engineer out to do that work

[beezaneez]

lazygum, if i change to BT or talk talk etc now surely virgin will charge me for coming out of contract early ? but they arent giving me a good service, is there any ombudsman i can complain to ?

thankyou

[cazzz1975]

I changed from bt to virgin because the internet was non existant, however I do know friends who love bt so it depends where you live, why not ask your neighbours what their internet is like?