Help: Got Virgin Broadband Today

Dark Sun · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:01

Had Virgin Broadband activated today as my new house was Virgin ready. Property doesn't have a BT landline and they wanted 150 pounds to put one in.

Should be getting speeds of up to 30MB. When I did a test while the technician was here I was getting around 30MB at 1400hrs. Now it's all over the place ranging from 10mb to 15mb at 1700hrs.

Do Virgin cap their speeds during peak times?

The connection need time to settle?

Thanks for any help.

Liquid_Entity · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:03

yes they cap to 5mb on usenet on my line and im on 20mb service. Might need time to settle.

I am on cable though, are yuo ?

Dark Sun · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:12

Liquid_Entity said:
yes they cap to 5mb on usenet on my line and im on 20mb service. Might need time to settle.

I am on cable though, are yuo ?

It is cable.

Liquid_Entity · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:17

Dark Sun said:
It is cable.

Then yes, capped. My usenet is always 20mb download during normal hours and drops to 5mb in peak times.

Prob same for http and ftp too.

trackrat · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:22

I am on the 30mb cable connection and I have never been throttled, the speed test I ran a few minutes ago said 31.98 mbps upload and 3.02 mbps download.

Liquid_Entity · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:23

hmmm well it must be for 20mb users then. It always does it during peak times.

Dark Sun · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:31

ok update.

Ran a speed test on macbook pro

PC with Edimax EW 7711UTn (small USB wireless adaptor with no aerial)

Both devices are next to each other. Maybe I need a better USB wireless device for PC?

Duke · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:36

Try updating the driver. Edimax is a cheap make, although should use something like the Realtek chip which should be ok.

benftl · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:37

Maybe.

ALL VM tiers are P2P/Usenet shaped come 5pm. Most of us avoid the Usenet shaping by using port 443, which is the only port not affected. Speedtest etc are not affected by the shaping obviously.

Liquid_Entity · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:40

benftl said:
Maybe.

ALL VM tiers are P2P/Usenet shaped come 5pm. Most of us avoid the Usenet shaping by using port 443, which is the only port not affected. Speedtest etc are not affected by the shaping obviously.

Hmm I am sure I am using port 443 but I'll recheck.

tronath · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:48

They do cap traffic in peak hours if you exceed the quota during the day. this is their policy: http://www.virginmedia.com/myvirginmedia/faster_upload_traffic_management_table.php

Dark Sun · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:50

tronath said:
They do cap traffic in peak hours if you exceed the quota during the day. this is their policy: http://www.virginmedia.com/myvirginmedia/faster_upload_traffic_management_table.php

I ran these tests 15 minutes ago which would suggest the connection isnt capped. Why is the PC connection so slow compared to the macbook pro?

Macbook Pro

PC with Edimax EW 7711UTn (small USB wireless adaptor with no aerial)

Both devices are next to each other.

23JMZ07 · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:51

LOL @ That wireless dongle.

Try an ethernet link to the router and run speedtest again.

Dark Sun · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:52

23JMZ07 said:
LOL @ That wireless dongle.

Instead of laughing maybe put it more constructively by saying "yes you should get a better dongle".

Edit: ok thanks for the advice.

benftl · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:53

Is the Macbook wireless too? Maybe try restarting the router.

23JMZ07 · 21 Jun 2011 at 17:54

Dark Sun said:
Instead of laughing maybe put it more constructively by saying "yes you should get a better dongle".

Edit: ok thanks for the advice.

It seems the enter key likes to post instead of making a new line on this computer..

Dark Sun · 21 Jun 2011 at 18:15

Think I'll keep an eye on it for the rest of the day. The wireless signal for pc is 58 percent and maximum speed has been 10mb. If it isnt getting correct speed by tomorrow morning then I'll get a better dongle with an aerial. In an old Georgian house with thick brick walls so wondering if that could be the reason. Another fact could be the Virgin Superhub doesn't like Edimax.

Macbook Pro which was purchased in March gets advertised 30mb speed.

23JMZ07 · 21 Jun 2011 at 18:18

Dark Sun said:
Another fact could be the Virgin Superhub

Fixed

My SuperHub signal is shocking in general. You may well need a better dongle to pickup the SuperHub's fail of a signal.
The MacBook has a nice big aerial in it.

CraigN · 21 Jun 2011 at 18:22

try changing the channel setting on your super hub.

i found if mine was set to auto it was shocking setting it to a static wireless channel helped with this

bloodhunter · 21 Jun 2011 at 19:10

I had terrible wireless issues on the Superhub so reverted back to the stand alone modem.
With the Superhub i was only getting 2.4meg upload.