Virgin Media Discussion Thread

Swifty55 · 27 Jul 2019 at 22:48

Simon42 said:
Just upgraded to Ultimate Oomph with its M500 broadband and although a couple of speed tests on different sites have hit 550/35 its mostly 220 - 350 Mbps as per the speed test below, presumably due to over contention:

This is in wired connection in modem and non modem modes and all power/noise levels are good.

I upgraded mostly for the extra upload speed, SIM (to use in 4G backup modem) and Sky F1 HD. However it appears the contention issue that used to badly limit our 200Mbps package a couple of years ago until it was fixed is still there, it just takes a faster connection to show the the new level.

If this continues I will be complaining...

Have you tried various speed sites?

Also what about downloading from a known fast server to check your download speeds?

Simon42 · 27 Jul 2019 at 23:56

Swifty55 said:
Have you tried various speed sites?

Also what about downloading from a known fast server to check your download speeds?

Yes tried many speed test sites (with various connection counts) and also downloading from hosted servers I manage and know have an excellent internet connection.

Trifid · 28 Jul 2019 at 10:06

Anyone got any good deals for BB only? I don't fancy paying their £42 a month for my existing phone + 100Mb BB introductory offer ends next month.

xb8browney · 28 Jul 2019 at 10:11

I'm paying £39 for 350 no phone line or tv

KubyNeeTees · 28 Jul 2019 at 17:13

Caged said:
Run a test at https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest and see if the differences are due to single vs. multi-thread performance.

Nope hardly makes a difference. Virgin here, where I live, are crap and clearly oversubscribed. That's it in a nutshell. I will just have to struggle on until the contract is up.

bremen1874 · 28 Jul 2019 at 17:39

Are Virgin's WAN IPs still really sticky?

Half thinking of going back to them but would miss my static IP. If they are as sticky as they used to be (I'm sure I had the same IP for months on end) it wouldn't be too bad.

MartinPrince · 29 Jul 2019 at 09:33

bremen1874 said:
Are Virgin's WAN IPs still really sticky?

Half thinking of going back to them but would miss my static IP. If they are as sticky as they used to be (I'm sure I had the same IP for months on end) it wouldn't be too bad.

I've had the same one for a couple years now.

bremen1874 · 29 Jul 2019 at 09:44

MartinPrince said:
I've had the same one for a couple years now.

Thanks.

Duke · 29 Jul 2019 at 18:40

Yeah mine used to change one or twice a year but I've had the same IP for 2-3 years now at least.

MartinPrince · 29 Jul 2019 at 21:01

bremen1874 said:
Thanks.

From what I understand the SuperHub would have to unplugged for a very long for a chance of the IP address changing.

darael · 29 Jul 2019 at 21:07

MartinPrince said:
I've had the same one for a couple years now.

Same, my IP is easily 2 years old.

You can get a new IP by replacing your faulty SuperHub or entering modem mode.

labcoattech · 30 Jul 2019 at 09:16

Turning the SuperHub off overnight should cause the IP to refresh.

Ice Tea · 30 Jul 2019 at 09:44

Maybe it depends on the area and lease time as i've heard of people going away on holiday and coming back to the same IP?

Steveocee · 30 Jul 2019 at 13:40

Virgins IP's tend to be sticky to the MAC address they bind to. Switching between Modem and Router is a way of getting a new IP. If you were underhand you'd fudge a new MAC address onto your WAN port to grab a new IP.

@bremen1874 the easy answer is DDNS and if that's too obscure use a domain you own CNAME'd to the DDNS.
mydomain.com CNAME > ddns.provider.net > W.A.N.IP

bremen1874 · 30 Jul 2019 at 14:04

Thanks all. I think that we've established that Virgin's IP addresses are still nice and sticky.

I've got to decide if I can put up with Virgin as a provider. I'd only really want broadband, and maybe phone, from them. Unfortunately, their pricing only really makes sense if you take their TV as well. Them finally starting to increase their upload speeds is making it a more viable option.

Ice Tea · 30 Jul 2019 at 14:06

Steveocee said:
Switching between Modem and Router is a way of getting a new IP.

Can that be done switching between the superhub internal Modem and Router or do you mean switching to modem mode with a separate router?

If that made any sense?

Steveocee · 30 Jul 2019 at 14:12

Ice Tea said:
Can that be done switching between the superhub internal Modem and Router or do you mean switching to modem mode with a separate router?
If that made any sense?

IP's are handed off via DHCP and tend to stick the the MAC address they find. VM Hub router is "a" mac but if you flick it into modem mode then your asus/ubnt/mikrotik/generic router becomes "a" mac requesting an IP, you could keep changing routers to get different IP's or keep changing the MAC address on your interface (spoofing) to get differing IP's.

Shadowness · 30 Jul 2019 at 14:32

Another price rise for me too. Been with them for almost 6 years and haven't done anything regarding trying to change packages.

If I were to sign up as a new customer I could get pretty much the same as I have now for £29 (first 12 months) then £59 a month.

Currently paying £69 (with new increase) for 'Fun TV', 150mb and talk weekends.

Feeling like I should be getting a better deal based on their current offerings, and what BT and SKY can offer. I would play the 'I'm leaving' card, but can't be assed to actually switch.

Any tips?

Steveocee · 30 Jul 2019 at 14:44

Shadowness said:
Another price rise for me too. Been with them for almost 6 years and haven't done anything regarding trying to change packages.

If I were to sign up as a new customer I could get pretty much the same as I have now for £29 (first 12 months) then £59 a month.

Currently paying £69 (with new increase) for 'Fun TV', 150mb and talk weekends.

Feeling like I should be getting a better deal based on their current offerings, and what BT and SKY can offer. I would play the 'I'm leaving' card, but can't be assed to actually switch.

Any tips?

Tell them you're leaving and don't leave then. Retention call number 2 will likely give you the discount you want.

Shadowness · 30 Jul 2019 at 15:14

I presume you wouldn't follow through and ask them to cancel if you were legitimately leaving?

Would the new provider sort all that out?

(Never switched providers before hence the n00b q's)