What are virgin like? TalkTalk > virgin move (Internet only)

Caporegime
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My talk talk contract is over and considering virgin M100.

Currently pay 23ppm for 35mbps down/10 up

Virgin are offering 108 down (min 50) / 10 up for what works out to be 19ppm

Heard a few local stories about virgin network often going down.

I've never had an issue with talk talk. And ping is great.
It's also a hassle as it's obviously different hardware.

How good/bad is virgin?
 
Associate
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This will be area specific, you need to ask your direct neighbours really.

My connection is rock solid for what it's worth, always get the maximum speed, doesn't matter the time of day. Outages are maybe once a year, sometimes lasting a few hours, occasionally had an outage for a day. Been with VM since they were NTL so going on about 20 years now and not really had bad service.

My friends on the other hand who live across the city and in other parts of the country... they've had a terrible time with VM, huge outages, unplayable pings etc, low speeds because of congestion. Some of the same friends have moved house and now have a perfect service like I do.

Area specific. :)
 
Caporegime
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It's fine if you don't have problems, if you are in a congested area or need support for any reason at all then the entire experience will have you regretting your choices. We're 9 months into a pandemic where pretty much every other company has got their call centre staff working from home, Virgin seem to think it's acceptable to just not answer the phones.
 
Caporegime
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I think I'll stick with talktalk.

I'm not sure how area specific it is but I often see people moaning about outages on the local fb group. As talktalk have been fine I think I'll stick with them.

I just rang up and said I was leaving for virgin and got 20ppm for 65 down and 16 up.


That's better for me than 100 down (50 guaranteed) and 10 up and unknown network issues. Especially as my talk talk ping in games is usually 15
 
Caporegime
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You could have always tried them under the satisfaction guarantee policy with zero cost if they weren’t for you.

It's a lot of hassle.
New hardware, change over and change back. Decided its not worth it. Not when price is so similar and speeds so similar too
 
Soldato
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It's a lot of hassle.
New hardware, change over and change back. Decided its not worth it. Not when price is so similar and speeds so similar too

Clearly I underestimated how long it would take you to plug in network cables and change the SSID/password on a new router to that of your existing one. You’re in a DOCSIS 3.1 area and should be able to order Gig1 if you wanted to, but if you’re happy with what you have then that’s all that’s important :)
 
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Clearly I underestimated how long it would take you to plug in network cables and change the SSID/password on a new router to that of your existing one. You’re in a DOCSIS 3.1 area and should be able to order Gig1 if you wanted to, but if you’re happy with what you have then that’s all that’s important :)

Well to be fair they'd need to dig his drive and install cable if he's not hooked up already and that's a bit of a faff.
 
Caporegime
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Clearly I underestimated how long it would take you to plug in network cables and change the SSID/password on a new router to that of your existing one. You’re in a DOCSIS 3.1 area and should be able to order Gig1 if you wanted to, but if you’re happy with what you have then that’s all that’s important :)

It's a lot more than that. And I assume I'd be billed for that with no recourse?

1gig is super expensive isn't it?
 
Soldato
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It's a lot more than that. And I assume I'd be billed for that with no recourse?

1gig is super expensive isn't it?

No, unless you have adverse credit history, no up-front payment is required, the 30 day money back guarantee literally means you get the service free if you cancel within 30 days, the exceptions are PPV/VOD/paid voting etc. and chargeable calls. Oh and the £100+ cash back via Quidco isn’t bad either.

The digging up the drive comment is laughable, VM don’t and won’t dig up drives, lift block paving or de-bone your dog, they may have run over the odd dog or three in my time with them, but they didn’t de-bone a single one of them :D
 
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The digging up the drive comment is laughable, VM don’t and won’t dig up drives, lift block paving or de-bone your dog, they may have run over the odd dog or three in my time with them, but they didn’t de-bone a single one of them :D

I'm curious about this comment. They had to dig through our flower bed and then lift mono block paving up to the front of our house to do our install 20 years ago. So why is that laughable given it's my exact install situation?

What else could they do? You can go up the side but you still need to bring the cable over to the house eventually (Pretty certain my neighbour has this route, again through monoblock). AFAIK they won't take it up a pole like a BT phone line. Is there some other option? Magic perhaps?
 
Soldato
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I'm curious about this comment. They had to dig through our flower bed and then lift mono block paving up to the front of our house to do our install 20 years ago. So why is that laughable given it's my exact install situation?

What else could they do? You can go up the side but you still need to bring the cable over to the house eventually (Pretty certain my neighbour has this route, again through monoblock). AFAIK they won't take it up a pole like a BT phone line. Is there some other option? Magic perhaps?

Did they have a time machine? I only ask as it’s currently 2020, VM only came into existence in 2006 when Telewest did a reverse buyout of NTL to preserve the Flextech partnership, NTL may have installed you like that at the time, but VM certainly didn’t. Oh, and non of the franchise licences I ever had to read permitted anything other than cable from the front of the property at ground level, poles were - afaik - never permitted in any franchise area.
 
Caporegime
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Surely they have to lay the cable somewhere? Maybe it's already laid
I don't know.

But the talk talk deal was good enough to not. Worry about it.
70 (60 guarantee) vs 100 (50 guaranteed) is basically the same to me.
Also the upload was better with talk talk

I'm certainly not going to be pushing over that down requirement. Only reasoin Could see needing more is. Multiple 4k streams?

I can't even imagine what 1gig could be needed for
 
Associate
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Surely they have to lay the cable somewhere? Maybe it's already laid
I don't know.

Yes and it's something you have to consider. It might be worth it if VM is good in your area. The cable will be up to your pavement if the house has never been installed. You might find a little plastic square that'll say cabletel or the likes on the pavement.

Did they have a time machine? I only ask as it’s currently 2020, VM only came into existence in 2006

This has just devolved into pedantry now and has veered away from my original point that if the OP need installation it's something he should consider if he should be bothered with, it's not just as simple as typing in a password and setting up a new router/modem.
 
Soldato
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I've been looking to switch from Sky who can only offer me (including all BT variants) 42mbit.
Virgin can offer up to 215mbit. (although I am not please that there website says at peak times this could be as low as 100)

However after reading this I might just stay as I am. I asked my friends 3 of them are on virgin and 1 has serious problems. 2 are fine.
Seems to be a reoccurring issue that since Vmedia got bought by foreign investors that its basically a pot luck **** show.

https://ie.trustpilot.com/review/www.virginmedia.com?page=570
 
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