Should I move to Virgin 50mb or not?

ntg

ntg

ntg

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That is the question! I'm looking for opinions/feedback here.

I'm on BE which has served me excellent (bar the odd Sunday breakdown every 4-5 months), I'm on the 8mb package. I used to be on their 16mb package but I was only getting 10mb max so I downsized to 8mb to pay less. The cost of my broadband per month is £11.

I also got SKY and for my package I pay £21. Add to that the BT telephone line which comes around £13 per month (base line rental plus an int'l package on top).

All this adds up to £45 per month. Now, I've been looking at Virgin's 50mb package (no 100mb where I am, Reading West, yet and no date confirmed) and it seems I can get the 50mb broadband, the 100channels TV (medium package) and the small telephone package (weekend calls free + int'l calls) for £31 a month for the first 6 months and then £50 after, which comes to £40 a month average.

Overall, moving to Virgin like-for-like services seems like a good deal. The only differences I can see are:

a) At the moment all my contracts with my current providers have expired and are simply ongoing month-to-month, I can change whenever I like. With Virgin I'll be tied into a 12m (or is it 18m) minimum contract.

b) I will be moving house at somepoint near Summer but I'm not sure if that's an issue as I believe I can just transfer everything to my new place.

c) I have no idea how reliable Virgin is near my area (Reading West) which is a concern, at least with BE I am problem free at the moment and never worry about anything.

Finally, I'm not a particularly heavy user although I have weekend bursts of downloading a lot of stuff and I don't like to wait (hence the interest in faster bband).

So what do you think? Opinions/feedback is welcome.
 
what? really??? i thought completely the opposite, heres my reasoning:

1) dont underestimate the power in having rolling contracts over 12/18 month ones. your in a great position now and can be very flexible in what you want/dont want.
2)its cheaper but not by a lot.
3) your happy with what you have now and you may find it a shock going from sky to virgin.

does that virgin bundle inc the phone line rental of nearly £15 a month?
 
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iamtheoneneo said:
what? really??? i thought completely the opposite, heres my reasoning:

1) dont underestimate the power in having rolling contracts over 12/18 month ones. your in a great position now and can be very flexible in what you want/dont want.
2)its cheaper but not by a lot.
3) your happy with what you have now and you may find it a shock going from sky to virgin.
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I'm not with Sky, I'm with BE but I get your point. However, going to Virgin means getting 6 times faster Bband. I just don't know how reliable their service is near my area as that would help make a decision.

I could probably get about 3 months free from BE just to renew my contract I guess but that's not much in the grand scheme of things.
 
you are with sky you say it in your OP , im obviously talking about tv here :confused:
kgi said:
I also got SKY and for my package I pay £21.
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you have no idea what the service is like in your area....its not all about the MB with broadband.if connection is **** then 50mb is useless.

and virgin is 18 months contract btw and what if virgins not in your new home area when you move?
 
iamtheoneneo said:
you are with sky you say it in your OP , im obviously talking about tv here :confused:


you have no idea what the service is like in your area....its not all about the MB with broadband.if connection is **** then 50mb is useless.

and virgin is 18 months contract btw and what if virgins not in your new home area when you move?
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Oh, sorry, I thought you were referring to Bband, why would I be worried about Virgin TV against Sky TV? Is it that different? (I thought many/most channels were the same). The Bband is the differentiating factor as far as I can see, and as you pointed out, the quality of the connection is what is the most crucial bit.

As far as my new area not having Virgin that is down to me as I have not decided where to move yet - obviously somewhere with Virgin (if I choose to go with it) so that's not much of a problem (at the moment).
 
I'd wait till you move, just to make sure you move to a cabled area, which a lot of places are not. Hold fire until then!
 
Is there a way to find out whether my area is oversubscribed? or will that not matter for 50mb users?
 
You really need to find this info out or it could be a nightmare, i personally can't fault VM 50 i get those speeds 24/7 and download a lot with no letters in 3 years, look on cable forum see what you can find out.
 
I was also wandering if oversubscribing will affect 50mb users? im on the 20mb package and the service is an absaloute disgrace between 5pm and midnight.
 
Mythr1l said:
I was also wandering if oversubscribing will affect 50mb users? im on the 20mb package and the service is an absaloute disgrace between 5pm and midnight.
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Very odd, I saw in the other thread your also in west reading? My service is has not twitched since I had it installed 7 years ago. I'm wondering if something else it to blame?
 
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