Virgin Media Discussion Thread

[JamesEW]

What's the up-to-date consensus on the SuperHub 3? As you can probably see from my other thread on here, I'm deciding between purchasing a new wireless router and using this with my SuperHub 2, or trying to get a free upgrade to the superhub 3.

The one concern I have is about the ability to set up stuff like port forwarding, DHCP limits and other options that I have been used to doing with my old Linksys router. I really could do with some advice.

Are most of the VM users on here just using their SuperHub? I remember having lots of drop outs when I tried just using my SuperHub 2 before putting it into Modem mode with my Linksys.

 

[Rainmaker]

What's the up-to-date consensus on the SuperHub 3? As you can probably see from my other thread on here, I'm deciding between purchasing a new wireless router and using this with my SuperHub 2, or trying to get a free upgrade to the superhub 3.

The one concern I have is about the ability to set up stuff like port forwarding, DHCP limits and other options that I have been used to doing with my old Linksys router. I really could do with some advice.

Are most of the VM users on here just using their SuperHub? I remember having lots of drop outs when I tried just using my SuperHub 2 before putting it into Modem mode with my Linksys.

Do you have the SuperHub 2 AC? What speed tier are you on (i.e. 200, 300 etc)? If the 2 is working for you speed wise I'd definitely keep that for now. The SH3 still has the Puma6 chipset issue with pings/massive jitter. You can see that represented here on my ThinkBroadband monitor graph, which pings my router every second or so and then logs the result. The yellow 'field of wheat' are the jittery/high pings resulting from the Puma6 chipset flaw on the SH3.

Other than that it's not too bad, but really only good for modem mode imho. If your 2 is doing you OK modem wise (i.e. can handle the speed you're currently on), then I'd definitely keep it for modem mode and buy or build a good router to attach to it. I have a SH3 in modem mode feeding to an APU2C4 to which I added an mSATA drive and installed pfSense. This takes the role of firewall/router and passes off to a TP-Link PoE switch, which handles local wired connections and a Ubiquiti UAP AC Pro wifi access point. Using the dedicated unit (APU2C4) to handle routing is way better, and as pfSense is built on FreeBSD 11 it has a rock solid network stack and bulletproof packet filter / firewall (pf). It's also infinitely customisable with powerful enterprise level features. Here's the end result for me:

You can't really argue with that. Being on a Linux or BSD machine helps, as again it has superior networking and doesn't need bogging down with a million background services, antivirus etc. It's just a shame the SH3 has the ping issues due to its chipset. Hopefully the fix is rolled out by VM soon (they're currently testing it).

 

[Steampunk]

What's the up-to-date consensus on the SuperHub 3? As you can probably see from my other thread on here, I'm deciding between purchasing a new wireless router and using this with my SuperHub 2, or trying to get a free upgrade to the superhub 3.

The one concern I have is about the ability to set up stuff like port forwarding, DHCP limits and other options that I have been used to doing with my old Linksys router. I really could do with some advice.

Are most of the VM users on here just using their SuperHub? I remember having lots of drop outs when I tried just using my SuperHub 2 before putting it into Modem mode with my Linksys.

Superhub 3 has some major latency and security issues (easily DOSable and possibly rootable). Stick with your SH2 if you can at least until they can fix it (if they can fix it). SH3 is like all Superhubs in that it has a very cut down and simplified firmware with limited functionality. Most people who want to do anything at all complex simply put the SH into modem mode and connect a good router instead. You will probably get better wireless from a third party router because signal strength and external aerials are better.

 

[JamesEW]

Superhub 3 has some major latency and security issues (easily DOSable and possibly rootable). Stick with your SH2 if you can at least until they can fix it (if they can fix it). SH3 is like all Superhubs in that it has a very cut down and simplified firmware with limited functionality. Most people who want to do anything at all complex simply put the SH into modem mode and connect a good router instead. You will probably get better wireless from a third party router because signal strength and external aerials are better.

Cheers. Do you have any suggestions for a half decent wireless router - Asus or Linksys around £50 to £80 and preferably latest ac standard? I've heard Linksys isn't as good as it used to be but I'd still consider it. Not really sure about other brands or models.

 

[Steampunk]

Cheers. Do you have any suggestions for a half decent wireless router - Asus or Linksys around £50 to £80 and preferably latest ac standard? I've heard Linksys isn't as good as it used to be but I'd still consider it. Not really sure about other brands or models.

I don't know what's good at the moment, but I'd start by looking at anything Asus that can run Merlin's third party firmware.

 

[Rainmaker]

Cheers. Do you have any suggestions for a half decent wireless router - Asus or Linksys around £50 to £80 and preferably latest ac standard? I've heard Linksys isn't as good as it used to be but I'd still consider it. Not really sure about other brands or models.

Not sure if you missed my post (and questions) above? For that budget you're really going to struggle to get something capable of fast WAN > LAN throughput and still have a good AC wireless capability. A high end wireless router these days is knocking on the doors of 300 quid... As above, an ASUS for around 80 will handle the WAN (subject to your speeds - you never said, and it was one of my questions) but the wifi will be about half the 'latest AC standard'.

 

[JamesEW]

Not sure if you missed my post (and questions) above? For that budget you're really going to struggle to get something capable of fast WAN > LAN throughput and still have a good AC wireless capability. A high end wireless router these days is knocking on the doors of 300 quid... As above, an ASUS for around 80 will handle the WAN (subject to your speeds - you never said, and it was one of my questions) but the wifi will be about half the 'latest AC standard'.

Sorry i missed your post. I moved onto the 100mb VM package recently but my linksys isn't even gigabit on the ports so not getting more than 30mb.

I will be connecting my main pc and htpc via ethernet to router, but will also be using wireless for devices and stuff. £300 would be pushing it a bit for me personaly. I mainly want reliable speeds and little wifi drop outs and atleast some router config settings for stuff like port forwarding and dhcp configuring.

Again i'm not too technical with all this stuff and was hoping to just buy a half decent router to plug into SH2 for reliable internet speeds. My SH2 is quite old so not sure its ac.

 

[Rainmaker]

Sorry i missed your post. I moved onto the 100mb VM package recently but my linksys isn't even gigabit on the ports so not getting more than 30mb.

I will be connecting my main pc and htpc via ethernet to router, but will also be using wireless for devices and stuff. £300 would be pushing it a bit for me personaly. I mainly want reliable speeds and little wifi drop outs and atleast some router config settings for stuff like port forwarding and dhcp configuring.

Again i'm not too technical with all this stuff and was hoping to just buy a half decent router to plug into SH2 for reliable internet speeds. My SH2 is quite old so not sure its ac.

With your budget I would probably grab the TP-Link Archer C7 v2 from the choice available on OcUK. The Asus AC56u - like all Asus routers - has good wired routing and decent firmware, but it's not supported by Merlin firmware and has lacklustre wifi compared to the similarly-priced Archer C7. The C7 will route gigabit at wire speed over ethernet, and has decent enough wifi provided you're not sat right on top of it. You pays your money and you makes your choice. Wait for some others to chip in, but that's my 0.02.

As an aside, was the SH2 really that lacking for such basics as DHCP and port forwarding? If you really can't use it then the above are options, but I'd have another look if I was you to be sure.

 

[triggerthat]

Hi - looking to get VM at my girlriend's place. They currently have a £50 refer a friend scheme and the best deal we can find is £27 per month for a 50mb line + telephone. Is this the best I can do? Only interested in Broadband and apparently getting the telephone line is cheaper.

 

[Puzzled]

Hi - looking to get VM at my girlriend's place. They currently have a £50 refer a friend scheme and the best deal we can find is £27 per month for a 50mb line + telephone. Is this the best I can do? Only interested in Broadband and apparently getting the telephone line is cheaper.

Is the referral a link or a promo code? Perhaps double it up with quidco / topcashback?

 

[triggerthat]

Its this: https://keepup.virginmedia.com/referafriend?

 

[kannanni]

Hiya,

I understand the upload is capped on the standart 200 meg package.
do virgin restrict upload when using facetime,skype or any other video apps? also i do connect to my nas externally to watch movies, shows or moving files sometimes.. will this be a problem on the upload restriction ?

 

[Rainmaker]

Hiya,

I understand the upload is capped on the standart 200 meg package.
do virgin restrict upload when using facetime,skype or any other video apps? also i do connect to my nas externally to watch movies, shows or moving files sometimes.. will this be a problem on the upload restriction ?

VIVID200 customers are subject to upload traffic management between 6pm and 11pm, but it only affects the 'top 3%' of customers. If you upload 2.25GB in an hour, or 3GB over two hours inside that period, your upload speed will be cut down until 11pm. You can still upload but at 50% speed loss (1 hour penalty) or 65% speed loss (2 hour penalty). If this is a concern to you, just upgrade to VIVID350 (which I have ) as it's not subject to any limits (up or down).

 

[Puzzled]

VIVID200 customers are subject to upload traffic management between 6pm and 11pm, but it only affects the 'top 3%' of customers. If you upload 2.25GB in an hour, or 3GB over two hours inside that period, your upload speed will be cut down until 11pm. You can still upload but at 50% speed loss (1 hour penalty) or 65% speed loss (2 hour penalty). If this is a concern to you, just upgrade to VIVID350 (which I have ) as it's not subject to any limits (up or down).

I'm confused now, isn't the upload on the 200 package 12Mbps? Do they slow you down if you use it?

Looking at VM in the next month or so but a decent upload speed was appealing on the 200 package, perhaps I'll have to pay more for the 300 tier if they throttle you.

 

[kannanni]

VIVID200 customers are subject to upload traffic management between 6pm and 11pm, but it only affects the 'top 3%' of customers. If you upload 2.25GB in an hour, or 3GB over two hours inside that period, your upload speed will be cut down until 11pm. You can still upload but at 50% speed loss (1 hour penalty) or 65% speed loss (2 hour penalty). If this is a concern to you, just upgrade to VIVID350 (which I have ) as it's not subject to any limits (up or down).

i tried online but it said vivid 300 is not avaiable in my area. will try ringing them tomorrow to double check avaiability. i would have thought they have upgraded most areas by now

 

[Rainmaker]

I'm confused now, isn't the upload on the 200 package 12Mbps? Do they slow you down if you use it?

Looking at VM in the next month or so but a decent upload speed was appealing on the 200 package, perhaps I'll have to pay more for the 300 tier if they throttle you.

Yes the basic VIVID200 package has a 12Mbps upload. The VIVID200 Gamer (now replaced by the 300/350 tiers) had a 20Mbps upload and no restrictions. Now that distinction of 20Mbps+ upload and no management/restrictions goes to the 300/350 tiers (it varies by area which one you can get).

i tried online but it said vivid 300 is not avaiable in my area. will try ringing them tomorrow to double check avaiability. i would have thought they have upgraded most areas by now

The 300/350 tiers require newer CMTS (head end equipment in the cabinet, basically). VM are rolling out Arris and Cisco equipment to the cabs which provide 24 downstream channels (so far). It's this that allows the newer higher speed tiers. We got ours recently and it works great. Some areas have been more difficult to upgrade for various reasons, but they'll get sorted soon. Next year VM are rolling out DOCSIS 3.1 which is capable of multi-gigabit connection speeds. Not that they'll just jump from 350Mbps to 1Gbps (we can dream), but it's nice to know the capability is there for the near-ish future.

 

[Trifid]

Virgin have just sent me a letter telling me my bill is going up 7.5%... Another inflation busting increasing, last year it was 9%... :/

 

[RobK]

Anyone know what broadband trial Virgin are planning next? I got an email asking if I wanted to be part of it but it said you have to be a permanent Virgin Media employee, which I'm not. It also says you need to have the SH3 and something to do with a new protocol.

 

[Steampunk]

Anyone know what broadband trial Virgin are planning next? I got an email asking if I wanted to be part of it but it said you have to be a permanent Virgin Media employee, which I'm not. It also says you need to have the SH3 and something to do with a new protocol.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's something to do with Docsis 3.1 they are supposedly rolling out next year. This has the potential for very high speeds, and VM's initial tests often go far above the commercially available speeds as a way of stress testing the network.

 

[RobK]

If I had to guess, I'd say it's something to do with Docsis 3.1 they are supposedly rolling out next year. This has the potential for very high speeds, and VM's initial tests often go far above the commercially available speeds as a way of stress testing the network.

It does sound like it might be that. Shame I can't even get cable at all where I live now, never mind getting on the trial!