Virgin Media Discussion Thread

[Cromulent]

Nice! It's normally a straightforward install:

• Hook up the Hitron to the COAX cable that's already there;
• Confirm the line stats and fit any attenuators/boosters needed (if the engineer has them, see note below!)
• Engineer (won't be the normal VM guys as they're "apparently" not trained for VM business installs) will phone the business activation line;
• Upto 60 minutes for the activation to be successful (the engineer will stay there until it's online);
• Two or 3 speedtests (through good old Speedtest.net) and the results will then be phoned back to the activation line as a reference;
• Clean up

Nice and simple! The static IPs take a while to filter through unlike the Dynamic ones though due to the GRE tunnel but the engineer won't leave until its on. One thing is that you "may" not get full speed out of the install straight away - the initial speedtest only gave 20-30mbps but gradually increases to the maximum over 30-60 minutes.

Note: May be worth getting some of the attenuators from ebay as VM don't hand them out to their engineers anymore - any that are used now were already with the engineer or "taken" from other client installs Bit cheeky to be honest. If not, they'll install another piece of kit (not sure of it's name as engineer didn't need one) that will take some of the upstream bandwidth to put onto the down speed. Surprised them by having a full collection of all the attenuators

Awesome. Thank you for the info. I'm quite looking forward to it although I'm going to need to tidy up my office before the engineer arrives as it looks like a bomb has hit it .

I've already got the SIM card which is working nicely. I hope the Hitron router is a good one. I couldn't find much information on it. It must be better than the Super Hub 3 though. Hopefully, it'll let me set my own DNS servers.

 

[Praetorian]

Awesome. Thank you for the info. I'm quite looking forward to it although I'm going to need to tidy up my office before the engineer arrives as it looks like a bomb has hit it .

I've already got the SIM card which is working nicely. I hope the Hitron router is a good one. I couldn't find much information on it. It must be better than the Super Hub 3 though. Hopefully, it'll let me set my own DNS servers.

The Hitron CGNV4 and the SH3 are the same chipset - the infamous Puma 6, so you get all the same issues such as testing sites reporting horrible latency spikes etc. It's been fixed in the latest firmware which is 4.5.10.173-UPC which should auto download when connected but may need either support to push a firmware update to it or a device reset (via the pin at the back). Check via the admin portal (same as SH3 - 192.168.100.1).

Sorry to disappoint but I don't believe you'll be able to set your own DNS servers as they're part of the firmware If you want to control DNS at the gateway, you'll need to use your own device (pfSense, Ubiquity etc). Even at that point they make it difficult as the "1 Static IP option" doesn't support using your own device without introducing Double NAT You'll either have to:

a. Forgo the static IP and move back to Dynamic IP - that will allow you to use modem mode and then use your own choice of router/firewall device (I use pfSense like this);
b. Upgrade to the 5 IP address option where the Hitron will take the 1st IP and your own choice of device can take any of the remaining 4 IP addresses.

If Virgin had implemented the true defintion of Static IPs, without the need for a GRE tunnel, the 1 IP option would be great and not waste valuable RIPE IPv4 address space.

The one great thing about VMB is that the support staff are all UK based (normally either Scotland or Ireland) so you don't have to deal with the offshore guys - in their defence, they're only doing a job and they're not provided the tools to deal with anything that's not scripted.

 

[Cromulent]

The Hitron CGNV4 and the SH3 are the same chipset - the infamous Puma 6, so you get all the same issues such as testing sites reporting horrible latency spikes etc. It's been fixed in the latest firmware which is 4.5.10.173-UPC which should auto download when connected but may need either support to push a firmware update to it or a device reset (via the pin at the back). Check via the admin portal (same as SH3 - 192.168.100.1).

Sorry to disappoint but I don't believe you'll be able to set your own DNS servers as they're part of the firmware If you want to control DNS at the gateway, you'll need to use your own device (pfSense, Ubiquity etc). Even at that point they make it difficult as the "1 Static IP option" doesn't support using your own device without introducing Double NAT You'll either have to:

a. Forgo the static IP and move back to Dynamic IP - that will allow you to use modem mode and then use your own choice of router/firewall device (I use pfSense like this);
b. Upgrade to the 5 IP address option where the Hitron will take the 1st IP and your own choice of device can take any of the remaining 4 IP addresses.

If Virgin had implemented the true defintion of Static IPs, without the need for a GRE tunnel, the 1 IP option would be great and not waste valuable RIPE IPv4 address space.

The one great thing about VMB is that the support staff are all UK based (normally either Scotland or Ireland) so you don't have to deal with the offshore guys - in their defence, they're only doing a job and they're not provided the tools to deal with anything that's not scripted.

Thanks for the info. I'll make sure to check the firmware. DNS isn't such a big problem. If the worst comes to the worst I can just buy a dedicated router and use it in modem mode. I'm really more interested in the static IP address and the support SLA and the SIM was a nice bonus.

 

[Avalon]

Yeah, I got that. I meant you can check your contract to see if you missed anything. If not, you need to phone Virgin.

I hate to be the one to point this out, but suggesting someone who hasn't read the bill reads the contract is a tad ironic. VM bill you in advance for service charges and in arrears for usage, look at the dates you are being billed for, you are being billed from the point of install for the service you had up till the bills due date (30 days from install), plus a month in advance for the service and any install/activation costs. I'll guess that @chaseyx98 pays £37 a month and two lots of £37 plus £25 activation is £99.

 

[Praetorian]

I'm really more interested in the static IP address and the support SLA and the SIM was a nice bonus.

The SLA is a very nice bonus and they've always met the 24 hour target window without any nudge. I'm at the end of my current contract with them so will be renewing once they announce any new speeds - rumoured to be a boost on upload to 35mb. Down is already fast enough for me to use fully

 

[dean0]

I work for VM and can get you a great deal as I've done for a few on here using my staff rate, I get a small kickback and you will save a lot It is for new customers only, if your interested let me know.
Thanks
Dean

 

[xb8browney]

I work for VM and can get you a great deal as I've done for a few on here using my staff rate, I get a small kickback and you will save a lot It is for new customers only, if your interested let me know.
Thanks
Dean

You sorted me and my mate out before, No issues.

 

[Cleisthenes]

I work for VM and can get you a great deal as I've done for a few on here using my staff rate, I get a small kickback and you will save a lot It is for new customers only, if your interested let me know.
Thanks
Dean

Bugger, just signed up with VM and now I see this

I'm not even going to say what I went for as I'll no doubt be a sad man finding out what I could have saved!

 

[Merlin5]

I can't connect to my laptop today. The network card in it is only capable of 2G. I noticed that my phone which does both 2G and 5G can't connect to 2G when I try it and it defaults to 5G. So is this likely to be some temporary VM issue?

 

[Deleted member 209350]

I work for VM and can get you a great deal as I've done for a few on here using my staff rate, I get a small kickback and you will save a lot It is for new customers only, if your interested let me know.
Thanks
Dean

Very kind of you! Too bad im already a customer

Is there anything you can do to existing customers?

 

[Cromulent]

The SLA is a very nice bonus and they've always met the 24 hour target window without any nudge. I'm at the end of my current contract with them so will be renewing once they announce any new speeds - rumoured to be a boost on upload to 35mb. Down is already fast enough for me to use fully

VM Business is now all installed and working correctly. It was a very fast process. I think it took 40 minutes all told. I also checked the router firmware and it has the one which has fixed the latency spikes.

 

[Praetorian]

Very nice @Cromulent ! Seems like they've definitely fixed everything. Whats your speedtests look like? Also may be worth setting up a Broadband Monitor on Think Broadband (https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality) and let it run for a few days to definitely confirm the latency spikes aren't there.

But definitely enjoy it

 

[Cromulent]

Very nice @Cromulent ! Seems like they've definitely fixed everything. Whats your speedtests look like? Also may be worth setting up a Broadband Monitor on Think Broadband (https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality) and let it run for a few days to definitely confirm the latency spikes aren't there.

But definitely enjoy it

Speed test is:

15ms ping
Download 375.73Mbit/sec
Upload 20.23Mbit/sec

 

[Merlin5]

I sorted my 2.4GHz issue. In my router settings under Advanced settings/Wireless signal, both 2.4 Ghz and 5 GHz were enabled as they always have been. I disabled Smart WiFi Channel Optimisation and applied changes and my 2.4 GHz connection was fine again. Then I re-enabled Smart WiFi and it's still fine. So I've no idea what that's all about. Is Smart WiFi something new that some update just added?

 

[dean0]

Very kind of you! Too bad im already a customer

Is there anything you can do to existing customers?

Unfortunately not at the momemt

 

[Deleted member 209350]

Unfortunately not at the momemt

Ah no problem! Thanks anyway

 

[beachBOYken]

I sorted my 2.4GHz issue. In my router settings under Advanced settings/Wireless signal, both 2.4 Ghz and 5 GHz were enabled as they always have been. I disabled Smart WiFi Channel Optimisation and applied changes and my 2.4 GHz connection was fine again. Then I re-enabled Smart WiFi and it's still fine. So I've no idea what that's all about. Is Smart WiFi something new that some update just added?

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.p...smart-wifi-upgrade-for-broadband-routers.html

If disabling it fixed your issues, I would leave it disabled.

.608 firmware added it but I believe it has been greyed out for a while and now its in trial to some customers.

@Merlin5, not sure what settings are available on the SH3 but if you can try setting your 2.4ghz to a set channel, try 1,6 or 11 and use a wifi analyser to check the least used. Also if possible use 20mhz channel bandwidth on the 2.4ghz band.

 

[Glanza]

I sorted my 2.4GHz issue. In my router settings under Advanced settings/Wireless signal, both 2.4 Ghz and 5 GHz were enabled as they always have been. I disabled Smart WiFi Channel Optimisation and applied changes and my 2.4 GHz connection was fine again. Then I re-enabled Smart WiFi and it's still fine. So I've no idea what that's all about. Is Smart WiFi something new that some update just added?

It got added in the firmware within the last 4 months, VM engineer when he came advised leaving it off as it was causing issues especially if your in a area with other people on VM.

 

[bremen1874]

Are 2ac hubs of any use to people knowadays? If they are I’ve got one I can stick on the members market for the cost of postage.

 

[Duke]

It’s not yours to sell.