Virgin Broadband

floppybootstomp

floppybootstomp

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Prompted by wizkid's 02 thread and Ian's revelation that he'd consider Virgin as an ISP, phoned Virgin to find out about their service.

I recently recieved a pamphlet from Virgin telling me I could connect to their Broadband service. This surprised me as prior to now I always ran into a brick wall asking other ISP's - notably 02 - when they told me they couldn't supply their service to me due to exchange restrictions.

I phoned Virgin who tell me they can supply an ADSL service to me - as opposed to cable - as they now control a local exchange for Cable and Wireless exchange. Aha, so that's how they can do it then.

I then asked him directly if he'd throttle my download speed if I used a lot of bandwidth, giving him between 50Gb and 100Gb a month as an example. He assured me they wouldn't and said he was aware of throttling problems in other parts of the uk but only with cable services. That's what he said, who am I to doubt his word? ;)

So here's current and proposed, what do you think?

Current:

Zen ISP 100Gb bandwidth per month
£35.00 a month
'Up to 8mps' restricted to 4mps max by local exchange shortcomings
2Gb webspace.
Unlimited e-mail addresses
Monthly contract
Using BT line at aprox £46.00 per quarter (3 monthly) (and £4.50 of that is for not paying by direct debit)
Flawless service, great free helpline

Total cost, monthly, BT & Zen: £50.00

Proposed:

Virgin ISP
£20.00 a month
£12.00 a month for Virgin phone line
Up to 9mps, average of 6mps (so they say)
55Mb Webspace
Unlimited bandwidth
Unlimited online storage
Free wireless router (I get to keep this, apparently, although I already have one in use)
Twelve monthly contract

Total cost, monthly, Virgin: £32.00

I forgot to ask about e-mail addresses, will have to check their website.
I hope 55Mb webspace is enough to take all the pix I have linked to, I expect it will be.
I'm a little wary of leaving Zen after 8 years, they're very very good but a saving of £18.00 a month is not be sniffed at.
I only use my landline for Broadband and faxing and the very occasional 08 number so do not usually attract call charges, I have oodles of minutes on me mobile so always use that, and still always have minutes left over at the end of each month. 500 free texts a month as well, I usually use about ten.
I'll have to pay monthly rather than 3 monthly but my total phone and broadband bill would still be less than my current monthly ISP charge.
Also wary of Virgin after hearing of complaints. This fear offset a little by excellent Virgin mobile phone service for the last three years.
I will lose my zen e-mail address which may cause a few probs but I have gradually been migrating all contacts to my g-mail address anyway.


Waddya think?
 
Waddya think?
Click to expand...
I hear people also get "upset" at BT-Yahoo, err, me, never had a bother. ;)

I have more bother with Logitch mice, I bought another one, 'cos they are the only miceses I can find that fit my hand, it's fecking crap, you need to have the "dongle" 6" away and on a USB hispeed port or you are truly screwed ... oh, err, sorry, ISPs humm, yes ok.


happywave.gif









it's the a 620, don't buy one
 
The main reason I'd consider Virgin is if I could get the cable package, as that's super-fast :). However, if you can get a more or less equal service for £18/month cheaper, then that's worth considering. It's such a shame o2 doesn't have any space left at the exchange.

Out of interest, did you also try contacting Be Broadband to see if they have part of the o2 allocation, as they are activated (http://www.samknows.com/old/broadband/exchange.php?ecode=LSGRNW)? I have a feeling you may have tried this, but I can't remember :o

Before you switch, it may be worth rining up Zen and say how much cheaper you can get it elsewhere. Tell them you'd like the MAC code to switch broadband providers and they may do you a cheaper deal :). Every time I've come to leave a broadband provider they've always offered something to try and get me to stay. That might kill 2 birds with one stone, cheaper net access and you get to keep your e-mail address.
 
We were with Virgin and we never got the speed we were paying for!
Kept getting told that we would be getting a faster connection, but it never happened. In the end at peak times we were down to nearly 56k dial up speed!
Now with Sky for BB & Phone call's and never had a problem.:D
 
I'm with VM

Always got speeds I was supposed too

yeah you do get router and it does belong to you even if you cancel service

It will either be a d-link or netgear

As for throttling on ADSL lines I cannot comment I have cable so im not sure on that one
However I am able if wanted too go to 50Mb even 100Mb by maybe the end of the year in certain areas

There are horror stories yes. I myself had one a few weeks ago with billing with VM but eventually had it sorted

Many choices out there only you can decide.....
 
I think it may have been me that said they were considering VM 50mb. :)

VM ADSL however, not a fudging chance! I'd rather use my phone.. :D

Their cable service (20mb and down) is ok, its a well known fact that its a postcode lottery as to whether your in an oversubscribed area or not, and they DO throttle/traffic manage all but the 50mb services, its on their own webby. lol. :)

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/internet/traffic.html

If i was in your position, i'd be very reluctant to move too. All the slots for Be/02 here are taken, so if i moved and wasn't happy with VM and decided to leave and go back, then i probably not get to go back to Be, which would make me cry.
 
Blimey.

I did say I was a little wary.

V_R, why is VM's ADSL service worse than their cable service? I would have thought the reverse was true.

Ian, I'll give Be a call, you never know. In the past I only spoke to 02 but as it seems they're one and the same, it's doubtful the situation will have changed.

I'd really rather stay with BT for my telephone landline as well tbh, but an 18 quid a month saving is tempting.
 
Goodness :eek:

I have that link saved as a bookmark myself, have had for years, forgot to look there though.

I guess that proves money isn't everything eh?

So, until something better becomes available I'll be sticking with Zen/BT.

Thanks for replies V_R :)
 
I'm going to check a few more ISP's, just checked two so far:

Fast.co.uk - # 1 in the dslzonelist - want £58.00 a month to supply the same service I'm currently getting for £35.00 :eek:

02/Be still unavailable in my area.

So going to have a look at a few others.

I think I've been down this path a fair few times actually and have always stuck with Zen, but no harm in looking eh?

Eh? ;)

PS: One thing has become apparent to me: Some ISP's are blatant liars.
 
Always keep your options open, no harm in looking at all Flops.

As i said to wizz in his thread, take a look at AAISP, they do ADSL2+ from Be, dunno about availability for you but worth a look? :)

http://aaisp.net.uk/
 
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