| Computer Related > Broadband | Miscellaneous |
| Thread Author: ORB>>> | Replies: 32 |
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Tue 10 Mar 26 20:02
Broadband - ORB>>>
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I've had the price increase showing for some time and in reading in one of the daily newspapers It referred me to a link via Moneysupermarket. Current deal is £32.99 from 1st april.( 6 months left on contract) (early termination fees £52.50) Plusnet are offering 140 mb still more expensive than Virgin. Virgin 516 mb would be £20.99 a month 1st year plus £4 added second year. Question Does anyone have experience of Virgin media ? |
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Tue 10 Mar 26 20:36
Broadband - tyrednemotional
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Ive just signed up for VM 516 at that price, to be installed next week. My Plusnet contract expires at the end of the month. I've been reasonably happy with them for some years but my FTTC connection is abysmally slow (slowest on the road due to being on a convoluted end of the copper run) Openreach have been promising FTTP for a long time but it has stalled at the end of the road with no sign of progress for months. VM did their prep about a year ago, so it simply needs a connection under the lawn from an existing access point. It's going to be £6 per month cheaper for a nominally 25x faster connection. We lose the landline (VM can't do VOIP here) but we've been preparing for that for a year (Plusnet don't do VOIP anywhere). Both technically and commercially I'd rather be with an Openreach based service (easier to play negotiatons around different resellers) but I've had enough of waiting. If Openreach do finally come up trumps that will be stirred into negotiation 2 years out. FWIW there was some indication that they would pay up to £250 in early termination fees (with appropriate evidence). My contract firms up on that, but at the currently quoted £3.23 I'm inclined to let that go down the leg side. |
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Tue 10 Mar 26 20:47
Broadband - ORB>>>
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Thanks for that. Neighbours 2 doors down were paying over £60 to EE and when they realised (both late 70's they swapped to VM, everything already laid out in the street just a connection under the lawn, when EE were told that their customer was leaving they DID make a vastly improved offer but were told, sorry too late... We have been with Plusnet for 13 or 14 years but loyalty doe not pay. |
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Tue 10 Mar 26 20:57
Broadband - tyrednemotional
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I've had Plusnet call me a few times (since VM have given them notice - it's a very easy 1-click transfer now using the Ofcom dictated process). I've been able to "play" them for many years at every renewal, but they simply cannot deliver what I want at the moment (and there are a few doubts Openreach will ever get here to enable it!) As Openreach were late to the game in the village we have a mix of ex-cable providers (now all Virgin), Connect Fibre (a small firm but with quite a market here. Unfortunately they only deliver using Openreach poles, and our bit of the village is pole-less), and small outbreaks of Openreach (individual connections for which require an awful lot of digging here, which is why it isn't progressing I think). I'm happy for the time being. A number of neighbours have gone VM since they did the enabling work and I'm hearing no complaints. |
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Tue 10 Mar 26 21:09
Broadband - Zero
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>> Question Does anyone have experience of Virgin media ? I had VM 300 mb (and landline) cable for 10 years. Service was more or less 99.9% reliable speed and availability. Cable modem/router was basic, Was very expensive for what it was. Moved to 1gig community fibre, and now paying over 50% less. Canceling VM was not easy, but I found a few tricks to talk to a human at cancelations and avoid retentions. |
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Wed 11 Mar 26 07:46
Broadband - Paul 1963
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| We're with 3 mobile for our Internet, obviously totally wireless, important for me as I have a thing about wires on the outside of properties, no idea of the speed but it meets our needs, never experienced buffering or glitches, £26 a month. |
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Wed 11 Mar 26 09:39
Broadband - smokie
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Been with Virgin since way before Virgin existed, from when the street was first cabled, (1990s I believe), for the whole package - TV landline etc. I could count on two ands, and I think probably just one, the number of times we have had issues in all that time, though one did turn out to be a bit of a long running saga. Speed has consistently been at or above what we paid for. Each year we have had the tedious bargaining call with them and managed to keep it to (currently) about £51 for basic TV, landlne and 250mb connection. Removing the landline actually made the cost rise. My main reason for retaining Virgin these days was for the TiVo which again I have had since before Virgin got their mitts on the product. But they are now removing much of our desired functionality so come June I will almost definitely be away from Virgin. I have found similar (in some respects superior) TV functionality with a SiliconDust HDHomeRun which is only Freeview channels but that' covers pretty much all our TV needs. I had odd bits of hardware already available so it has an annual cost of $80 for the TV guide and that's it. Seems to work well enough and we can stream whatever we want to it when away, including our recordings and terrestrial TV, without the faff of VPN and the unreliability of iPlayer etc abroad. So I will be going to one of the fibre offerings in our road which coincidentally I was looking at last night and I am expecting no more than about £25 average monthly cost over a 2 year period for 900mb (though quite why anyone would need that large a pipe escapes me!!). I need to research which providers are seen as good locally, as I know peoples experience of Virgin has been very different to mine. I'm not sure where they will run the fibre, it can go round the edge of a flowerbed till it reaches a step which it'll need to go over or round somehow. Or over top of the porch. Maybe that's when I revew where it enters the house, I need to think about that one. |
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Wed 11 Mar 26 10:05
Broadband - Bobby
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Been with Virgin since they were Telewest up here - late 90s. Started off with the dodgy chipped black boxes (mind them) in the days that cable only worked one way so the company had no idea what was at the other end. Every time the contract is up I need to go through the whole cancellation and then about a week before the disconnect happens I get a phone call with a great offer that means I sign up for another 18 or 24 months. I have TV and broadband (and house phone though I don't physically have a house phone anymore) Yes their call centres are mostly abroad but actually any time I have had to contact them I have got things sorted. In fact, just before Christmas we got our driveway tarmacced and the contractors went through the cable (my fault because I showed them where the cable was at the right hand side and they kept that safe and it was only later I realised that was the cable to my neighbour's and mine ran down the middle of the driveway.)... anyway called Virgin and within an hour they had a guy out to repair the cable which I was pretty dam impressed with. |
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Wed 11 Mar 26 16:29
Broadband - martin aston
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I’ve been with BT for 50 years, since pre-privatisation. The fttp is very good. At last renewal they wanted too much so I said I would leave. They insisted their price couldn’t be improved even when I asked for their retention team. I had to go through all the rigmarole of putting an order with Voda. A week before the change appointment BT rang with a price to nearly match Voda. Very annoying that they treat a customer like this. Do they think that brinkmanship builds customer satisfaction?Anyway it’s less hassle to stay, especially as I have a BT email address and they charge you a monthly fee if you use it after moving (unless you only use webmail). So I stayed with BT but their behaviour on existing customer pricing is ridiculous. |
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Wed 11 Mar 26 16:38
Broadband - Zero
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>> I'm not sure where they will run the fibre, it can go round the edge >> of a flowerbed till it reaches a step which it'll need to go over or >> round somehow. Or over top of the porch. Maybe that's when I revew where it >> enters the house, I need to think about that one. They prefer to string it from your local telephone pole if you have one, like your old analogue phone line was. |
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Wed 11 Mar 26 17:02
Broadband - smokie
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| We live in a nice area with no telegraph poles :-) |
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Wed 11 Mar 26 17:27
Broadband - Zero
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>> We live in a nice area with no telegraph poles :-) Bracknell? probably all been chopped down by the local yoof. |
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Fri 13 Mar 26 06:41
Broadband - Falkirk Bairn
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A son was paying around £33 to Sky for 500Mb Letter saying this would go up to £43 IIRC Phoned and said that if Sky is offering £29 as an offer to new customers he was looking for the same. SKY "New Customers only" He "signed up" for another BB supplier. Within a few days Sky phoned him - they said £29 was for new customers would he stay at £30/month. He stayed with Sky - avoids the hassle of change, although he did not like the rip-off attitude of Sky. Savings over doing nothing - £13/mth = £156 per year |
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Tue 17 Mar 26 13:39
Broadband - ORB>>>
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| I've been testing the waters with customer services of the various providers and plusnet seem to be better at being able to speak to a human. |
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Tue 17 Mar 26 16:28
Broadband - Bromptonaut
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>> I've been testing the waters with customer services of the various providers and plusnet seem >> to be better at being able to speak to a human. When we had a problem with our Plusnet connection I got a human pretty quick. Bonus was first language English; in Doncaster. |
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Tue 17 Mar 26 17:44
Broadband - tyrednemotional
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Plusnet Call Centres are better than many (which probably isn't saying much). I would have stayed with them if they could have offered FTTP rather than the pedestrian FTTC connection I have. As mentioned above, my Virgin Media connection went in this morning. FTTP and 500+mbps down/55+mbps up measured on Speedtest. What surprised me more was the wireless speed to the existing portable kit we have. The router is WiFi6 and I've now discovered our respective laptops are as well. They're as fast as a very fast thing with it's backside on fire now (and other non WiFi 6 things like tablets are no slouch either). Incidentally the installers let slip that the recently introduced GiffGaff broadband is using the Virgin fibre network (confirmed by further research - they are both O2 of course). more surprising, and not verified was the info that Virgin may be opening its network to a few large ISPs. |
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Fri 20 Mar 26 10:12
Broadband - tyrednemotional
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I did a bit more research on my new connection. Checking via the OfCom website it appears that, though my provider is Virgin Media, the network connection is in fact provided by Nexfibre. Nexfibre have a somewhat tenuous joint venture status with VM, but are effectively aiming at an Openreach-type approach, allowing various ISPs to utilise their network. VM are simply the first, and currently only ISP to utilise the network. It would appear that, after a few technical "tweaks" they have other providers lined up to deliver over their full-fibre solution. (Wikipedia, should you believe it, mentions Zen Internet). The conversation with my installers seems to make sense now. (And if it happens in the next two years, a nice bit of competition on renewal will be no bad thing). |
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Fri 20 Mar 26 14:22
Broadband - smokie
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Our road has had cable for years and years but it, and a lot of the town, was all fibred (by City Fibre IIRC) three or so years back. Initially there were only a couple of companies offering service down the fibre but I think there are 10 or 12 now. There's a good chance I'll jump from Virgin later this year when my contract is up, as they are removing essential (to us) functionality form the TiVo box.
Last edited by: smokie on Fri 20 Mar 26 at 14:22
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Mon 8 Jun 26 12:55
Broadband - ORB>>>
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Current deal was £32.99 from 1st April 2026. (that was 6 months to the end of contract) Now we are within 3 months of the contract ending, phoned Plusnet and a very nice surprise, with Customer retention. Sane deal £19.99 a month. will increase £4 each upcoming april. OK with that. £302 less over the 2 year contract. |
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Mon 8 Jun 26 13:17
Broadband - Bromptonaut
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Moved from Plusnet to Gigaclear last week. They were £10/month cheaper than the best Plusnet could do. £25/month for fastest possible connection on 18 month contract. Gigaclear installation was in two stages. They put a new fibre cable through the ducting under my lawn and left it with a neat loop where it emerged by the front door. Guy from Gigaclear's contractor, Kelly, attended last week an completed the installation by drilling through the wall and attaching external an internal boxes. Connected a new Linksys router, set up and left working with factory SSID and password - he refused to change them. Twenty minutes of my time to set SSID and passkey to match previous set up and all good. Wifi for phones, PCs, TV, Alexa etc all working. There's a second router to facilitate a 'mesh' network but I don't think we need it. There was a mix up over Plusnet and charges though. Contract ended on 26 May. Was on holiday that week but I just asked them to stop it and booked Giga for the day after we were home. Plusnet then took a month's DD last Tuesday at the £68 'out of contract' rate I thought I'd ducked. Reclaimed it from Santander under the DD guarantee. Plusnet then tell me they can't terminate their service at contract end due to the way the handover was handled by Giga. Apparently they'll back bill me for the five or six days difference. That might make sense ig Giga used the same Openreach connection as Plusnet but as above they have their own connection. So far no bill. P/net are also supposed to be sending a box to return their router but no sign of that either. |
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Mon 8 Jun 26 13:34
Broadband - ORB>>>
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Plusnet had a limited offer up today on Broadband choices ( comparison website ) and I asked them to match that as I had been with them for many years. Couple of minutes while operator "consulted" and all done. Email confirmation came through while we spoke, and less hassle than changing.. £13 a month off is good for me. The wallet is feeling better with the fuel savings on the S Cross as well. |
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Tue 9 Jun 26 07:56
Broadband - Falkirk Bairn
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Sky BB for almost 15 years. Putting it up from £31 to £35 mid way through contract. SKY has a clause on BB if they put up the price whilst in contract you can quit. All the BB Companies seem to be having "Good Deals" for new customers but not for loyal customers. Sky offer to new customers was £23 and a £150 after 3/4 months. Others were roughly the same. Sky refused to budge on the new £35 price rise Filled in the Vodafone offer at £22 + £130 in 4 months Inundated (8 or 9 calls)with SKY calls which I said no thanks or "words to that effect" Threatening e-mailed cancellation charges of £100 etc etc (although you can leave within 30 days of their email) Installed the Vodafone router just under 3 weeks ago. All good. although SKYQ box gave a wobbly yesterday - reboot and reconnect to the router. January SKY TV renewal is a bit of a problem as there is nowhere else to go. Bad relationship with Virgin on death of a relative. Would not give me a refund despite them taking a Direct Debit from my account for 10+ years. We stayed in most of a day & they failed to turn up to collect their box twice. |
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Tue 9 Jun 26 10:09
Broadband - Bobby
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| Just reading all this thread and realising that getting my driveway tarmacced (full width at one point other than a 6 inch edge) might have dramatically reduced my chances of ever leaving Virgin..... |
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Tue 9 Jun 26 10:15
Broadband - Bromptonaut
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>> Just reading all this thread and realising that getting my driveway tarmacced (full width at >> one point other than a 6 inch edge) might have dramatically reduced my chances of >> ever leaving Virgin..... How does the current service enter your house? |
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Tue 9 Jun 26 10:37
Broadband - Bromptonaut
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>> How does the current service enter your house? Too late for edit. Can see you've mentioned cable being cut when your drive was laid. Did Virgin need to dig it up to effect a repair? |
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Tue 9 Jun 26 13:11
Broadband - Bobby
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| cable runs under the tarmac - was spliced at the top of the drive where it met the pavement so that where it was repaired |
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Tue 9 Jun 26 12:42
Broadband - Clk Sec
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>> Sky BB for almost 15 years. Not been with them that long, thank goodness, so looking to move elsewhere when existing contract expires in a couple of months or so. Was hoping to opt for Plusnet, but their package does not include landline and Mrs CS will not be without that, despite a house full of mobiles! Any recommendations for a half-decent ISP will be much appreciated. |
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Tue 9 Jun 26 13:08
Broadband - Duncan
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We have just been switched to fibre to the property. (Have I done all this previously?) We were with Plusnet. No problems. No complaints, if you needed to speak to them, they were in Yorkshire - can't have everything. Plusnet recomended/shoved us to EE. It all went reasonably smoothly, minor problem "we will have to get Openreach for that". I reminded them that EE, Plusnet, Openreach and BT were all the same company/group. Lady Duncan insisted on a landline, bit of kerfuffle getting the answering machine set up. But now done - to what end, I don't know. |
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Tue 9 Jun 26 13:13
Broadband - Bobby
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| I hope you have a fax machine to go with your answering machine.... |
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Tue 9 Jun 26 13:16
Broadband - Bobby
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Just ran a check for my postcode, highest speed I can get from any other provider is 67mbps whereas Virgin offer speeds up to 1000.. Maybe I wont be moving anytime soon |
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Tue 9 Jun 26 14:31
Broadband - bathtub tom
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I was with Plusnet at my old property. When I moved here, they wanted me to start a new (more expensive) contract and insisted it would involve a change of number (I moved one mile in the same town). I pointed out I was still on the same exchange (the one where I used to work until I left), but they insisted the number couldn't be transferred. I offered to go back in the building and show them how to do it and kicked up such a fuss, they agreed to waive the early cancellation of contract fee. I went to Vodafone, retained the old number, had fibre to the door for a lower charge (£31/month currently), unlimited data, free calls and SWMBO got her wish to retain a landline (VOIP). |
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Wed 10 Jun 26 14:32
Broadband - Duncan
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We don't! I really can't remember when and how it went. Do you think I should get one... |
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Wed 10 Jun 26 15:13
Broadband - Bromptonaut
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>> I hope you have a fax machine to go with your answering machine.... I think we had the facility to send fax with one of the printer/scanners until the landline went. But who, outside the NHS, can receive them now? I think I had a fax number in my last CS post but it delivered messages to my screen. Can't remember when we got rid of a domestic answering machine. I think the landline bundled one though it was rarely used. With a mobile each I can't see the point. At the end the only non spam calls on the landline were Miss B who got in the habit of phoning home while walking between the two campuses at Uni and stuck with it during breaks from work. |
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