[Technology] Broadband provider

[CheeseRolls]

Good timing to see this question here.

I'm with Virgin too and will cancel next month after the 18 month contract ends. I'm only in the UK these days for about 6-8 weeks maximum and it just isn't worth me having any of their packages. At 65.00 pounds a month will be glad to see the back of it. I nver watch their football matches and the TV channels are mostly awful.

I do need some form of Broadband though, so will view the replies with great interest.

I'm in BN43 ( Shoreham ) if anyone is offering advice

Put your postcode in here https://cityfibre.com/ This is the full fibre deployment company for Worthing and Adur. If they have reached you, you should have some good reliable high speed options. Note cityfibre do not provide services themselves, but there are a number of providers who can offer a service over their network.

 

[Elbow750]

Have just gone to Virgin Media with the stream box (inc Sky Sports & TNT Sports) as we got a fantastic deal (£55pm). Half the price as Sky's 'best price' for renewal.

So far no problems.

Is that £55 including broadband, or just the media package? Also, how long is the £55 deal for?

 

[Withdean11]

Is that £55 including broadband, or just the media package? Also, how long is the £55 deal for?

Yes, 250mb Broadband with free Stream Box and subscriptions to TNT and Sky Sports HD for £55pm. Prices are set for 18m after which it rises to over £100pm so i'll probably go back to Sky as a new customer.

 

[Wardy's twin]

They nearly all use the Openreach network including Sky,Talk Talk, BT and Zen .

Which is why when I left BT for Sky i was told by BT that "Sky won't be as good" My reply was "it better be as you use the same network" a silence followed then the man on the call said "ok fair enought i got that wrong"

that is indeed the case regards the physical network but what is different is the customer service wrap around , often that only matters when you have a problem or want to leave. My experience with BT has been very good, when I have had problems (e.g. switch to DV and when I was reviewing my end of contract, got a good deal.

Some of the other companies are difficult to contact.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Put your postcode in here https://cityfibre.com/ This is the full fibre deployment company for Worthing and Adur. If they have reached you, you should have some good reliable high speed options. Note cityfibre do not provide services themselves, but there are a number of providers who can offer a service over their network.

They haven't quite got around to digging up my road yet but when I looked at the prices, while the introductory deals looked good but the ongoing pricing was more expensive than Virgin. If nothing else though, whoever you are currently with, it is another bargaining tool when it comes to the usual contract renewal dance.

 

[Happy Exile]

Just wanted to share the UTTER SHAMBLES of Virgin Media. Where I live it's the only way to get decently fast and reliable broadband for 2 people working at home and a teenager. This monopoly means we've been stuck paying £65 a month for 350mps for a teeth-grindingly aggravating length of time.

In January I signed up to a contract renewal deal they offered of 1 gig for £54 a month. They never moved us to it though, and their customer service is horrendous. It's impossible to talk to a human to find out why, and after several millennia waiting for their online chat service to give a human agent to try and help all they say is they don't know why the contract wasn't delivered, but I can pay more for a slower service of theirs if I want because the deal I signed up for isn't available anymore even though I've literally got the contract for it. Meanwhile, they've been sending me twee emails from no-reply email addresses telling me my contract is up for renewal and I should sign up for a new one.

After a month of being caught in a doom loop of repeatedly explaining the same information to people who don't understand it or don't want to help, this morning I was offered the deal I actually signed up to in January, though they tried to make out they were doing me a favour by offering me a small monthly discount on what the price is today just to keep the price the same as the contract I signed with them in January. They also wouldn't enter conversation about any compensation for the fact I've paid £44 more this year so far than the contract I signed in January agreed to.

They then put me through to another team (all via online chat) to sort it out...who had no info of the previous conversation and told me I'd have to pay £66 a month not the £54 that had been agreed despite me sharing all the contract information and the previous conversation with them.

Finally, I threatened them with the ombudsman. I don't even know if there is one, but I've ended up on a 1 gig fibre broadband contract for £33 a month which almost makes it worth the aggravation to get to this point. Absolute shambles, and by far the worst customer experience I've experienced of any company. As soon as Openreach or anyone else offers fibre or something in our road then I'll be ditching Virgin and I'd strongly encourage anyone and everyone to avoid them because if you need help their customer service is, in my experience, HORRENDOUS.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

I've found that the Community pages on the help section at Virgin Media is better than the online chat. You often (but not always) end up getting a message from one of the support people who then sort out issues faster than the online chat service.

 

[Oh_aye]

Been with Virgin years and never had a problem, renegotiate every 18 months for a new price.

Same here. Surprised to see people funding them unreliable. Most stable network for me and I've had em all over London as well as Brighton. Had BT in my last flat and it was garbage.

Also, I negotiated a broadband only deal in around December last year for 30 quid per month and got rid of phone line so I think the OP can't be getting through to the right 'I'm leaving you, you cow' department. As they'll deffo let you have it.

I think I leveraged the offer from TOOB to get that. Its slightly mote expensive but Toob were untested and will hike their prices up soon. Also I've tried new providers before and they're always fine at the beginning until they become oversubscribed and the wheels come off.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

Just coming up to 6 months with Toob full fibre, after leaving virgin(spit)(double spit)
Still only paying £25 a month for speeds over 950mb WITH NO ISSUES(so far)

 

[mile oak]

Unfortunately the problem is often with Open Reach who have a lottery on do what they want when the want how they want and so many broadband providers are at their command. Stinks.

 

[dstanman]

With the difference in cost, how much noticeable benefit is there in performance between 300M & 900M fibre for everyday use. Does the WiFi or router provide the limiting factor rather broadband speed

 

[NorthstandRacoon]

Just wanted to share the UTTER SHAMBLES of Virgin Media. Where I live it's the only way to get decently fast and reliable broadband for 2 people working at home and a teenager. This monopoly means we've been stuck paying £65 a month for 350mps for a teeth-grindingly aggravating length of time.

In January I signed up to a contract renewal deal they offered of 1 gig for £54 a month. They never moved us to it though, and their customer service is horrendous. It's impossible to talk to a human to find out why, and after several millennia waiting for their online chat service to give a human agent to try and help all they say is they don't know why the contract wasn't delivered, but I can pay more for a slower service of theirs if I want because the deal I signed up for isn't available anymore even though I've literally got the contract for it. Meanwhile, they've been sending me twee emails from no-reply email addresses telling me my contract is up for renewal and I should sign up for a new one.

After a month of being caught in a doom loop of repeatedly explaining the same information to people who don't understand it or don't want to help, this morning I was offered the deal I actually signed up to in January, though they tried to make out they were doing me a favour by offering me a small monthly discount on what the price is today just to keep the price the same as the contract I signed with them in January. They also wouldn't enter conversation about any compensation for the fact I've paid £44 more this year so far than the contract I signed in January agreed to.

They then put me through to another team (all via online chat) to sort it out...who had no info of the previous conversation and told me I'd have to pay £66 a month not the £54 that had been agreed despite me sharing all the contract information and the previous conversation with them.

Finally, I threatened them with the ombudsman. I don't even know if there is one, but I've ended up on a 1 gig fibre broadband contract for £33 a month which almost makes it worth the aggravation to get to this point. Absolute shambles, and by far the worst customer experience I've experienced of any company. As soon as Openreach or anyone else offers fibre or something in our road then I'll be ditching Virgin and I'd strongly encourage anyone and everyone to avoid them because if you need help their customer service is, in my experience, HORRENDOUS.

Just switch, I'm with Zen and 1, you speak with a nice person up north and not some dodgy call centre in India, and 2, they were extremely helpful throughout and as easy as pie to move too.

Thanks everyone btw for your suggestions, very helpful.

 

[Happy Exile]

Just switch, I'm with Zen and 1, you speak with a nice person up north and not some dodgy call centre in India, and 2, they were extremely helpful throughout and as easy as pie to move too.

Thanks everyone btw for your suggestions, very helpful.

I'd love to, but at the moment Virgin are the only people who provide fast enough speed for the fact two of us in the house spend most of the working day on video calls, some of them not really things that you want disrupted or with a dodgy connection, and during school holidays Netflix is getting hammered at the same time too.

No other provider will do more than 61mpbs and we know from experience that's not enough to be dependable - there were times before where I'd hotspot off the 4G on my phone just to make sure I'd get a reliable connection for important calls. The minute anyone else offers fibre or something to compete with Virgin here then we will switch though.

 

[happypig]

I'd love to, but at the moment Virgin are the only people who provide fast enough speed for the fact two of us in the house spend most of the working day on video calls, some of them not really things that you want disrupted or with a dodgy connection, and during school holidays Netflix is getting hammered at the same time too.

No other provider will do more than 61mpbs and we know from experience that's not enough to be dependable - there were times before where I'd hotspot off the 4G on my phone just to make sure I'd get a reliable connection for important calls. The minute anyone else offers fibre or something to compete with Virgin here then we will switch though.

You could use QoS prioritisation on your router so that you always have available bandwidth for work stuff. Netflix and the like will try and take as much as they can to provide the best “user experience”. If you have 60mb you could limit video-on-demand to 30mb leaving the rest for work calls/screen sharing/video calls etc.
There’s good explanations here : https://www.asus.com/uk/support/faq/1010935/ and https://www.pcguide.com/router/what-is-qos-routers/