Virgin Media

[Demonic Angel]

Anyone else on Virgin Media Broadband?

Been considering switching from AOL for ages but its always been on the sidelines til now (they've just upped the prices without even telling us!) and I've read recently that Virgin Medias customers are some of the most satisfied in the country for broadband...

Until all that business with Sky kicked off - now I'm hearing nothing but negatives about the company!

I was thinking of getting the broadband/tv option as an alternative to Sky, as I hear Sky Broadband is dire as it is and Virgin also do a recording box similar to Sky+... getting Sky+ and another broadband service would work out doubley expensive...

So, Virgin Media folk - forgetting the recent tv issues, are you happy with the broadband service?

[kingdeacon]

its all good here I'm on there 10meg broadband and very happy with it, its always fast and not has any problems in the last year of having it.

they have some very good deals at the mo, Im on there: VIP package, which is amazing

on the VIP pack you get:

10 meg broadband with no download limit like the others

Phone Size: XL Talk Unlimited, plus Talk International, plus Talk Mobile

tv: the new v+ box that records 2 different channels at once while you can watch a third different one!

you also get a standard box for a second room, i have it in the bedroom

Sky Sports & Movies premium channel plus all the others on both boxes

all that for £85 a month

and you can get rid of the bt line so no line rental to pay

to have sky + and multi room, with there fastest broadband and best phone package, with all the channels in both rooms cost quite alot more plus you need to pay bt line rental.

plus the new VOD (video on demand) service from virgin is getting really good, there is lots of programes i can pick to watch when i feel like and for free (not sure if it is on all pakages?)

oh and good thing with virgin is they replace your box free of charge if it ever goes wrong (unlike sky who charge you) plus they dont charge anything for instal

if the top package is not for you they do a 3 for £30 deal which i think is broadband, tv and phone for £30 a month

[Kev Mc]

Yeah, we were with Telewest & had a phone, telly & broadband package which we were paying £96.50 a month for, then Virgin Media took over & we've got that new Sky+ type recording box, cheaper phone calls & the broadband has gone from 4mb to 10mb & now we're paying £85 a month. I haven't had a mess around with anything yet so I'm not sure how good it all is but even just thinking about the price makes it a good deal.

I really think they need to sort their issues with Sky though, even if it costs customers a few quid a month more it needs to be done. I can't help but think that the money we're saving on the package means we're getting a poorer service & that's not why we're paying for a top-end package, if we wanted cheap & nasty that's what we'd go for. I could live without a few of the channels, but I always watch Sky Sports News & Sky One so it's crossed my mind to change to some1 who can show them & I think a lot of people will do so I think it's vital that they sort it out

[dawesy]

me too. im on 4meg and very very rarely have any probs with either service or speed. unlike my mate who is on AOL

[Blue84]

We've gone onto Virgin recently as we were Telewest beforehand, never faulted Telewest apart from the odd few times (the number of which I could count on one hand) where there were issues, but you have a freephone status line to call and that does the job nicely. We have the old cable digital boxes which do go through slow periods and the one in the front room does spazz out occasionally but they are years old and the one in the front room does get pretty hot which isnt a good thing.

As for the broadband - the homepage defaults to Virgin now & still no problems...I'd recommend them to anyone and have done for ages

[funkyg]

Yeah, we're also on the VIP package.

The 10Mb internet is just so lush! The only problem I've ever had (which I originally thought was a cable modem problem) was that my wireless router kept crashing. Turns out it couldn't keep up with the amount of data being thrown at it! Reflashed the firmware and OH MY GOD!!!!

It's like the stuff I download is coming from a server in the next room!

Oh and the V+ box is brilliant. Can record two programmes and watch a third due to it having three tuners. HD capacity is 80 hours.

And if you're on the VIP package the Video On Demand is free. Over the last couple of weeks we've watched the first three series of Shameless for the first time. Why did I never watch it before?????

[MarcTS]

We only have phone and 4mb internet with virgin. We've been with ntl broadband for about 4 years and they've had their problems but these were probably once a year problems (but they did take a lot of effort to resolve). However I haven't had any issues since they bought out Telewest or since they rebranded to Virgin. so I guess they get a recommendation from me on that basis.

Also I read last week that Virgin Media are bringing the 10mb customers more in line with the top end adsl2 customers by providing a 20mb service (free upgrade) in the near future. They have also been trialing a 50Mb service in a few areas so I'd imagine that is something to look forward to for next year. No confirmations on whether the 4mb customers will be bumped upto 10mb though....

[Nightstalker]

Let me put some light on the sky situation....

Im well gutted that VirginMedia LOST sky (they did not DROP sky) as I really enjoyed 24 lost and battlestar galactica

From what I know (I work for VM) sky requested VM pay double the amount of carrier cost to screen their programms.

They did budge a bit but still were requesting too much so VM being a people company (now) thought of its customers and refused to pay such a stupid amount knowing that if they would have paid the costst that its customers would have to fork out to supplement the costs.

I think that talks are continuing and personally I was wondering if sky were trying to see how far VM is willing to go and perhaps were not expecting VM to stand strong and refuse to pay.

As for missing my favorite shows....well there are other ways to get hold of them but still way gutted about the fact that sky 1 is gone.

Perhaps VM will enlighten us all soon with some good news of either sky coming back or perhaps they might get screening rights for some sky channels.

Sky seem to be going down the Microsoft path and perhaps might get a bit of a slapping from Ofcom in regards to not sharing the market with other companies....

By the way the Virgin+ system is better than the sky one as you can tape 2 programs whilst watching a 3rd and it has HD unlike the sky +system....

Just need to get hold of more HD channels....there are a few programs on HD, mainly PPV movies and off-course BBC HD which only really shows programs after 19Hrs.

[DaveSR]

I totally respect Virgin Media for sticking by their guns

I have phone/internet by them - I might as well see if I can get some TV deal too ;)

[MarcTS]

From what I've been reading (and I don't always assume it's the truth) but it appears as though VM have moved about 80-90% of the way towards Sky's asking price and Sky are still refusing to accept their offer. I'd personally like to see VM completely pull out of negotiations and see how flash Sky are with their cash when it comes to the next round of bidding considering the millions in revenue they would have lost from VM

[Gareth B]

^^^ What they all said Em. Been with NTL/VM for 5 years with no problems at all. On 10mb broadband at present was on 4mb until recently. Doesn't matter about distances from exchanges etc.. and is always consistant

[Demonic Angel]

Well, regardless if they have Sky channels or not, I'm seriously tempted to switch!

Might go 3 for £30 and get broadband, tv & phone (as our BT line can only get 512k max broadband :( ) but a cable line should be able to get max speed And I can have my own landline - woohoo!

Question about V+ though.... you have to pay an extra £15 a month on top of the £30 for everything else? I know its HD and everything but Sky+ is nothing extra a month, you just pay £100 upfront for the box... I'm a bit disappointed about that as I'd love V+ but can't warrant spending £180 a year for being able to record a few programmes and watching in HD - I dont tend to watch much telly - only really Eastenders, Ugly Betty and Saturday morning cookery shows.... doesnt seem worth the expense....