Virgin ADSL - hopeless

[ukaskew]

Back at home (which is in a cabled area) we've had Virgin/Blueyonder for over 5 years and never had any problems, the net connection in particular has been rock solid and I can only think of one or two occasions in years when the connection has dropped or got really slow.

So I moved house a few weeks back, it's not cabled so we went with Virgin ADSL 8MB...biggest mistake ever! It's painful in the extreme:

- They informed me it was connected, so I spent the next day trying and failing to establish a connection, following all the instructions/diagnostic tests to the letter. I put in an email to support which to this day I've not had a response to. The next day I returned to my PC (left in the state it was the day before) and the connection had miraculously appeared. The set-up was never actually completed on the day they informed me it had been.

- Just before I typed this I checked my connection speed, my uploads are currently quicker than my downloads! Yesterday I was surfing at 3.5mb, today I've not managed anything over 160kb. It's unbelievably slow (especially in the evenings), I'm paying for 8MB and am surfing at the slowest speeds I've experienced since I had dial-up over 7 years ago.

- The modem supplied is worse than useless, and unless you use the one designated wired or one designated wireless modem/router they won't even begin to help you if you have any issues.

- Got a problem? That will be a premium rate number then, or you could email us...but you won't get a response.

I hate it with a passion, especially coming from a rock-solid fast cable connection that never appeared to drop performance in the slightest. Any good alternatives? I believe I can still get out of my contract if I act quickly.

 

[Longy]

ooo just about to order this package!! guess you recommend against it?

 

[ukaskew]

ooo just about to order this package!! guess you recommend against it?

As long as you are prepared to spend 25ppm if anything goes wrong, and put up with seriously restrictive speeds at 'peak' times (i.e. after work!) you will be fine

It really is terrible, and having spent a day or so researching my problems I've discovered that I'm far from the only one having major speed/reliability issues.

 

[andywright182]

Couple of things

With an ADSL connection, unlike cable, if the line you are using it on has never had ADSL+ it will be very glitchy no matter who you use for the first few weeks until it finds a stable speed and then it will stay at that speed.

If the premium rate number for the offnet people is the same as it is with cabled, you will get the call refunded to you if it is their fault.

The switch over date can be delayed, I was given a date of the 7th, it came on today.

Sky supply my with exactly the same router as I previously used yet I cannot connect to the internet without using the sky router. No idea why, but they wont give me any details so I can set it up as I want it

Like I say, you can cancel, but if it is the first time that line has had ADSL then no matter who you switch to you will be all over the place at the start.

 

[ukaskew]

They actually informed me it was connected (by text message), I started installing everything 16 hours after that message, and never managed to get an actual connection for a further 24 hours after that (and as mentioned, still never got a response to my support request)

Stuck between a rock and a hard place really, I can ride it out and see what happens, but if it doesn't improve I'm stuck in a 12 month contract for what is currently a borderline unuseable service (apparently 400k is the minimum acceptable rate, I've not acheived more than 1/2 of that for a day now)

I'm dreading actually using my connection for its main use (uploading photos, which I usually do overnight) as the connection drops out so frequently I have to watch it constantly at the moment.

 

[andywright182]

I had exactly the same when I first upgraded with Pipex, kept dropping for the first few weeks. Ring tech support and log it as a complaint. make sure they note the system, get the agents name and maybe even extension number/email and then if it is so bad you can put a written complaint in and use this all as evidence which may get you out of the contract in the worst case scenario.

 

[Shindig]

my bro is with them as well, and he hates the service so much hes thinking of paying the 50£ opt out fee!
dont go with virgin adsl!

 

[16v_jon]

A friend of mine has also had lots of problems with drop outs at peak times and speed at all other times, not recomended

 

[ukaskew]

I've just checked again this morning (I assume this isn't peak time) and it has connected at exactly 160kbps again (apart from day one it has always done this), sounds fishy to me, surely there should be some variation?

 

[Iain C]

mines ok.. it does stall sometimes tho

 

[Ian_182]

Ive been with blueyonder/virgin for the past 4 years and they have been spot on

 

[SC03OTT]

http://www.saynoto0870.com/search.php

will save you ££s on phone calls. just type in the company you want to call and it will give you either a free phone or a geographical number!

 

[Mark5290]

Yesterday I was surfing at 3.5mb, today I've not managed anything over 160kb. It's unbelievably slow (especially in the evenings), I'm paying for 8MB and am surfing at the slowest speeds I've experienced since I had dial-up over 7 years ago.

That's the main reason i got rid of Virgin ADSL, during the week at peak times and at the weekends my connection and download speeds were painfully slow, i migrated to a company called ADSL24, i only wish i had done it sooner.

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/isp_ratings.php

 

[bradfincham]

we have 20mb cable virgin boradband in our uni house.

Today me being the only person connected im struggling to get over 1mb connection.
Downloading 1st thing in the morning is silly i can download a song within 20 seconds, as soon as more people log on it gets painfully slow.

Taken over 14 hours today to download a 700mb file!

 

[ukaskew]

Day 6: 45kbps (and no, that's not a typo!)

Agonising, took me 4 minutes to reach this thread, I gave up trying to read my PMs after they still had not opened after 6 minutes, and the Media forum just laughs at me. They still refuse to respond to queries via the online help forms, so some very expensive support phone calls look like they may be needed soon.

All of a sudden that Freeola 56k connection I had in 1998 seems very appealing

 

[weebaws]

www.bethere.co.uk

24mb £18 per month, on a bad day it's 12mb

 

[andywright182]

www.bethere.co.uk

24mb £18 per month, on a bad day it's 12mb

and on a worse day it isnt available to a lot of people

 

[Mells]

It used to be really good. Fast and never dropped the connection. Now its slow as f**k at peak times etc.

I'm not in a contract so might be looking to change for something cheeper. I wouldnt mind if it was 9.99 pm and s**t but 17.99 its pische!