Potential move from Virgin Media

[#1]

Hello all

Been with Virgin Media about 4.5 years and finally Openreach FTTP has arrived on street. Virgin Media has been very reliable as i use my own Wi-Fi router and the renewals been great price too.

If I do switch to Openreach then its a choice between Plusnet and Vodafone based on the price. Just wanted to get an idea how reliable Plusnet is as i work from home and can't have several hours blackout.  I have 2 boys that need it for their studies and also the usual gaming.

I was looking between 300Mbs and the 500Mbs package.

[#2]

Welcome to the forums, @Sayek 

If you move to either Plusnet or Vodafone using Full Fibre, your service should be almost totally reliable - the problem area for both of them is usually the 'last mile' of copper connection from the cab to you, which is eliminated with FF - obviously.

As a long time (now ex-) customer of PN, I had very few issues, reliability-wise, and that was on ADSL, and usually due to faults on the OpenReach network, usually fairly speedily rectified.

[#3]

Thanks @jab1  for the time to reply.

[#4]

No problem - and I note you must be an ex-customer too - you registered on here in 2019, which I failed to notice.

[#5]

@Sayek 

Plusnet's version of the Openreach FTTP service from personal experience of about 6 montths has been fine (I had Plusnet's copper VDSL before then).

Recommendations:

1) Use your choice of DNS servers in your own router not Plusnets. There have been a few DNS server issues with Plusnet in recent years.

2) Connect your router directly to the Openreach ONT (assuming it is suitable) putting your Plusnet account credentials in that.

3) Check that your router can really cope with the throughput of the service you are thinking of ordering.

4) Get the Plusnet static IP address service (a one off £5).

5) Although you probably won't be using it, take Plusnet's router to allow Openreach to commission the service and for faultfinding as although Plusnet don't make using your own equipment difficult if there is a fault Plusnet will expect to see their router.

[#6]

@jab1 

I registered 2019 when using Talktalk FTTC 35Mbs and considered move to Plusnet FTTC as Talktalk was very painfull.  My FTTC was capped about 40Mbs due to distance. But Virgin Media had a very good promotion on 100Mbs and could not resist...back then 100Mbs was a huge leap from our 35Mbs LOL

[#7]

OK - I understand now. Back then, I was on ADSL2 , with a best speed of 8-9Mb/s. 😀

[#8]

Thanks for your time @markhawkin 

I have a TP-Link AX73 Wi-Fi 6 so it should manage either of the packages. I agree its best to keep the ISP router incase there is a fault on the line and needed for test or my own router fails.

With the rest of the technical bit you have gone way beyond my knowledge about DNS and static IP. I read mentioned on Virgin Media forums that static IP is superior than dynamic IP but have no clue what that means for average person like myself LOL.

I have a work collegue thats tech savy and may need to bother him about DNS and static IP LOL

[#9]

@Sayek I would think your TP-Link would be suitable, although a quick look at the Amazon listing doesn't say it is FTTP compatible - but as I said, it was a very quick look.

With regards to the DNS issue, despite what @markhawkin  says, I wouldn't panic, but you can choose the resolvers on the TP-Link.

The advantage of a static IP is that once allocated, it doesn't change, so if like me you run, say, the ThinkBroadband Quality Monitor, then you can set it it and forget it - with a dynamic, you would have to create a new TBB instance whenever you IP changed.

Have a word with your colleague..

[#10]

@Sayek 

"Virgin Media has been very reliable as i use my own Wi-Fi router and the renewals been great price too."

"i work from home and can't have several hours blackout."

Out of interest, if Virgin Media gives you the reliability that you need, at a price that you are happy with, why are you considering moving?

.

[#11]

@Mr_Paul 

I am pretty active on the Virgin Media forum as there is a lot knowldege there and that has helped me to better understand the Virgin media connection.

There is always a discussion on the forum about Virgin Media Coax vs FTTP. Many have said if FTTP was available they would jump ship as its superior than very old tech of Coax.

Some say its better for gaming due to low latency..I have 2 boys that do enjoy a bit of online games and they even built their own gaming PC recently. They also want a bit more speed for download games. Now I have no clue how much that really impacts on everyday use for the house.

Attached is my Virgin Media speedtest..this is tyical  results.

[#12]

@Sayek 

From what you have said, it appears that you are looking for a speed increase from your current (approx) 135 Mbps, to around 300-500Mbps?

Virgin Media's website says that they can offer up to 1130 Mbps, but doesn't say exactly what packages they offer:

https://www.virginmedia.com/broadband/speeds

Have you investigated upgrading your current VM package?

.

[#13]

@jab1  The  TP-Link AX73 is a router with a Gigabit WAN port so I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work with FTTP, just connect the WAN port directly to the ONT.

[#14]

@Mr_Paul 

Correct Virgin Media do packages upto 1150Mbs.

But the question is FTTP connection superior in other ways than just speed compared to Virgin Media Coax cable. The cable that enters my property is the same cable that was fitted when I intially moved in 18 years ago...the old Coax cable. 

[#15]

"But the question is FTTP connection superior in other ways than just speed compared to Virgin Media Coax cable."

I would say yes, but possibly not in ways that would be important to you.

The Virgin Media service quality depends on where you are, the links between your town or city and the Virgin Media core can be congested, this tends to be less of a problem with Openreach FTTP.

The technology used by Virgin Media tends to have slightly higher latency (delay) than that used by Openreach FTTP but how much a few thousandths of a second will impact your Internet experience I can't say.

There are a lot of satisfied Virgin Media customers (particularly if you have a decent price) but Plusnet is a good service.

I didn't aim to cause panic with my DNS comment but my suggestions are what I have done.

There is no rush to move to FTTP and it does require a further installation.

Virgin are also in the process of doing fibre upgrades (to replace the co-ax) so you may end up with "full fibre" that way.