Virgin Internet - anyone having problems?

[My login is Henrietta]

Are there any Virgin Media cable users out there who have been having problems with their internet connection? Until recently I thought their service was excellent, but for the last month it's been apalling. Have been trying off and on since 8:00 to get onto the net to help kids with homework - just managed it now after 90 min wait. Is it just me?

My BT connection isn't much better

[Cyberman]

Thanks for the comments guys. sgk is correct - I don't often use the wi-fi bit, just 2 pc's wired to router (ZyXEL NBG334). So I wouldn't see rogue traffic on my network, it would just steal my bandwidth. Occasionally we linked a Wii console via wi-fi,so it was left on. Our password was generated by the router - random alphanumerics. With wi-fi turned off, nternet still 100%. We are not using 50Mbps or Super Hub, just standard 10Mbps.

A guy at work had this problem- he lives in an area in Sale popular with students. He is with Zen Internet and pays for his data. All his allocation was used so he paid for 1G more, to find that used too in 2 days. All he'd done was a bit of surfing.

I am very surprised that this is the problem but if you google "wifi hacking wpa2" there are lots of sites that claim to help you do it.

Anyway will keep investigating...

[Howard]

Another point that might be an answer. I have recently upgraded to the 50Mb service and with it came the so-called "Super Hub". Virgin were unwilling or unable to supply a standalone modem and let me use my own router. The "Super" Hub is a dreadful piece of kit. I have found that I need to restart it every few days to get the advertised speed. I guess the firmware is really quite badly coded.

With my previous 10Mb connection and my own router it went for 2 years without needing an kind of restart.

[sgk]

Howard - from his posting, I got the impression Cyberman wasn't using wifi at all, and was only using the router in wired mode.

That said, along with you I remain dubious that the cause of the issue was someone hacking into the router.  Quite possible that a software glitch in the router's wifi-handling firmware was impacting the router's performance.

[Howard]

I would be amazed if anyone has cracked your WPA2 encryption, unless you used an obvious keyphrase such as "password". If you us a random password of, perhaps, 13 characters currently WPA is very secure indeed. Check out the following:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wpa2#Security_.26_Insecurity_in_pre-shared_key_mode

It's more likely that a neighbour or someone close by has set up a wireless access point quite close to you that uses the same channel or perhaps the same band. The channels run from 0 to 15 and, if you're using wireless N, the bandwidth is 2.4MHz or 5MHz. If you have to share with older wireless systems than you have to use the 2.4MHz band.

There is also the possibility that something other than a wireless point is interfering with your signal, such as a DECT phone system or a baby monitor. I'm almost certain that the only reason that if someone else was actually using your access point could be that your encryption password was weak and was guessed.

[Cyberman]

I thought I'd share my progress on this as I found my conclusion surprising. I contacted Virgin Broadband Support via saynoto0870 (thanks Neil). Didn't have the cheek to pretend to be Welsh as per Harry's suggestion.
They told me there had been no issues with their network (at 40% capacity) and my modem was fine. Suggested disabling the wireless bit of my router, which I don't use much (just use it as a wired hub) - this was in case my connection was being hacked into (stealing bandwidth). Not convinced, I thought. Disabled wireless - problem solved. Have had 3 weeks with no problems.

So perhaps hacking is more common than I thought. And I was using WPA2 which I think is the latest encryption. Interesting.

[amazon]

Are there any Virgin Media cable users out there who have been having problems with their internet connection? Until recently I thought their service was excellent, but for the last month it's been apalling. Have been trying off and on since 8:00 to get onto the net to help kids with homework - just managed it now after 90 min wait. Is it just me?

youve not upgraded to the new super hub have you .if so it could be that . its rubish avoid

[amazon]

Thanks for the replies guys. Perhap's its my installation. Will get out my Indian phrasebook and get on to their customer service people again.

             Tell them your not happy threaten to leave see what they offer you .

[amazon]

Are there any Virgin Media cable users out there who have been having problems with their internet connection? Until recently I thought their service was excellent, but for the last month it's been apalling. Have been trying off and on since 8:00 to get onto the net to help kids with homework - just managed it now after 90 min wait. Is it just me?

  No Problems today thursday .

[Neil Smith]

Are there any Virgin Media cable users out there who have been having problems with their internet connection? Until recently I thought their service was excellent, but for the last month it's been apalling. Have been trying off and on since 8:00 to get onto the net to help kids with homework - just managed it now after 90 min wait. Is it just me?

Make sure its not your PC that's cluttered with downloads as this WILL slow your connection down. Try doing a speed test, if that says your getting what you pay for 9 out of 10 times its your PC.

What connection are you running -a modem or through the set top box? if I remember correctly if you are on a modem the SYNC and RDY light should be solid green or on a set top box there should be no flashing lights.

Its OK at the moment and it has been for 4-5 months now but I have to say that I have had periods when the internet connection is up and down (more down than up).  The call centre when I did call was a complete waste of time.  On one occasion they completely gave up and said I would have to call another number, when I called I was told the number was chargable at about 50p per min.

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

[marplex]

Its OK at the moment and it has been for 4-5 months now but I have to say that I have had periods when the internet connection is up and down (more down than up).  The call centre when I did call was a complete waste of time.  On one occasion they completely gave up and said I would have to call another number, when I called I was told the number was chargable at about 50p per min.

[Harry]

I have found that the UK based staff seem to have a better knowledge of how to diagnose a problem than those in India. The latter just seem to follow a script or check list. So when I was talking to somebody at the VirginMedia call centre in, I think, Swansea, I asked if there was any way I could guarantee getting though to a UK based person again. She advised me to request to speak with a Welsh speaking person. There is a severe shortage of Welsh speakers in India, so the call gets transferred to Swansea.

[Cyberman]

Thanks for the replies guys. Perhap's its my installation. Will get out my Indian phrasebook and get on to their customer service people again.

[Howard]

I find their SERVICES excellent and very stable. However, their customer SERVICE is utterly appalling as I found out recently when I had the misfortune to have to call them.

Currently my connection is running fine with no issues at all.

[Harry]

No problems with VirginMedia here. In fact, never had any problems except for a faulty cable modem in years.