Best long term bet is get a mesh router imho
Random Questions: broadband recommendations.
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29 Nov 2020 19:54
29 Nov 2020 20:20
30 Nov 2020 08:01
Virgin well known in my area for stability issues. The only provider which regularly crops up in the local curtain twitcher FB group because it’s gone down again. Plus it’s always the Virgin maintenance van out in the area fixing it.
I just don’t want to drop to lower mb than what I have to find that it impacts my current set up. Don’t do gaming or downloading.
30 Nov 2020 11:05
posted 30 Nov 2020 16:51, edited 30 Nov 2020 16:51
Links to the router please mate?
It's the Asus Zenwifi XT8
I'm in the market for this as the virgin WiFi has been terrible.
Was going to get the eero or TP link deco
Did you get the whole house one (more than 1 device) or just the one?
posted 13 Dec 2020 18:03, edited 13 Dec 2020 18:03
13 Jan 2021 20:19
posted 14 Jan 2021 11:09, edited 14 Jan 2021 11:09
14 Jan 2021 13:37
App is great too, particularly parental controls and being able to restrict network access by time and device, so daughter can use an old ipad but can only use it online for 1hr a day, can't download apps, can't access fb, youtube etc.
Currently with Virgin getting 108mb but service regularly going down in my area and need to switch. Stream Netflix etc on no more than 2 TV’s at a time, couple of mobiles light browsing and laptop for work Monday-Friday (regular video calls). Rarely all going at once. Do I need such high mb for this or would 60-70 suffice? Some good BF deals around this lower mb, but don’t want to shoot myself in the foot. Anyone comment?
I switched from Virgin Media due to the same stability issues, I’m now on 70mpbs talk talk fibre which I believe is on the openreach infrastructure. It’s basically the same speed wise and have no issues video calling all day and streaming at night, best of all it hasn’t stopped working ever.
not sure if you're going to avoid any down time if you just switch to another fiber provider, will it be the same fiber/infrastructure?
Virgin well known in my area for stability issues. The only provider which regularly crops up in the local curtain twitcher FB group because it’s gone down again. Plus it’s always the Virgin maintenance van out in the area fixing it.
I just don’t want to drop to lower mb than what I have to find that it impacts my current set up. Don’t do gaming or downloading.
Bit off topic but I asked a while back if anyone had moved to full 4G for home broadband. Wired connections where we live are shit, 15mb down / 2mb up max, regardless of provider, through 40 year old copper cable, with no fibre on our street and none planned.
Switched to EE unlimited 4G data 3 months ago, using a Huawei B818 router with Poynting antenna, now have 70mb down and 30mb up. Often have 20+ devices connected at any one time with no problems, and not had any issues since switching. We're paying £22 a month for decent broadband compared to £70 for useless broadband with BT.
FWIW, we can stream Netflix on 2 TVs, play sonos round the house and use laptops / ipads / phones with no problems. Our monthly use is around 6-700gb, well within EE's 1tb 'acceptable use' for unlimited.
Switched to EE unlimited 4G data 3 months ago, using a Huawei B818 router with Poynting antenna, now have 70mb down and 30mb up. Often have 20+ devices connected at any one time with no problems, and not had any issues since switching. We're paying £22 a month for decent broadband compared to £70 for useless broadband with BT.
FWIW, we can stream Netflix on 2 TVs, play sonos round the house and use laptops / ipads / phones with no problems. Our monthly use is around 6-700gb, well within EE's 1tb 'acceptable use' for unlimited.
I had these problems using Virgin until I bought a good router and put the Virgin Hub into modem mode. Now no stability issues and hitting 200mpbs consistantly.
Links to the router please mate?
It's the Asus Zenwifi XT8
I'm in the market for this as the virgin WiFi has been terrible.
Was going to get the eero or TP link deco
Did you get the whole house one (more than 1 device) or just the one?
Highly reccommend the TP Link Deco M4 if you have Virgin Media broadband.
We had an issue with WiFi signal cutting out and basically being unusable - Ethernet connections were fine.
Since setting up the M4, worked like a dream, don't know why didn't think about using before, completely stable now and 200MBs via Mobile's Wifi.
Edit: for those asking, this is the one I purchased
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/networking/whole-home-wi-fi-systems/tp-link-deco-m4-whole-home-wifi-system-triple-pack-10203767-pdt.html
We had an issue with WiFi signal cutting out and basically being unusable - Ethernet connections were fine.
Since setting up the M4, worked like a dream, don't know why didn't think about using before, completely stable now and 200MBs via Mobile's Wifi.
Edit: for those asking, this is the one I purchased
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/networking/whole-home-wi-fi-systems/tp-link-deco-m4-whole-home-wifi-system-triple-pack-10203767-pdt.html
Any advice would be appreciated.
Myself and missus are WFH so need good internet like the rest of the world.
Currently with Virgin paying £49 (was £29 for the first year) for 100MB fibre.
Connection always dropping out, rebooting the router etc etc.
Called them and they can't do anything apart from pay £5 extra for a dedicated engineer helpline.
So we get a leaflet through the door from Hyperoptic.
Can get a deal as not many people in our area have it apparently.
The deal is £5 a month for 12months for 1GB data (worth £60).
Seems like there should be a catch but just read some reviews about them and its a pretty mixed bag.
I don't want to keep shelling out for shit internet but then don't want to take this deal and that be shit.
If anyone uses Hyperoptic are they any good?
Thanks in advance
Myself and missus are WFH so need good internet like the rest of the world.
Currently with Virgin paying £49 (was £29 for the first year) for 100MB fibre.
Connection always dropping out, rebooting the router etc etc.
Called them and they can't do anything apart from pay £5 extra for a dedicated engineer helpline.
So we get a leaflet through the door from Hyperoptic.
Can get a deal as not many people in our area have it apparently.
The deal is £5 a month for 12months for 1GB data (worth £60).
Seems like there should be a catch but just read some reviews about them and its a pretty mixed bag.
I don't want to keep shelling out for shit internet but then don't want to take this deal and that be shit.
If anyone uses Hyperoptic are they any good?
Thanks in advance
When it comes to fibre broadband it's much of a muchness, and even if it's FTTP (as with Hyperoptic), they all run on Openreach's infrastructure. Virgin being the exception as they have their own, hence the need to dig up your front garden for installation of their services. The only difference between service providers on the frontend is the customer service, billing, etc. It's a bit like your gas and electric, if you change provider, they're not going to lay down another gas pipe or electric wiring for you.
If you're seeing poor performance/dropouts, first things you should check is your home hardware, where your router is located (not buried away in a cupboard), wifi signal, settings like wifi channel (there could be interference with other wireless devices) etc. One thing I would advise, if you have a laptop try plugging it in directly into the router using an ethernet cable and do a speed test (Google or speedtest.net). If you're getting a much higher speed than if you were connected via wifi, then there is definitely something wrong with the router's wifi signal or router itself. If it's still incredibly slow then it's an hardware issue on the service provider end, which they will need to resolve.
If you're receiving poor customer service and the slow speeds aren't being resolved, then most certainly vote with your feet/wallet. However, don't think that changing provider will magically up your speed if the external hardware issue on the infrastructure level (Virgin or Openreach) hasn't been resolved first. Again exception can be moving from Virgin to a provider on Openreach (BT, Sky, etc.) or vice versa - ultimately jumping to a different fibre infrastructure.
As much as BT gets grief, I've been with them for the last 3 years. I pay £35 month for 80MB Fibre and phoneline and they're pretty good at giving you a competitive deal when your yearly contract is up and you threaten to leave (hence why I pay the price I do). Mind you, probably a tad biased as I've had zero issues with BT, even when moving house and being reconnected, and only ever had to contact them when renegotiating my contract when it's lapsed.
If you're seeing poor performance/dropouts, first things you should check is your home hardware, where your router is located (not buried away in a cupboard), wifi signal, settings like wifi channel (there could be interference with other wireless devices) etc. One thing I would advise, if you have a laptop try plugging it in directly into the router using an ethernet cable and do a speed test (Google or speedtest.net). If you're getting a much higher speed than if you were connected via wifi, then there is definitely something wrong with the router's wifi signal or router itself. If it's still incredibly slow then it's an hardware issue on the service provider end, which they will need to resolve.
If you're receiving poor customer service and the slow speeds aren't being resolved, then most certainly vote with your feet/wallet. However, don't think that changing provider will magically up your speed if the external hardware issue on the infrastructure level (Virgin or Openreach) hasn't been resolved first. Again exception can be moving from Virgin to a provider on Openreach (BT, Sky, etc.) or vice versa - ultimately jumping to a different fibre infrastructure.
As much as BT gets grief, I've been with them for the last 3 years. I pay £35 month for 80MB Fibre and phoneline and they're pretty good at giving you a competitive deal when your yearly contract is up and you threaten to leave (hence why I pay the price I do). Mind you, probably a tad biased as I've had zero issues with BT, even when moving house and being reconnected, and only ever had to contact them when renegotiating my contract when it's lapsed.
Best long term bet is get a mesh router imho
Have been using a Highly reccommend the TP Link Deco M4 if you have Virgin Media broadband.TP-Link Deco M5 mesh system for the past month, very impressed. Getting same speed all around the house where we previously had weak spots or no signal at all, and one single network throughout where we previously had repeaters with different network names.
App is great too, particularly parental controls and being able to restrict network access by time and device, so daughter can use an old ipad but can only use it online for 1hr a day, can't download apps, can't access fb, youtube etc.
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