View Full Version : Superhub Cheeky 'Free' SuperHub Upgrade Trick?
deed02392
19-04-2011, 01:09
I've been thinking about how I could get around paying the £30 for a MODEM with bells and whistles I really don't need (other than of course DOCSIS3 capability, I already have a dual-band 11n router) and it's come to me why couldn't I simply 'downgrade' my XL20 package to the 10Mb package, then the next day upgrade to the XL30 package, which offers a free SuperHub even to existing customers?
Here: http://shop.virginmedia.com/broadband/broadband-extras/wireless-routers.html
... under how much does it cost? it clearly states that even for existing customers upgrading, the shub is free when upgrading. Techincally I would be upgrading, regardless of having recently downgraded from the 20Mb 'legacy' package with my poor little Ambit modem.
Does anyone see any gotchas or caveats with this?
You pay the £30 to go back up to XL
My bb failed first thing the engineer did was put in a super hub! it wasn`t the answer ! but I got one for nothing anyway. He said that all modems were being replaced ( as & when) if they were called out. & yes its fine ( so far) & the guy in India was very helpful.
What can I say:D Was I just (Un)lucky?:erm:
deed02392
19-04-2011, 10:12
You pay the £30 to go back up to XL
I didn't think I'd need to actually quote it but since you gave no explanation:
How much does it cost?
New and existing customers:
Free when you add or upgrade to 30Mb broadband (http://shop.virginmedia.com/broadband/up-to-30mb.html)
I would technically be upgrading to XL, which is a direct contradiction to what you are saying.
3 Free Virgin Media Super Hub for 30Mb, 50Mb and 100Mb: Available to all new broadband customers taking our 30Mb, 50Mb or 100Mb broadband services, and to existing customers upgrading to 30Mb, 50Mb and 100Mb broadband (subject to status and credit checks).
---------- Post added at 10:12 ---------- Previous post was at 10:09 ----------
My bb failed first thing the engineer did was put in a super hub! it wasn`t the answer ! but I got one for nothing anyway. He said that all modems were being replaced ( as & when) if they were called out. & yes its fine ( so far) & the guy in India was very helpful.
What can I say:D Was I just (Un)lucky?:erm:
Think you got lucky, I 'fixed' a neighbours broadband (diagnosed their power levels were too high) and they had a 'new' modem sent out, but it was just the latest Ambit modem.
I would technically be upgrading to XL, which is a direct contradiction to what you are saying.
Think you got lucky, I 'fixed' a neighbours broadband (diagnosed their power levels were too high) and they had a 'new' modem sent out, but it was just the latest Ambit modem.
They will not be fooled by downgrading and upgrading so they will charge you for the upgrade.
If you call us and we find that you need a modem you will get a like for like replacement but engineers only carry hubs.
deed02392
19-04-2011, 10:47
The model they got instead was actually newer. They'd had the old one for several years.
How about getting the shup first then? I could upgrade to 50Mb, then I'd get a DOCSIS3 modem and the day after that has been installed downgrade again. They might put me back down to 20Mb but I'd still have the modem, which I could use to haggle the 30Mb upgrade for free.
Masque are you implying by saying they "would not be fooled" that this £30 is not really just for the hub? IMO they're using this as a way of pushing the cost of being able to utlilise faster packages later onto the consumer, which is a bit wrong if you ask me. Surely they offer a SACM which doesn't have a router/switch embedded? £30 and all I'm hearing is how unreliable they are.
The model they got instead was actually newer. They'd had the old one for several years.
How about getting the shup first then? I could upgrade to 50Mb, then I'd get a DOCSIS3 modem and the day after that has been installed downgrade again. They might put me back down to 20Mb but I'd still have the modem, which I could use to haggle the 30Mb upgrade for free.
Masque are you implying by saying they "would not be fooled" that this £30 is not really just for the hub? IMO they're using this as a way of pushing the cost of being able to utlilise faster packages later onto the consumer, which is a bit wrong if you ask me. Surely they offer a SACM which doesn't have a router/switch embedded? £30 and all I'm hearing is how unreliable they are.If you upgrade to 50mb you would get the superhub. VM only install the superhub hub now and that is for 30mb and all tiers above that.
That is not all you hear, I've had my superhub for months and not had a single problem with it.
I didn't think I'd need to actually quote it but since you gave no explanation:
I would technically be upgrading to XL, which is a direct contradiction to what you are saying.
You missed out this bit
Broadband activation fees may apply.And then further down the terms it says:
Broadband: A one-off £30 activation fee and a new 12-month contract may apply for 30Mb, 50Mb and 100Mb Broadband.
The model they got instead was actually newer. They'd had the old one for several years.
How about getting the shup first then? I could upgrade to 50Mb, then I'd get a DOCSIS3 modem and the day after that has been installed downgrade again. They might put me back down to 20Mb but I'd still have the modem, which I could use to haggle the 30Mb upgrade for free.
Masque are you implying by saying they "would not be fooled" that this £30 is not really just for the hub? IMO they're using this as a way of pushing the cost of being able to utlilise faster packages later onto the consumer, which is a bit wrong if you ask me. Surely they offer a SACM which doesn't have a router/switch embedded? £30 and all I'm hearing is how unreliable they are.
As I said like for like which will be the latest model.
I upgraded to 30Mb and even staff have to pay the £30 which covers the cost of the hub, delivery and activation which is really not much to pay to be honest for a 50% upgrade to your speed.
deed02392
19-04-2011, 11:21
I upgraded to 30Mb and even staff have to pay the £30 which covers the cost of the hub, delivery and activation which is really not much to pay to be honest for a 50% upgrade to your speed.
I consider it to be quite a lot, when I spend over £100 a month on VM services and it has the same monthly fee as the 20Mb package. Your company should be paying YOU i.e. giving you the modem to give you the speed new customers are paying for, not charging you for your loyalty with the bonus being now you can pay even more for other packages, because yours is no longer optimal.
I can't help but see this SuperHub business as somewhat of a con. It seems this is the ONLY thing which makes us different from the 10Mb customers who got the free 20Mb upgrade previously, and the 4Mb to 10Mb customers shortly after that.
Its not a con at all. Its a small one off £30 charge.
Its different to previous upgrades as VM are trying to move most BB tiers to DOCSIS 3.0 and having everyone on the superhub will make future upgrades or speed changes easier.
My bb failed first thing the engineer did was put in a super hub! it wasn`t the answer ! but I got one for nothing anyway. He said that all modems were being replaced ( as & when) if they were called out. & yes its fine ( so far) & the guy in India was very helpful.
What can I say:D Was I just (Un)lucky?:erm:
You should have got regular hub
deed02392
19-04-2011, 23:31
I think I'll wait until we can get DOCSIS3 services without this overkill 'superhub' scam.
I think I'll wait until we can get DOCSIS3 services without this overkill 'superhub' scam.
You will be waiting a long time then. Superhub is here to stay.
pip08456
19-04-2011, 23:47
You will be waiting a long time then. Superhub is here to stay.
Well the VMNG300 was supposed to be here for a lot longer than it has been.
Bearing that in mind you've just made a disingenuous remark!
Bearing that in mind you've just made a disingenuous remark!
How do you work that out when he is stating fact.:confused:
Ignitionnet
20-04-2011, 07:41
The VMNG300 was supposed to be long term as well, firmware upgradeable to 8 channels downstream, etc.
We can see how that worked - plans are always subject to change!
pip08456
20-04-2011, 07:47
How do you work that out when he is stating fact.:confused:
As I was!!
You should have got regular hub
If you call us and we find that you need a modem you will get a like for like replacement but engineers only carry hubs.
I guess this is the answer - because its what I got :confused:
Chrysalis
20-04-2011, 08:26
You will be waiting a long time then. Superhub is here to stay.
you say it as if you proud of it and want it.
I still am baffled as to how people claim to know what VM will do in the future, I dont even know what I will be doing next year never mind what VM will be doing.
you say it as if you proud of it and want it.
I still am baffled as to how people claim to know what VM will do in the future, I dont even know what I will be doing next year never mind what VM will be doing.
Well my superhub works brilliantly so I don't mind if it stays or not. I wouldn't change back to a modem and router.
Vm have made it clear that the superhub is going to be the equipment of choice for a while.
you say it as if you proud of it and want it.
I still am baffled as to how people claim to know what VM will do in the future, I dont even know what I will be doing next year never mind what VM will be doing.
Perhaps because companies tend to have medium-term plans and budgets, and long-term strategies, and (mostly) procurement, recruitement, roll-out plans and training are put in place to support those plans and strategies, thus making quite difficult to change direction overnight/in a month.
For instance, I have just finalised my capital and operational budgets for next year (Aug 2011 - July 2012), and part of the capital projects budget is any hardware spend for next year, which is often tied in to contracts, implementation plans, resources planning and allocation, and training (a lot of which have dependencies on each other, for instance rolling out Win7 and Office2k10 will mean we have to upgrade/replace some PCs, but also have to ensure interaction between our many application systems and core infrastructure, and upgrading our main admin systems has major effects on our middleware and Business Intelligence/Planning systems).
Whilst we have the ability to revise things if a major problem/opportunity occurs, mostly we won't due to the impact of doing so. As the old Programme/Project Management mantra states "these things don't just happen*"....;)
hth
*another one is "fail to plan, plan to fail.........."
Chrysalis
20-04-2011, 09:03
Well my superhub works brilliantly so I don't mind if it stays or not. I wouldn't change back to a modem and router.
Vm have made it clear that the superhub is going to be the equipment of choice for a while.
the only messages I am getting that indicate its around for a while is from posters on here, I have seen no official statement indicating that.
Your comment does smack of a bit of "Im alright jack" when you say as long as it works for you that means its good.
---------- Post added at 09:03 ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 ----------
Perhaps because companies tend to have medium-term plans and budgets, and long-term strategies, and (mostly) procurement, recruitement, roll-out plans and training are put in place to support those plans and strategies, thus making quite difficult to change direction overnight/in a month.
For instance, I have just finalised my capital and operational budgets for next year (Aug 2011 - July 2012), and part of the capital projects budget is any hardware spend for next year, which is often tied in to contracts, implementation plans, resources planning and allocation, and training (a lot of which have dependencies on each other, for instance rolling out Win7 and Office2k10 will mean we have to upgrade/replace some PCs, but also have to ensure interaction between our many application systems and core infrastructure, and upgrading our main admin systems has major effects on our middleware and Business Intelligence/Planning systems).
Whilst we have the ability to revise things if a major problem/opportunity occurs, mostly we won't due to the impact of doing so. As the old Programme/Project Management mantra states "these things don't just happen*"....;)
hth
*another one is "fail to plan, plan to fail.........."
a year is nothing really.
the only messages I am getting that indicate its around for a while is from posters on here, I have seen no official statement indicating that.
Your comment does smack of a bit of "Im alright jack" when you say as long as it works for you that means its good.
---------- Post added at 09:03 ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 ----------
a year is nothing really.
The hubs will be around for a good yet.
Chrysalis
20-04-2011, 09:08
The hubs will be around for a good yet.
based on what?
you just proved my point.
The only people within VM saying it will be around for a while are posters on this forum. They have given no proof for what they saying.
the only messages I am getting that indicate its around for a while is from posters on here, I have seen no official statement indicating that.
Your comment does smack of a bit of "Im alright jack" when you say as long as it works for you that means its good.
---------- Post added at 09:03 ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 ----------
a year is nothing really.I was just explaining our next year's budget process - we actually have a five year rolling technology plan, which we review every six-months.
And my comments was in reply to your post which stated I dont even know what I will be doing next year never mind what VM will be doing. which was trying to show that perhaps VM do know what they are doing next year....
Chrysalis
20-04-2011, 09:10
I was just explaining our next year's budget process - we actually have a five year rolling technology plan, which we review every six-months.
And my comments was in reply to your post which stated which was trying to show that perhaps VM do know what they are doing next year....
so every 6 months its subject to change.
so every 6 months its subject to change.No.
Every six months it is subject to review, to see if
a) business requirements have changed
b) technology available has changed
If not, nothing changes - if something has arisen, we discuss it with our suppliers/customers, and work out the impact of any possible change, and a business case (with costs/benefits/risks/resources/timescales) to support any proposed changes; these would tend to be actioned in the following years, unless it was a "game-changer", which are very rare (core technologies / business systems tend to have 3-5 year lifecycles).
based on what?
you just proved my point.
The only people within VM saying it will be around for a while are posters on this forum. They have given no proof for what they saying.
As we cannot provide proof due to it not being in the public domain as yet then you would have to take our word on that at present, but the hub and superhub will be around for the foreseeable future and you are more likely to see a v2 version coming out rather than them being dumped as Virginmedia want the hubs to stay.
based on what?
you just proved my point.
The only people within VM saying it will be around for a while are posters on this forum. They have given no proof for what they saying.
Well, I can say that in my establishment, Dell PCs, Avaya networking, HP Servers, and Hitachi SANs will be around for a while, because I know they are our strategic technology products, and that to change them would involve a couple of years work - perhaps the VM employees have similar knowledge of the VM technology stack?
Chrysalis
20-04-2011, 09:43
No.
Every six months it is subject to review, to see if
a) business requirements have changed
b) technology available has changed
If not, nothing changes - if something has arisen, we discuss it with our suppliers/customers, and work out the impact of any possible change, and a business case (with costs/benefits/risks/resources/timescales) to support any proposed changes; these would tend to be actioned in the following years, unless it was a "game-changer", which are very rare (core technologies / business systems tend to have 3-5 year lifecycles).
same thing. The fact is every 6 months your plans can change if the business requires it. Just because its rarely happened in your business it doesnt change that fact.
I would be very surprised if VM have gone in full throttle with a commital to the superhub netgear contract for a number of years, its very probable there will be a review period within 18 months. A company like VM review their performance every quarter. not even VM's CEO could say with certianty what VM would be doing next year and the year after as anything is subject to change. Even with a commited contract in place companies can and do sometimes buy themselves out of contracts to explore new paths.
Even if Virgin decide not to continue with Netgear at a later stage, I can't see any reason why they would undo the concept of providing a Hub as the CPE
The whole point of doing that, rather than just swapping to another modem maker, was that it reduces complexity at install for the majority of customer. Issues with the SuperHub aside, that's exactly what it does. This improves the experience for customers, and reduces support costs to Virgin.
Once the bridge mode is provided, then those who want to use their own kit will be able to do so
Chrysalis
20-04-2011, 09:58
Even if Virgin decide not to continue with Netgear at a later stage, I can't see any reason why they would undo the concept of providing a Hub as the CPE
The whole point of doing that, rather than just swapping to another modem maker, was that it reduces complexity at install for the majority of customer. Issues with the SuperHub aside, that's exactly what it does. This improves the experience for customers, and reduces support costs to Virgin.
Once the bridge mode is provided, then those who want to use their own kit will be able to do so
that sounds more like it, you have stated its what you think will happen and said why.
Although jb66 (who is an installer) seems to put to bed the claims it reduces complexity at installation, and many compaints are related to setup issues having to fiddle with wireless eg.
same thing. The fact is every 6 months your plans can change if the business requires it. Just because its rarely happened in your business it doesnt change that fact.
I would be very surprised if VM have gone in full throttle with a commital to the superhub netgear contract for a number of years, its very probable there will be a review period within 18 months. A company like VM review their performance every quarter. not even VM's CEO could say with certianty what VM would be doing next year and the year after as anything is subject to change. Even with a commited contract in place companies can and do sometimes buy themselves out of contracts to explore new paths.Chrys, I have worked for companies (in senior positions) such as BT, IBM, Next, and a few others - they all worked the same way.
Very few suppliers will sign a ongoing contract on a quarter by quarter basis - it leaves them too exposed; they need to have some guarantees so they can plan, just like the major company the are supplying. And it is not just the kit, it is the ancillary activities and services connected with the kit, that can have major knock-on effects - it's not that simple.
Just because my argument doesn't support your proposition, doesn't mean it's wrong - can I ask your experience of medium-term resource planning, budgeting and strategic planning?
theoldbill
20-04-2011, 10:22
Very few suppliers will sign a ongoing contract on a quarter by quarter basis - it leaves them too exposed; they need to have some guarantees so they can plan, just like the major company the are supplying.
And that is why a lot of those are unable to be adapt quick enough to changing markets or conditions. But hey, you speak as though these 'large' corporations haven't got problems, we all know very different - so something isn't quite 'perfect' is it?
Chrysalis
20-04-2011, 10:49
Chrys, I have worked for companies (in senior positions) such as BT, IBM, Next, and a few others - they all worked the same way.
Very few suppliers will sign a ongoing contract on a quarter by quarter basis - it leaves them too exposed; they need to have some guarantees so they can plan, just like the major company the are supplying. And it is not just the kit, it is the ancillary activities and services connected with the kit, that can have major knock-on effects - it's not that simple.
Just because my argument doesn't support your proposition, doesn't mean it's wrong - can I ask your experience of medium-term resource planning, budgeting and strategic planning?
my experience is different. I have actually never seen a contract for a new supply not have some kind of get out clause for the buyer. Even reccuring supplies of proven succesful stock can have such clauses. I didnt say contracts are reviewed quarterly tho but rather they will typically have some kind of review point or target that has to be achieved. However large companies do tend to review their own performance quarterly which you see in shareholder reports. If performance is poor in any given area then the reasons would be looked at and if necessary changes made.
my experience is different. I have actually never seen a contract for a new supply not have some kind of get out clause for the buyer. Even reccuring supplies of proven succesful stock can have such clauses.
As the majority of customers are very happy with the hubs why would Virginmedia cancel their contract.
Anyone remember the offer (back in January) that 20Mb customers would be upgraded to 30Mb and no increase in the monthly cost, but pay £30 for the Superhub?
My order was placed on the website, and 2 days later I got an email asking me to call them. They explained my area had not been updated (yet) and my target date was March. They would call me back and confirm an install date.
Come April, and no call - so I phone. They say no problem, but my mothly fee will increase by £2 and I still have to pay the £30. No, I'd like the deal we agreed. "You can't have it says the Indian guy" you can only buy on todays prices.
Emailing CS with the order references are ignored.
Anyone else had this?
I don't know what they were on about. There was no upgrade schedule for 30Mbit. Everywhere got it at once
As there has now been a price change, it is possible there is a difference between the two services
pip08456
20-04-2011, 21:35
Pehaps the target upgrade was for the upload increase and not the 30Mb.
As Ben says 30Mb was released nationwide.
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