marko
13-01-2012, 00:52
Getting close to the end of my tether with Virgin's broadband service tonight. I'm in the BR4 area of Bromley, South London, and - until relatively recently - had no problems to speak of with my 10mg connection. A few weeks before Christmas it began slowing down during periods of peak use and, increasingly, stopping completely.
I've zero technical knowledge in this area so, after a reboot failed to sort things, called the faults helpline and was told there was maintenance/upgrade work in progress which would be completed by mid-to-late December, at which point my service would return to normal.
Needless to say, that deadline came and went with no improvement. I called them again, and they told me the deadline had been extended to January 11th this year. Again, I accepted that and (after arranging a suitable credit for the effective loss of service) assumed all would be OK.
Well, well. It's now approaching 1am on January 13th, and the service has simply got worse. And that's despite a 45-minute call to faults last night, during which I was ultimately passed to a helpful lad who, albeit at my suggestion, switched me on to 20mg at no extra charge for three months to see if that would do the trick.
Now, I'm aware Virgin have "played fair" in arranging credits and a free speed upgrade, but I don't really want their generosity. I'm quite happy to pay for their service . . . as long as it works. It worked before, but something has happened and no one seems to know exactly what. Or if they do, they're not telling.
Faults guy tonight said the culprit was a "utilisation issue" which I interpreted as too many customers all using the service at once. All well and good, but I'm afraid that's not my problem. And, furthermore, I was informed in my earlier phone calls that the "upgrade" blamed for upsetting my service at that point was intended to alleviate precisely this issue. Of course, I'm now getting it in the neck from family who also use the broadband for work, homework, games and Facebook etc. Excellent! Anyone out there got any clues regarding my next move, please? Or even any idea why this service has suddenly become so flaky? Thanks in advance fellas - any help appreciated.
I've zero technical knowledge in this area so, after a reboot failed to sort things, called the faults helpline and was told there was maintenance/upgrade work in progress which would be completed by mid-to-late December, at which point my service would return to normal.
Needless to say, that deadline came and went with no improvement. I called them again, and they told me the deadline had been extended to January 11th this year. Again, I accepted that and (after arranging a suitable credit for the effective loss of service) assumed all would be OK.
Well, well. It's now approaching 1am on January 13th, and the service has simply got worse. And that's despite a 45-minute call to faults last night, during which I was ultimately passed to a helpful lad who, albeit at my suggestion, switched me on to 20mg at no extra charge for three months to see if that would do the trick.
Now, I'm aware Virgin have "played fair" in arranging credits and a free speed upgrade, but I don't really want their generosity. I'm quite happy to pay for their service . . . as long as it works. It worked before, but something has happened and no one seems to know exactly what. Or if they do, they're not telling.
Faults guy tonight said the culprit was a "utilisation issue" which I interpreted as too many customers all using the service at once. All well and good, but I'm afraid that's not my problem. And, furthermore, I was informed in my earlier phone calls that the "upgrade" blamed for upsetting my service at that point was intended to alleviate precisely this issue. Of course, I'm now getting it in the neck from family who also use the broadband for work, homework, games and Facebook etc. Excellent! Anyone out there got any clues regarding my next move, please? Or even any idea why this service has suddenly become so flaky? Thanks in advance fellas - any help appreciated.