Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Well despite my best efforts we all knew it was going to happen. I don't know whether to laugh, cry or kill someone atm. Here begins the story:

When 100mbit became available in my area 3 weeks ago I rang up to upgrade and got an Indian lady whose english was excellent and I made it crystal clear to her that I didn't want the pooperhub and I wanted to keep the vmng300. She said it was no problem but an engineer still needed to come out bla bla bla. I popped straight onto the forum afterwards to join the thread everyone else in my area was on to find out that peeps had been upgraded over the phone. I rang back and got through to an english lady who said that they can only upgrade superhub customers over the phone and I still needed a visit and I told her that I didn't want the superhub and she said no probs, the engineer still needs to come round to check the power levels etc etc.

So today comes round, I arrange to take the afternoon off work because the engineer is coming between 1-6 and only to find out when I get home at 1 that he came round at 11:30 and was let into the house and swapped the modem over for the superhub and left. This morning when I got up I ran several speed tests and hit 50mbit everytime. Now I am on 100mbit and haven't been able to get more than 36mbit all afternoon.

Rang customer services to get them to send the tech back with my vmng300 and they said tech support needs to arrange that so I got put through to tech support who said customer relations needs to authorise the swap over. Had a semi-long chat with an english dude who couldn't understand why I wanted the vmng300 back because now R30 has been released the superhub is absolutely amazing. If that is the case then when I am only getting 32mbit I ask? He pops me through to 100mbit support team, spend over 1 hour on the phone running endless speed tests, letting them check all the windows settings bla bla, speaking to 2nd line who say the UBR is at 40% utilisation so the problem must be my pc. I get 2 laptops out and get the same results with them so in the end they decide the mode is faulty and a new one is on the way in the post.

Soooooo, the absolute [ADMIN EDIT - inappropriate language removed] joke is that I specifically wanted to keep the vmng300 for this reason, I have been forced to take the superhub which is now deliverying less speed that the previous modem and now it has got to be replaced on day 1 and I have wasted a whole afternoon of my time which could have been avoided.

Is it me does anyone else think that is wrong?

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

I feel your pain, It has to be your area as this is my speed via a shub

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/11/6.png

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

40% utilisation on upstream or downstream? seems they only check the upstreams.

The superhub isnt perfect but in my opinion it doesnt cause slow speeds so I be surprised if your speeds shoot up on a new modem.

In regards to getting the vmng300 back I think you have a long battle, retentions absolutely refused to reactivate mine (I still had it), the CEO office did it without hassle tho. However you dont just need activation you actually want one shipped to you as well so will be harder.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

yeah I know, that is why I kept saying I wanted them to ring the tech up and get him to come back and give it to me. The dude who I spoke to in 100mbit support said I could probably get a vmng300 but I would need to go through the CEOs office for it. I am writing the letter now but I can't believe the red tape they make you go though to fix a problem when they could have done it in 5 mins.

It was downstream that was the problem btw, upstream was consistent at 8mbit all afternoon regardless of what tests we ran.

P.s do really think I care about a warning for language given what I have had to put up with today?



Can someboby give me the address for the Chief Execs/CEOs office pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee :)

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

You should be able to email it to: neil.berkett@virginmedia.co.uk

I am getting good speed in Lincoln via Superhub
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/11/5.png

I am on the following downstream channels: 52, 53, 54 and 55 and upstream: 2

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

I would if I were you and wanted to stay on the forum :)

If you have any concerns about forum policy please contact a team member directly, not in public.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

24, 25, 26, 27 and 1 which is what i was on with the old modem

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

you may of told them, the agents on the phone about the vmng - superhub but did you ask them to make a note of it for the tech to see? yeah common sense would have the agent make notes of it but it seems some don't bother and just book the tech. some have told me techs don't see notes some say they do, who knows but I'm sure their somewhat briefed to what their suppose to be doing at the customers address.

also during this long call did any agent put your on hold and contact your area manager, leave a message or anything or the sort?

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Who allowed the tech to take the vmng300 away?

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

tbh dude I am being screwed by someone. When I went through to customer relations I was told that the engineer was booked to do a swapover and that that was made clear to me when I booked it. I told them that was rubbish and that they can listen to the two phone calls I made where both women I spoke to said it was no probs for me to keep the vmng300 and the tech was only coming to check power levels

a member of the family who was non the wiser and just let him crack on with it. That is why i wanted to be here, if he refused to let me keep it I would have rather cancelled the whole thing because now I am paying £10 more for less speed

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

I hate to ask, but have you actually cheched the shub's config, to make sure its been provisioned correctly? Since the R30, a lot of the shub problems have been rectified. I've not had any issues since R30 rolled out, admittedly I'm not on 100mbit.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

The longer it's left the more likely your modem is handed back into the stores and lost forever

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

I think the original modem should already be considered lost, VM is all about process and there is no process to return original modem. Only to swap faulty modem. So best case scenario now is getting 'another' vmng300 sent out.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

I know, that is why i wanted them to ring the engineer and get him to bring it back today before it vanishes into fresh air, especially as there aren't any new ones to be had

power levels and config are absolutely fine

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Your situation is almost a carbon copy of mine earlier this year. The only difference was I was present when the installer came and tried to swap out a perfectly fine VMNG300 for a Superhub after having agreement with the CEOs office that I could keep it. I told the visiting tech and his manager where they could insert the (then vastly) broken hardware. Have a read through some of my previous postings for the complete picture. I ended up having my VMNG300 upgraded to 100Mb via an email conversation with a very, very nice man in the CEO's office. Although, I must say, mine was a rather unique situation which I won't dredge up here. As I said, check my posting history as all the information is in there.

I feel your pain. It could very well have been me starting this thread. I really, really hope you get what you want from them.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Why should he have to? He's asked VM to change the service, and agreed to pay for it - a competent supplier would make sure the service has been "provisioned" correctly. Why is it his task to check that VM has done its job properly?

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Because it might get him to a solution more swiftly?

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

everything looks good, the only thing it can be is the superhub. I ran some speed tests last night and several more a minute ago (just after 0500) and I am getting near enough 10 up but it maxes out at 54 down. The only thing it can be is the hub. I'll wait till Saturday and see what the new does.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

I don't understand how it can't give 100meg as its essentially a modem in modem mode

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Was the correct (12v) power supply used?

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Can I kindly remind you of the forum policies regarding the VM equipment names and not to use stupid childish names. Warnings and or infractions will be issued if the name calling continues.

Thanks.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Hi General Maximus
I am now with bt infinity so dont need my vmng300 modem,if this will work, by all means you can have this of me :)

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

I don't believe that would work, as the modem as been activated for your account, not his. There have been posts on these forums in the past to the effect that, that once activated on an account, a modem cannot then be used by a person on a different account.

Others here who know better will confirm, or correct that statement.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Yer, make sure of this, as I have read over at the VM forum that this can cause problems. Some tech seem to use the same power supply as the modem, when it should be changed.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

How do you know though that the modem they removed would have given you any difference in speed?

Also looking at comments in other threads (regarding more channels being used) the vmng300 might not be any good for higher speeds??

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

I can't thank you enough for the offer dude. Let me bang my letter off to them and see if they will give me a VMNG300. If they say they haven't got any left I'll ask them if they'll register a new mac address on my account if i can get hold of one myself and I'll gladly pay you for the modem; you'll be a life saver :)

The chances are it would have, my connection has always been pretty much perfect for the last 2 years on 50mbit with the VMNG300. I ran some speed tests on different servers yesterday morning just for comparison before the switch over and I was getting a solid 49mbits on a 50mbit connection with the VMNG300. With the shub it is now averaging 32mbit on a 100mbit connection on the same channels I was using before and that can't be a coincidence. If it wasn't doing 100mbit (or close to) on the VMNG300 then I wouldn't be moaning because I know the modem is/was in perfect working order. It would have handled 100mbit no problemo because it only uses 4 downstream channels. The VMNG300 maxes out on 4 channels so I wouldn't have been able to keep it if I upgraded to 200mbit. The shub is capable of using 8 channels although it only uses 4 for 100mbit, which is why I wanted to keep the VMNG300.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Um, is that not VM's job? To supply the customer with the service that they have agreed to pay for? Without the customer having to check up on them? Or is that too much to hope for from a 21st century technology company?

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

I always try to diagnose things myself anyway so I know what the problem is and I don't get fobbed off. It helps to know what you are talking about because we went through the "your network card must be too slow", "you need to update the drivers on your NIC" etc etc. All the stuff the dude did yesterday to check my connection I had already done which is why I thought it was a joke when when they couldn't work out what was wrong, it naturally must have been my pc.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

If you're talking solely about getting your old VMNG300 reinstated then offshore support are useless (and quite possibly, generally useless) so it's a waste of time dealing with them. Ping a mail to the CEO and explain, calmly and honestly without getting stressed, your situation. You should find yourself communicating with people that actually care about how the customer feels and not just whether your Direct Debit has been paid for the month.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Have you checked the power supply .As i have had a couple of jobs passed to me from the fault techs and the installer has not changed the power supply .

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

So you'd rather someone go with a substandard service for however long it takes to get an engineer back in, when a simple check and phonecall can fix provisioning issues, just because its "not their job"?

Granted in this case its not a provisioning issue, but still, a check of your own never hurts.

You'd do very well in beurocracy, or unionism. "Can't do that, not my job."

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

It definitely does. I could only reach 8MBit tonight, so I rebooted assuming it was a problem with my laptop. Still got 8MBit. Rebooted the GodAwfulHub and suddenly my speed shot up to 50MBit.

This Netgear router has to be the sorriest excuse for a router I've ever come across in my life. Whoever dubbed it "Super" was definitely taking the [Mod Edit].

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

not yet, the new shub is coming today anyways so I'll swap the whole lot over

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

ok your experience overules mine ;) although the OP has a different issue.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Though I agree with you re. checking for basic cable faults yourself, and you are replying to a very poorly thought out post, you let yourself down with your insulting comment re. trades unionists and public service workers. Demarcation was a stupid idea, but it is very much a 70s way of thinking. Though you may still be afflicted with a 70s mindset most of the rest of us moved on a long long time ago.

Please don't push your outdated claptrap on the rest of us over here in modern society. It is insulting, untrue and, if you only knew it, embarrassing for yourself. Stick to topics you actually understand.

This is my measured and pleasant response. You only get that once. Keep up the insults and I'll have to become more direct.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Yep I'll go along with that.

I find the damned thing comes shudderingly to a halt in new and wondrous ways about every 10 to 14 days and then has to be rebooted to resume a semblance of normality. :td:

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Update time:

Got new hub and spent 20 mins on hold trying to activate it only to be told that the peeps on that number can't activate 100mbit accounts so spent another 15 mins on hold waiting for someone to answer the phone.

Long story short, still same problem speed tests are varying but defo won't go above 50mbits. Time to fire off letter of compaint.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

have they tested whether full speed reaches your SuperHub? I'm sure I've had a few agents in the past test the speed from their end.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

They can't do that, so don't believe everything they say on the phone .... :erm:

All their tools can see are the signal levels and provisioning status of the modem etc. They can't run remote speedtests from their end!

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

thanks for replying :mad:

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

No. I'd like the service provider to get it right first time, and to not leave the job until they're sure that they have. I was being told that by my then employers 20 years ago - it's cheaper, it saves having to re-visit the same piece of work.
Demarcation in bureaucracy or unionism is about people who work for the same organisation, not about customers doing what the supplier should do.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

It's ignorant drivel, is what it is. I suspect Milambar's trying to push this stuff because he has so little respect for the people who read this forum that he thinks we're thick enough to believe it. Either that, or he's thick enough to believe it...

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Actually I had this in mind when I made that comment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBgcea3KucE

Also memories of "Thats Life" and the "Jobsworth" award that Esther Rants-on gave out each week.

But take it as you wish.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

When we're days away from the biggest industrial action in the UK since the general strike you either know full well how comments like yours come across or you are unbeliveably naive. At least have the courage to admit your agenda please.

Your snide comments are extremely distasteful in these difficult times when most of us are fighting for economic survival. Including those at VM who are facing redundancy in Liverpool. You may be fortunate enough to be unaffected, but that doesn't give you the right to disrespect those less well heeled than yourself who are struggling to fight their corner. If you aren't so fortunate then you should wake up.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

quick update. I was cut off speaking to the 100mbit support last night and I rang back just to get my records updated for when I send my letter off. The guy who i was put through to was actually quite helpful and I am actually getting 100mbit even though none of the speedtests reflect it.

I download 10 files over 1gb from all over the place and although none of the them would go over 2mb/sec, cumulatively they were doing 11.5mb/sec. He gave me a load of dribble about how the shub is different to the Ambit in terms of how it negotiates its connections with its hosts which is why my speed tests are screwed up and although windows says my gigabit NIC is connected to the shub at 1gbit it might not actually be and the drivers are too old etc etc etc.

I have given it a good thrashing on newsgroups this morning and if you allow it to make more connections it does work, newsgroups maxed out at 11.2mb/sec and held steady at 10.5mb/sec for 20gb of downloads which was kinda sweet.

I still want my vmng300 back, if they have done something to the shub so that it can't do more than 2mb/sec per connection nobody is every going to benefit from the full 100mbit because the odds of doing so many downloads/connections simultaneously aren't high. If the ambit allows a higher throughput per connection whilst still on 4 channels, so I will benefit from my speed for individual downloads, then I want it back.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

The Superhub doesn't negotiate connections with the host at all in modem mode, he's blagging you.

Sure you haven't tweaked your PC manually and your receive window is too small?

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

definitely haven't touched anything. I have always got 50mbit on speedtests with my vmng300 and now I am using the superhub, it doesn't matter whether i am directly connected with my pc, my laptop or going through my router, none of them will go above 30mbit on speedtests on any server. I have hit 50 a few times but 30 is the average.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Unless you still have the VMNG300 then the is no stock left in order to let you have a replacement.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

if you need to have multiple connections to hit max speed then it means one of 3 things.

1 - tcp is tuned unoptimal, especially may be the case if an old OS like windows XP, auto tuning on windows seven should be capable tho.
2 - router is interfering with a bad mtu setting, eg. if pc is set to 1500mtu but router is 1478 then that will cause issues.
3 - congestion, can cause individual threads to slow down, but then if use multiple can get higher speeds.

in my view the vmng300 has a smaller queue depth for packets, which is why it has better latency when the ubr is congested, this possibly can have an affect on speeds as well.

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Will be going from 50mb to 100mb soon, is the superhub problem free if you use it in Modem mode only?

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Normally

Re: Get ready for the biggest joke ever.......
 

Mine fine and has been since the rollout of Modem Mode, I have my Edimax connected to it at present.