Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

We're soon going to be on the downgrade path and want to know by how much we can cut our VM bill...

The current Full House (was Kahuna) package at £96 is too pricey and the channel range is unneeded by a two-user household. Apart from the reduction in channels, are there any other downsides to moving to Player bundle?

It comes with the VIVID 200 option (86Mbs tonight with an extra switch between the modem and my iMac). Do you folk run Netflix, Prime and usual news-stuff fine on VIVID 100? Any stutters, etc?

Cutting out the landline shrinks the bill by £10 but have any phone-forsakers decided it's a mistake?

Anything else we should consider?

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

Netflix even in 4K uses about 25Mbps, so it would be fine on a 100Mb connection.

If you're only getting 86Mbps you may be suffering some peak time congestion (or your switch is an old 100Mb switch) so it's not even worth paying for 200Mb.

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

Purely a personal view, but I'd suggest it's belt and braces to not rely on one phone for potential emergency situations. I'd feel more comfortable using a landline to call 999 from home than a mobile, given a free choice.

I also think it's good to have an 01/02 number available as it can sometimes be at the very least an alternative to 07, and some people still prefer calling such numbers.

But I guess it ultimately depends how much that is all worth to you..and we've still got LRS so the figures are different anyway.

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

A fair minimal package is one that suits you, nothing more, nothing less. Anyone elses opinion is superfluous.

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

Very true. I quote from a local Facebook group yesterday..
"How much is everyone paying for their TV box & WiFi together ? I pay £45 for sky at the moment, is virgin any better? Just has them knock my door, it seems to be £8 cheaper"

No reference to what packages, channel selections, broadband speeds or anything...

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

A switch (good one) shouldn't make any difference whatsoever, especially a 50% reduction in speed

Sky is far superior for TV and channel options. VM is better for BB speed if you think more is better.

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

Sky is indeed superior for TV, but the difference in price between them and VM keeps me with VM.

A 100meg VM package is better value than any Sky package, IMO.

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

Well for sheer choice of channels via the open setup you can't argue, but I'm not sure it's such a clear choice otherwise.

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

QUOTE=pip08456;35982617]A fair minimal package is one that suits you, nothing more, nothing less. Anyone elses opinion is superfluous.[/QUOTE]

Indeed. I am looking for other users' experiences to find a useful minimal package.

I see you are using the 50Mb BB option: do you use it for Netflix/Prime, Facetime/video Hangouts or other data guzzlers? If so, do you see any lag?

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

I do plenty of streaming (cordcutter) and have no problems with lag or buffering.

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

I downgraded a few months back. Dumped Phone and TV, just kept 100 BB.
Using a Humax HD Freeview recorder and I can't say I miss anything from VM TV. I also got a Now TV box and 12 Months Sky movies for £49 on a Black Friday deal.
All in all I'm happy enough with this.

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

We have TV with sky, BB with VM. No phone line, but our old landline number I ported to VoIP and have through AAISP for £1.20 a month on a gigaset n510ip DECT base station.

BB is 350m. I pay £40/m for it.

Sky Q is £42, I have all the channels except the sports, which I have no interest in, and multiroom.

I wouldn't ever bother with an actual phone line again, we rarely make outbound calls on it, except if we want them recorded (AAISP record all calls and send them to me via email). I can even set up the landline on my mobile.

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

It would if the package is 200M but it's only a 10/100 switch ;)

That said small gigabit capable switches are dirt cheap thesedays so if it is a 10/100 switch it's probbaly time for an upgrade.

Also worth checking the cables, perticullarly if they are ones that came free with something else as some of them aren't fully wired so only run at 100M

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

Re: Downgrading VM... what is fair minimal package?
 

When it comes to TV, it's personal choice. I ditched my V6 service because I found I could comfortably watch what I wanted/needed on streaming services I already had. Same can be said for my partners viewing habits. I don't miss it at all, except the multiple recording feature, but that wasn't enough to warrant keeping it.

Speaking about the phone line - I would say I am one of the aforementioned "phone-forsakers" and can confidently say I do not miss it or regret getting rid of it. Again, I think it's down to the individual; my mobile phone is more than enough these days. But given my technical background, I decided to port my landline out to a SIP trunk provider, and have my own PBX at home to handle the landline, though really that's overkill as I only really use it for voicemail - but my current solution handles it wonderfully, so the overkill is fine, and it gives me something to tinker with.

A decent switch shouldn't be a bottleneck, so as others have said most likely peak time demand in this case.