Cable Forum - View Single Post - 50M Virgin Media Business Broadband: A Review

rhyds · 02-09-2014, 14:21

Having had our business broadband connection in for around six months now, I now feel its time to post up the experience so that others who come looking for VM business broadband connections can have a flavour of what its like.

Install location: Cardiff CF10 5xx
Service: Business Broadband (50M) with routed subnet option

Ordering, Lead Time and Install

The ordering process was handled by a sales rep and was reasonably straightforward, however the installation lead time was 30 days (about twice as much as an openreach install).

However once the 30 days were up the flexibility regarding the actual installation date was very commendable and much better than openreach, which was handy for us as we had to arrange IT department cover for the install.

Our install took two visits, as it seems our equipment room did have a VM cable coming in, but the amplifier chain feeding it had been disconnected to reduce interference. Once they were all in place everything came up fine.

Hardware, faults and Speeds

We were supplied with a business superhub (which I am led to believe is based on the superhub 1) at install, which was not too bad an unit to work with compared to other "supplied" business broadband routers (it knocked the socks off the ones that Plusnet Business and TalkTalk business supply). The interface is a little graphic heavy but is pretty straightforward and easy to deal with.

Most usual business grade features are available (remote access, IP/MAC filtering, firewall) but the DNS server settings are fixed.

The one big criticism of the business superhub is that it does not have a modem mode. If you want to use your own router without NAT then you must pay extra for a "routed subnet" option (not just the static IP option).

If you do need to use your own router (e.g. for VPN) I suggest you take the routed subnet option when ordering the service as it cannot be set up remotely.

Also, there is a slight "bug" in the superhub management interface. On the firewall config page, unless the firewall is turned on all options on that page are greyed out. However the superhub won't route VPN traffic unless PPTP and IPSec are enabled.

Therefore you have to turn the firewall on and enable IPSec and PPTP pass through, apply the changes and then turn the firewall back off again (applying changes once more). You will then find IPSec and PPTP passthrough enabled (with ticks in the boxes) but the options will be greyed out.

Our speed has been steady at 50mbit down and around 5mbit up and reasonably reliable. There have been some dropouts and incidents but we've always had VM engineers available either the same or the next day.

Costs and Customer Servce

The cost of our connection (business broadband + routed subnet) comes out at about £50 a month. This isn't that far away from a similar business broadband connection via FTTC or ADSL, but does have much better fault resolution times.

Customer services have been very good. All UK based call centres and knowledgeable and conscientious staff.

02-09-2014, 14:21	#1
rhyds Inactive Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: North Wales Services: Plusnet Phone/BB, Freesat, VM Business BB (Cable) Posts: 821	Virgin Media Business Broadband: A Review Having had our business broadband connection in for around six months now, I now feel its time to post up the experience so that others who come looking for VM business broadband connections can have a flavour of what its like. Install location: Cardiff CF10 5xx Service: Business Broadband (50M) with routed subnet option Ordering, Lead Time and Install The ordering process was handled by a sales rep and was reasonably straightforward, however the installation lead time was 30 days (about twice as much as an openreach install). However once the 30 days were up the flexibility regarding the actual installation date was very commendable and much better than openreach, which was handy for us as we had to arrange IT department cover for the install. Our install took two visits, as it seems our equipment room did have a VM cable coming in, but the amplifier chain feeding it had been disconnected to reduce interference. Once they were all in place everything came up fine. Hardware, faults and Speeds We were supplied with a business superhub (which I am led to believe is based on the superhub 1) at install, which was not too bad an unit to work with compared to other "supplied" business broadband routers (it knocked the socks off the ones that Plusnet Business and TalkTalk business supply). The interface is a little graphic heavy but is pretty straightforward and easy to deal with. Most usual business grade features are available (remote access, IP/MAC filtering, firewall) but the DNS server settings are fixed. The one big criticism of the business superhub is that it does not have a modem mode. If you want to use your own router without NAT then you must pay extra for a "routed subnet" option (not just the static IP option). If you do need to use your own router (e.g. for VPN) I suggest you take the routed subnet option when ordering the service as it cannot be set up remotely. Also, there is a slight "bug" in the superhub management interface. On the firewall config page, unless the firewall is turned on all options on that page are greyed out. However the superhub won't route VPN traffic unless PPTP and IPSec are enabled. Therefore you have to turn the firewall on and enable IPSec and PPTP pass through, apply the changes and then turn the firewall back off again (applying changes once more). You will then find IPSec and PPTP passthrough enabled (with ticks in the boxes) but the options will be greyed out. Our speed has been steady at 50mbit down and around 5mbit up and reasonably reliable. There have been some dropouts and incidents but we've always had VM engineers available either the same or the next day. Costs and Customer Servce The cost of our connection (business broadband + routed subnet) comes out at about £50 a month. This isn't that far away from a similar business broadband connection via FTTC or ADSL, but does have much better fault resolution times. Customer services have been very good. All UK based call centres and knowledgeable and conscientious staff.