Virgin Media Hub

Wire Man · 31-10-2011, 00:22

I got a hub last week in place of my old modem which was faulty. The engineer that fitted it said it would work best if I used the new hub as a router to save the mess of using my old router so I agreed. I have been thinking all week that there was a problem with my internet but after checking the speeds both wireless and plugged in the difference is unreal!
Im getting 10meg plugged in and 1meg wireless.
Is this normal or do I have a faulty hub? I would be interested to know the difference other people are getting?

thenry · 31-10-2011, 00:30

so you've tried the wireless capable device both wireless and wired up trying to achieve the max speed?

Install inSSIDer on your wireless capible device. open the program and let it search for all the networks within reach of you.. once all have appeared look at each networks channel number, they will range from 1-13... note channels numbers that are not used within the 1-13 range then set your hub to use the unused number.

also change rate mode that matches your wireless device, 54/145/300.

AndyCalling · 31-10-2011, 00:39

Thenry, this will be a hub (10meg), not a superhub, so those speeds won't be correct. I don't know if the hub is 'N' or 'G', but if it is N then I expect it will be 54/72/150. I've not seen a basic hub before though.

If your area is full of interference try 72 speed as this will be using a single channel. Manually set the channel after following Thenry's advice and you should find the best channel to use.

Milambar · 31-10-2011, 00:39

Also note the signal power level. The closer to 0 it is, the better.

I made the mistake if telling my gf that -89 was a strong signal, when it was actually a weak signal, which we fixed by fitting an amplified aerial (not a superhub). Sadly the SH has fixed aerials so that wouldnt be an option.

Wire Man · 31-10-2011, 00:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenry

so you've tried the wireless capable device both wireless and wired up trying to achieve the max speed?

Install inSSIDer on your wireless capible device. open the program and let it search for all the networks within reach of you.. once all have appeared look at each networks channel number, they will range from 1-13... note channels numbers that are not used within the 1-13 range then set your hub to use the unused number.

also change rate mode that matches your wireless device, 54/145/300.

How do I change the channel on the hub/router?

thenry · 31-10-2011, 00:53

open/put this > 192.168.0.1 in your web browser

login

I've not used a VM Hub so I'm not sure, look for an advanced settings link or advanced wireless settings, once your on the set up page you'll know which boxes to open and set accordingly.

---------- Post added at 23:53 ---------- Previous post was at 23:48 ----------

here you go mate > http://help.virginmedia.com/system/s...MER_TYPE=Cable

the modes seem to go upto 300 from the pic within the link Andy, it must be the same as the SH. wireman if you have any troubles figuring out what to set the mode to then post up what wireless chip/adapter you have on your wireless capable devices.

AndyCalling · 31-10-2011, 01:04

@Thenry: Really? Crikey, and no 5GHz mode either. Not really cricket, that. I bet it's set to 300 by default as well. That would explain the number of 300 VM routers on the 2.4GHz band cropping up on my radar recently. Odd little device though, being 300 wireless without gigabit lan. Not so common.

Wire Man · 31-10-2011, 01:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenry

open/put this > 192.168.0.1 in your web browser

login

I've not used a VM Hub so I'm not sure, look for an advanced settings link or advanced wireless settings, once your on the set up page you'll know which boxes to open and set accordingly.

---------- Post added at 23:53 ---------- Previous post was at 23:48 ----------

here you go mate > http://help.virginmedia.com/system/s...MER_TYPE=Cable

the modes seem to go upto 300 from the pic within the link Andy, it must be the same as the SH. wireman if you have any troubles figuring out what to set the mode to then post up what wireless chip/adapter you have on your wireless capable devices.

I just changed the channel and took a punt on the speed being 54 and it seems to work perfectly thankyou so much for your help this poor internet has been doing my head in all week! I will sleep well tonight now lol

---------- Post added at 00:13 ---------- Previous post was at 00:06 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wire Man

I just changed the channel and took a punt on the speed being 54 and it seems to work perfectly thankyou so much for your help this poor internet has been doing my head in all week! I will sleep well tonight now lol

Just checked and its a n speed wireless adapter so changed it back still getting 10 meg so well happy thanks again

thenry · 31-10-2011, 01:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyCalling

@Thenry: Really? Crikey, and no 5GHz mode either. Not really cricket, that. I bet it's set to 300 by default as well. That would explain the number of 300 VM routers on the 2.4GHz band cropping up on my radar recently. Odd little device though, being 300 wireless without gigabit lan. Not so common.

the device meets the needs of VM, its only there to handle customers with upto 20Mb. having the gigabit feature would be pointless. 5Ghz, again no point from VMs point of view with the SuperHub around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wire Man

I just changed the channel and took a punt on the speed being 54 and it seems to work perfectly thankyou so much for your help this poor internet has been doing my head in all week! I will sleep well tonight now lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wire Man

Just checked and its a n speed wireless adapter so changed it back still getting 10 meg so well happy thanks again

your welcome.

AndyCalling · 31-10-2011, 01:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wire Man

I just changed the channel and took a punt on the speed being 54 and it seems to work perfectly thankyou so much for your help this poor internet has been doing my head in all week! I will sleep well tonight now lol

May as well set that to 145. 145 is two spatial streams on a single channel so you won't act like a wifi thug and take up all the 2.4GHz space and if you connect an 'N' device to it it may get a bit more speed. Probably about 130 on a dual stream device (an up to 300 dongle) or 65 on a laptop/netbook built in card. It won't see the full 144/145 (or 72 for single stream cards) due to the guard interval.

---------- Post added at 00:20 ---------- Previous post was at 00:18 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenry

the device meets the needs of VM, its only there to handle customers with upto 20Mb. having the gigabit feature would be pointless. 5Ghz, again no point from VMs point of view with the SuperHub around.

True, but I don't expect it to have gigabit ports. I didn't expect it to have 300 N either though, which seems a bit over the top. That's an odd combo for me, unexpected. It should default to 144/145 mode though, but I bet it won't. In my view everything should be forced to a single channel unless it has 5GHz mode. That's not about speed, it's about common courtesy.

thenry · 31-10-2011, 01:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyCalling

True, but I don't expect it to have gigabit ports. I didn't expect it to have 300 N either though, which seems a bit over the top. That's an odd combo for me, unexpected. It should default to 144/145 mode though, but I bet it won't. In my view everything should be forced to a single channel unless it has 5GHz mode. That's not about speed, it's about common courtesy.

not in a dog eats dog world. the 300 mode isn't shocking mate, most routers have it without gigabit ports.

Mick Fisher · 31-10-2011, 14:24

Although the firmware appears to support 300mbps mode I am pretty sure that the Hub (as opposed to the superhub) is only a 150N device.

Wire Man · 03-11-2011, 01:23

I have had to switch back to using my old router! The Virgin hub is just to hit and miss as a router. By changing back my speeds have gone up from between 1-10meg to 9-16meg (some how on a 10 meg connection) but the main thing is the internet seems fast all the time!
Anyone know how my BB speeds are above 10meg sometimes? Hope its test for a free upgrade again.
http://speedtest.net/result/1568099206.png
http://speedtest.net/result/1570216702.png
http://speedtest.net/result/1568180061.png

thenry · 03-11-2011, 01:29

speedtest.net is flash hungry which your system may not be able to handle properly, what do you get via http://proof.ovh.net/

Wire Man · 03-11-2011, 01:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by thenry

speedtest.net is flash hungry which your system may not be able to handle properly, what do you get via http://proof.ovh.net/

About 10meg! However it was up around 20 at one point then dipped back down to 9 before the end of the test