120M (Advice) Thinking of leaving Virgin Media 120mb for BT Infinity up to 76mb

blue166 · 11-01-2014, 17:28

Hi All,

Would just like your thoughts and feedback on BT Infinity vs Virgin Media.

I have had problems in the last 18 months with Virgin Media and congestion. Last year my ping time and speeds were awful due to high utilisation on my cable segment. Ping times would range from 15ms off peak to 900ms peak. Took them around 9 months to fix it and now the forum team are telling me that my cable segment once again is almost breaching limits and they are trying to raise it with networks.

In short I have had enough with Virgin Media and I get the feeling they are a long time off fixing these issues with congestion in my area. I already have 8DS channels and 2 up and congestion is still a serious issue. Although ping times average around 20ms peak at the moment but I do have constant pings shooting up to 40-50ms sometimes even 60ms. Speeds are also dipping from 120mb during the day to around 70mb in the evening. I know how bad high utilisation can become as last year my 60mb connection would dip to 5mb in the evening with a 1mb upload.

So this brings me to BT Infinity which went live 50m away from me back in December. I know BT will cost me a little more but I can add BT Sport to my Sky tv package which to subscribe would cost me around £15p/m. BT estimate I can get the 76mb with 20mb upload. I would expect more around 70/15mb that would be fine by me. I game a lot so would need a stable ping time. This is where I do not know how Infinity compares and I know each area will differ. (I know no body in my area who has it so can't look into that).

So with Virgin Media I guess my utilisation is going to continue to give me issues. Internet starts to feel a little sluggish in the evenings, nothing major bad yet but I know it will soon fall over completely. What can I expect from BT Infinity if I move over to it?

qasdfdsaq · 11-01-2014, 18:01

BT Infinity has always had far more consistent pings than VM (sometimes up to 80x better). If stable pings are what you're looking for there is no better option in the country.

They're also a lot better than VM in overall congestion, though of course you do sacrifice some download speed.

Kushan · 11-01-2014, 18:11

Most services are a bit of a lottery in terms of what your area is like. Generally, though, BT (And Sky and most other DSL providers) are a much safer bet than Virgin are, the catch is that distance is a factor. Virgin seem to have improved a lot lately, but there's still plenty of congested areas in which you seem to be part of one. And since BT have given you a really good estimate, I think you'd be mad not to try them out.

Given that your area has been congested for ages, I wouldn't give Virgin the time of day and switch over to BT. Or possibly even Sky Fibre, if it's available? I don't know if that would work out much cheaper for you but the quality of the service should be comparable to BT.

blue166 · 11-01-2014, 18:45

Many thanks for your replies.

The bigger factor that has drawn me towards BT Infinity is getting BT Sport 1,2 and ESPN included and added to my sky for nothing. I think that would cost me £15pm if added on top of sky fibre. That is why I am leaning towards this deal.

What do you think of that? (I am addicted to watching football).

Mick Fisher · 11-01-2014, 19:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushan

Most services are a bit of a lottery in terms of what your area is like. Generally, though, BT (And Sky and most other DSL providers) are a much safer bet than Virgin are, the catch is that distance is a factor. Virgin seem to have improved a lot lately, but there's still plenty of congested areas in which you seem to be part of one. And since BT have given you a really good estimate, I think you'd be mad not to try them out.

Given that your area has been congested for ages, I wouldn't give Virgin the time of day and switch over to BT. Or possibly even Sky Fibre, if it's available? I don't know if that would work out much cheaper for you but the quality of the service should be comparable to BT.

^ This!!!!

kwikbreaks · 11-01-2014, 19:32

This is my TBB chart for yesterday on Plusnet FTTC. I've been messing with my network today so there are some outages. The big yellow spikes will probably be the SamKnows speed tests. In the main jitter is negligible.

With cable congestion varies from area to area; with FTTC there isn't really any congestion yet sfaik but if/when it does come along it will be by ISP rather than area. IMO that makes it a lot less likely that there will be significant congestion as ISPs offering an inferior service will risk losing customers.

This is my SamKnows average daily download from when I got their box to now. As it happens the VM congestion in my area seems to have been fixed around the time I gave up on them and ordered FTTC on 3 December. I think you'll spot both that and my move on 19 December too which was predicted at 66Mbps but came in at around 70Mbps. Upstream for me is 17Mbps.

The red line along the bottom is because SamKnows have incorrectly classified me as ADSL2+ upto 20Mbps.

I chose PN over BT as their support is UK based. Unfortunately it's also badlt overloaded right now but they are setting up a new call centre in Sheffield.

blue166 · 12-01-2014, 12:11

Hi again guys,

First off thanks for all the feedback so far.

I have an ASUS RT N66U router - Now I know the HH5 is what BT send by default BUT of course I prefer my own 3rd party router which I have been using with my VM SH2 in Modem mode. I have asked live chat with BT if I can have an Openreach Modem instead and she said I can request one instead of the HH5. Is this true? I do not want to sign up then be told I can't request one.

Also, does anyone know the performance of the openreach standalone modem?

Thanks in advance,

EDIT - It appears after the lady checking with her supervisor they do not give a modem if requested - that is a shame. So would one off ebay work fine on a 80/20 package? can anyone help. She is telling me it has to be the HH5 only.. mm...

(Just do not want stuck on BT's DNS - I prefer google and opendns).

kwikbreaks · 12-01-2014, 12:43

The Huawei EchoLife HG612 is the standard Openreach issue modem and there are always some on eBay. Why they are there is a little problematic - I don't see anybody saying "I've bought a Firitzbox or a HH5 so this is redundant" so just why are they being sold - were they replaced? stolen? simply redundant as FTTC was cancelled?

If you don't want the BT HH5 and want a modem instead then the simplest option is to go to one of the other FTTC resellers and see what you get from them. It will probably save you a few pennies too.

qasdfdsaq · 12-01-2014, 13:24

There are lots of people buying their own modem/router combos, mainly Drayteks and hence the HG612 is redundant. And of course yes, cancellations too.

blue166 · 12-01-2014, 14:03

I would rather opt for Infinity as I will get BT Sport free on my sky tv package.

Can I just buy one of these modems and use it with my ASUS router or will I encounter problems?

Can someone link me to one on ebay if all should work fine with Infinity?

Also I have heard people mention about unlocked modems, can someone kindly explain this also please

P.S. Can I just buy one anyway and stick it in with a 80/20mb connection?

AbyssUnderground · 12-01-2014, 15:26

I've had infinity for around a month now and it's been fantastic. I've downloaded 7TB (yes, TB!) this month as a test. It's been a consistent 68Mbps (I can get 75Mbps but my download source is topping out at 68Mbps) with no drops, no throttling, no letters. It's been rock solid the whole time.

The HH5 is a bit basic but it does the job perfectly. I'd say go for it if you're unhappy with Virgin.

The unlocked modems basically allows you to get your connection stats. The HH5 gives you all you'll need if you have that though most of it is hidden on a help page.

qasdfdsaq · 12-01-2014, 18:10

802.11ac + 450Mbps 802.11n is "basic"?

blue166 · 12-01-2014, 18:14

I guess my biggest reason for asking if an Openreach modem would still be ok if purchased from ebay is because I do not want tied down with the HH5 having fixed DNS and not being allowed to alter things.

Unless anyone knows different? I like being flexible with devices and not being tied down.

qasdfdsaq · 12-01-2014, 18:43

Openreach modem will be fine if purchased off eBay.

Openreach allow just about any VDSL2 capable modem to be used, although they don't condone it, they don't prevent you using any modem you want.

AbyssUnderground · 12-01-2014, 18:50

I can confirm the above. My friend bought a HH5 and a spare stand alone VDSL modem off ebay and both work just fine.