350M : Broadband report card

[gunner45]

I got this email today for my M350 on a hub 5. It's the first such report and was not expected.

We’ve checked your broadband speed 330 times over the last 3 months.

Your M350 Fibre Broadband is ensuring solid home connectivity.

Your results
369.79 Mbps
download speed

36.16 Mbps
upload speed

Wi-Fi
99.935%
uptime

Streaming capacity
13 UHD movies
at the same time

Broadband speed reading: Speed readings were taken across a 90-day period, between August 2026 – November 2026. Speed readings only reflective of holders’ Virgin Media WiFi Hub (package) speed during the time of testing. Number of tests undertaken varies per customer. Average download and upload speeds calculated using all available speed test data. This may or may not include speed tests run during peak times. Speed tests are to the WiFi Hub only, not across the home for individual digital devices.

My comments: the hub 5 is performing slightly above its rated tier. This doesn't surprise me as although my coaxial drop cable is 21 years old and the cabinet 28 years old, I get a good clean signal from this ageing HFC network. It helps that I had the F connector at the cabinet replaced and plugged into another tap, the F connector and splitter in my home also replaced.

[Carth]

I got the same email, also on M350
I gave it a skim, ignored the crap about what I could watch in UHD and deleted it.

Due to my old 3rd party router, this is it for me, and good enough for what I do

Download 93.10 Mbps
Upload 37.03 Mbps

edit: I'm still on a Hub 3 I think

Originally Posted by Carth

Download 93.10 Mbps
Upload 37.03 Mbps

Pretty poor for M350, is your router only using a 100Mbps port ?

[gunner45]

The hub 3 is capable of supporting up to M600, so you should not be getting a mere 93.10 Mbps on M350.

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by gunner45

The hub 3 is capable of supporting up to M600, so you should not be getting a mere 93.10 Mbps on M350.

Due to my old 3rd party router, this is it for me, and good enough for what I do

[Carth]

Originally Posted by Paul

Pretty poor for M350, is your router only using a 100Mbps port ?

Yep

I could buy a better one, but the up/down speeds are fine for me, why spend money if you don't need to

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by Carth

Yep

I could buy a better one, but the up/down speeds are fine for me, why spend money if you don't need to

Why are you paying for M350 when you could just pay for M100 or whatever the slowest is now?

[Carth]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

Why are you paying for M350 when you could just pay for M100 or whatever the slowest is now?

They keep upgrading me for free . . . I tell them I don't need it, but like most people nowadays they don't listen.

Anyway, apart from the router (TP-Link Archer C60) I'm still on old cat 5 cables

Originally Posted by Carth

Anyway, apart from the router (TP-Link Archer C60) I'm still on old cat 5 cables

Cat 5 would do the speed ok, but the C60 does only have 10/100 ports.

[gunner45]

But why bother with an old router which slows you down?

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by gunner45

But why bother with an old router which slows you down?

And old Cat5 cables. Need Cat5e at least.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by gunner45

But why bother with an old router which slows you down?

Can you explain why it 'slows me down' ?

I don't 'do' 4K UHD TV (I don't do any TV thanks), and the wife is completely happy with the crap soap operas and 'real life' shite she watches on the 37" (720p) Plasma.

Online gaming is now just a madcap rush to get the biggest, best and fastest PC components to compete, not to mention all the idiots and cheaters out there to spoil a game. I don't do it anymore so don't need super fast.

I don't have a house full of Wifi gadgets that turn things on or off when I'm not at home. I may be old but can still close the curtains myself, boil a kettle when needed, and don't require a little box somewhere to find and play music for me . . or answer stupid questions I may ask it.

I can download music, books and the occasional film quickly, browsing is plenty good enough, I don't do all the 'social media' stuff that everyone else seems to think is an important aspect of their lives. I also have very little (if any) problems watching music videos/concerts and older TV episodes on Youtube.

I have no problem with the rest of you that do all these things I don't do, but I really really don't need NEED faster BB to survive, and certainly aren't spending £75 on a fancy new router to test the theory.

The rat race will continue quite well without me taking part

[gunner45]

The question I was asking is why you are using a router at all when it seems as if the hub 3 alone will satisfy your needs.

[Carth]

Originally Posted by gunner45

The question I was asking is why you are using a router at all when it seems as if the hub 3 alone will satisfy your needs.

Ah gotcha.

Many years ago the Hub wifi wasn't very good, had a 3rd party router ever since . . habit I guess . . maybe I should give it a go again

[homesecurity]

Spot on diagnosis from Paul and SnoopZ regarding the 93Mbps ceiling. Coming from the cabling and network diagnostics side, here is the exact physical reality of what is happening between your Hub 3, the Archer C60, and your cables:

1. The 93.10 Mbps 'Fast Ethernet' Ceiling:
The TP-Link Archer C60 is marketed as an "AC1350" wireless router, but TP-Link built it with 10/100 Fast Ethernet physical ports on both the WAN and LAN interfaces to keep production costs down.
On a 100BASE-TX connection, the maximum theoretical payload speed after Ethernet framing, IP headers, and TCP window overhead is roughly 94.92 Mbps. Your test result of 93.10 Mbps is literally wire-speed perfection for a 100Mbps port. No matter how much bandwidth Virgin Media delivers to your Hub 3, that physical Ethernet link between the Hub and the C60 cannot physically pass a single byte above ~94Mbps.

2. The Cat 5 vs Cat 5e Cable Reality:
To clear up the cable point: 100BASE-TX only uses two twisted pairs (pins 1, 2, 3, and 6). 1000BASE-T (Gigabit) requires all four pairs (pins 1 through 8).
Even original 1990s Cat 5 (rated to 100MHz) will happily negotiate full Gigabit over short domestic patch lead distances (under 15-20m) provided all 4 pairs are properly punched and unbroken. However, if any 8-pin patch lead has a broken core on pins 4, 5, 7, or 8, the Gigabit NIC will automatically drop down to 100Mbps. Testing with a known good Cat5e or Cat6 patch cord is always good practice, but in your specific setup, the Archer C60’s physical 100M PHY chip is the definite bottleneck.

3. Ditching the C60 vs Keeping Modem Mode:
If you are happy with the speed and it covers what you and your wife need for browsing and 720p streaming, there's obviously zero urgent need to spend money. But if you do want the 370Mbps you are already paying for:
- Route A (Free): Take the Hub 3 out of Modem Mode and use it as your main router. The Hub 3 has Gigabit LAN ports and its 3x3 5GHz AC Wi-Fi will easily deliver 300-350Mbps over Wi-Fi within line of sight. (Just note the Hub 3 uses the Intel Puma 6 chipset, which can introduce small latency spikes if anyone in the house does competitive online gaming, though for video streaming it's unnoticeable).
- Route B (Keep Modem Mode): If you prefer the security, custom DNS, or Wi-Fi control of a 3rd party router, keep the Hub 3 in Modem Mode and replace the C60 with any budget router with Gigabit WAN/LAN ports (like a TP-Link Archer C6 v3 or AX12 for around £30-£35). That will instantly unblock the full 370Mbps download across your whole house.