I have to pay for a wireless router that is free to new customers? - Page 3

Impz2002 · 09-09-2008, 15:11

i rang up and said id like a router and i didnt want to pay for it and the lady was very polite and said that was fine and 3 days later it was delivered.

Easy peasy

Impz

09-09-2008, 15:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by xpod

...The Big Fat Juicy Worm Rate

Exactly

Now VM have chucked you in the keep net.

cook1984 · 09-09-2008, 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonzoe

A lot of companies eg insurance, offer "come on" deals to new customers, the practice is not restricted to VM.

True, and that's why I switch insurance companies every year

Comparison sites have made it easy to do with insurance and utilities, but unfortunately broadband is a bit trickier. They are just relying on that fact to stop people switching I think, and to avoid having to offer them anything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr

The VM router cannot be altered to anything more or less then it is. So no reflashing of the firmware, no changing it to an access point only etc.

Hmm, okay, sounds fairly useless then as I really just want to use it as an access point, since I already have a pfsense based router which is far superior. It's a shame because I could do with a second AP to cover my entire house (very thick walls I think, the re-flashed La Fonera I'm using doesn't give a signal in some rooms).

I suppose I can understand why they locked it down to make tech support simpler, but I do wonder what will happen if a security flaw is found as happened with BT wireless routers.

Visitor · 09-09-2008, 20:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheOne

What brand is the wireless router there giving away ?
How are people finding it? Is it reliable ?

Netgear WGR614 54Mb

I already have a Netgear 110 Mb, so not tried it

cook1984 · 09-09-2008, 21:40

The WGR614 is supported by DD-WRT! Anyone tried upgrading it? Someone said it cannot be firmware upgraded, but looking at the photo of the PCB (http://dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/files/wgr416v9_411.jpg) it looks like there is a header which might have RS232 on it.

Actually, it looks like it's actively being worked on: http://dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.p...fda9fe52b3113a

Visitor · 10-09-2008, 21:50

upgrading it to what ? mobile phone

?

Am I missing something ? what will the upgrade do ? if its a speed hack, then I think it would be a lot more than a firmwear hack.

cook1984 · 11-09-2008, 19:01

No, the upgrade changes the firmware from the useless VM one to DD-WRT, which has a lot of useful features like access-point only mode, VPN, better security, even traffic shaping.

It won't make the connection faster as such but it will cope a lot better with VM's connection retarding/"management" or P2P apps with 1000s of open connections.

11-09-2008, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by cook1984

No, the upgrade changes the firmware from the useless VM one to DD-WRT, which has a lot of useful features like access-point only mode, VPN, better security, even traffic shaping.

It won't make the connection faster as such but it will cope a lot better with VM's connection retarding/"management" or P2P apps with 1000s of open connections.

And of course you cannot call up Tech Support for help if you have altered any settings as the router will now be totally unsupported.

11-09-2008, 19:17

no disrespect but I wouldn't trust India to support me on a router they cant even support me on a cable modem

cook1984 · 12-09-2008, 19:35

To be honest if you even know what DD-WRT is then you already know about 20 times as much as tech support

Visitor · 13-09-2008, 11:39

Oh, so your saying that the wifi they send you has custom VM firmware. When its switch on then, does it say "No Connection Available"

Stuart · 13-09-2008, 12:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by darthlinux

The company provide the service the customer pays and uses the service simply as that free loaders is what gets companies in debt, I work in the eviorment where I see this day and day out until you have seen it you dont know how bad it is these days I agree yes exsiting customer do derserve some incentive which the free upgrades of bb speeds are and VM,Telewest,NTL have been know for

However, the company in question needs to remember that they have many competitors and a large percentage of their customers can leave with very little notice.

BenMcr · 13-09-2008, 13:59

AFAIK there is and was no intention to stop the existing customer router offer for good. It was suspended so that they could manage stock levels, and was always told to staff as being a temporary measure.

13-09-2008, 14:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr

AFAIK there is and was no intention to stop the existing customer router offer for good. It was suspended so that they could manage stock levels, and was always told to staff as being a temporary measure.

Virgins temporary measures have always meant endless look at STM that's was only meant to be temporary and that ain't going nowhere

carl2k2 · 13-09-2008, 17:56

routers aint exactly hard to configre and if there is a technical problem then you take it up with the company you bought it from like pcworld (providing you still have warrenty), yeah that always happens the 'new customers only' term, all new customers get great discounts, like once they had a deal for free ps3 I was so ****ed off, anyway nothing much u can do, they should of had a point system for us loyal member who have been around since NTL...