Virgin Connection Problems?

[eternal_inertia]

Hey everyone,

Been having troubles with my Virgin connection of late, for the past 2 days it's been rather slow in comparison to what BT says I should be receiving. I'm on Plan One with Virgin and when I migrated the man on the phone said I could receive 6.5mbps which is excellent, however I've never received anywhere near that. A few weeks ago I could get about 5mbps at most, but it's not consistent. Recently, it's been under 1mb The BT speed checker informed me the following

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:
IP profile for your line is - 7150 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 8128 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 1349 kbps

Which I took to mean my line is synced at 7150 (which is brill) but is only downloading at 1.3meg? I've emailed Virgin and got the usual standard reply of "have you checked your wiring and rebooted your modem/router"

I just wondered are there any problems at the moment? Someone told me NTL are having connection issues at the moment, and Virgin use the NTL network, however Virgin mention none of this. I moved from Tiscali due to their completely ludicrous port blocking, usage policy and cap restrictions on their 'unlimited' products, however Virgin is now annoying me as the connection cannot be consistent and causes my online gaming to be virtually unusable (i.e. I keep getting booted due to high ping/latency)

Any ideas? Just hammer the virgin support email system until someone with brains replies without standard mailmerge emails? Or bite the bullet and ring the stupid 25ppm number?

Thanks

[adie_gibson]

Hey everyone,

Been having troubles with my Virgin connection of late, for the past 2 days it's been rather slow in comparison to what BT says I should be receiving. I'm on Plan One with Virgin and when I migrated the man on the phone said I could receive 6.5mbps which is excellent, however I've never received anywhere near that. A few weeks ago I could get about 5mbps at most, but it's not consistent. Recently, it's been under 1mb The BT speed checker informed me the following

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test:
IP profile for your line is - 7150 kbps
DSL connection rate: 448 kbps(UP-STREAM) 8128 kbps(DOWN-STREAM)
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 1349 kbps

Which I took to mean my line is synced at 7150 (which is brill) but is only downloading at 1.3meg? I've emailed Virgin and got the usual standard reply of "have you checked your wiring and rebooted your modem/router"

I just wondered are there any problems at the moment? Someone told me NTL are having connection issues at the moment, and Virgin use the NTL network, however Virgin mention none of this. I moved from Tiscali due to their completely ludicrous port blocking, usage policy and cap restrictions on their 'unlimited' products, however Virgin is now annoying me as the connection cannot be consistent and causes my online gaming to be virtually unusable (i.e. I keep getting booted due to high ping/latency)

Any ideas? Just hammer the virgin support email system until someone with brains replies without standard mailmerge emails? Or bite the bullet and ring the stupid 25ppm number?

Thanks

Originally Posted by eternal_inertia

please try www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk

[adie_gibson]

just did my test...
Download speed 3753mbps
upload378 mbps
Virgin package 2 on ADSL MAX 8 Meg

[eternal_inertia]

I use that test quite a lot cos I find it quick and easy as it's flash built.

Anywho, here's my test for this morning at 9.06am -

Download Speed: 5488 kbps (686 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 368 kbps (46 KB/sec transfer rate)

It appears to be back to normal again now - surely that massive drop in performance can't have been due to the time of day?

[Scoobs]

I use that test quite a lot cos I find it quick and easy as it's flash built.

Anywho, here's my test for this morning at 9.06am -

Download Speed: 5488 kbps (686 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 368 kbps (46 KB/sec transfer rate)

It appears to be back to normal again now - surely that massive drop in performance can't have been due to the time of day?

Originally Posted by eternal_inertia

More than likley or the contention kicking in at the exchange.

[VTech_Nullified]

Probably down to contention.
At the end of the day I would say ADSL max is just starting out, Its like any new technology as such, there will be major initial problems.

My connections reporting 4.9mb on that speedtester
and 376k up,

My connections with nildram.
However most peoples speed issues when they drop by THAT much are down to something happening to the line.

If your using a router for instance and over 3 days BT do work at your exchange that causes your connection to Drop 10 times, ADSL Max drops speed to try and compensate for the loss of syncronisation.

And it will drop it to 256k or below. BT officially say 256k is the minimum. but I've seen it drop lower, There is nothing the ISP can do about this other than to have the profile reset, which is essentially useless because all you need to do is disconnect and reconnect (By logging into your router and clicking disconnect NOT unplugging it) and BT will see your connections are fine and up the speed.


If you want virgin to look into your speedtest problems, run all the basic checks

Spyware
Virus scans
make sure your the only machine online.

Then if nothing else works you can always head to Virgin.net, Click contact Us, and click remote assistance.

Its normally open between 10am and 10pm.

Their always willing to help.


Btw most dropped speeds match up with lots of dropped connections (Dropped connections = BT drop speed to compensate)

I'm having a similar problem with Virgin.

I was recently on the 8mb unlimited package and my 'ping', ingame latency, was constantly spiking. I have friend on a 1/2 mb connection who don't have this sort of problem so i dont understand it.

I rung up virgin, who said that this may be due to my area's phoneline, so last week i dropped down to 2.2mb connection. At frist it seemed like this solved the issue but it has reoccured. It will be fine one second, no latency etc, then the next it will suddenly spike.

I have tried disconnecting and reconnecting my internet, or even restarting my computer but it seems to make no difference.

Suggestions?

Im unfortunate enough to be with VIRGIN also. I also have noticed that my speed during the day, are on average around 6-7 MBps..which is really good..however at night it will never rise above 700KBps, at one point it got as low as 167Kbps.

I have contacted the ledgendary "Customer support", and was given a load of lame unfounded excuses..such as, your too far from exchange etc.

I did my homework and i only live 3.6Km from exchange, so that was a lie.

After further study it is clear that its down to a number of problems.
1) Virgin sold to NTL a few months ago..and they have in turn oversubscribed.
2) contention issues on your line..mine is currently at around 34:1..the best ratio would be around 20:1.
3) I WAS using wireless...not good for gaming.

Best thing to do is change..they are trying to charge me £50 to do so..however having being advised by a legal reprasentative..im refusing as they failed to deliver broadband as stated at on the contract..as 167 is not considered broadband speeds.

My advice is ditch Virgin and go to cable if u can or go with https://www.bethere.co.uk/

hope this help a little

How would u go about checking contentions of your line?

And what ISP's would you recommend for online gaming, on either uk or nl server?

Thanks for the help :]

Hi

I had to get a BT engineer out at peak time to test my line, as myself and my nextdoor neighbour were noticing the Drop in speed and he is with a different ISP.

It's not a major thing to check , you may ask your current ISP to provide the info for you as i know some can check your lines also.

With regards to gaming.avoid VIRGIN, BULLDOG, TISCALLI, as i know so many people on those lines that have constant troubles.

My advice is, if u can get NTL cable, as contention is not a problem on a cable line..they also offer good speed;s-up to 10 MBps.

Im still getting to grips with the whole ADSL thing..but i found this site rather helpfull http://www.adslguide.org.uk/

hope this helps

[pete284]

I have been having horrific problems for about 14 days now with Virgin. I have been with them for 10 years no problems before. I'm on Plan One and have been regularly getting about a 6mb connection.

Two weeks ago it dropped to about 512K in the day and 1.5mb during the night. I have done the BT speedtest:
DSL upstream: 448 kbps
DSL Downstream 7617 kbps
Actual IP throughput: 1660 kbps

By modem shows the variation of US Margin 20 - 26 and DS Margin 2 - 9. I'm informed that the DS Margin should be 20+!!

I contacted Virgin and they told me the following could interfere with my signal: Microwaves, Central heating boilers, Timed power switches, Generators. My PC is in a separate room in the house. I have had no modem changes, nor changes to line faults nor any change in my PC.

This is surely something going on at VIRGIN.

[pete284]

Had this interesting chat with their Techie tonight.:

If the speed to BT is so different to the speed when actually on the internet and you have no filesharing software and you have scaned for spyware then it is likely to be the Virgin.net network that is congested. We are working to increase the capacity of our network but it is a slow process.

Virgin broadband and interleaving - thats the story i got when complaining about my ping rate of 200-300 to popular sites when most of my mates get sub 100 easily. I didnt get much help from Virgin - managed to start some email dialogue but that dried up with some comment about caliing thier helpline - is it 10p or 25p minute? Stuff that!!

Anyways i decided to have a fiddle and hey presto i found a setting that seems to do the trick. On W2K its in Virgin Net / Properties / Networking / Type of dial-up server I am calling / Settings / Negotiate mutli-link for single link connections / phew! got there!

It seems when i switch this off and on again (classic helpdesk advice!) it takes my 3 digit ping down to sub 100's. Voila! Not sure whats going on but i reckon its re-negotiating something down the line.

Give it a go!

[dampsquib]

Look at this thread from further down the page http://www.the-scream.co.uk/forums/t23181.html?. It's the same issue, but a few more of the technical aspects are revealed.

[jonpen69]

I've been having the same problems as you all and May have an answer.
"Speed Download 4" is an application which sepatates the Downsteam packets from the current interleaving and requests the server to download at its maximum rate. I tried it and tested it via a few dirfferent Test sites and I went from a poor 1200Kbps or so to around 6000Kbps which was amazing. The way it downloads files from FTP servers and websites has an interface which asks and stores your user names and Passwords which are in you Keychain access control and downloads the files quickly to a specified area on your computer. I found that I was downloading files at around 600kps which aint' bad. try it out here.
Gamers May also Have some luck with thier pings.
http://www.yazsoft.com/?gclid=CPj60I...FSdcMAodeklkOQ
Happy "Speed" Downloading (Finally)

I have been having similar problems with Virgin.net.
They "upgraded" me to 8 Mb/s some time ago. All was OK for a short time but then I noticed fading performance. It is getting worse all the time.
Last night I was getting 12 kb/s YES! 12 kb/s, I can train ants to carry data faster than that.
They have now promised to put me on a "fixed" 2 mb/s in about 3 to 5 days.
I wait with bated breath.
(Yes, I'm the one with the purple face).
By the way, the Virgin.net staff are incrediblpolite while they explain that there is nothing they can do for you.
Avoid Virgin.net 8 M "service" like the plague.