Virgin Media Caps Are Driving Me Crazy

May 23rd, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

I’ve been playing close attention to my broadband speed every since Virgin Media introduced Speed Caps, and they are starting to drive me crazy. Although my newsgroup usage appears to be unaffected, which is crazy as I’m sure that newsgroups usage is probably a big component of Virgin Media’s usage spikes, my web browsing has become almost unusable.

Watching an online video is now almost impossible with Virgin Media. If I want to watch a YouTube video, I have to leave it running for a few mins to let it download and then go back and watch it. It’s impossible to watch YouTube videos in real-time because the playback is so jerky.

I wouldn’t mind the Virgin Media caps if they were reasonable, but as a 10Mbps (soon to be 20Mbps) user I’d expect to at least be able to use popular mainstream internet services like YouTube. I just don’t know what is going on with ntl and particularly Telewest since the merger. I was a happy Telewest user for 7 years before the merger, but now every month there’s a problem with my internet or TV service.

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About the Author

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Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK. He also writes for Windows 7 News.

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  1. #20

    Comment by Mathew Browne on 4 October 2007:

    I’ve heard very bad things about them, Tiscali aren’t great but at least it’s not that bad. All ISPs are heading in this direction though, sadly.

  2. #19

    Comment by stu c on 21 September 2007:

    according to speedtest.net… i have 0 upload speed… 3.9MB download (im sposed to be on the 4MB…)

    i cant upload videos to youtube.com/blip.tv… anywhere… dont get why… gonna ring virgin tmr.. they better fix it..

  3. #18

    Comment by NoName. on 16 September 2007:

    Here we are people, Virgin’s wondefull 20Mb UNLIMITED broadband.

    http://www.speedtest.net/result/185022956.png

    512k anyone? Has been like this all weekend, I’m starting to get a little annoyed with Virgin.

  4. #17

    Comment by joe on 6 September 2007:

    I had same problem. I just rang Virgin tech support (in India) an dthey said that my connection was set to 4Mbit. They changed it to 20Mbit and I now get 18.7 Mbit

  5. #16

    Comment by TGB on 30 August 2007:

    your actually better off downgrading from Virgin’s 20MBit broadband to their 4MBit service which is far more consistent. The problems with the 20MBit service, which is at times attrocious, seems to be down to the area you live in and also contention ratios. Basically Virgin can’t supply a 20Mbit service and right now many people who phone in threatening to quit are being offered special deals at greatly reduced rates. If you don’t complain strongly you’ll get nothing.

  6. #15

    Comment by John M on 30 August 2007:

    I’ve got the 20Mb connection, I’l see my full download speed like once, in a week. I run regular tests at speedtest.net to keep track of how bad things are, just now I got an amazing score of 1208 download and 700 upload. This btw, isn’t uncommon usually its around the 3/4mb area.

    I really am speechless tbh, the amount I pay for this service is ridiculous. I signed my name to 20mb, not 1/4mb. 20Mb! Even with caps I’d expect atleast 10mb.

    Everytime I browse Youtube, or try to Stream Media Articles, news etc, even browsing web pages. I’m reminded by jerky video playback and stupidly long loading times… That I’m forking out my hard earned cash for something I am simply not getting. And over the last week or so with the TV service, programs begin to jerk and lagg like streaming videos online. The playback appears jumpy, and sometimes the audio video sync will slip… Once my contract is up, I won’t be renewing it. It’s beyond aggravating, I really wish I could ditch it right this instant and switch to another provider.

    Back when it was Telewest Blueyonder/NTL whatever.. It was the best service around, I wouldn’t even think of recommending another provider to anyone..

    If you’re thinking about signing up with Virgin Media, DON’T!

  7. #14

    Comment by adam.w on 29 August 2007:

    this is what i saw when deciding to join Virgin-

    “Unlimited 2MB Broadband”

    the most bullsh*t i have seen on print on sooo many levels.

    oh and btw there tv service is really crappy aswell- just so you know.

  8. #13

    Comment by adam.w on 29 August 2007:

    i am a Virgin customer, i have broadband,phone and tv from Virgin and i have broadband,phone and tv problems at least once every two weeks!

    the new rules for capping speeds of heavy users, apparently 5% of users- which is a obvious lie, has annonyed most of the many many problems ive had with Virgin. I have had TV problems, when i didnt pay my bill for 2 months and then started paying again they purposely took most of my channels away, i had been left with just freeview channels and also having to pay for it, when i called them they apparently “didnt know what the problem was”.

    I am going back to Sky for sure now, there is too many problems with Virgin and i get the feeling it is owned by the most disgusting, money making businessmen in any company i have joined.

    Virgin is appauling.

  9. #12

    Comment by adam.w on 29 August 2007:

    i am a Virgin customer, i have broadband,phone and tv from Virgin and i have broadband,phone and tv problems at least once every two weeks!

    the new rules for capping speeds of heavy users, apparently 5% of users- which is a obvious lie, has annonyed most of the many many problems ive had with Virgin. I have had TV problems, when i didnt pay my bill for 2 months and then started paying again they purposely took most of my channels away, i had been left with just freeview channels and also having to pay for it, when i called them they apparently “didnt know what the problem was”.

    I am going back to Sky for sure now, there is too many problems with Virgin and i get the feeling it is owned by the most disgusting, money making businessmen in any company i have joined.

  10. #11

    Comment by IMACOMPUTERBUDDIE on 28 August 2007:

    I’m on an 8mb connection from Virgin its was OK i can till last Wednesday i can accept the slower speeds at night but i do object to getting less than 512 during the day. i don’t download big movies occasionally use the 4 od service and the BBC iplayer. i may well be shifting soon.

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