Out of the frying pan? From Plusnet to Virgin Media

I've been on plusnet for quite a while not. I used to get around 2.2mb/
sec until they "upgraded" me to their 8mb/s service and since then
almost never see 1mb/s and frequently much, MUCH less.

So, I already have a telephone line from VirginMedia (NTL) as well as
the BT one, so I'm thinking of getting their 10mb/s service. What are
the odds of ever seeing performance like that? Most of my heavy use is
MSDN downloading (eg from microsoft.com) and the bulk of the rest is
just common or garden web surfing.

Well, I've not done well with picking ISPs in the past (Bulldog,
Plusnet, etc) so I don't expect good customer service any more That
said, if it's as reliable as my NTL 'phone line then I'll be happy.

Also, what equipment will VirginMedia send me? I want an always-on
router - is that what I'll get? Or do I need to provide my own? Any
recommendations? Not "budget no object", but I don't mind spending an
extra £100 if it saves me hassles.

My hardware requirements are as follows:

1. I'll need to connect two wired ethernet devices (xbox + low spec
computer) which are right next to the NTL socket.
2. I'll need to wirelessly connect two servers, which are together but
not near the NTL socket, to the internet as well as to each other
(prefer their connection to each other to be wired for 1gb ethernet).
The low spec computer mentioned above should ideally connect to the
servers wirelessly too, but if it can't it's not a big problem
3. I'll need to connect a laptop + PDA wirelessly to see the internet
+ servers.
4. I'll need to be able to remote desktop to the servers over the
internet from my office.

Ideally, I want this to be as fast as possible, 802.11N or something?
But it should also be 11b or 11g compatibile for the PDA. Beyond the
PDA, assume I have no wireless equipment and can start from scratch.

Does all that make sense?
TIA

Ade wrote:
> I've been on plusnet for quite a while not. I used to get around 2.2mb/
> sec until they "upgraded" me to their 8mb/s service and since then
> almost never see 1mb/s and frequently much, MUCH less.

We could move you back to a fixed 2Mbps service?

Kind Rgds,

--
|Bob Pullen Broadband Solutions for
|Support Home & Business @
|PlusNet plc. www.plus.net
+------ PlusNet - The smarter way to Internet! ------

"Ade" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
I've been on plusnet for quite a while not. I used to get around 2.2mb/
sec until they "upgraded" me to their 8mb/s service and since then
almost never see 1mb/s and frequently much, MUCH less.

VirginMedia ( formerly NTL/Telewest) do not provide any router on their
cable service. Without TV, it's usually an ethernet cable modem, you can fit
virtually any suitable router that's NOT marked as ADSL ;-) I'm currently on
their 4meg offering, which at £25 is overpriced in comparison to other
ISP's, but it's rock solid, has been for months/years. Other folk may have
differing experiences to relate ;-)

P.

On Fri, 9 Mar 2007 18:45:35 -0000, "Flyer" <(E-Mail Removed)>
mangled uncounted electrons thus:

>
>"Ade" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed) roups.com...
>I've been on plusnet for quite a while not. I used to get around 2.2mb/
>sec until they "upgraded" me to their 8mb/s service and since then
>almost never see 1mb/s and frequently much, MUCH less.
>
>VirginMedia ( formerly NTL/Telewest) do not provide any router on their
>cable service. Without TV, it's usually an ethernet cable modem, you can fit
>virtually any suitable router that's NOT marked as ADSL ;-) I'm currently on
>their 4meg offering, which at £25 is overpriced in comparison to other
>ISP's, but it's rock solid, has been for months/years. Other folk may have
>differing experiences to relate ;-)

I have a friend who has VM's full TV-and-broadband package and
who's very pleased with the speed and reliability of his 10MB
service (at least once the teething problems setting it up had
been ironed out - see my separate post on *that* subject).

VM don't supply a router, just a cable modem, as they seem to
have this quaint idea that a customer will only ever want to
connect a single PC to the service. The advantage of that is that
you can choose your own hardware to suit your specific needs -
although you'll have to buy it yourself...

Martin D. Pay
Not a VM customer, but a little tempted by 10MB - and there's an
ex-Telewest cable in the street outside my front door... ^_^

On 9 Mar, 14:41, PlusNet Support Team <supp...@plus.net> wrote:
> Ade wrote:
> > I've been on plusnet for quite a while not. I used to get around 2.2mb/
> > sec until they "upgraded" me to their 8mb/s service and since then
> > almost never see 1mb/s and frequently much, MUCH less.
>
> We could move you back to a fixed 2Mbps service?
>
> Kind Rgds,
>
> --
> |Bob Pullen Broadband Solutions for
> |Support Home & Business @
> |PlusNet plc. www.plus.net
> +------ PlusNet - The smarter way to Internet! ------

Thanks, but I'm moving to Virgin. I'll run both in parallel for a
month or two, just in case VM is unreliable or not up to scratch in
any way.

On 9 Mar, 18:45, "Flyer" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:

> VirginMedia ( formerly NTL/Telewest) do not provide any router on their
> cable service. Without TV, it's usually an ethernet cable modem, you can fit
> virtually any suitable router that's NOT marked as ADSL ;-) I'm currentlyon
> their 4meg offering, which at £25 is overpriced in comparison to other
> ISP's, but it's rock solid, has been for months/years. Other folk may have
> differing experiences to relate ;-)
>
> P.

Well, they offered £37/month for 10mb service including telephone line
(for which I'm currently paying £10 or so anyway), so I can drop
PlusNet at £21/month and probably don't need my BT line these days so
I hope to be quids in for 10x speed increase.
I'm told that two of these
http://www.vnunet.com/personal-compu...tation-nfiniti
should solve my networking needs: One acting as a router, one as a
bridge.

On 9 Mar, 22:02, Martin D. Pay <mar...@starship-excalibur.co.uk>
wrote:
> I have a friend who has VM's full TV-and-broadband package and
> who's very pleased with the speed and reliability of his 10MB
> service (at least once the teething problems setting it up had
> been ironed out - see my separate post on *that* subject).
>
Speed and reliability are what I want, so maybe this is right for me.

> VM don't supply a router, just a cable modem, as they seem to
> have this quaint idea that a customer will only ever want to
> connect a single PC to the service. The advantage of that is that
> you can choose your own hardware to suit your specific needs -
> although you'll have to buy it yourself...
>
> Martin D. Pay
> Not a VM customer, but a little tempted by 10MB - and there's an
> ex-Telewest cable in the street outside my front door... ^_^

I don't mind buying a few bits as long as it all delivers.

Thanks all for your help.