crashV👀d👀
Junior Member
not just a game anymore...
Posts: 3,892
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Post by crashV👀d👀 on Apr 20, 2024 16:32:36 GMT
Thinking about moving off Virgin fibre, which we've had for about 14 years, and switching to Sky (also fibre). Never really had a problem with Virgin, it's been very reliable in general, but it's getting too expensive compared to the competition - even if I tell them I'm leaving. Is this a bad move? Is Sky a decent option? I used the Uswitch website and it came out on top. I came in here to say almost precisely this - so I’ve had a lot of answers I was looking for already - thanks! Basically I can go with Sky for £42/m or stick with Virgin for £72/m, for the same speed, no TV or phone. My main concern is that Virgin sent an extender for no extra money so it reaches the far ends of my house - are Sky decent for that, does anyone know? I’d be interested in a mesh or similar at some point, but right now we’re skint due to an upcoming holiday, so I’m really just looking for the same internet for less money with minimal hassle. Won't the extender just extend the new sky WiFi signal? |
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hedben
Junior Member
Formerly: hedben2013
Posts: 2,206
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Post by hedben on Apr 20, 2024 18:31:18 GMT
I guess it might..? It’s Virgin branded so I didn’t know if it would be locked to their kit (or there’s also a chance they’ll want me to give it back - they certainly want the TV box even though it’s ancient)
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Post by muddyfunster on Apr 23, 2024 8:29:03 GMT
Had the first issue with our line since moving from BT to Vodafone. We're in the countryside on old copper lines so we can't get more than 40Mbps stable. Speeds had halved and this tends to happen every six to twelve months. It is what it is.
With BT I could phone someone up in a UK call centre, have a reasonably technical conversation outlining my evidence for a line issue and they'd take my word for it and send an open reach engineer out next day.
With Vodafone it was an Indian call centre and whilst the guy was nice enough, he clearly didn't have the same level of technical knowledge and insisted on going through every single step of a troubleshooting process I'd already done including suggestions that made no sense. Eventually agreed to send one and it'll be 72 hrs later.
I am saving about £5 a month vs BT so hassle probably worth it but there is a difference in customer service there.
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Post by dfunked on Apr 23, 2024 9:51:22 GMT
Oh dear. I'm hoping the only contact I have to make is asking for my credentials via web chat so that I can use my own router.
It's more like £29 a month difference for me after the last April increase, so well worth a little pain.
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Post by motti82 on Apr 23, 2024 12:00:41 GMT
Had the first issue with our line since moving from BT to Vodafone. We're in the countryside on old copper lines so we can't get more than 40Mbps stable. Speeds had halved and this tends to happen every six to twelve months. It is what it is. With BT I could phone someone up in a UK call centre, have a reasonably technical conversation outlining my evidence for a line issue and they'd take my word for it and send an open reach engineer out next day. With Vodafone it was an Indian call centre and whilst the guy was nice enough, he clearly didn't have the same level of technical knowledge and insisted on going through every single step of a troubleshooting process I'd already done including suggestions that made no sense. Eventually agreed to send one and it'll be 72 hrs later. I am saving about £5 a month vs BT so hassle probably worth it but there is a difference in customer service there. Agree with that, I had similar experiences with BT. The router was resetting itself a few times a day. Called up their tech line, told them I'd done all the usual restart/reseating cables etc to no avail. They sorted out for a engineer to come out, swap out the router for a newer version and it's been fine and Dandy since. Once you've worked a customer experience role, you almost know how to make their job easier which then gets your shit sorted out quicker and with no fuss. |
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jono62
Full Member
Posts: 5,299
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Post by jono62 on May 18, 2024 13:12:03 GMT
My bill for Virgin went up to £75 which was broadband, basic TV and phone which never gets used. Did the 'I want to cancel' chat option and now I have max broadband, all channels included Sky Sports and Sky Cinema for £49 a month for 18 months. After that, it goes up to £162 a month! Fuck off if they think I'm paying that. My hope is in that time fibre broadband will have been installed and can finally leave shitty Virgin.
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Post by darkling on May 18, 2024 15:19:14 GMT
I found renewing with Virgin a total nightmare this year, despite being very organised and looking for new deals well in advance of the 30 day notice period.
After taking out an online broadband deal, Virgin simply didn't honour the new contract, and continued to charge me for my old contract at the now hugely increased rate.
I contacted them and they actually offered me a better deal of 250Mb fibre for £31/mth, so I agreed to it.
Virgin didn't honour this contract either!
I was forced to raise a complaint with them and finally, a week later, everything seems to be sorted, but the billing is so overcomplicated I cant be sure.
Your deal including the TV looks like a good price jono, although I refuse to pay for Sky's subscription service given it's subsidised by ads. A lot of ads.
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Post by Nitrous on May 18, 2024 17:21:42 GMT
My bill for Virgin went up to £75 which was broadband, basic TV and phone which never gets used. Did the 'I want to cancel' chat option and now I have max broadband, all channels included Sky Sports and Sky Cinema for £49 a month for 18 months. After that, it goes up to £162 a month! Fuck off if they think I'm paying that. My hope is in that time fibre broadband will have been installed and can finally leave shitty Virgin. That seems like a good deal to me also! We didn't have max broadband but we had the rest when we first started with VM about 6 or 7 years ago and that was £55 a month. Now on 250mb for a little over £23.93. Would like a deal in which we get everything back this year but will see. |
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Post by dfunked on May 23, 2024 11:13:49 GMT
My switch to Vodafone has been surprisingly painless. Their basic router is absolute dogshit and not at all appropriate for a 900Mb connection, but getting credentials off them to use my own router was no biggy.
Rock solid connection so far anyway, and they've even credited me the maximum £100 for BT's early exit fees without any fuss (I timed it pretty much perfectly as the fees were £100.18)
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RobEG
Junior Member
Posts: 4,571 
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Post by RobEG on May 31, 2024 12:23:32 GMT
My bill for Virgin went up to £75 which was broadband, basic TV and phone which never gets used. Did the 'I want to cancel' chat option and now I have max broadband, all channels included Sky Sports and Sky Cinema for £49 a month for 18 months. After that, it goes up to £162 a month! Fuck off if they think I'm paying that. My hope is in that time fibre broadband will have been installed and can finally leave shitty Virgin. Just had a painful call with Virgin. I currently pay £170, which is 600M broadband, anytime calls, max tv, sky & TNT sports and Sky movies. I don't really use any of the TV outside of the sports and Sky movies is generally shit as everything is on Disney, netflix etc. I worked out if I got one of their "New customer" deals for phone and broadband, I could stream Sky Sports and BT sports and pay about £110 all in. Apparently it was impossible to get me onto one of those deals. I had to have the TV and they couldn't get me on a cheaper deal as I had no available discounts. That was until I said fine I'll cancel then. I've ended up nearly doubling my broadband speed (max 1G) and keeping everything else, including an additional tv box for £135. I could have probably saved a bit by following through with my threat to switch, but I'm too lazy and the broadband upgrade swung it. I was quite proud of myself, but its a bit shit in comparison to Jono's deal  |
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Bongo Heracles
Junior Member
Technically illegal to ride on public land
Posts: 4,661
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Post by Bongo Heracles on May 31, 2024 12:38:15 GMT
We had our first full sky-free day yesterday, which passed without event.
Gigaclear came and did the fibre install last week, 500mb u/d for 24 quid which isn’t bad and nobody seems to give a shit that sky tv is gone, so that’s sixty quid saved a month.
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RobEG
Junior Member
Posts: 4,571
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Post by RobEG on May 31, 2024 12:54:57 GMT
Yeah we literally watch a bit of bbc/itv and the sports channels. All of which can be streamed. The kids mostly watch Netflix and Disney. The rest of it is a load of rubbish.
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Post by vicedestroyer on Jun 18, 2024 20:36:37 GMT
My switch to Vodafone has been surprisingly painless. Their basic router is absolute dogshit and not at all appropriate for a 900Mb connection, but getting credentials off them to use my own router was no biggy. Rock solid connection so far anyway, and they've even credited me the maximum £100 for BT's early exit fees without any fuss (I timed it pretty much perfectly as the fees were £100.18) I'm thinking about going to Vodafone (powered by CityFibre) in August. Same speed as you have. What router did you use, out of curiosity? |
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Post by dfunked on Jun 18, 2024 20:52:48 GMT
Asus AX86U with Merlin firmware. It's knocking on a bit now (superseded by the AX86U Pro), but has been nice and solid for me for the last few years of WFH.
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Post by technoish on Jun 19, 2024 13:55:09 GMT
I'm switching from Virgin to G something. Should I go for the fixed IP address? Any benefits? It's the same speeds, but over time more expensive.
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Bongo Heracles
Junior Member
Technically illegal to ride on public land
Posts: 4,661
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Post by Bongo Heracles on Jun 19, 2024 13:59:23 GMT
Its mainly for businesses and/or for services you might be running that require a static IP. 99% of domestic users would never need a static IP.
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Post by Nitrous on Jul 20, 2024 12:21:20 GMT
![]() IX Wireless have put poles up down our street. They need planning permission to put the antennas up and they have done this without permission elsewhere so decided to email our MP about it. The pole is opposite our house and bedroom window and look awful. I doubt much can be done about it but I've done my bit. They also install some sort of receiver on the roof should you choose to have that over other such as BT, Sky VM in the area already. ![]() |
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Post by Dougs on Jul 20, 2024 12:54:00 GMT
Report it to your local planning authority. If it's a radio mast, prior approval is needed. If it's a telegraph pole for fixed line (i.e overhead lines) then it's allowed under permitted development (subject to various restrictions etc). But it's for the LPA to sort out and they can take planning enforcement action against them or refer it to Ofcom if it's a breach of the various restrictions.
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Post by Nitrous on Jul 20, 2024 17:02:30 GMT
I've had a response from our MP. Basically one to watch, another of our labour MPs is on planning so it's gone to her and has been passed onto head of planning to log the objection.
Didn't think I'd get a response tbh.
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Post by Danno on Jul 20, 2024 17:14:55 GMT
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Post by jimnastics on Jul 20, 2024 20:46:18 GMT
![]() IX Wireless have put poles up down our street. They need planning permission to put the antennas up and they have done this without permission elsewhere so decided to email our MP about it. The pole is opposite our house and bedroom window and look awful. I doubt much can be done about it but I've done my bit. They also install some sort of receiver on the roof should you choose to have that over other such as BT, Sky VM in the area already. ![]() I had to Google to see how bad they were, holy fucking shit what a joke... councils need to stop these fuckers in their tracks asap.
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Post by Chopsen on Jul 20, 2024 21:23:15 GMT
If only there was some other way to get internet to people's houses.
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Post by Nitrous on Jul 20, 2024 21:26:11 GMT
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Post by UltraPyper777 on Jul 26, 2024 19:13:52 GMT
I had a dead phone line and flaky broadband, then Openreach sub contractor came and fixed it. I now have a working phone and painfully slow broadband (barely half meg  ). Looks like someone is getting called to fix their mess. |
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Post by vicedestroyer on Jul 27, 2024 13:45:49 GMT
The day of the switchover is happening. I spoke to BT (who I currently pay £87 a month for Fibre 900), to see if they could offer me a better deal to stay with them. The gent on the phone said he could do me a deal which could take about 14 pence of my monthly outlay. So, like, Fuck You, Bart Thompson. I am leaving. City Fibre have set up shop in my area and I like the package they are selling and that you can use your own router. Currently doing my research and after a steer from Dfunked, I have been looking at ASUS portfolio of gear. I won't be going for a phone line this time around, so can completely substitute the Vodafone router I will be getting with one I buy. But I did want to sound out options available to me and what some of the smart people in this group would choose. I have been looking at: Unless I have misunderstood what these four things can do, all of them can be used to as a substitute for the standard Vodafone router I would get and all of them would basically be better than what I would get. Ideally, what I would like is for the router I buy, to be powerful enough to broadcast a wifi signal strong enough to not need a mesh network in my 3-bed property. Would you think I have a fighting chance with those routers? Or have I misunderstood something fundamental. |
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Post by dfunked on Aug 13, 2024 18:45:23 GMT
Sorry, forgot to reply to this. Yeah they should all do the job as a replacement, but it's hard to say if any of them will fully cover your house. If centrally located then maybe, but not something I can say with any confidence. Maybe buy from Amazon and make use of their return policy if it doesn't work out. They'd all absolutely be an upgrade over the dogshit Vodafone router.
AX88U Pro is the more commonly recommended of Asus' lineup btw (if you're not going for WiFi 6E/7, which still seems like a waste tbh)
I prefer the standy uppy form factor of the AX86U/Pro, though. That covers our two up two down well despite terrible placement.
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Post by vicedestroyer on Aug 13, 2024 22:46:34 GMT
Sorry, forgot to reply to this. Yeah they should all do the job as a replacement, but it's hard to say if any of them will fully cover your house. If centrally located then maybe, but not something I can say with any confidence. Maybe buy from Amazon and make use of their return policy if it doesn't work out. They'd all absolutely be an upgrade over the dogshit Vodafone router. AX88U Pro is the more commonly recommended of Asus' lineup btw (if you're not going for WiFi 6E/7, which still seems like a waste tbh) I prefer the standy uppy form factor of the AX86U/Pro, though. That covers our two up two down well despite terrible placement. The Vodafone router got delivered today. And my broadband switchover is happening this friday. I rolled the dice and got myself the Asus AX6000. Guess I will see how I get on with it. |
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Post by vicedestroyer on Aug 20, 2024 12:09:35 GMT
So, activation day has been and gone. Asus Router has been installed and Voda router substituted. I'm very pleased with Vodafone, powered by CityFibre. But my property has got structural issues which even the AX6000 can't solve. But it is all good. My house has been previously retrofitted, in that it is perfectly hardwired, so I am getting some nodes together, to give my property 100% wifi coverage. Furthermore, looks like CityFibre will be increasing their footprint in UK humungously. |
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Post by vicedestroyer on Aug 21, 2024 10:51:57 GMT
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Post by Dougs on Aug 21, 2024 12:19:00 GMT
Great news for consumers
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