Guide - Getting the most out of your high speed Virgin Media (UPC) 240mb/s service

TheDoc

PTH2009 wrote: »

my pc was bought before wifi became available so i had to buy a TP link wifi dongle.

My wifi comes from the downstairs virgin horizon box but it can be very slow. My wifi connection to my playstation 4 is very slow and often breaks down.

any tips, wud buying a wifi router help ???

I got an app on my phone, Wifi analyser from the Play Store. Came recommended from a friend.

It transpired I have the technicolour router which is hit and miss for bridging, so I've put that entire idea on the back burner for now.

But with Wifi Analyser, it gave me incredible detail on what neighbouring networks were operating, in terms of channels etc. It showed me some channels with little to no use, and I flicked over and my WIFI speeds jumped massively.

On the night I did it, I was sitting 10 feet from my router and my wifi test showed me 1.6mbps down and less then 1mbps up. Swopped channels and it shot to 70mbps down and 24mbps up.

Generally, I'd been lingering around 10-15mbps down.

So just a channel swop sorted me out short term. Wouldn't mind I had done this before, but was obviously changing to congested channels. Channel hopping is always my first port of call with rubbish wifi signal.

PTH2009

TheDoc wrote: »

I got an app on my phone, Wifi analyser from the Play Store. Came recommended from a friend.

It transpired I have the technicolour router which is hit and miss for bridging, so I've put that entire idea on the back burner for now.

But with Wifi Analyser, it gave me incredible detail on what neighbouring networks were operating, in terms of channels etc. It showed me some channels with little to no use, and I flicked over and my WIFI speeds jumped massively.

On the night I did it, I was sitting 10 feet from my router and my wifi test showed me 1.6mbps down and less then 1mbps up. Swopped channels and it shot to 70mbps down and 24mbps up.

Generally, I'd been lingering around 10-15mbps down.

So just a channel swop sorted me out short term. Wouldn't mind I had done this before, but was obviously changing to congested channels. Channel hopping is always my first port of call with rubbish wifi signal.

searched it on the play and there are a few apps, can u send the link to the right app on here ?

Fingleberries

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Hi

Ok upgraded to the Virgin 360 modem and installed it. Have no issue getting onto wifi via laptop and old S4. However I have a one plus one and wifi connects and then drops. Posted over on Android forum and others to try to find a fix no joy

just wondering if there are any settings on the modem I could change to see if its something there I can to ensure not a modem issue but phone

Also anything else I could change to enhance speed etc

cheers

I've had similar issues, particularly with the 5GHz network. It will often be extremely slow (under 10Mbps rather than 100+ Mbps), and my phone will often switch back to the 2.4 GHz network rather than the 5GHz one.

Rowley Birkin QC

I bought the Xioami router mentioned in BA and set it up with 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ wifi. All good. Then noticed that my plex sever and wifi were on two networks so ran the etehrnet cable through the Xioami box. Now I can't connect to my work VPN and opening my work webmail page takes minutes. No other sites affected.

Have switched the wired network back to the way it was but the issue persists. Can anyone think of any reason this might be happening?

Had our IT guy on it for about 2 hours today and he blamed Virgin. Called them, they changed some settings, no good. Then recommended I ring a €1.20 p/min premium support line who didn't answer the call. Very frustrating!

Rowley Birkin QC

I bought the Xioami router mentioned in BA and set it up with 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ wifi. All good. Then noticed that my plex sever and wifi were on two networks so ran the etehrnet cable through the Xioami box. Now I can't connect to my work VPN and opening my work webmail page takes minutes. No other sites affected.

Have switched the wired network back to the way it was but the issue persists. Can anyone think of any reason this might be happening?

Had our IT guy on it for about 2 hours today and he blamed Virgin. Called them, they changed some settings, no good. Then recommended I ring a €1.20 p/min premium support line who didn't answer the call. Very frustrating!

ED E

VPN hints that maybe you got moved onto DSLite? Did you bridge your UPC modem?

Rowley Birkin QC

Not sure to be honest, how would I check? My set up at the minute is that I've connected the (work) desktop to my horizon box through powerline adaptors as it was previously and connected my (work) laptop to the same horizon wifi network it was on previously. Also reset the box. Separate wifi router connected to the horizon box for all other devices.

I haven't done and "advanced" config. If there's somewhere specific to check i cam do so?

RIGHTisRIGHT

I think this thread is a bit pointless now as Virgin Media and their parent company have decided to cripple network traffic from Netflix Sky Apple and Microsoft.

ED E

RIGHTisRIGHT wrote: »

I think this thread is a bit pointless now as Virgin Media and their parent company have decided to cripple network traffic from Netflix Sky Apple and Microsoft.

You've started enough threads about, lets not drag others OT.

RIGHTisRIGHT

ED E wrote: »

You've started enough threads about, lets not drag others OT.

Virgin Media told their customers their engineers were looking into this that was a blatant lie.
Information like this needs to be disseminated to stop people going into an 18 month contract blind.

Joo0

Is the VM Hub/compal easy to put into bridge? If I place it into bridge will the Horizon wifree network still work?

Shlippery

Hey there people-in-the-know,

Currently on 240Mb VM with Technicolour modem, main desktop is upstairs. I'm using home plugs at the moment and geting about 70-80Mbps via the powerline stuff, but I want more, because, if I'm paying for 240, may as well get the most out of it.

I'm after getting €50 voucher for DID eletrical as part of the boards offer and considering investing in the Archer C2 Router priced at €74.99 to get it for 25 quid basically.<- http://www.did.ie/tp-link-wireless-dual-band-gigabit-router-archer-c2-prd that fella.

Questions: I'm aware it's an older model, but from what I can see it's something along the lines of what's suggested in the original post! - now, I'm curious -
1. This should send faster WiFi speeds correct - would there be much advantage of getting the more expensive models considering it's a pretty small size house, and I'm mainly aiming for full speed wifi as opposed to a wider range!? #

2. Would I need a new wireless card for my PC? .
(TP-LINK TL-WN951N 300 Mbps Wireless-N PCI Card - 3 antennas)
This is an old one I have fromI built my desktop in 2011/12 - would I still get a wireless signal from the new Archer on this? I'm aware it's a bit older, but I'm not sure if the signal is backwards compatible? I can always get a new one or a USB adapter if needs be!

I've a new laptop with an AC card built in, and my phone supports it too, so it's just my main desktop I'm worried about.

Cheers,
S

Johnboy1951

Currently on 240Mb VM with Technicolour modem, main desktop is upstairs. I'm using home plugs at the moment and geting about 70-80Mbps via the powerline stuff, but I want more, because, if I'm paying for 240, may as well get the most out of it.

I would wonder if the limiting factor there might be your network card in the PC?
Is it a gigabit card or maybe 100Mb/s?

Shlippery

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I would wonder if the limiting factor there might be your network card in the PC?
Is it a gigabit card or maybe 100Mb/s?

This is with the homeplugs I recently got. (£16 on a lightning amazon deal at some stage in the past few months!) TP-LINK PA411KIT AV500

As to whether it's a gigabit card, well I thought it was, but I'm not sure. In adapter settings I can see it says "Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller #2"

I checked my motherboard spec (again, an old purchase, but I assume the information on this page hasn't changed)
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/P67%20Pro3/index.asp?cat=

"LAN - PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
- Realtek RTL8111E
- Supports Wake-On-LAN
- Supports LAN Cable Detection
- Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
- Supports PXE"

Would that mean I'm OK with regards to the network card and that it's just some speeds being lost via the electrical setup? The house I'm currently in is an ancient Dublin 7 gaff that was probably built in the stone ages.
-
.....and for curiosity sake, I disabled my ethernet adapter and I ran a test using the old wireless card mentioned in original post (which I was stuck with before getting the homeplugs!- (2.4ghz) )



I'm not exactly disappointed with 70Mbps because that's a hell of a lot faster than what was available to me when I was living in Canada, but it'd be great to get the full whack without going to too much expense, and I thought a new AC router might be the way..

killbillvol2

I have an Archer C2.



That's on WiFi just now. I can get the full 240 sometimes. The range isn't great but it's a decent router for the price. The DID price is a total ripoff though. It's just over €50 on Amazon.

Shlippery

killbillvol2 wrote: »

I have an Archer C2.



That's on WiFi just now. I can get the full 240 sometimes. The range isn't great but it's a decent router for the price. The DID price is a total ripoff though. It's just over €50 on Amazon.

Yea, I wouldn't have pegged DID as a place for value, I was flicking through their website and couldn't see anything too spectacular!

I'd normally get stuff off Amazon, but I've a €50 voucher, so it can't be too bad for €24.99 nah?

Johnboy1951

Shlippery wrote: »

"LAN - PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s"

Would that mean I'm OK with regards to the network card and that it's just some speeds being lost via the electrical setup? The house I'm currently in is an ancient Dublin 7 gaff that was probably built in the stone ages.

Yep, your NIC is gigabit so that should not be the problem.

You should also be able to check at what speed it is connecting at.

It might be falling back to 100Mb/s connection if the wiring is having an affect.

jay93

Or your plugs are only 100Mb possibly? The ones I have are but I have no need for any faster since I only get 25Mb on fibre from Sky.

Plascebo

killbillvol2 wrote: »

I have an Archer C2.



That's on WiFi just now. I can get the full 240 sometimes. The range isn't great but it's a decent router for the price. The DID price is a total ripoff though. It's just over €50 on Amazon.

Hi killbillvol2. Did you put your C2 in bridge mode, or connect with the instructions contained in the OP?

Shlippery

jay93 wrote: »

Or your plugs are only 100Mb possibly? The ones I have are but I have no need for any faster since I only get 25Mb on fibre from Sky.

No, the plugs are 500Mbps so it wouldn't be that, I'd say it could be down to electrical interference due to age of the house!

May try the Archer C2, as killbillvol2's results look promising!

ED E

Shlippery wrote: »

No, the plugs are 500Mbps so it wouldn't be that, I'd say it could be down to electrical interference due to age of the house!

May try the Archer C2, as killbillvol2's results look promising!

Many AV200 and AV500 homeplugs only have 10/100 ethernet adapters in them.

killbillvol2

Plascebo wrote: »

Hi killbillvol2. Did you put your C2 in bridge mode, or connect with the instructions contained in the OP?

I have no need for bridge mode (most people don't) so I pretty much plugged it in and let it do its thing.

mass_debater

killbillvol2 wrote: »

I have no need for bridge mode (most people don't) so I pretty much plugged it in and let it do its thing.

It can mess up more than you expect, like Skype. Skype uses UPNP to open ports, it gets broken by double Nat

killbillvol2

mass_debater wrote: »

It can mess up more than you expect, like Skype. Skype uses UPNP to open ports, it gets broken by double Nat

Given that everything has been working for 15 months now without an issue I'll leave my setup as it is. I use Skype about 4 times a week.

mass_debater

killbillvol2 wrote: »

Given that everything has been working for 15 months now without an issue I'll leave my setup as it is. I use Skype about 4 times a week.

Well if you suffer from lower call quality it's because you don't have an end to end connection but are routed through a server to fix double nat

killbillvol2

mass_debater wrote: »

Well if you suffer from lower call quality it's because you don't have an end to end connection but are routed through a server to fix double nat

Would you let it go? I'm happy with my setup. I have no issues.

mass_debater

killbillvol2 wrote: »

Would you let it go? I'm happy with my setup. I have no issues.

Double Nat is never desirable for someone trying to get the most out of their connection like the thread title says. This is a support thread, in a support forum. Advising that it works fine is bad advise for someone to pick up on even if it works ok for you.

killbillvol2

mass_debater wrote: »

Double Nat is never desirable for someone trying to get the most out of their connection like the thread title says. This is a support thread, in a support forum. Advising that it works fine is bad advise for someone to pick up on even if it works ok for you.

I answered a specific question about a C2. I did not attempt to give advice as I have no advice to give. In fact I have previously said in this thread, over a year ago, that the guide in the OP works for the C2.

So, Shlippery - to reiterate - the C2 will work.
Plascebo, no I didn't put it in bridge mode.
That is all.

Shlippery

Thanks all! Appreciate all the viewpoints and opinions on the topic!

I'll pick the C2 up next week and report back here just for closure-sake.

Plascebo

mass_debater wrote: »

Double Nat is never desirable for someone trying to get the most out of their connection like the thread title says. This is a support thread, in a support forum. Advising that it works fine is bad advise for someone to pick up on even if it works ok for you.

Hi there. I am using a C7 just plugged into the TC7200 (not bridged). Most times I am downloading (usually in the evening) the internet drops. Do you reckon that if I attempted to bridge it would solve that problem?