Internet provider BT or Virgin??

[whitetiger1518]

Any opinions, biases or thoughts.

I'm just about to buy a package from one of these big two for my area (BT and Virgin). I want reliability and a large /unlimited download limit (I'm just about to start an online only course, and may need to download masses, and be part of online discussions), as fast a speed as I can get for as little per month. I don't want it bundled in with Digital TV or with my mobile. However, I can put up with a land line being bundled with it.

I already have a phone line and virgin box thanks to the previous owner of my flat. So - opinions anyone? Good Bad and Ugly points of both the companies and any deals you use or have come across?


Cheers

WT

[DJ Mike]

I'm with Virgin, and while my nominal speed is 20Mb/s, quite often I find it is considerably less than this - mostly due to the volume of users who are with Virgin in my village. Unfortunately you will find this with BT or Virgin - it's a bit of a lottery as to how many people you get lumped in with who happen to use the internet a lot.

In terms of customer service, my experience with Virgin is also very poor in this regard - every time I've had to phone them about a problem I've ended up with someone on the other end of the line I could barely understand reading through a script and not really understanding the questions I was actually asking them, nor telling me anything that actually helped me.

If you don't have to contact their CS, and you don't care much about fast speeds, then Virgin is probably fine. But let's just say: If BT Infinity comes to my village, I will be sprinting away faster than Usain Bolt...

[philsmove]

I am with virgin, at home , using a fiber optic cable, have been for over 10 years, very happy

I used to have BT at work ( copper wire ) They used to be amazing but seem to have deteriorated. I had a moan at the engineer, after we lost broad band for over 10 days, the engineer seriously advised me to switch to virgin. I would never ever use BT, unless they were the only option

There are very few places, if you want fiber optic, you have a choice

[Franck]

I've been with Virgin for at least 10 years too and very happy with the broadband, phone services. They a
So offer TiVo which is great for time shifting your favourite tv programmes if you're out dancing a lot like I am.

The only experience of BT I have is fixing issues with my neighbours broadband who also go a lot of spam. I'm on holiday just now and the speed offered with BT here are pretty limited though should be ok in Glasgow!
I have 120mb service and it's very fast.

[cederic]

I have Virgin's 50Mbps connection and get a solid 50mbps during off-peak and only downloads slow down during peak - streaming of media is just fine.

My landlord in Manchester has BT and they suck donkeys. Slow, unreliable and expensive. If you want DSL instead of cable, or just want to avoid Virgin, then find a DSL provider other than BT. There are multiple websites out there that'll compare the providers in your area, and give you an idea of the options, costs, service, reliability and provided bandwidth.

[Lynn]

I'm just changing to BT Infinity next week so will know more after that! I did consider Virgin but they said they'd need to dig up the entire concrete front (and drill through a 2ft stone wall) which was more hassle and mess than I wanted. I know people locally who are getting excellent speeds and service with BT so thought I'd give them a shot. And anything has got to be better than TalkTalk.

[straycat]

Been using BT infinity for some months now (through Plus.net). Mostly, it's great, and we get a fairly consistent speed of around 20mbps for download. It's been generally very reliable, and support has been excellent whenever we have had a problem. The only downside is that the upload speeds are capped at 2mbps - which isn't a huge problem, but can be a pain when uploading video or large quantities of photos (or large websites, which I need to do from time to time)

Overall though, I'm extremely happy with it.

[Lynn]

Good to hear. I tend to upload smaller size files for photos to make it easier for people to view, so my only large file uploads are print orders - though will be uploading albums too at some point. But that's still way above my current uploads speeds (in fact that's not much less than my current download speeds!)

Another thing that put me off Virgin was the fact that they send junk mail all the time. I get something every week. And its not like I've accidentally got onto a mailing list - its all 'To the occupier'. I don't know if this is standard policy or just in my area but its annoying - I wouldn't mind if it was every so often but its every few days! Does anyone know if there is a way of stopping them from doing this?

[philsmove]

its all 'To the occupier'. I don't know if this is standard policy or just in my area but its annoying - I wouldn't mind if it was every so often but its every few days! Does anyone know if there is a way of stopping them from doing this?

http://www.stopjunkmail.org.uk/guide/door_to_door_opt_out.php

[Lynn]

That wouldn't stop it as it is addressed - ie it has a postal address just no name. Looks like there is the Mailing Preference Service as an option to stop all unsolicited mail. But to be honest, if I had to that I'd be even more unimpressed with Virgin - they should have a simple way of people opting out of their junk. Though I'm not going to phone them as then they might end up with my name as well and pester me even more.

[cederic]

That wouldn't stop it as it is addressed - ie it has a postal address just no name. Looks like there is the Mailing Preference Service as an option to stop all unsolicited mail. But to be honest, if I had to that I'd be even more unimpressed with Virgin - they should have a simple way of people opting out of their junk. Though I'm not going to phone them as then they might end up with my name as well and pester me even more.

Start bouncing it. "Not known at this address" and pop it back in the post box. The post office will give them grief and/or charge them for it.

[Lynn]

Start bouncing it. "Not known at this address" and pop it back in the post box. The post office will give them grief and/or charge them for it.But its not addressed to me as a person or anyone at the address - its 'To the Householder' type thing - with the address. I'm not on a mailing list, they have no idea who I am, that's just how they send their junk mail - I presume to every house in the street. I'd hoped it was just for a while or because some offers were on but its been going on for months. At first I even read one or two as I was looking into BB suppliers, but now its just plain irritating.

[Lynn]

Been using BT infinity for some months now (through Plus.net). Mostly, it's great, and we get a fairly consistent speed of around 20mbps for download. It's been generally very reliable, and support has been excellent whenever we have had a problem. The only downside is that the upload speeds are capped at 2mbps - which isn't a huge problem, but can be a pain when uploading video or large quantities of photos (or large websites, which I need to do from time to time)

Overall though, I'm extremely happy with it.Why is yours capped? Mine was set up this afternoon and I'm getting 23 mbps down and 8 mbps up. :nice:

[cederic]

its 'To the Householder' type thing - with the address

Unless your name is Ms Householder, bounce it. Sure, the post office will tell you that you're taking the **** but it's not addressed to you and they shouldn't be putting it through your door.

[Lynn]

Though according to the link Phil posted it is addressed to my address..
The logic is that Royal Mail has a legal obligation to deliver all mail with a delivery point. Whether or not mail items have an addressee is irrelevant; Royal Mail delivers mail to addresses, not to addressees. Its only an irritation not a major annoyance - just something that put me off Virgin a bit.

Meanwhile - its been so effortless so far with BT - a 10 min chat with one of their staff at a unit in a shopping centre 2 weeks ago and that was all I had to do. The guy rang me that afternoon to give me the day the engineer would call, got a text about when the hub would be delivered, TalkTalk rang to confirm they'd been informed. Wasn't without a phone line at all and only without internet for a few hours. Last night my internet was less than 3 mbps download speed - now -
11296

[cederic]

Nice upload speed.

I'm waiting patiently for October, when I get a nice 100Mbps upgrade :)

[whitetiger1518]

Thanks to you all. It looks annoyingly equal.:(

I too have spam to the New Householder both from BT and Virgin grr, but I thought that was because the previous owner was with Virgin and BT for their landline. :(


Ah well I suppose I should get on the mail preference service. One thing though - maybe we could start a proper stop junk campaign(the addressed but no name version) - If the entire country started to bounce it maybe Royal mail would sit up and start shredding it for us /or get on the tail of at least the worst offenders... Happy thought to start me off today even if it isn't practical :D.

It is unlikely that I will need Customer Services, at least for the obvious things, I'm fairly net savvy, and have a couple of family geeks to rely on too. I think as speed isn't a particularly pressing issue I will probably end up with Infinity, as there I get free phonecalls - evening and weekends, which might take a bite out of my mobile bill. I'll check for fibre optics in my area before I commit to BT though.

I suppose I can always start with one and change if I have bother.

Thanks for all the opinion

WT

[cederic]

If the entire country started to bounce it maybe Royal mail would sit up and start shredding it for us /or get on the tail of at least the worst offenders... Happy thought to start me off today even if it isn't practical :D.


Exactly. You don't have to have any reason for rejecting mail delivered to your house. You're under no obligation to let the Royal Mail use that slot in your door as a refuse disposal unit. The Royal Mail is under no obligation to return any mail you put in a postbox marked "Not known at this address" but equally you're under no obligation to tell the truth about that, or indeed to put postage on it.

As long as you're being less obnoxious than the people causing the mail to be put through your door then you're probably ok. Merely rejecting someone else's communication attempts in a straightforward and informative manner seems pretty reasonable to me.

Bouncing spam emails is bad as it tends to put a strain on otherwise innocent networks. Bouncing unwanted physical mail puts the strain only on the network that should've known better than to deliver it in the first place, and so I claim it's a good thing.

[Lynn]

Nice upload speed.

I'm waiting patiently for October, when I get a nice 100Mbps upgrade :)Yes I think my b/f will be getting that later this year. My main reason for not going with Virgin is not wanting them to dig up my concrete path/drill holes in the wall. (BT involved a 15 min engineer visit.)

[Andy McGregor]

Sorry I've come late to this. I've been using Virgin for at least 10 years for Broadband, TV and phone - more recently I've used Virgin for mobile broadband - they were offering it for £5 a month.

I've no idea what packages I have. Virgin does what I want. If I had a tin I'd say it does what it says. In terms of customer service, I needed a new remote control, rang them, got someone with a Welsh accent and the new remote arrived the next day.

However, I've never shopped around so can't offer a comparison.