# Virgin Broadband question...



## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

I am looking to get the 50MB Virgin fibreoptic broadband for £35.

However, I would like to keep my current BT landline. Is this possible or do I have to get a Virgin line as well?


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## Maxtor (Feb 23, 2007)

I can't see why not. VM comes via cable and not the phone line. -Mat- on here will be able to help if I am wrong.

Have a good evening.

Maxtor.


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## andy-d (Sep 30, 2009)

vigin is a sep cable, it doesnt go via the BT phone lines (thank fog)
you'd get a better deal taking virgin phone + cable modem compared to Just cable modem.

for what its worth the virgin cable modem setup beats any "via BT line" service i have ever used, inc some of the "buiss only" bt stuff.


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## STEALTH K3 (Dec 29, 2006)

We have BT landline and Virgin for the net fibre optic


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Next question. When installing the cable to your house, do the Virgin guys have to dig up your driveway/garden lawn?

I ask this as we have a lawn and then a tarmac drive which leads to the house. See these two pics which show what I roughly mean...

http://www.imagebam.com/image/75707c77812766

http://www.imagebam.com/image/bd75a377812812


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## alexandjen (Feb 24, 2008)

They very rarely excavate, they'll probably clip it to the boundary wall


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## STEALTH K3 (Dec 29, 2006)

They just ran it down the edge of the neighbours drive in our front garden will post pic's up tomorrow in the day light


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## Mick (Jan 23, 2010)

they dug ours in, but only because it was fitted before our monoblock went down. one of the neighbours got one after their drive was fitted and they just pinned the cable down the side :thumb:


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

hotwaxxx said:


> Next question. When installing the cable to your house, do the Virgin guys have to dig up your driveway/garden lawn?
> 
> I ask this as we have a lawn and then a tarmac drive which leads to the house. See these two pics which show what I roughly mean...
> 
> ...


Dave, they will run the cable along the garden on the far left (out of the picture)


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Why keep bt?


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Thanks for all the comments guys. That's put my mind at rest as far as the installation.

I guess I'll put my order in tonight then.


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## STEALTH K3 (Dec 29, 2006)

This is what we got installed will give you a idea


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## TubbyTwo (Apr 14, 2011)

We dropped our BT line and went for a virgin line and the 50mb net package. overall it worked out £5 a month cheaper than keeping BT.

Plus I speed test it a few times a week and it has never ever dropped below 48mb.

im very happy with it


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Thanks v much for the pics StealthK3. Gives me an idea of what the box looks like. It seems as though they have cabled it underground but I guess in our instance it will simply run along a brick wall which divides the neighbours front garden with ours (rather than going under the lawn and tarmac driveway). :thumb:


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

TubbyTwo said:


> We dropped our BT line and went for a virgin line and the 50mb net package. overall it worked out £5 a month cheaper than keeping BT.
> 
> Plus I speed test it a few times a week and it has never ever dropped below 48mb.
> 
> im very happy with it


That's really good to know. I wanted to keep the BT line as I don't want to lose our telephone number plus I would like to keep Zen Broadband for a further month just so if I have problems with Virgin I can cancel during the 30-day cooling off period and I won't be lost without internet.

Another question. Do Virgin instal everything and make sure it works? For example, at the moment we have a Netgear box which is connected to my PC with a cable. My brother and wife then have a mac and laptop respectively which they run wireless. I guess the same thing will apply with Virgin's SuperHub.

Also wondering whether to pay £10 extra and go for the 100MB broadband package. I guess it will mean its futureproof (for a while anyway) and I've heard there is an installation cost of £30 when upgrading from 50MB to 100MB. I'm not overly concerned with cost as I currently pay Zen £90 for their business package but I feel like I'm being shafted as I only get 6MB download speed (I'm quite far from the telephone exchange). So £45 for Virgin with anything faster than 6MB and I'd be a happy chappy.


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## scragend (Oct 29, 2005)

hotwaxxx said:


> That's really good to know. I wanted to keep the BT line as I don't want to lose our telephone number plus I would like to keep Zen Broadband for a further month just so if I have problems with Virgin I can cancel during the 30-day cooling off period and I won't be lost without internet.


My dad changed from BT to Virgin and was able to keep his number. I know it can be hit and miss the other way but you should be able to keep it going to Virgin.


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Thanks for all the comments guys.

I've ordered the 100MB broadband without phone line tonight and the installation should take place on 30 July. I paid £70 one off fee but that will go down to £45 per month thereafter (beats paying £90 to Zen per month).

:wave:


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## Pandy (Jan 19, 2008)

Wow you must do some serious downloading to need that much :doublesho

We had our Virgin phone and kept the same number as some tool crashed into our BT phone pole and destroyed it (they wanted £200 to reconnect it :lol so it was cheaper and better to go with VM


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## Miglior (Feb 12, 2006)

ive got virgin media plus a bt phone line  and just to give you a teaser


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Pandy said:


> Wow you must do some serious downloading to need that much :doublesho
> 
> We had our Virgin phone and kept the same number as some tool crashed into our BT phone pole and destroyed it (they wanted £200 to reconnect it :lol so it was cheaper and better to go with VM


Indeed. Its just that I share my broadband with my wife and brother who is a graphic designer (and short moviemaker) and he downloads quite a lot over a month. For example, we downloaded a total of 466GB last month combined.


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Miglior said:


> ive got virgin media plus a bt phone line  and just to give you a teaser


Jebus Christ. The most I see at the moment is around 5.50mb/s.

I cannot wait now. Less than 3 weeks to go.


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## SteveyG (Apr 1, 2007)

hotwaxxx, last time I checked, you pay an extra £10pm if you don't take the virgin phone line, but the phone line is (was?) about the same price. I guess if you're happy with virgin after the 30 days, you could add a phone line and get your BT number transferred.



Miglior said:


> ive got virgin media plus a bt phone line  and just to give you a teaser


I've got 50Mb cable and BT Infinity  The connections are combined in a ClearOS machine.


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## jamest (Apr 8, 2008)

SteveyG said:


> hotwaxxx, last time I checked, you pay an extra £10pm if you don't take the virgin phone line, but the phone line is (was?) about the same price. I guess if you're happy with virgin after the 30 days, you could add a phone line and get your BT number transferred.


Think the phone line has just gone up to £12-13.


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Yeap - phone line on Virgin is around £13.50 (if I remember correctly). Having said that it is £45 per quarter with BT (if I remember correctly again).

I have decided to keep Zen Broadband for a further month just so if I do get any problems with Virgin at least I am still with internet access. If everything is okay after 1 month with Virgin, I'll cancel Zen and the BT line and switch to a Virgin phoneline. 

I've been reading about Virgin though and it seems the Superhub is not without problems (especially where wifi is concerned). However, they have the R26 Superhub now which is meant to have ironed out the problems of the older hub.


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## SteveyG (Apr 1, 2007)

AFAIK they're on R28 beta, and R27 is released. It should allow the Superhub to be used in bridge mode so you can use it just as a modem.

I still have the VMNG300 so not a problem for me


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Just to let you know what I currently have with Zen at the moment. Not a happy chappy really...


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

SteveyG said:


> AFAIK they're on R28 beta, and R27 is released. It should allow the Superhub to be used in bridge mode so you can use it just as a modem.
> 
> I still have the VMNG300 so not a problem for me


So its better than before then? I have read people have had problems with wifi in other rooms of the house but it seems to have been ironed out with the R26 to a degree?


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## SteveyG (Apr 1, 2007)

R28 is supposed to be imminent which supposedly will fix everything. The problems with the SuperHub on the current firmware aren't affecting everyone though anyway.


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