We were notified a fortnight ago that Virgin Media would be upgrading the local broadband network today. They should be starting work very soon, and I am expecting to lose our connection to the Internet at any moment. I have no idea how long it will be before it is restored. That is very much in the lap of the Virgin Media Gods.
The Return of the 200 Toy Soldiers
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My 200 shiny vintage toy soldiers have returned safely from the ‘Come As
You Really Are’ exhibition. Crossposted from my (fully colour illustrated)
Man of ...
1 hour ago
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Hmm used to use Virgin - lots of problems , finally swopped for another firm .
ReplyDeleteThe Good Soldier Svjek,
DeleteWe've tried to change service provider BUT the lack of a BT link to our house means that we would have to pay to have a BT line installed before we can change ... and the cost would be prohibitive. Our area had fibre optic cable installed in the 1990s, and BT - who did not get the contract - removed their existing lines ... and even took away our existing phone numbers!
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteI'm on the NBN (National Broadband Network)- it is Fibre Optic and I have had very little trouble - except being temporarily knocked out by a lightning strike down the road. I've heard that going 'Wireless' is the go- with faster speeds being on offer than Fibre Optic...though you need a transmitting tower somewhere in the vacinity for 'Wireless' to work. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson,
DeleteWireless is a great idea ... if you are near a transmitter mast! We live near the top of a hill, and certain areas on its slopes are in an electronic ‘shadow’, which makes a wireless connection to the Internet difficult. If you live outside a major conurbation - in the countryside, for example - you have almost no good-quality wireless coverage, so you have to rely on landline connections.
Building the necessary infrastructure to cover 95% of the UK population seems to be relatively easy; it’s the last 5% that is difficult and costly.
All the best,
Bob
My upstairs neighbour invited Virgin to install their system in their flat.
ReplyDeleteA van turned up and two guys started out eyeing up my front garden when I interrupted. We'll just bore a hole trough the garden wall, dig a trench across your garden and run a cable up the wall to the flat above. No you won't I said as that route is thoroughly blocked with my Japanese Maple tree roots. We'll dig the trench at the other side then and no again I said as there is a gas pipe just under the surface there and it's been punctured twice already. Can't you run a cable from a pole nearby like everyone else in the street. No they said. This is better technology they said. I informed him at that point that your company dug up our street, left it for weeks, dug up the pavements and re-laid the pavements to simulate the Himalayas as well interfering with the street drainage so that puddle collect rather than drain away. No-one in the street uses Virgin at all.
Jim Duncan,
DeleteI assume that the garden is part of your property, and that entering it would be a trespass. I know that utility companies have certain rights to enter property (mainly for safety reasons or to cut off supply after obtaining a court order for non-payment), but as far as I know, such access is not a right if they are installing data cables.
A road near us has just been resurfaced for the first time in over thirty years ... and British Gas has just been granted a licence to dig part of it up to replace old cast iron gas pipes. Why wasn’t this done before the resurfacing? The answer seems to be that the resurfacing was done by one local council department, and the licence was granted by a different department. An example of joined-up thinking not taking place!
All the best,
Bob
Rest easy...any congolomerate that characterize one of its components as "Galactic" should be able to dispatch such banal terrestial tech challenges with ease, and will (no doubt) provide not just broad-band, but hyper-band to its lucky subscribers.
ReplyDeleteEd M,
DeleteIf only that was true!
All the best,
Bob
As you've just posted your book sales number I presume that your broadband has been successfully upgraded. I hope the service was not down for too long and that the reliability now improves.
ReplyDeleteSince ours was installed in the mid 1980s I don't recall any such upgrade (at least one that took down the service): maybe this is just my memory failing? Virgin's normal upgrades for us have been "free" increases in speed. Currently we get 200 Mbps download (and this is a real speed, not an "up to", with my tests normally showing speeds about 10% higher than this) though uploads are a bit pathetic at about 20 Mbps. In practice, this download speed is pretty much wasted on me (other than when the grandchildren visit).
Unlike yourself, and other commentators, we've had remarkably few problems with Virgin, though why our experience is so different I don't know. Maybe out original cable company used better technology? My main complaint is with their "super" hubs where the Wi-Fi has never been at all super. Fortunately I have always hardwired the PCs so this only affects tablets and phones.
Mike Hall,
DeleteOther than the occasional ‘blip’ when we could not connect to the Internet for a couple of minutes, the upgrade went without a hitch. That said, I’ve not noticed any improvement or worsening of the service ... so I’ve no idea what they actually did!
The speed seems to be the same as it was before the update, and it is more than adequate for our needs. The hub is connected wirelessly to out iPads, iPhones, and Kindles, and via the house’s electrical circuit to my PC.
All the best,
Bob