OK, Virgin Media have now checked and they claim that they are not applying any bandwidth restriction to my account. They said that it could be BT who is applying some throttling to my line (I pay BT for my line rental), and have sent me some tests to be performed (see below).
Is it a likely explanation that BT would be artificially restricting my line speed? By all accounts it seems that my line should be able to take more, so there is some artificial (rather than physical) restriction somewhere.
Are these tests actually going to tell me anything useful? If my current setup is giving me router stats which don't look horrible (apart from the connection speed), isn't it the case that fiddling around with filters, unplugging phones etc isn't really going to help?
Thanks,
Mike
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Here is the email I received:
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Dear Customer,
Thank you for your recent contact with us describing your dissatisfaction with the speed of your Virgin Media Broadband service. Before we can escalate this further we firstly need you to complete the below steps. Once we are confident that the problem does not sit with the equipment you are using, or the internal set up (that's stuff like your ADSL filters, extension cables and phones), or a potential problem with the physical 3rd party voice line/connection (some areas of the connection are outside of Virgin Media's ability to resolve) we will be happy to escalate this further and hopefully resolve the issue.
We would suggest that you work through this email step by step as outlined below. On completing each section you can try the connection again, although be aware you may not see a result instantly. If you have not noticed a positive change within 24 hours, then move on to the next section; remember though, if you "undo" any changes made in the previous section, complete that section again before moving on - it's about eliminating all possibilities!
By the way, the tick boxes below are just for you to keep up with what you've done, no information is sent to Virgin Media by ticking them!
Section 1 - PC/Software Related
Before completing the below please see the minimum PC/Apple Mac requirements for Virgin Media broadband. These can be found by clicking here.
Once you have confirmed that your PC/Apple Mac meets the minimum requirements please continue to the below questions to establish whether the fault lays with your PC/Apple Mac or possibly with the Virgin Media broadband connection.
1) Is your PC/Apple Mac generally slow? Yes/No
If the answer to the above question is YES then we would suggest you go through to our Online Chat so one of our technicians can check the PC basics. A slow PC/Apple Mac can cause an internet connection to appear slow - an internet connection can only perform as fast as a PC/Apple Mac will allow.
All done?
2) Have you performed a full Spyware and Virus scan on the computer? Yes/No
There are many programs available to protect you from Spyware and Viruses. We would suggest that you complete a full system scan on all computers connected to the internet before going any further. If you are using our PCGuard software you will find this product includes protection against both.
All done?
3) Have you deleted your temporary internet files, cookies and history? Yes/No
For instructions on doing this please use
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/260897All done?
4) Use the tool "msconfig" and untick all running programs that start on boot.
For instructions on doing this please use
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560Please note, once you have tested the connection with everything from msconfig un-ticked, please follow the steps in the link above to enable all of the programs again.
All done?
5) Uninstall any P2P (Peer to Peer) software
Peer to Peer software can slow an internet connection as it can often upload/download or shares files in the "background" so you might not necessarily be aware that many large files are being shared, therefore slowing your whole internet experience. We can suggest that you remove such software, however we can not be held responsible for any lost or damaged files that you have previously shared (should this happen during removal).
For instructions on doing this please use
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314481 (for PC) and
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=SystemImageUtility/10.5/en/c1os10.html (for Apple Mac).
All done?
If you experience any problems following the above instructions, if you have any questions or if you would like any further assistance then we would suggest that you use the Online Chat, where one of our technical support agents will be able to explain anything you need to know.
IMPORTANT: Please do not continue onto the next section until you have completed all of the above instructions. If you have not fully completed these we will be unable to raise this issue any further for you.
Section 2 - Hardware
1) Number of PCs connected
You may be lucky enough to have more than one PC or Mac within your property, however if more than one of them is connected at the same time, the bandwidth has to be shared out between them all - causing things to slow down! For the duration of your testing, we would advise that only one PC or Mac is connected and online. This includes any games console that connects to the web as well (PS3, Xbox, Wii etc).
All done?
2) Your modem or router
Whenever possible, try the connection using the Speedtouch 330 modem that may have been supplied to you in the 'Virgin Broadband Starter Kit', this is because the modem saves the hassle of disabling your wireless connection and plugging/unplugging ethernet cables.
If you are unable to use a Speedtouch 330 modem, and connect via a wireless router instead, please ensure that either the wireless network is security enabled or that the wireless signal is disabled altogether. If you need any help with this, either consult the manufacturer, or contact us using our Online Chat.
All done?
IMPORTANT: Please do not continue onto the next section until you have completed all of the above instructions. If you have not fully completed these we will be unable to raise this issue any further for you.
Section 3 - Internal Setup
The way you have things setup in the house can have a big effect on what speeds come through to you. Below is a little list on what you need to check for the internal setup. So, can you please ensure you;
1. Swap the ADSL filter attached to the modem/router.
2. Remove anything you have connected to any phone socket in the house (phones, sky TV, fax machines etc).
3. Remove any extension cables that may be between the modem/router and phone socket.
4. If there is any electrical equipment near your modem/router, turn it off - remember not to just put it into standby!
5. Plug your modem/router into the BT Test Socket, if you don't have one, don't worry, just use the Main Socket!
If you need some help identifying the test socket, click here
IMPORTANT: Please do not continue onto the next section until you have completed all of the above instructions. If you have not fully completed these we will be unable to raise this issue any further for you.
Section 4 - Testing the speed
OK then! As you've done all of the above, we're well on the way to pinpointing the cause of the problem, and it would suggest that the problem does not lie within your house. The next step is to perform some tests to see what speeds you are actually receiving - different people have different perceptions on what is 'slow'.
Firstly, here is a little indication on what BT, and ourselves, consider acceptable speeds for the different packages you may be on;
100kps or more - acceptable on 512kbps products
200kbs or more - acceptable on 1Mb products
400kbs or more - acceptable on 2Mb, 4Mb & 8Mb products
There are many independent speedtest websites out there, however we will need you to perform your speedtests using the website
http://speedtester.bt.com/. The website will ask you for your telephone number, you will need to ensure that this number is the line that you have Virgin Media Broadband on (including area code). Shortly, it will then ask you for your 'username', don't worry, this is just your Virgin username (the one with '@adsl.virgin.net' on the end of it). A speedtest will then be performed on your line, make a note of the results for future reference.
You will need to perform at least 6 of these tests at different times of the day (morning, afternoon and evening) so that we can see if there is any pattern to the test results. If you have any problems performing these tests, come back to our Online Chat and we can help.
IMPORTANT: Please do not continue onto the next section until you have completed all of the above instructions. If you have not fully completed these we will be unable to raise this issue any further for you.
Section 5 - What now?
Once you have worked through the email, you would have eliminated several possible causes of your slow speed problem. If the connection still remains to be slow after this, you would need to contact us so that we can escalate the issue further. To do this you would need to contact our Technical Support Team on 0845 454 2222 and we can take it from there.
