to expect wifi not to drop out / disappear multiple times a day?

[GatherlyGal]

We have Virgin superspeed super-great amazing broadband. Although it isn't. Admittedly 3 DCs and me and often DH working at home means a lot of devices but is it reasonable to expect a steady consistent connection??

I don't want the ballache of changing providers if it will be the same old story. Some devices are better than others but some (my laptop, DDs phone) seem to need the router to be reset almost daily and sometimes 3 or 4 times a day in order to pick up the network.

I have rung them many times and the standard ping test always shows good speed and good service etc and the standard response when I complain is "reset the router". I don't mind resetting but it's a huge pain the in arse when it's all the time! Goes down well with DCs too of course when they are in the middle of something.

Our house is old and walls are very thick if that's a factor?

So, should I change providers or is it just life in an old house with lots of devices in use?

If it's virgin and you've upgraded from the service that had superhub to the new service with superhub 2, ask them to check the power levels of your router.

When they send down the signal for the upgraded service it seems to knock the power levels slightly. Ethernet has a much higher tolerance for it but wifi can be very sensitive to it and it causes drop outs.

The superhub they're giving out at the moment is spectacularly crappy even compared to the previous crap they supplied. Some people have had success by setting superhub to modem only then buying a new router to run the wireless from.

Hope you get sorted soon!

Same with EE. I found Plusnet much better.

Companies like Virgin and Talk Talk rent out cabinet space at the exchange from BT.

No, virgin has its own cable network doesn't it?

Some people have had success by setting superhub to modem only then buying a new router to run the wireless from.

^This.

VM kit is spectacularly borked - TiVo, SuperHub(s). I think it's something to do with having to ensure it can't be used on unauthorised lines.

Yes. Virgin has its own network, and is fibre all the way to the house.

Yes it's definitely a virgin cable that runs to the house and the router is right where the cable comes in through the wall. It's not new or upgraded- been here 2.5 years. It's always been fairly shit.

Sounds like a new router might make it worse .

Maybe it's time to give BT a try.

Had this problem with bt. Awful it never worked. Plusnet so much better.

We have this too. DH thinks it is because the routers the wifi providers supply are basically crap. Trouble is the better ones are £££ and you have to buy them yourself. I get mightily sick of turning the router on and off to reboot it.

New router might make it better. It did for us. Virgin should supply you with a new one for free as they own the equipment not you. If they've tested the line and it's all fine, then it's likely the router is the problem.

Virgin should supply you with a new one for free

If it's anything like the "SuperHub" (1 and 2) it's not a fault with the router. It's a side-effect of the customisations Virgin have made. Don't waste time with Virgin. Switch the router in modem-only mode, and then plug your own router of choice into that.

The only thing Virgin appear to be able to do without **ing it up, is provide the raw broadband - which I have no complaint with over 14 years now.

Ok so we need to buy a router. Sounds better than switching to another provider who will be just as bad.

Thank you helpful people.

Might be worth reporting it, I had something similar and it turned out to be an outside fault with the overhead lines.

Definitely would second the new router route.

We used to get this in spades and we are with Talk Talk. It was becoming virtually unusable which is bad news when I want to work from home. We got a new router a few months ago and the problem has gone away.

Our previous router was quite old and I don't think it could cope with us having more devices on the go (2-3 laptops, tablets, 3 smart phones)

I recommend HomePlugs. They use your electrical circuit to create a wired network.- plug into an electrical socket then run a Ethernet cable to your device - great for games consoles, desktop PCs, and smart tellies

We are with BT. Normally it is OK, but not at the moment.

We have upgraded in the last few days to superfast broadband, and when they changed the contracts over on the appointed day the "upgrade" cut our broadband connection off.

That was Wednesday afternoon and despite numerous phone calls to them it still isn't back on. I have an engineer appointment booked for next Wednesday as they insisted they could not give one sooner, and I have logged a formal complaint.

It is really bad news because I work from home at this time of year, and would be in real problems without the help of a very good neighbour, to whom I feel greatly indebted.

Get rid of Virgin. Friend just got rid of them after they put price up despite the terrible signal.

Mum has BT, I'm staying with her the mo,

Wifi is slow and keeps cutting out upstairs. Thinking of calling them to complain.

Have Sky at home (not fibre) and works well.

TP Link routers are pretty solid.

I just use it in modem mode and use a main asus router plus a couple of cabled access points around the house. The wifi didn't bother me as much as the crap dhcp on the virgin one though. I did the same thing with sky.

LurkingHusband has it correct.

The Virgin router routinely locks up and malfunctions. That is why you are getting things dropping in and out. If the wifi signal on your PC or whatever is OK - even 1 bar - then it should work. If it doesn't, it's because the router has malfunctioned. I was a radio design engineer for 10 years, and I still get patronised by the operators at Virgin media, even though I tell them that I am conversant with the concept of radio propagation and have set things up so that there is adequate signal strength.

The best idea - and the cheapest and easiest (less hassle with changing providers etc) is to use the router that virgin media gave you in modem only mode. This means that all it does is convert the optical fibre signal to something that a separate wireless router can use.

Then you add a 3rd party router to your (should be able to pick one up for £20 or so) Virgin router and you will never have another problem. I would suggest, especially if you do want to cover a large area, have thick walls etc, that you get one with external antennas. The ones that have internal antennas do have less range than the ones that have external - but as I say it's likely that range is not the problem - the router locking up is the issue.

I haven't given detailed instructions as there is plenty on the web - including on virgin medias own forums.

We have thick stone walls and have always used Devolo Home Plugs. Our signal isnt great (very rural) but they definitely help and are great for taking the signal up to the top floor of our house too.

I never had that problem with Virgin but Sky broadband drops all the time. It's so annoying.

Marking my place to read later, we have this problem

Very interested to come across this thread. We have virgin, and I have to say that for speed and reliability of service coming in to the house they are second to none. Just did a speed test and on 2.4Ghz we get 42Mps and on the 5Ghz we get 96. That's on a 200Mb service, and through two very thick supporting walls.

Occasionally we get droppage on certain devices, and I always thought that was an issue with the devices, but from reading this I think I'll finally take the plunge and get an external wifi router. Thinking of getting an Apple Airport Time Capsule, though it is costly.

I'm with BT, and have similar problems.