Virgin Media 50Mbps – Install Complete!

On November 16, 2009 in Internet, New Technology.
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The installation is complete! The router is up and running (the second one, which Virgin delivered yesterday!) with remarkable speeds!

The pre-installation results were showing between 14Mb/s to 20Mb/s – Limited by the router. The new (D-Link ‘N’ rated wireless) router has now been installed and is running with amazing results. The first attempt at installing didn’t go to plan, as the provided software couldn’t detect an Internet connection. However, logging onto the router directly and configuring seemed to do the trick!

The result: Its running great! The wireless (N series) is transmitting with great signal between 20Mb/s and 30Mb/s, and is encrypted using the WPA2 technology. Virgin have made bold claims about the speed of their new XXL package, and it seems to stand up to the hype – for now at least. I don’t reckon things will be quite as quickly at peak times, but at least I’m now prepared for the big leap to 100Mb/s!!!

Goodnight and God speed!

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Virgin Media speed me up: 50Mbps!

On November 1, 2009 in Internet, New Technology.
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This past Friday Virgin Media came to increase my Internet speed from 20Mbps (£37.00 per month) to 50Mbps (£38.00 per month). For this slight price increase Virgin have thrown in a brand new shiny modem and also a lovely new D-Link router with built in ‘N Technology’, capable of supporting up to 270Mbps!

The bloke dropped off the equipment and left, as I wanted to do the install myself. I quickly unplugged the existing modem and attached the new one to the existing router. I tested my speed at www.speedtest.net. I was still getting just under 20Mbps – Understandable as the current router (despite it being of industrial standard) could only support up to 20Mbps.

The next test was to plug the modem directly into one of the computers, bypassing the router. After doing this and re-testing my speeds I was shocked to see 49.8Mbps! I’ve heard so many stories about how ISP’s sell a speed which you would only get if you live inside the little green boxes positioned down the road etc, so to see speeds this close to what they were claiming was a shock!

This is where it went a little pared shape. I unplugged the existing (slow) router and attached the Ethernet cables to access my other PCs (having to leave the Printer and X360 out as there is only 4 ports, unlike the 8 which were at the back of the now obsolete industrial router). I pushed in the power cable and nothing happened. I looked for a switch. Nothing. I tried the factory-reset button. Nothing.

After 20 minutes on hold to Virgin Media I managed to get through to someone who said they would send another one out shortly, and to expect it within 3-4 days (Thursday at the latest). Until then I have re-connected my current router.

I will update when I have installed the new ‘N’ router – Can’t wait to see what kind of wireless speeds I will be picking up. Just goes to show how quickly things are progressing from the days of 56Kbps!

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