[dawgnut]

hello, going to live in a rented house this year, and my housemates and I needs to decide which broadband package to choose

we narrowed down to virgin 30mbs and 50mbs

and Im just wonderring whether or not 30mbs is sufficient enough for 5 people? I know that most of time 30mbs would probably run around 8mbs

might play games on computer together, like cs

many thanks

[1234sunny]

(Original post by dawgnut)
hello, going to live in a rented house this year, and my housemates and I needs to decide which broadband package to choose

we narrowed down to virgin 30mbs and 50mbs

and Im just wonderring whether or not 30mbs is sufficient enough for 5 people? I know that most of time 30mbs would probably run around 8mbs

might play games on computer together, like cs

many thanks

30s been pretty good with 4 of us, how much extra you going to have to pay?

[Zorg]

The price difference per person is about £2 I think. I'd go for the faster one depending on the sort of people you live with. I'm a download whore as is another of my housemates. Between us I think we've averaged 500GB per month.
Also if any of you play online games you'll appreciate the speed

[ExcessNeo]

Definitely 50mb, if anyone does heavy downloading with the lower packages you will be capped during peak times. So it's well worth upgrading both your speed and giving yourself the permanent speed.

[SwingOnTheSpiral88]

be warned about virgin, they just shafted me.

I ordered a 9 month contract about this time last year, and the 9 months was up in july of this year. I moved out of that place in June and obviously did not use any more internet there. However, they kept on just billing me for a month's use every month until they phoned me up last week to inform me of this.

Maybe this is naive of me but at no point was it made clear that a 9 month contract really meant a life long contract that you must inform them you want out of after 9 months. So, I'm now 62 quid down and they want the routere back too, or it's another 50 quid fine. ****ing parasites.

Also, i was charged a 10 quid late bill payment fine about 3 times, because of direct debits that I set up through their website that never worked. So, every time I thought money was automatically coming out of my account at the end of the month, it really wasn't, and they kept sticking on fines.

Dishonest company in my opinion.

[leemkule]

(Original post by ExcessNeo)
Definitely 50mb, if anyone does heavy downloading with the lower packages you will be capped during peak times. So it's well worth upgrading both your speed and giving yourself the permanent speed.

I had 50mbit virgin recently. I was the only person using it, I downloaded a lot and my connection speed was throttled all day everyday until about 1am. Even if they tell you they won't throttle your speed, they definitely do since they oversell their bandwidth.

With 5 people I'd probably still get 50, on my own I'd get 30Mbit.

[leemkule]

(Original post by SwingOnTheSpiral88)
be warned about virgin, they just shafted me.

I ordered a 9 month contract about this time last year, and the 9 months was up in july of this year. I moved out of that place in June and obviously did not use any more internet there. However, they kept on just billing me for a month's use every month until they phoned me up last week to inform me of this.

Maybe this is naive of me but at no point was it made clear that a 9 month contract really meant a life long contract that you must inform them you want out of after 9 months. So, I'm now 62 quid down and they want the routere back too, or it's another 50 quid fine. ****ing parasites.

Without sounding harsh, that is your own naivety and I've made similar mistakes before. It's tantamount to a phone contract, if you sign up for 18 months they don't cut your phone off when that runs out. Also they make it clear in the terms that you don't own the router - you're just paying to rent it from them.

Edit: In saying that, I think virgin are a **** company with overinflated fines and unethical advertising that isn't just misleading, it's complete lies. I'd never go with them again.

[SwingOnTheSpiral88]

(Original post by leemkule)
Without sounding harsh, that is your own naivety and I've made similar mistakes before. It's tantamount to a phone contract, if you sign up for 18 months they don't cut your phone off when that runs out. Also they make it clear in the terms that you don't own the router - you're just paying to rent it from them.

Edit: In saying that, I think virgin are a **** company with overinflated fines and unethical advertising that isn't just misleading, it's complete lies. I'd never go with them again.

Yeah, looks like I'll be reading the fine print in future, and it won't be richard branson's fine print either, he's not getting another penny out of me.

[yituool]

I think the most I've ever got out of our 30mb Virgin Broadband is about 10mb/s.

[A Mysterious Lord]

There were 5 of us sharing a house last year and we NEEDED the 50mb package. Each of us had a computer, Xbox and other wireless things like iPhones and tablets, we regularly got 4.0mb/s+ download speeds under full strain.

[seanfromtheblock]

I've got the 50mb virgin broadband, averages about 35-40mb.

i'd reccomend it.

[Mad Vlad]

(Original post by dawgnut)
hello, going to live in a rented house this year, and my housemates and I needs to decide which broadband package to choose

we narrowed down to virgin 30mbs and 50mbs

and Im just wonderring whether or not 30mbs is sufficient enough for 5 people? I know that most of time 30mbs would probably run around 8mbs

might play games on computer together, like cs

many thanks

Whichever package has the less punitive traffic management policy.

[ExcessNeo]

(Original post by leemkule)
I had 50mbit virgin recently. I was the only person using it, I downloaded a lot and my connection speed was throttled all day everyday until about 1am. Even if they tell you they won't throttle your speed, they definitely do since they oversell their bandwidth.

With 5 people I'd probably still get 50, on my own I'd get 30Mbit.

I've only ever had the odd day where my speed his been throttled, as you said they do oversell their bandwidth however I have had friends who complained about slow speeds for a couple of weeks followed by Virgin Media performing work to increase the capacity in that area.

[SirMasterKey]

(Original post by SwingOnTheSpiral88)
be warned about virgin, they just shafted me.

I ordered a 9 month contract about this time last year, and the 9 months was up in july of this year. I moved out of that place in June and obviously did not use any more internet there. However, they kept on just billing me for a month's use every month until they phoned me up last week to inform me of this.

Maybe this is naive of me but at no point was it made clear that a 9 month contract really meant a life long contract that you must inform them you want out of after 9 months. So, I'm now 62 quid down and they want the routere back too, or it's another 50 quid fine. ****ing parasites.

Also, i was charged a 10 quid late bill payment fine about 3 times, because of direct debits that I set up through their website that never worked. So, every time I thought money was automatically coming out of my account at the end of the month, it really wasn't, and they kept sticking on fines.

Dishonest company in my opinion.

Cheers for this. I'll make sure after my 9 month contrat I'll ring them and tell them to stop it. Might not set up direct debit either if it is going to be a pain like that.

[SwingOnTheSpiral88]

(Original post by SirMasterKey)
Cheers for this. I'll make sure after my 9 month contrat I'll ring them and tell them to stop it. Might not set up direct debit either if it is going to be a pain like that.

no bother. the direct debit thing was supposed to knock about £5 a month off my bill I think, but you better be 100% sure it's gonna work.

[Mr_Parham]

go for 50MB, as they will limit your speed during the peak times and watch out the payments if you will be using direct debit, as they took £300 from my account (they took one payment (£150) twice), and dont trust their system at all
Reason :
I had a 400 anywhere package but as soon as i reach 150 minutes they started to charging me and that's why my bill was £150

[Zorg]

(Original post by SwingOnTheSpiral88)
be warned about virgin, they just shafted me.

I ordered a 9 month contract about this time last year, and the 9 months was up in july of this year. I moved out of that place in June and obviously did not use any more internet there. However, they kept on just billing me for a month's use every month until they phoned me up last week to inform me of this.

Maybe this is naive of me but at no point was it made clear that a 9 month contract really meant a life long contract that you must inform them you want out of after 9 months. So, I'm now 62 quid down and they want the routere back too, or it's another 50 quid fine. ****ing parasites.

Also, i was charged a 10 quid late bill payment fine about 3 times, because of direct debits that I set up through their website that never worked. So, every time I thought money was automatically coming out of my account at the end of the month, it really wasn't, and they kept sticking on fines.

Dishonest company in my opinion.

No offence, but that is the fault of your own naivety. For the majority of things, phone, broadband, rent etc. a contract is merely to commit you to a certain period of time during which you are obliged to pay for the service. If you want to leave any form of regular service you have to give notice.

I'm not sure if it's changed but after your contract I believe you're well within your rights to keep the router. But as I say, this might have changed since I last hopped ISPs which was a good few years a go.

(Original post by SirMasterKey)
Cheers for this. I'll make sure after my 9 month contrat I'll ring them and tell them to stop it. Might not set up direct debit either if it is going to be a pain like that.

Direct Debit with VirginMedia has been silky smooth for us for the past year. We're carrying on the service as well.

One thing to note though, is that if you live in a heavy student area you'll likely see a sharp decline in service around exam time

[danny111]

(Original post by SwingOnTheSpiral88)
be warned about virgin, they just shafted me.

I ordered a 9 month contract about this time last year, and the 9 months was up in july of this year. I moved out of that place in June and obviously did not use any more internet there. However, they kept on just billing me for a month's use every month until they phoned me up last week to inform me of this.

Maybe this is naive of me but at no point was it made clear that a 9 month contract really meant a life long contract that you must inform them you want out of after 9 months. So, I'm now 62 quid down and they want the routere back too, or it's another 50 quid fine. ****ing parasites.

Also, i was charged a 10 quid late bill payment fine about 3 times, because of direct debits that I set up through their website that never worked. So, every time I thought money was automatically coming out of my account at the end of the month, it really wasn't, and they kept sticking on fines.

Dishonest company in my opinion.

I had the same with my Orange phone contract. Contract kept rolling. 9 Months is a minimum and it is up to you to cancel. The router thing is totaly lame though.

At OP - unless 50MB gives you more download size then what is the point? Unless you can actually get >30 Mbs through then 50mb is a waste.

[explicit4u]

Not using Direct debit results in an extra £5 per month (found out the hard way!).

I'm not sure where other people live, but I live close to central London so the internet around here is pretty good. My 30MB line averages about 30-32MB



and my old 50MB line (downgraded as I don't download as much any more)

50MB line:



Ignore the difference in upload speeds, 30MB in my area was just upgraded for free

I'd highly recommend virgin, go for 50mb to avoid throttling, I've never been throttled on 50MB.

[danny111]

(Original post by explicit4u)
Not using Direct debit results in an extra £5 per month (found out the hard way!).

I'm not sure where other people live, but I live close to central London so the internet around here is pretty good. My 30MB line averages about 30-32MB



and my old 50MB line (downgraded as I don't download as much any more)

50MB line:



Ignore the difference in upload speeds, 30MB in my area was just upgraded for free

I'd highly recommend virgin, go for 50mb to avoid throttling, I've never been throttled on 50MB.

I live in London in a relatively new place (2008) but of my 8Mbs I get through 2-5.

What is wrong with my place???

And this is from my student place in an old house in Switzerland: