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cactikid

cactikid

VIP Member
Need to ask a few questions about my Virgin Media Ireland bill now heading for euro 60 a month is just out of my reach yet again.

I live on YouTube and have a 4K tv but no programmes are in 4K as you have to pay extra.

Watch a number of box sets on tv and the odd music video.

Is there set figure so no buffering happens as i think i might be on 250 package and others are only a 100..

They say i am a heavy user and most are unlimited .

Any views and thoughts welcome.
 
If you are unsure on what speed you are getting, connect a laptop/desktop machine via ethernet cable to your router and perform a speedtest. You can do this over WiFi, but make sure you are close to the router. WiFi is susceptible to interference, hence it's best to use ethernet.
Speedtest by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test

If you want to watch 4K content from YouTube or streaming, then 25Mb connection would be the minimum. I notice that when I watch 4K TV on IPTV, it generally pulls around this value (20-40Mb on average). If you have 100Mb or higher connection, then there shouldn't be any problems,

My mate has 60Mb connection and he cannot stream some of the highest quality 4K UHD videos. From memory I think the bitrate of these files were about 70Mb/s, which is pretty high and as about as high as I've seen.

If you have buffering, then it's possibly down to your internal WiFi connection. You could have a 1Gb connection, but your WiFi and Devices might not support this speed (this is why it's often best to use ethernet cables for devices where possible). Again, you could also be so far away from the WiFi access point that it may struggle to get the speeds coming into your home.

Do some speed tests using WiFi and Wired Connections to let you see what is happening.
IMO if you have 250Mb connection, you shouldn't have any issues playing 4K content.

FYI - I use Virgin Media and my connection (1Gb) has been bulletproof for years. The router they provide is fine, but I'm a tech dabbler and I use my own WiFi access points.
 
Only had 2 dropouts with service this year but it is now a price issue on 500mb.

I had buffering issues many years ago but not know and i dont stream 4k content yet.
 

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€60 per month is the new norm due to price increases since April this year ,
Virgin would have 3 various packages 500mb download 50 Upload , 1GB Download 100mb Upload and top tier 2.4GB Download and 150mb Upload

EIR is pretty much identical and price is very close to €60 per month with 1 year and 19 month contract but for my area 2.4GB not yet available since NBI is lazy and very,very slow to do anything .... 👎 Eir also offer their IPTV [ TV ] Subscription packages and Amazon Ireland , Disney etc.. for a lot of extra fees per month ..

Vodafone offer new customers €40 per month for first 6 months and €70 for remainder 6 months 500mb,1GB but snag is when you call to report a fault you are directly in contact 100% of the time with their really unhelpful sales team in EGYPT !!

There is Sky which are not great and are famous for their very high contention Ratio's which is just terrible and again prices vary from extremely high to them steadily hounding and selling you their Sky TV Package since they are the worlds largest and most profitable IPTV Payserver .

and Imagine which would be cheapest but you'll likely struggle to get much more than 150mb's with them but it might be the most valid option if you really are determined to switch and save a few Eur .

3 Mobile is a disaster only meant for browsing with max speeds generally up to 20mb i would not consider even with their 5G makes no real difference with their extreme high contention Ratio's .

the choices you face when switching are not incredible i'm afraid ...
 
Another option is Pure Telecom they offer 500mb with 1 year contract @€35 Eur per month
And 1GB at €40 per month which is an ideal option but you need to be extra careful because after your 12 months
the price increases and doubles to €70 per month a few neighbors of mine have went to Pure Telecom and are so far very satisfied with everything ,
just after 12 months is up wait for a full working week then call them to sign up to a new contract as a new customer it works and is a long time loophole
that you can expose for yourself .
Good luck : )
 
Virgin are my only option if I want over 100Mb connection (insane, as I live in middle of a capital city)
I noticed this year that VM were not as willing to drop prices as they used to be for renewals - this seems to be what others on this forum have also experienced.

I want internet only and the best deal I could get from them was 1Gb for £56 a month, think they offered 512Mb for £48. You get better value for TV/Internet/Sports/Movies, but I don't need this and it's a waste of money. New customers are getting offered £40 for 1Gb internet. I asked VM about this and they said that I would have got a good offer when I first joined and weren't willing to match this.

As @STINGER as mentioned above, I feel the days of cheap internet are behind us, unless you are prepared to drop down to a much slower speed. My parents have FTTP, but they pay about £25 a month for 35Mb connection, which is fine for their needs.
 
thebesh said:
Virgin are my only option if I want over 100Mb connection (insane, as I live in middle of a capital city)
I noticed this year that VM were not as willing to drop prices as they used to be for renewals - this seems to be what others on this forum have also experienced.

I want internet only and the best deal I could get from them was 1Gb for £56 a month, think they offered 512Mb for £48. You get better value for TV/Internet/Sports/Movies, but I don't need this and it's a waste of money. New customers are getting offered £40 for 1Gb internet. I asked VM about this and they said that I would have got a good offer when I first joined and weren't willing to match this.

As @STINGER as mentioned above, I feel the days of cheap internet are behind us, unless you are prepared to drop down to a much slower speed. My parents have FTTP, but they pay about £25 a month for 35Mb connection, which is fine for their needs.
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I left virgin earlier this year as they did not offer any decent deals as thebesh has said. I choose to get fttp on a one year deal with plusnet. I pay £33.99 a month for 300mb. I can get cheaper if i went for a 2 year deal. Youfibre litterally came up my street and stopped where the telephone lines went under ground so i missed out.
 
Digiweb Siro 37.95 a month but need to double check it further.

I have contacted a M8 who asked me if i might move over and will check that out also.
 

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Personally cannot see past Virgin, been with them many of years now and very rarely have any issues. Well worth the cash imo
 
MasterXP said:
Personally cannot see past Virgin, been with them many of years now and very rarely have any issues. Well worth the cash imo
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I was with them for 6 years and only had a couple of outages.
I am on the CityFibre network now and cheaper than VM and no issues so far.
 
I've been with Vodafone Pro Full Fibre 2 for £30.00 and no outages in the few years of been with them.

Speeds are 900mbps and getting around 845 on average so really no complaints at all with them.
 
I was with Virgin for many years but in the last couple of renewals they wouldn't offer any real incentive to stay and they doubled their price in two years so it was bye bye from me. Their customer service is beyond crap too. Anyway, I'm now with Vodafone and use Deco's around the house and all seems good considering I cant get FTTP yet but with amount of building going on around me and the fact they have installed new poles around here (20mtrs is the nearest) I'm sure I will be able to upgrade soon. Just a relief to have given VM the push!
 
Ive done some research and heard Vodafone is pretty decent and if you go through Top cashback you get up to £140 cash back.
 
Aristotle said:
Since January isp is Vodafone on CityFibre network.

Yes I do and no blocks but have changed DNS on router to cloudflare.
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Perfect I’ve just signed upto Vodafone tonight, £29 for 910mbs. I’m currently paying £45 for 310mb on virgin!
 
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