Hi there This September I'll be moving into a uni house and I want to make sure that there is a good net connection for the following: 2x wired connection Desktops - Used for gaming, browsing & video streaming 3x wireless notebooks - Browsing & Video streaming. This is a 2 year set up, and rented (Against contract to be moving up carpets or even using bluetac), quite big fire doors although I think there is some cables on scan which are still good quality and low profile to get under doors easily enough. The ISP This is quite a heavy load, I was thinking that the Virgin Media 30mb deal would be the best. The area is a fibre optic zone so in theory the connection should be pretty good. Router and Modem Virgin media offers their own branded routers, now I know this isn't going to beat going and buying a £60-70 router from Scan, but with their 30-50mb connection they offer a better Virgin Media brand router. This makes me wonder if it is worth investing in a better router. 1. Has anyone first of all had much experience with Virgin Media broadband? Would you recommend them? If not who would you recommend? 2. Do they mess you over with speeds? i.e paying for 30mb and you get 3mb. 3. Is it worth investing in a better router & modem or just taking the supplied router as it's only needed for 2 years. 4. An installation question: My room is on the top floor (2-story terrace), is it possible to have the router (or even the modem) located in my room? I figure the modem is required to be near the ground floor phone line? The connecting ethernet cable from one floor up to the router would be much better than getting 2 ethernet cables from the router up stairs. 5. If virgin meda is efficent, would the same again be repeatable in a house with 3 systems, 1 wired desktop for gaming etc , 2 wireless notebooks with 10mb connection? 6. Anything else network based I may have missed that you think will help? Thanks.
Usually these modem + router combo are utter crap. They also come with a custom interface on the router side, with extremely limited options, or few options but badly organized (options spreader everywhere without any logic) Just be sure you can change the DNS on your router, modem. I can't with with my Cable Internet provider, but they do use an extremely fast DNS service, almost as fast as OpenDNS. Well they better be for the super high price you pay with them. (Videotron) Then there is Bell over DSL... oh boy. DNS server is the worst I ever saw in my life. Ultra slow like no tomorrow, and always times out. Lucky you can change it. (we only have 2 choices for IPS providers) For a router, check reviews for each model.. there is no perfect router (unless you go with enterprise solutions which are very expensive), I can say Linksys makes great routers. But like all other router home manufactures they have their selection of abysmal models. AVOID LOW-END Models. However, don't get the high end models if you don't have the need. For example, it's useless to buy a dual band Wireless N 5GHz router, if all your wireless card are at best a single band wireless N. 5GHz Wireless N is faster than the 2.4GHz that is available, but it's range is much shorter. Dual band, is as you guessed it, much faster than single band. Usually 5GHz routers can be set to output a 2.4GHz signal instead.. which makes it better in pushing your luck of a getting a signal everywhere, (as if you don't you can go with 2.4GHz instead), but you reduce speed.
Be future proofed and get a GbE router. If Virgin Media provide their own modem, use that with a standalone router. If it is a combo then you might have no choice but to buy a separate modem on top of the router.
My housemaid and I have virgin's 50meg cable, it works beautifully. You actually get what you pay for as it's a dedicated cable. The modem is separate from the router but you get supplied an n-capable wireless router, also GbE, and we've not had any problems. Check with your landlords first though as they might not be too happy with an extra hole in the outside wall. Also the connection will be on the groundfloor but you might be left with a decent amount of internal cable to position the modem sensibly. Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk
Afaik, Virgin are now providing a Superhub (modem & router in one) which kind of limits your options - not least as there have been some issues with it. if you can, try & persuade them to give you a VMNG300 modem ('if' they have any left locally), as you can then pair it with a router of your choosing - i swapped the WNR2000 that they gave me for a WNDR3700 with much better results for a wired home network. [Similarly, if anyone with Virgin is upgrading their service & already has a VMNG300, it's advisable to refuse the Superhub - well the VMNG300 is good to 300MB/s so obviously the 100MB/s roll out that's under way is nowhere near its capacity...] Yeah, the advantage for Virgin of by putting people onto the Superhub is that, after the teething issues are sorted, it should be both much simpler for people to set up & for them to do tech support by everyone using an identical modem & router in one. As to Virgin themselves, there were local problems in my area of Sheffield ~2.5-3.5 years ago (& so kept on getting partial refunds until they sorted it out), but since they upgraded their equipment as part of a national roll out (Sheffield was one of the last places) then everything's been great. Speedwise then there's no issues - though would suggest looking at at least the 50MB option as there's then only an upload limitation between 3-8pm (it is fairly generous, but if you exceed it then you then lose upload speeds for the following 6 hrs)... Being students then i'm guessing that you would be using it at all times of the day & night.
