Guide - Getting the most out of your high speed Virgin Media (UPC) 240mb/s service

EyeCake · 23-11-2018 3:23pm

I have just moved into a new house with lots of Nest and other smart home devices
I signed for VM 360 and plugged my Apple Airport Extreme device int the back of it and had another Airport Extreme Time Capsule as a repeater upstairs.
It quickly became overloaded and kept cutting out and VM suggesting putting their router box into modem mode and just using my Apple Routers
I have 8 Ethernet ports in 4 rooms in the house and a Zydel Gigabit 8 port switch.
The question is should i plug the Apple Router into the VM Modem and the Switch into that and on to the Ethernet ports.
As you can see I don't know a lot about networking, the electrician installed the Ethernet cackling but didn't know how to set it up so any help gratefully received

beauf · 23-11-2018 3:36pm

The VMHub3 seems to work much better in bridge mode.

Basically in bridge mode, you plug everything into your own router. The only thing plugged into your VMHub3 will be your router.

Damien360 · 23-11-2018 3:37pm

EyeCake wrote: »

I have just moved into a new house with lots of Nest and other smart home devices
I signed for VM 360 and plugged my Apple Airport Extreme device int the back of it and had another Airport Extreme Time Capsule as a repeater upstairs.
It quickly became overloaded and kept cutting out and VM suggesting putting their router box into modem mode and just using my Apple Routers
I have 8 Ethernet ports in 4 rooms in the house and a Zydel Gigabit 8 port switch.
The question is should i plug the Apple Router into the VM Modem and the Switch into that and on to the Ethernet ports.
As you can see I don't know a lot about networking, the electrician installed the Ethernet cackling but didn't know how to set it up so any help gratefully received

There is a maximum number of devices allowed on the VM360 box (I have one). I will have to dig out exact numbers but it is relatively low. I use that VM as modem only, you have to, and then disabled all routing on that device and used my own router (netgear N7000) to do all the donkey work.

So for your setup, use VM box to connect to internet as modem only. Then set your apple router as router mode only, with a fixed IP, and use its DHCP function to do all the routing.

Damien360 · 23-11-2018 3:46pm

I couldn't get bridge mode to stay live.

How I did it :

Your Hub 3 (VM) is at 192.168.0.1, password on the underside of box. Wireless set to off. DHCP disabled.

My own router set to static IP 192.168.0.2. for internet traffic
The DHCP is set to go from 192.168.1.10

Powerlines for all wired devices and the rest is wireless all routed by the netgear.

There is a risk of double NAT this way instead of bridge mode but PS4, XBOne, and PC gaming work without fuss so I'm happy.

EyeCake · 28-11-2018 11:02am

https://flic.kr/p/2c7urFE

Sorry for being so dumb but have read first post and last 10 pages
This is photo of apple router which I have plugged into VM30 set in router mode by VM
Is it the Router address or the IP address I chane to 192.168.1.1

ED E · 28-11-2018 6:54pm

EyeCake wrote: »

https://flic.kr/p/2c7urFE

Sorry for being so dumb but have read first post and last 10 pages
This is photo of apple router which I have plugged into VM30 set in router mode by VM
Is it the Router address or the IP address I chane to 192.168.1.1

Your hub 3.0 isnt in bridge mode. If it were the first IP would be a Virgin one.

What the second one is set to doesn't matter.

EyeCake · 02-12-2018 4:02pm

What a job!
After disconnecting myself for several hours by accident and restarting Hub and router about 12 times i eventually got the right setting and all devices working perfectly and getting very good speeds.
Thanks for all the help and to this thread.

Hyzepher · 10-02-2019 11:34pm

Anyone know why after bridging mu Archer c8 my IPTV is freezing every 10 seconds?

ED E · 11-02-2019 11:48pm

Last Tuesday VM or their T1 made a change that improved latency to the UK. Changes are not uncommon but normally its only a few hours. This has maintained.

Now if only they would replace the Hub3s it would be a great service. (above is a 3925)

Damo 2k9 · 26-02-2019 4:50pm

So I stumbled across here, have always wanted to beef the internet up in the house, ended up being able to snag a Archer C9 for 40 euro so looking forward to getting stuck in.
Will post before/after results etc, no doubt ill be back with some questions!

Damo 2k9 · 28-02-2019 9:03pm

So Modem Mode is enabled on VM Hub, all other steps followed, and the Archer C9 is setup no problem, both WiFi channels showing and connecting fine etc.

The only thing is that the speeds are not even reaching 3MB on 2.4, and not even reaching 0.5MB on the 5G channel. (WiFi)

Speeds are around the same on Wired aswell, straight to the laptop and with Cat6 Cable (30-40)

Any ideas??

beauf · 28-02-2019 9:48pm

Reboot it,

Damo 2k9 · 01-03-2019 10:21am

beauf wrote: »

Reboot it,

Done so 2-3 times, still no joy unfortunately.

beauf · 01-03-2019 1:08pm

I would contact VM and see if you have an issue with the line or the box.

Damo 2k9 · 01-03-2019 3:34pm

beauf wrote: »

I would contact VM and see if you have an issue with the line or the box.

Thats what I was thinking, a reset on my line and then if it still persists get a engineer out.

Damo 2k9 · 05-03-2019 1:36pm

Just keeping this updated, incase anyone else has issues.

VM Engineer (:pac:) came to the house, did whatever he was doing and put it down to a bad splitter, told me to check the speed of the wifi on my phone...and it was still at 40MB, blamed my phone compared to his phone etc etc. Dont really think he knew what he was doing.

After a bit of fiddling, the speeds I'm getting are a lot better than previous, some ridiculously fast results on fast.com which he said "Is much better than all the rest, they are all sh!t" and then some more realistic results on speedtest, VM Speedtest etc.

Quickly fired up the Archer C9 and definitely a lot better than last week, had to leg it to work so will get it setup correctly when home, hopefully.

beauf · 05-03-2019 1:46pm

Often different phones and laptops have different WiFi cards/spec and will get get different speeds. Its not just if they are new, its depends on the feature set of the WiFi card and if it can use all the WiFi functionality of your router.

I have mine in bridge mode and two different WiFi routers connected to it. I have lots of problems with interference and congestion at 2.4 but on the 5ghz its much better but the range is terrible.
often have dropouts not of the WiFi routers, they are solid, but of the VM Hub modem. Usually comes back within a few minutes. Sometimes needs a reboot.

You might also use an App like WiFiman to see if your router is in the best place for coverage. Also which band you should be on. Auto channel hopping doesn't always work that well.

Damo 2k9 · 05-03-2019 3:04pm

beauf wrote: »

Often different phones and laptops have different WiFi cards/spec and will get get different speeds. Its not just if they are new, its depends on the feature set of the WiFi card and if it can use all the WiFi functionality of your router.

I have mine in bridge mode and two different WiFi routers connected to it. I have lots of problems with interference and congestion at 2.4 but on the 5ghz its much better but the range is terrible.
often have dropouts not of the WiFi routers, they are solid, but of the VM Hub modem. Usually comes back within a few minutes. Sometimes needs a reboot.

You might also use an App like WiFiman to see if your router is in the best place for coverage. Also which band you should be on. Auto channel hopping doesn't always work that well.

I completely agree regarding WiFi Cards etc, but surely they cant say 'Its fine on my phone so its fixed' and think its fine. (This was on the VM Hub btw, not the C9)

When you mean bridge mode, is this Router Mode on the Hub 3.0?? I found unbelievable speeds on 5ghz, albeit testing directly beside the router. Will report back later with how I find the coverage.

The channel that I was on earlier, most of my neighbours were on aswell so I will be changing that later on too.

beauf · 05-03-2019 3:20pm

Also check if you have dead spots in the house. My house has girder in the kitchen which seems to kill a lot of signal, or my neighbours wifi is stronger there and drowns out mine.

I used a powerline adapter to move the WiFi router to a more central location in the house to get better coverage.

Damo 2k9 · 05-03-2019 3:26pm

beauf wrote: »

Also check if you have dead spots in the house. My house has girder in the kitchen which seems to kill a lot of signal, or my neighbours wifi is stronger there and drowns out mine.

I used a powerline adapter to move the WiFi router to a more central location in the house to get better coverage.

I was going to ask you on how you ran ethernet to the router in different locations, surely your going to lose some signal strength running through powerlines? How have you found that?

beauf · 05-03-2019 3:33pm

Yes but a bad power line & Router combination at 40~80 Mbps is better than WiFi only at 5 Mbps.
If I need a better connection I use another power-line and Ethernet direct to the Computer.

You lose speed on power-lines if they are on different electrical loops or there is interference.
I have a 3rd party laptop supply that stops it working entirely.

If you have money a mesh Wifi would be best. But expensive. I'm just using a mix of old 100Mbit adaptors and a couple of new 500 ones.,

Damo 2k9 · 05-03-2019 3:39pm

beauf wrote: »

Yes but a bad power line & Router combination at 40~80 Mbps is better than WiFi only at 5 Mbps.
If I need a better connection I use another power-line and Ethernet direct to the Computer.

You lose speed on power-lines if they are on different electrical loops or there is interference.
I have a 3rd party laptop supply that stops it working entirely.

If you have money a mesh Wifi would be best. But expensive. I'm just using a mix of old 100Mbit adaptors and a couple of new 500 ones.,

I am currently using the 100Mbit powerline adaptors myself, and as you said reaching the ~40Mbps on my desktop (upstairs). No money for Mesh unfortunately, although thats the dream!

I will see how I get on with the new router later on and report back, see how the coverage is throughout the house. Coverage has been great with the Hub 3.0, it was just the speeds that werent!

moonboy52 · 27-03-2019 6:09pm

Just had a call from Virgin, telling me a new Modem/Router is on the way.

I had to tell them i would not accept it and that i am happy with the 3925.

It has been rock solid, backed up with SamKnows Data. Solid 240/24 24/7.

Is everyone still happy with their 3925?

ED E · 28-03-2019 1:39am

moonboy52 wrote: »

Just had a call from Virgin, telling me a new Modem/Router is on the way.

I had to tell them i would not accept it and that i am happy with the 3925.

It has been rock solid, backed up with SamKnows Data. Solid 240/24 24/7.

Is everyone still happy with their 3925?

Be careful its not delivered anyways, a week to restore the provisioning :mad:

bennyx_o · 28-03-2019 7:23am

Recently tried to upgrade to 500mb but was told it wasnt available in my area so upgraded to 360mb and, to my surprise, got to keep my 3925. Thought I have been forced into a new modem. Just need to sort out the speed, only getting 290mb or so DL speed

Vikings · 31-03-2019 7:04pm

I have a Hub 3.0 modem (VMDG500) and looking to buy a router for primarily better WiFi performance.

Is there anything someone can recommend in the 100-150 range? Or what should I be looking at to improve now and last a while?

Ivefoundgod · 06-04-2019 12:03pm

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but does anyone know what the speeds are for Virgin Media in Carlow Town? I've got eir fibre but the speed is really poor. Takes forever to download games on steam/PSN/Xbox live even when connecting via ethernet cable. Speedtest generally comes in around 24mbps download, 16mbps upload. I'm currently paying €55 a month for eir and its €69 a month (after 6 months @ €39) to get Virgin media 500mb. I don't mind the extra cost if it will be worthwhile. The only thing i'll miss with eir is the sports channels but I believe BT is moving to Sky as distributor next year in any case which would take a lot of the decent content off eir.

Anyone familiar with the speeds in the area?

ED E · 06-04-2019 12:58pm

I suspect you're actually getting 40Mb down but the TV package is hammering that down to 24. A downside to IPTV.

If Virgin are offering 500Mb then you'll get exactly what you sign up to, 240 will be 244, 360 will be 366, 500 will be around 510. Their TV doesn't take from the broadband speed. If you game a lot be aware of the PUMA6 bug that will make your latency(ping) spike every 90 seconds. A big issue for twitch shooters etc.

Ivefoundgod · 06-04-2019 3:23pm

ED E wrote: »

I suspect you're actually getting 40Mb down but the TV package is hammering that down to 24. A downside to IPTV.

If Virgin are offering 500Mb then you'll get exactly what you sign up to, 240 will be 244, 360 will be 366, 500 will be around 510. Their TV doesn't take from the broadband speed. If you game a lot be aware of the PUMA6 bug that will make your latency(ping) spike every 90 seconds. A big issue for twitch shooters etc.

I don’t have their tv package so it’s not that. That’s good to know, thanks. Not much of a shooter fan but do play FIFA and PES on and off, would this bug cause issues there?

skippy123! · 22-04-2019 4:12pm

Hey guys...

I have VM 500Mb connection at the moment on their white box router... I do have my own Archer C7 and was thinking would it be better to have Virgin media router set up as modem and then use my Archer C7 as actual Wifi router?

I need to connect 4 LAN devices into it + several wifi devices. Will that work?

beauf · 22-04-2019 4:55pm

It will work much better in my experience.

skippy123! · 22-04-2019 7:22pm

beauf wrote: »

It will work much better in my experience.

Will give it a go and see how it works... Maybe as well to set up WiFi on 5G for faster speeds just to be sure... I don't need the range that much as my apartment is U shaped.

skippy123! · 02-05-2019 8:49pm

beauf wrote: »

It will work much better in my experience.

I have tried what you have suggested and it works great! Thank you for the suggestion on this!

SkySter · 18-05-2019 11:39am

I have upgraded from 240MB to 360MB service. Currently I use my own router connected to the old CISCO EPC 3965 in Bridge Mode. VM say they will be sending out the new hub to replace the Cisco.

Does the Hub support bridge mode? I would prefer to keep things as they are and continue to use my router.

Damien360 · 18-05-2019 1:53pm

SkySter wrote: »

I have upgraded from 240MB to 360MB service. Currently I use my own router connected to the old CISCO EPC 3965 in Bridge Mode. VM say they will be sending out the new hub to replace the Cisco.

Does the Hub support bridge mode? I would prefer to keep things as they are and continue to use my router.

This is the specific page and options. I assume modem mode is bridge

moonboy52 · 18-05-2019 2:04pm

SkySter wrote: »

Does the Hub support bridge mode? I would prefer to keep things as they are and continue to use my router.

I was in the same boat and told them i would prefer to keep the 3925.

I just did not know if their new hub would be as stable as the setup i have now (bridged).

bennyx_o · 18-05-2019 5:07pm

I upgraded to 360mb recently and there was no mention of a new modem. I still have the 3925.

degsie · 20-05-2019 1:07pm

Do new upgrades force you onto IPv6?

20-05-2019 1:41pm

degsie wrote: »

Do new upgrades force you onto IPv6?

No, I upgraded to the at the end of last year and wasn't moved onto IPv6.
Also Hub in bridge mode made a big improvement for me, no more constant reboots anymore.

Damien360 · 20-05-2019 6:33pm

degsie wrote: »

Do new upgrades force you onto IPv6?

No.....but. I have to use a VPN for work from home. I had to request to have IPv4 only connection. Advise received from this thread.

Marlow · 24-05-2019 11:49am

Damien360 wrote: »

No.....but. I have to use a VPN for work from home. I had to request to have IPv4 only connection. Advise received from this thread.

You could just have turned IPv6 off in your protocol stack in the network settings of your PC and be done with it.

/M

jeffk · 22-08-2019 11:18am

Whats the middle ground of best and cheapest for a router to replace the hub 3?

Seems to have a meltdown when a few people using it, especially WIFI and have tried change channels. optimization on/off etc

Thanks

WealthyB · 22-08-2019 11:41am

I replaced that Virgin 3.0 yoke with NETGEAR R7000P Nighthawk Dual-Band AC2300 (2.3 Gbps) Smart Wi-Fi Router - Circle Parental Controls and Alexa enabled and I couldn't be happier. WiFi penetration is so much better now I've been able to retire my TP-Link Powerline Adapter that was covering the upstairs rooms. The parental controls I won't need for another year or two but it's good knowing they're there and there's a decent android app for it too.

CoBo55 · 22-08-2019 2:25pm

WealthyB wrote: »

I replaced that Virgin 3.0 yoke with NETGEAR R7000P Nighthawk Dual-Band AC2300 (2.3 Gbps) Smart Wi-Fi Router - Circle Parental Controls and Alexa enabled and I couldn't be happier. WiFi penetration is so much better now I've been able to retire my TP-Link Powerline Adapter that was covering the upstairs rooms. The parental controls I won't need for another year or two but it's good knowing they're there and there's a decent android app for it too.

What speeds are you getting on WiFi? I presume you meant the hub is bridged. I have a tplink router but WiFi performance is disappointing.

WealthyB · 22-08-2019 3:42pm

CoBo55 wrote: »

What speeds are you getting on WiFi? I presume you meant the hub is bridged. I have a tplink router but WiFi performance is disappointing.

Yep sorry - the Hub is now in bridge mode. When I last checked I was getting around 300Mbps on Wifi downstairs (am on the 360 tariff); can check again tonight and advise.

CoBo55 · 22-08-2019 6:55pm

WealthyB wrote: »

Yep sorry - the Hub is now in bridge mode. When I last checked I was getting around 300Mbps on Wifi downstairs (am on the 360 tariff); can check again tonight and advise.

I can't get above 50 on any device wirelessly, I'm on the 360 package, top speed is no problem on the desktop.

Damien360 · 22-08-2019 8:10pm

CoBo55 wrote: »

I can't get above 50 on any device wirelessly, I'm on the 360 package, top speed is no problem on the desktop.

Are you using 2.4Ghz or 5GHz band for wireless. 5Ghz is a lot faster but does not have good wall penetration.

CoBo55 · 22-08-2019 11:28pm

Damien360 wrote: »

Are you using 2.4Ghz or 5GHz band for wireless. 5Ghz is a lot faster but does not have good wall penetration.

Just checked the phone and it was on the 2.4, reconnected to the 5 and got 67 d/l still very poor as I'm very close to the router (line of site). Laptop is on the 5Ghz got just below 60 meg. I've the Tp Link Archer C8 V1.0, could V1.0 be my problem? I thought it was only the C7 that had the major problem with V1.0 versus 2.0.

beauf · 23-08-2019 12:36am

Might be interference from other networks. Have you checked are you overlapping with any other networks.

jrd · 25-08-2019 11:13pm

WealthyB wrote: »

I replaced that Virgin 3.0 yoke with NETGEAR R7000P Nighthawk Dual-Band AC2300 (2.3 Gbps) Smart Wi-Fi Router - Circle Parental Controls and Alexa enabled and I couldn't be happier. WiFi penetration is so much better now I've been able to retire my TP-Link Powerline Adapter that was covering the upstairs rooms. The parental controls I won't need for another year or two but it's good knowing they're there and there's a decent android app for it too.

Good to know. Thanks. What did you do for setup? Did you have to clone MAC addresses or simply plug into bridging mode? How long was setup?

Guide - Getting the most out of your high speed Virgin Media (UPC) 240mb/s service

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