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

bk

EDIT: Important new information about Virgins new 360Mb/s service below

Since writing the below guide, Virgin has now launched a new 360Mb/s service and that now offers an alternative solution to fixing wireless problems with Virgins 240Mb/s service. If you sign up to the new 360Mb/s service, Virgin will supply you with a new router that supports 802.11ac wireless and seems to have far better wireless performance, performance far closer to the C8 I recommend below and thus should fix most peoples wireless performance issues (assuming their wireless client devices can also handle it).

The advantage is that it is a less complicated solution and you benefit from higher speeds. The disadvantage is that you need to pay more for this service.

So I'm going to leave the below guide here for the many people who decide to stay on the 240Mb/s service.

For those who do decide to upgrade to the new 360 service and already have their own third party router (e.g. C8, etc.) the good news is that the new Virgin router has semi official support for bridging right in the admin interface. So you can continue to bridge and use your new router.

Now with the new Virgin router supporting 802.11ac there is less of a performance gap with third party routers, so it isn't needed by everyone, like they were for the 240Mb/s. However third party routers will often support a lot more advanced networking features then the Virgin model and also may have faster processors and memory and thus can better handle a large umber of networking devices connected to them. So still a good option for power users IMO and now much easier to setup

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

Many people are currently upgrading to Virgin/UPC's very high speed 240Mb/s or 120Mb/s service, but finding that they don't seem to be getting the full speed.

This guide explains why this might be so and the changes you can make that will help you get closer to the full speed of the service.

Note: While this guide specifically pertains to Virgin's service, which are currently the only widespread residential service offering more then 100Mb/s, a lot of the information contained here is pretty generic and can be applied to any 100Mb/s+ service that might appear over the next few years such as ESB or Eircom FTTH

Table Of Contents

• Why aren't I getting full speed (120Mb/s, 240Mb/s) ?
• So, how do I properly test my broadband connection?
• Ok, I'm only getting about 30Mb/s, why?
• Ok, I'm only getting about 70 to 100Mb/s, why?
• Woohoo, I'm getting close to 240Mb/s wired, but much slower when I do the speed test over wifi, why?
• 2.4GHz versus 5GHz Wifi?
• OK, I'd like to buy a better wifi router, what should I get?
• Can you recommend one?
• Ok, so my new router has arrived, how do I set it up with UPC?
• Optional Extra steps
• What about this bridging I hear about?
• I'm still not getting the full speed from wifi?

Why aren't I getting full speed (120Mb/s, 240Mb/s) ?

In the past, the internet speeds we got from our ISP's were relatively slow and the existing wifi, networking gear and PC's we owned were often far faster then the speed our ISP delivered, so there wasn't an issue.

But now Virgin has launched super fast 240Mb/s broadband. This is really an incredibly fast speeds. However unfortunately now people are running into issues where their PC's, networking gear and wifi simply aren't fast enough to keep up with such fast service.

Wifi is a particularly bad culprit, it is often the case that the Virgin modem is in fact delivering the full speed to your home, but your wifi connection is the bottleneck that is stopping you from getting that full speed on your PC.

This guide will teach you how to first off all properly test the speed you are receiving and then fix the issues you find.

So, how do I properly test my broadband connection?

1) Connect your PC directly to your Virgin router via cat5e or cat6 ethernet cable.
2) Turn wifi off on your PC
3) Test your speed on http://speedtest.upc.ie

Notes:
- You shouldn't use wifi to do a proper, initial speed test. If you do use wifi to do the test, then you are only testing the wifi's performance and not the performance of the UPC service.
- Make sure there aren't any other devices (hubs, switches) connected between your PC and the UPC router
- You can use other speedtest sites like speediest.net, but note that they often aren't capable of fully delivering the top speed to very high speed broadband services like these, so you may not be getting an accurate reading.

Ok, I'm only getting about 30Mb/s, why?

Note: If you haven't already signed up to the new 120 or 240 packages and are currently on 30Mb/s, then it should be noted that you need to agree to a new 12 month contract to upgrade and you may need to pay €60 to get a new modem which supports speeds greater then 30Mb/s. The following advice assumes you have already signed up for one of the high speed packages.

First of all turn off your Virgin modem for one minute and start it and do the speed test again. If you are still only getting about 30Mb/s then follow the next steps.

This happens because of two reasons, both of which mean you should call UPC support and they will be able to quickly fix it for you:

1) You have an old UPC modem that only supports DOCSIS 2.0 and thus speeds of a max of 30Mb/s. Call UPC and they will send you a new UPC modem that supports DOCSIS 3.0 and thus speeds up to 240Mb/s

2) You have a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, but you are still on an old 30Mb/s profile. Call UPC and they will change you to the new 240Mb/s profile. It may take a day or two for the change to take effect and you might need to restart your modem for the change to take effect.

Ok, I'm only getting about 70 to 100Mb/s, why?

This usually indicates that one of the pieces of equipment you are using isn't capable of gigabit ethernet (10/100/1000) and is limited to only 100Mb/s ethernet (10/100).

- Check that you are using a Cat5e or Cat6 cable, Cat5 cables (notice no 'e') are limited to max 100Mb/s.

- Check the ethernet port on your PC, it may only support 10/100 which means your PC can't operate at higher speeds.

If this happen, you might be able to sort it by getting a new PCI or PCI Express card for a desktop PC or a ethernet to USB adaptor for your laptop or alternatively getting a new PC or laptop that supports 10/100/1000 (almost all modern PC's do).

Nope, I'm still getting speeds significantly less then 240Mb/s and neither of the above apply to me, what now?

While very rare, this might indicate a fault on the UPC cable coming into your home. Contact UPC support, they will be able to check your power levels and if there is an indication of a fault they will normally send out an engineer to fix it.

Woohoo, I'm getting close to 240Mb/s wired, but much slower when I do the speed test over wifi, why?

Yup, unfortunately Wifi is extremely variable and a lot less dependable then ethernet. You need to use ethernet to get the full speed.

The problem with wifi is that it uses unlicensed radio frequency that cause a great deal of interference and thus reduce reliability.

This interference can come from many, many places. Your neighbours wifi, bluetooth devices, DECT phones, baby monitors, Microwave ovens, etc. And not just these devices in your own home, but these devices in your neighbours home too! No wonder wifi is so limited.

But don't loose hope. There are ways that you can boost the performance of your wifi.

2.4GHz versus 5GHz Wifi?

First thing you need to understand is that wifi can use two different frequencies, either 2.4GHz or 5GHz and there are pros and cons to them.

The advantage of 2.4GHz is that due to it's lower frequency it can travel much further then 5GHz and it is better at travelling through walls and floors.

The disadvantage is that it is far noise frequency then 5GHz and thus suffers from far more interference. Also it supports smaller bandwidth channels then 5GHz which means slower speeds!

So the general advice for most people living in a normal sized house or apartment is to use 5GHz.

Now the Virgin routers normally ship with 2.4GHz enabled and you can switch them to 5GHz which will normally see your speeds jump from an average of about 40 to 50MB/s to 70 to 80Mb/s

But one problem, the UPC routers can only do either 2.4GHz or 5GHz at the same time, not both simultaneously. If you switch to 5GHz, then you might find that some of your wifi devices will stop working.

This is because older (and even some new devices like the PS4) only support 2.4GHz, thus a catch 22.

But not all is lost. Most high end wifi routers that you can buy online support both the 2.4GHz and 5GHZ simultaneously, thus eliminating this problem.

Also a high end wifi router will also support much higher speeds then the Virgin router, close to 200Mb/s over wifi might be possible. Over double what the Virgin routers can support.

The good news is, that if you do buy a new high end wifi router, you can plug it into the Virgin modem and use the wifi on your new router rather then the Virgin box to get the most out of your Virgin service.

Of course that means buying a new wifi router. I think it is a good idea to do this to get the most out of your Virgin service, but that it up to you.

OK, I'd like to buy a better wifi router, what should I get?

NB: Before you do buy a new router, please read the caveats at the end of this guide. You will only get better performance if the wireless radios in your laptop or PC also support higher speeds.

At a minimum I'd recommend a 802.11n model that supports dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) and dual radios. At least a N750 or N900 model or even better an AC1750 model.

Many many of these exist on amazon.co.uk, PC World, etc.

However make sure you get a model that is a router only, with a WAN port. You shouldn't confuse it with a model that is both a router + a ADSL/VDSL modem. Virgin use a totally different technology, DOCSIS 3.0 and an ADSL/VDSL modem won't work with Virgin.

Can you recommend one?

Yes, I highly recommend the TP Link Archer C7 C8 which I own myself.

NOTE: I was previously recommending the Archer C7v2 which is still an excellent router and highly recommended. But people are reporting that Amazon and some brick and mortars stores are still selling the buggy C7v1 models! So to avoid this, I've now changed my recommendation to the new and slightly more expensive C8 model, so people can avoid this issue. If you like you can still buy the C7 and send it back if you get the C7v1 model.

This is a 802.11ac router that supports dual band, dual radios and is backwards compatible with all current wifi standards (802.11a/b/g/n)

This is one of the top rated and reviewed routers, while being significantly cheaper then other big name brands, so fantastic value for money.

Lots of people here on this boards.ie forum, including myself use this router with Virgin and all have great experience with it.

One thing to be careful of, there are two versions of this router, C7v1 and C7v2. You will want the C7v2 as the v1 has some bugs in it that cause disconnections with Apple gear (iPhone, macs, etc.). If you order from Amazon you can't tell which one you will get, but it is more then likely a v2 model. However you should check when it arrives and if it turns out to be a v1 model then I recommend returning it to amazon. Amazon are normally very good about doing free returns, so it shouldn't be a problem.

You can avoid this issue completely by getting TP Links newer models the Archer C8 or C9, which are just as good as the C7, however you will pay a €25 to €50 premium for these newer models over the C7 and I'm not sure it is worth that.

Ok, so my new router has arrived, how do I set it up with UPC?

Note: These instructions are the steps I used to set up my Archer C7, however they should more or less apply to all similar routers.

1) Power on your new router, but don't connect it to the UPC modem yet.
2) Directly connect by ethernet from your PC to the new router.
3) Connect to the new routers admin interface, usually either 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1, username: admin password: admin
If your router is different then the details will normally be either on the underside of your router or in the manual that came with it.
4) If the IP address of your new router is 192.168.0.1 continue to the next step, otherwise jump to step 8
5) In your new routers web admin interface, change the IP address of your routers LAN port to 192.168.1.1 (Under Network -> LAN on the Archer C7)
6) Under DHCP, change your router to issue IP addresses in the range 192.168.1.x
for instance on the Archer C7, under DHCP Settings:
Start IP Address: 192.168.1.100
End IP Address: 192.168.1.199
7) Save your changes and reboot the new router
8) Connect an ethernet cable from any LAN port on your UPC modem to the WAN port on your new router.
9) You should now have access to the internet via your new router.
10) Connect to you UPC routers web interface:
192.168.0.1 Username: admin Password: admin
11) Disable wifi on your UPC router, this reduces interference caused by the extra unnecessary wifi point. You should use the wifi on your new router instead.

Note: Your new router will be broadcasting two wifi networks, one on 2.4GHz and the other on 5GHz. You should connect all your devices that support 5GHz to the 5GHz network for better performance.

Optional Extra steps

If you are going to be running servers or playing games, it maybe a good idea to also implement the following optional steps:

12) Connect to your new routers web admin interface
13) Set the "WAN Connection Type" to Static IP (found under Network -> WAN on the Archer C7).
14) Then enter the following:
IP Address: 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1
15) Click Save (you may need to reboot the server
16) Connect to the UPC modems web admin interface
17) Add the address 192.168.0.2 to the DMZ
18) Save the changes and reboot

What about this bridging I hear about?

Bridging is a special mode that turns off all the routing features on your Virgin router and runs it into a simple and dumb modem. Thus allowing your router take over all routing functions.

This is good as it avoids issues with something called double natting, which can cause problems for people running servers or playing games.

Unfortunately only one Virgin router, the Cisco EPC3925, supports this in it's web interface.

The Thomson and Technicolor don't support this by default, but there is a way to "hack" them to do it via SNMP commands.

However this is highly technical and doesn't always work. So i recommend it only to people with good technical experience and comfortable with playing with technology. However if you do decide to try it, you can find the details here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057106714

I'm still not getting the full speed from wifi?

- Remember you'll only get the best from wifi when in the same room as the wifi router. Move a few rooms away and the speed drops. However even then it will still be much higher then with the wifi in the Virgin router.

- Also remember you PC and other devices might not support the full capabilities of your new wifi router and therefore you might not get the full speed.

- Generally you should expect to get 1/3 to 1/2 of what the specification says. So if the radio in your laptop says it supports 300Mb/s, then expect between 100Mb/s and 150Mb/s, probably closer to 100Mb/s

bk

Ok folks, there have been an awful lot of questions over the last few weeks about how to take advantage of UPC's fastest packages. So rather then answering the same questions over and over again, I've put together this guide to hopefully answer most peoples questions.

It would be great if people with experience of this could review it and let me know of any mistakes of which I'm sure there are many!

Also any suggestions on things to add to the guide.

I hope to flesh out this guide in time and add screen shots, etc.

Hope this helps you all, cheers.

clevtrev

Does this guide apply to the Horizon box ? from what I am told the horizon is what is shipped with all new broadband connections now irrespective of whether you want TV or not. Apologies if this has been answered on other threads but I understood the Horizon box could not be used as a bridge?

bk

clevtrev wrote: »

Does this guide apply to the Horizon box ? from what I am told the horizon is what is shipped with all new broadband connections now irrespective of whether you want TV or not. Apologies if this has been answered on other threads but I understood the Horizon box could not be used as a bridge?

First of all that isn't true, they are still shipping routers if you order broadband only. At least true as of last week (my neighbour got broadband only installed).

Also if you do get TV, you can ask them to separate broadband service from Horizon and they will send you a separate router/modem.

Sounds like you spoke to a sales person who was badly trained or just lying in order to push another Horizon sale (probably more commission or something).

If you do get the Horizon box, I believe * you can attach your own wifi router to it as described above.

However I haven't heard of anyone being able to bridge the Horizon box. Now it might actually be possible, it would be interesting if someone tries the same instructions as the Thomson for setting up bridging via SNMP, but more then likely it won't work.

* I don't have the Horizon box myself, so I can't be certain, but from what I've heard it will work.

ED E

Haha, Ive been thinking about doing something like this. GJ getting it done first

I'll write up a cisco cooling guide if you'd like to amend that to to the bottom for people still using them.

bk

ED E wrote: »

I'll write up a cisco cooling guide if you'd like to amend that to to the bottom for people still using them.

That would be great, I was thinking of adding that detail, but my hand was too slow after writing all the above

degsie

Great guide! Hope you don't mind that I've highlited a couple of spellers

bk

degsie wrote: »

Great guide! Hope you don't mind that I've highlited a couple of spellers

Not at all, I'm delighted to get corrections, hard not to make some mistakes in a post that long. Cheers

roast

Great guide BK, fair play.

lucast2007us

Damn BK this is some guide. Even Stevie Wonder would have no problems following this. You sir should take a bow

AlanS181824

I have Vodafone but massive thanks bk for all the effort you've put into this!

DoYouEvenLift

If one could get a consistent 200 down then that's pretty impressive for Ireland. I'm actually unaware on where the 240 package is available though?


Also, aren't UPC testing ~300-400Mbps in one of their other European regions this year?

ED E

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

If one could get a consistent 200 down then that's pretty impressive for Ireland. I'm actually unaware on where the 240 package is available though?


Also, aren't UPC testing ~300-400Mbps in one of their other European regions this year?

Its available everywhere UPC are except for the few remaining MMDS areas that max at 30mb.

The hardware can do 400 easy. We'll continue to creep towards it like they've been doing for a while.

DoYouEvenLift

ED E wrote: »

Its available everywhere UPC are except for the few remaining MMDS areas that max at 30mb.

The hardware can do 400 easy. We'll continue to creep towards it like they've been doing for a while.

Where abouts is eircom in comparison? Weren't they supposed to be doing a joint job with the ESB to make their connections entirely fibre/no more copper?

speedfreak

Great guide but when i try to save step 14 I get the following error..any ideas?

Error code: 5005
Bad DNS Server IP address, please input another IP address.
for example: 202.96.134.188

cruhoortwunk

Cheers man. I have my TC7200 setup in bridge mode (using snmp method) connected to my TP Link AC1750.
I was getting about 210Mb on wired and 80 wifi, so replaced the cat5 that was connecting the modem to the router with a cat6 cable.
Strange that the wired connection managed to get 210 over cat5 I thought, but I'm getting 150Mb over wifi now on 5Ghz.
How are you getting about 200Mb wifi though? My setup is the same as yours, except mine is in bridge mode.
Any thoughts?
Edit:just spotted the part about N600, that would explain it.

bidiots

speedfreak wrote: »

Great guide but when i try to save step 14 I get the following error..any ideas?

Error code: 5005
Bad DNS Server IP address, please input another IP address.
for example: 202.96.134.188

Follow the step again, exactly as stated..sounds like you are entering something wrong

speedfreak

bidiots wrote: »

Follow the step again, exactly as stated..sounds like you are entering something wrong

Thanks I did and I'm not!

white_westie

Great guide bk.

Maybe mention that when looking at buying a router it needs to a cable router not an adsl/vdsl router!
Don't think you see too many on the shelves in shops here, so buying online is usually the best option.

killbillvol2

bk wrote: »

If you do get the Horizon box, I believe * you can attach your own wifi router to it as described above.

However I haven't heard of anyone being able to bridge the Horizon box. Now it might actually be possible, it would be interesting if someone tries the same instructions as the Thomson for setting up bridging via SNMP, but more then likely it won't work.

* I don't have the Horizon box myself, so I can't be certain, but from what I've heard it will work.

I attached a TP Link router to the Horizon box no problem. Your instructions above would work fine.

cruhoortwunk

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

Cheers man. I have my TC7200 setup in bridge mode (using snmp method) connected to my TP Link AC1750.
I was getting about 210Mb on wired and 80 wifi, so replaced the cat5 that was connecting the modem to the router with a cat6 cable.
Strange that the wired connection managed to get 210 over cat5 I thought, but I'm getting 150Mb over wifi now on 5Ghz.
How are you getting about 200Mb wifi though? My setup is the same as yours, except mine is in bridge mode.
Any thoughts?
Edit:just spotted the part about N600, that would explain it.

I must have had the wired connection in for the speed test of 150mb. the most I can get out of WiFi though is 110mb.
My wifi card is Centrino N 6235, which is supposedly n600, or 300Mb.

TallGlass

I don't know if it has been mentioned, but if your using cat5e on a cable run the longer the cable the more the speed will drop. The max distance supported by cat5e is 100m then you need a repeater. So if your going wired keep that cat5e cable as short as possible between the router and interface card.

DoYouEvenLift

TallGlass wrote: »

I don't know if it has been mentioned, but if your using cat5e on a cable run the longer the cable the more the speed will drop. The max distance supported by cat5e is 100m then you need a repeater. So if your going wired keep that cat5e cable as short as possible between the router and interface card.

I thought there was no speed drop on 5e and 6 cables and that only happened on the 5 and older cables?

bk

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

If one could get a consistent 200 down then that's pretty impressive for Ireland. I'm actually unaware on where the 240 package is available though?

Also, aren't UPC testing ~300-400Mbps in one of their other European regions this year?

The 240Mb/s package is available to the majority * of UPC costumers, over 700,000 premises.

* There are some small minority still stuck on MMDS or areas that haven't been upgraded yet, but we are talking less then 5% of UPC costumers.

Yes, UPC sells 500Mb/s in a few cities in Poland. Those speeds will certainly be possible in the future, UPC's network is certainly capable of it, though perhaps new modems will be necessary, plus work on UPC's network behind the scenes.

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

Where abouts is eircom in comparison? Weren't they supposed to be doing a joint job with the ESB to make their connections entirely fibre/no more copper?

Eircom are rolling out VDSL2 at speeds of "upto" 100Mb/s (note unlike UPC it depends on your distance form the cab and it can be as low as 5Mb/s).

This is currently available to over 1 million premises and they expect to hit 1.6 million premises by 2016.

ESB/Vodafone have announced that they plan to roll out FTTH to 500,000 premises over the next 3 years and potentially more in a second phase after that.

As a result Eircom have announced that they will also rollout FTTH, but really no solid details or signs on that yet. I think Eirom are waiting to see if the ESB really do start their FTTH rollout first.

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

I must have had the wired connection in for the speed test of 150mb. the most I can get out of WiFi though is 110mb.
My wifi card is Centrino N 6235, which is supposedly n600, or 300Mb.

As I mentioned in the guide, expect 1/3 to 1/2 the rated speed. So between 100Mb/s and 150Mb/s, so 110 Mb/s seems about right for this wifi card. So sorry I'm afraid your options are:

- Live with it for now, maybe downgrade to UPC's 120 package and save €5 per month, if you aren't going to use ethernet. (remember the 120 package doesn't include the free mobile calls).
- Upgrade your PC
- Add a USB wifi dongle to your PC that supports higher speeds.

bk

speedfreak wrote: »

Great guide but when i try to save step 14 I get the following error..any ideas?

Error code: 5005
Bad DNS Server IP address, please input another IP address.
for example: 202.96.134.188

I'm not sure what the issue is here and I can't test it as I've bridged my router, but you could try entering the Google DNS servers in the field, it might solve the issue:

Primary DNS: 8.8.8.8
Secondary DNS: 8.8.4.4

List of other free DNS servers here if you don't trust Google:
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstricks/a/free-public-dns-servers.htm

Let us know how that goes.

bk

cruhoortwunk wrote: »

I must have had the wired connection in for the speed test of 150mb. the most I can get out of WiFi though is 110mb.
My wifi card is Centrino N 6235, which is supposedly n600, or 300Mb.

cruhoortwunk I've just realised that what I had written in my guide was wrong.

I had forgotten that N600 meant it only supported 300Mb/s on 2.4GHz + 300Mb/s on 5Ghz. So 1/3 to 1/2 of 300Mb/s, not 600Mb/s

You probably need your PC to support N750 or N900 or AC to get closer to 200Mb/s

Damn marketers always trying to confuse people! I've updated the guide accordingly, sorry about that.

DoYouEvenLift

bk wrote: »

The 240Mb/s package is available to the majority * of UPC costumers, over 700,000 premises.

* There are some small minority still stuck on MMDS or areas that haven't been upgraded yet, but we are talking less then 5% of UPC costumers.

Yes, UPC sells 500Mb/s in a few cities in Poland. Those speeds will certainly be possible in the future, UPC's network is certainly capable of it, though perhaps new modems will be necessary, plus work on UPC's network behind the scenes.



Eircom are rolling out VDSL2 at speeds of "upto" 100Mb/s (note unlike UPC it depends on your distance form the cab and it can be as low as 5Mb/s).

This is currently available to over 1 million premises and they expect to hit 1.6 million premises by 2016.

ESB/Vodafone have announced that they plan to roll out FTTH to 500,000 premises over the next 3 years and potentially more in a second phase after that.

As a result Eircom have announced that they will also rollout FTTH, but really no solid details or signs on that yet. I think Eirom are waiting to see if the ESB really do start their FTTH rollout first.



As I mentioned in the guide, expect 1/3 to 1/2 the rated speed. So between 100Mb/s and 150Mb/s, so 110 Mb/s seems about right for this wifi card. So sorry I'm afraid your options are:

- Live with it for now, maybe downgrade to UPC's 120 package and save €5 per month, if you aren't going to use ethernet. (remember the 120 package doesn't include the free mobile calls).
- Upgrade your PC
- Add a USB wifi dongle to your PC that supports higher speeds.

That's great. Any idea of a general timeframe when 500Mbps would be rolled out over here?

Keith186

Good guide bk.

Its worth noting for anyone with a Horizon box that it supports dual band, both frequencies at the same time.

I've got 120Mb broadband.

On 2.4Ghz I get 26Mbps down and 13Mbps up.

On 5.0Ghz I get 65Mbps down and 13Mbps up.

So it's worth setting up any devices that have both frequencies so you get the best performance. Once you put the password in you can switch between them quickly afterwards. 5Ghz has a noticeably shorter range however.

The SSID for 2.4Ghz starts with UPC24 and the 5Ghz begins with UPC50 so you know which is which if you're switching between them.

bk

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

That's great. Any idea of a general timeframe when 500Mbps would be rolled out over here?

No idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if we have that available (perhaps at a premium) within one year.

I suppose it depends on how much pressure UPC come under from the rollout of FTTH by the ESB and Eircom. The faster FTTH is rolled out the faster UPC will upgrade.

However I'd rather UPC focused on improving upload speeds then download speeds. A big selling point for FTTH is it is closer to being symmetric *

I'd take a 150/150 FTTH connection over a 240/24 cable connection. I think you would see more real world benefit with better upload.

I've just gone from 120/12 to 240/24, I saw almost no real world improvement from the jump in download speed, but a big improvement in the jump in upload speed that made it well worth it.

UPC also really need to do a much better job with their modems. Their current ones just aren't good enough.

* Strictly speaking the FTTH technology that the ESB and Eircom are using, GPON isn't symmetric, but it is much closer 2 to 1 versus the 10 to 1 we see with UPC.

bk

Thanks Keith186, I'll add that to the guide.

dub45

It would seem from posts elsewhere that you cannot disable the wifi on the UPC router without previously unsubscribing from the Horizon Wi-Free service?

bk

dub45 wrote: »

It would seem from posts elsewhere that you cannot disable the wifi on the UPC router without previously unsubscribing from the Horizon Wi-Free service?

I haven't experienced that on my own or any other UPC modem I've played with.

DoYouEvenLift

bk wrote: »

The 240Mb/s package is available to the majority * of UPC costumers, over 700,000 premises.

* There are some small minority still stuck on MMDS or areas that haven't been upgraded yet, but we are talking less then 5% of UPC costumers.

Yes, UPC sells 500Mb/s in a few cities in Poland. Those speeds will certainly be possible in the future, UPC's network is certainly capable of it, though perhaps new modems will be necessary, plus work on UPC's network behind the scenes.



Eircom are rolling out VDSL2 at speeds of "upto" 100Mb/s (note unlike UPC it depends on your distance form the cab and it can be as low as 5Mb/s).

This is currently available to over 1 million premises and they expect to hit 1.6 million premises by 2016.

ESB/Vodafone have announced that they plan to roll out FTTH to 500,000 premises over the next 3 years and potentially more in a second phase after that.

As a result Eircom have announced that they will also rollout FTTH, but really no solid details or signs on that yet. I think Eirom are waiting to see if the ESB really do start their FTTH rollout first.



As I mentioned in the guide, expect 1/3 to 1/2 the rated speed. So between 100Mb/s and 150Mb/s, so 110 Mb/s seems about right for this wifi card. So sorry I'm afraid your options are:

- Live with it for now, maybe downgrade to UPC's 120 package and save €5 per month, if you aren't going to use ethernet. (remember the 120 package doesn't include the free mobile calls).
- Upgrade your PC
- Add a USB wifi dongle to your PC that supports higher speeds.

I don't upload much, if anything at all, though so I can't think of any benefits I'd have from having an equal U/D ratio aside from just having the option of high upload speeds available if I ever did need it. I'd say ISPs just think most customers are this way but are there any benefits from it for people like me? If they just had the option available it'd be good though, I've a friend who runs a large YouTube channel that actually moved just to get the highest upload speeds possible and they'd honestly pay hundreds per month if they needed to just to be able to upload as quick as possible lol.

As time goes on and cloud storage improves as well I think I'll be more interested in high upload speeds...and I guess I wouldn't mind being able to seed for once.

wait4me

Right so I upgraded my UPC broadband and received the new modem, Ubee EVW3226. What UPC didn't tell me was the second I signed for the new modem and the courier left so too did the service to my old modem. Panic averted when I hooked up the new modem and all looked good - full set of sparkingly lights on the front of the modem etc. Except... My old set-up was that I plugged a Dell Powerconnect 2224 into the (old) modem and ran all the ethernet links out of this switch to computers around the house, NAS etc. For some reason the new modem doesn't not recognize or see the switch; and I need more than 4 ethernet sockets. So am I snookered? Any advice welcome.

PS According to UPC, computers running OS older than Windows 7 will not get the new speed; that was clear in my house last night using two compters with sdifferent OS's.

bk

wait4me, strange the Dell Powerconnect 2224 should certainly work with this modem, no problem. Try powering off the switch and back on again.

Perhaps you are on DS-Lite/IPv6 and this switch doesn't support it.... Maybe

If that is the case, then you can request UPC to switch you back to IPv4, which should hopefully get everything back working again.

Note, that reading the specs, this switch is only a 10/100 model. That means anything attached to it will only get a max of 100Mb/s. You won't be able to take advantage of 240Mb/s over this switch. You might want to think about upgrading this switch.

BTW as to the Windows 7 thing, that is bull. The speed you get has nothing to do with the operating system you are running. However it is true that older PCs may have ethernet ports that only support 10/100 (like your swtich) or older versions of wifi, which would limit speed to max 100Mb/s. I'd say they are just saying the Windows 7 thing as an easy way to say you'll only get the best speeds on a modern PC that supports 10/100/1000

wait4me

Thanks - I'll give that a try when I get home.

As we are on the topic - any suggestion as to what switch would be suitable?

bk

wait4me wrote: »

Thanks - I'll give that a try when I get home.

As we are on the topic - any suggestion as to what switch would be suitable?

How many ports do you need, 24 seems an awful lot for a home user in one device! *

Lots of options here on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=gigabit+switch

Scroll down to see a few with 16 and 24 ports.

* Now that I think of it, I've actually got 24 ports myself! But those are spread over 3, 8 port switches and is more to do with my home network setup.

wait4me

bk wrote: »

wait4me, strange the Dell Powerconnect 2224 ............Try powering off the switch and back on again.

doh . Yep a simple switch off and on worked. feck I could have saved me head on the rafters in the attic. Thanks for your help and guidance - now to tackle the machines that are at a slow speed

bk

wait4me wrote: »

doh . Yep a simple switch off and on worked. feck I could have saved me head on the rafters in the attic. Thanks for your help and guidance - now to tackle the machines that are at a slow speed

Oh, BTW I should have mentioned, before you go buying a new switch, you should first check the ethernet ports on the PC's too.

If those PC's are all 10/100, then no point in buying a new switch unless you upgrade these PC's too (either new PC or new ethernet card is possible).

dublinercheese

I also have the UPC 240Mbps service and I get full speed over WiFi with my router in access point mode. You definitely want an AC device (make sure all your clients have AC adapters as well. I highly recommend the ASUS devices. Very good hardware and software.

They can also run DD-WRT if that's your flavor which has a lot more tweakable options. Make sure that when you're buying a device, it has gigabit lan ports so you get full speeds to your new access point/router.

I bought the ASUS RT-AC66U a couple years ago and it's been solid. The RT-AC68U is the newer version of this. More models:
asus.com/ie/Networking/Wireless_Routers_Products/

wait4me

bk wrote: »

Oh, BTW I should have mentioned, before you go buying a new switch, you should first check the ethernet ports on the PC's too.

If those PC's are all 10/100, then no point in buying a new switch unless you upgrade these PC's too (either new PC or new ethernet card is possible).

Thanks - that's the next issue I will have to deal with!

droidman123

I went on this deal last week, I am still only getting 50mb download speed.when I rang them the guy said I would only expect to get 200mb+ when wired up with an Ethernet cable,otherwise 50 mb on wifi is normal.is that correct? the deal I am on is the 240 mb download

dublinercheese

droidman123 wrote: »

I went on this deal last week, I am still only getting 50mb download speed.when I rang them the guy said I would only expect to get 200mb+ when wired up with an Ethernet cable,otherwise 50 mb on wifi is normal.is that correct? the deal I am on is the 240 mb download

Your wifi speed depends on your device (both router/ap and clients (the radio in your computers).

I get ~236 down and ~23 up consistently with my 802.11ac equipment. If your computer is connected via ethernet to your device and you're still getting 50mb, then something is wrong. Either the ports are not gigabit, the cable is bad, NIC card is bad or the connection itself is bad. You might also verify that UPC indeed upgraded your service.

We can give you more ideas if you tell us exactly what devices you're using.

Benzino

I was thinking in investing in a new router to better wifi speeds (mostly for my chromecast), so just wanna say thanks for such a great post, this will help me out immensely!

droidman123

dublinercheese wrote: »

Your wifi speed depends on your device (both router/ap and clients (the radio in your computers).

I get ~236 down and ~23 up consistently with my 802.11ac equipment. If your computer is connected via ethernet to your device and you're still getting 50mb, then something is wrong. Either the ports are not gigabit, the cable is bad, NIC card is bad or the connection itself is bad. You might also verify that UPC indeed upgraded your service.

We can give you more ideas if you tell us exactly what devices you're using.

My router isED3 TC7200 EMTA, i,m clueless about these router setups.i dont want to connect a cable to it because for me that defeats the purpose of "wireless" connectivity,so on wifi i,m getting 45-50mb download speed and 20-24mb upload speed.i know connecting to an ethernet port would give me faster speed, but even so,50 mb seems a bit low in relation to the 240mb advertised speeds.i was thinking of getting one of the routers on amazon that bk mentioned,butni have my phone connected to my current router and i dont wanna mess things up.

MarkY91

i get about 70mb wired but can rarely go wired. i get 30-35 wireless in my room. is this the most i can expect from a 10/00 laptop? using the ubee router they now give out.

what wifi speed improvement could i expect with a 10/100/1000 laptop?

ThisRegard

It's your wireless card that determines that, you're mentioning your ethernet card details.

bk

ThisRrgard is correct, 10/100 is your wired Ethernet interface. Your wireless interface would be different.

However your laptop being only 10/100 would indicate it is an older model and thus your wifi specification is probably also older and thus I wouldn't expect much faster from it either.

MarkY91

ThisRegard wrote: »

It's your wireless card that determines that, you're mentioning your ethernet card details.

oh yeah thats right. my wireless card is Qualcomm Atheros AR9285. seems to be a crap oul piece of hardware according to google

ruarua

Hello, a quick question if possible,

I posted a little while ago over in "Bargain Alerts, UPC 240mb broadband and telephone package €45/month" but think it might be better in this forum. Apologies for the double post.

I was looking to move to the 45 euro phone and broadband package. But was told that upc phone was not available in my neck of the woods. Nor the 240mb/s. That 30 was in fact the the fastest. I'm in the seskin view area (D 24).

Could anyone let me know if this is indeed the case. Or am I being bamboozled? (Pm or otherwise)

Thanks a lot.

degsie

ruarua wrote: »

Hello, a quick question if possible,

I posted a little while ago over in "Bargain Alerts, UPC 240mb broadband and telephone package €45/month" but think it might be better in this forum. Apologies for the double post.

I was looking to move to the 45 euro phone and broadband package. But was told that upc phone was not available in my neck of the woods. Nor the 240mb/s. That 30 was in fact the the fastest. I'm in the seskin view area (D 24).

Could anyone let me know if this is indeed the case. Or am I being bamboozled? (Pm or otherwise)

Thanks a lot.

Check with the UPC reps on the 'talk to...' forum. They can check if you are being served by legacy equipment.