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

capailldubh

Just signed up for the 240 service. Just a question. The rep said I would be getting a new "box".
(His english was not great so he didnt seem to understand my tech questions)
Does my Technicolor 7200 work with 240MB or do they give you a new modem ("box") or is that the Horizon box he is refering to?.
I have the 7200 bridged and fed to a WNDR3800 N600. This setup works very solid. I have a lot of ports forwarded for Blueiris security cameras and Flight radar 24 feeds and would like to keep that setup if possible. I do not want a modem I cannot bridge.
Just wising myself up for when the tech boys arrive. Maybe I can ask for the right modem when they are here or opt to keep the 7200.

MarkAnthony

capailldubh wrote: »

Just signed up for the 240 service. Just a question. The rep said I would be getting a new "box".
(His english was not great so he didnt seem to understand my tech questions)
Does my Technicolor 7200 work with 240MB or do they give you a new modem ("box") or is that the Horizon box he is refering to?.
I have the 7200 bridged and fed to a WNDR3800 N600. This setup works very solid. I have a lot of ports forwarded for Blueiris security cameras and Flight radar 24 feeds and would like to keep that setup if possible. I do not want a modem I cannot bridge.
Just wising myself up for when the tech boys arrive. Maybe I can ask for the right modem when they are here or opt to keep the 7200.

Mines a 7200 on UPC for broadband only - 240Mbit. Did you sign up for their terrible TV?

capailldubh

Good, so maybe I can keep my present setup. The 7200 is crap but works fine bridged as a modem only.
Yeah. I have the TV for a few years now but only turn on the thing rarely. Downgraded to the €75 a month bundle from €81. Less HD channels.
Must look into alternative TV.

mac.book

Hi guys,

I'm a new UPC customer to signup for 240Mb fibre in early August. I work at Carphone Warehouse so I could pick up one of the ready to go modems, the only ones we have here are the TC7200U models. Could anyone tell me if this is the latest model that UPC is sending out at the moment? Will it support full 240Mb/s? If theres a newer model, could you tell me if theres any noticeable difference in specs? Also is C8 still the most recommended for an 802.11ac router?

Thanks

MarkAnthony

capailldubh wrote: »

Good, so maybe I can keep my present setup. The 7200 is crap but works fine bridged as a modem only.
Yeah. I have the TV for a few years now but only turn on the thing rarely. Downgraded to the €75 a month bundle from €81. Less HD channels.
Must look into alternative TV.

One you're out of contract threaten to cancel, you should get it down to €27.50 a month for 6/9 months. Grab yourself Sky and play them off each other, you should get basic Sky for about €20 a month. If you don't mind running a few cables you can run a few TVs off the one box. (Then use the app to change channels etc.)

Sorry this is probably a bit OT.

Johnboy1951

capailldubh wrote: »

Good, so maybe I can keep my present setup. The 7200 is crap but works fine bridged as a modem only.
Yeah. I have the TV for a few years now but only turn on the thing rarely. Downgraded to the €75 a month bundle from €81. Less HD channels.
Must look into alternative TV.

Free to Air TV from Satellite, plus a Saorview set up will provide much more that you seem to require from a TV service ..... and no monthly payments just cost of set up!

Rock Paper Scissors

guys would this router work with UPC?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PK0JLCI/

MarkAnthony

Rock Paper Scissors wrote: »

guys would this router work with UPC?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PK0JLCI/

Hope so just ordered it's little sister the C8. You still use your modem - which one do you have?

amerdy

Hi

vey usuful information .I just had New UPC samsung installed and only receiving 20MB over wifi with 240 mb LAN Service

Do you recommend i use a new router. I have all MAC gear iPhone 6 and is wifi cameras and sons sound system

beauf

If you have have one device stuck on 802.11g on your network it will slow everything else down to those kinda speeds. Turn all wifi devices and add them back one by one to see which is the problem. It may also be interference form other networks, in which case you can change the wifi channel on the route or put it to auto where it find the least congested channel. I turned off the Wii ( 802.11g) and one of the mobiles which while 802.11n for some reaons slows the whole network down. If you have a dualzone wifi router you can have old devices on one zone and faster ones on the other.

Redshoestoo

I'm paying full wack for TV and Internet with UPC, however I am not getting fibre internet because on my road the UPC cable hangs from house to house and fibre does not work when exposed to the elements, only when buried under the ground. Check how UPC arrives at your home is it in cables that are exposed and at risk of being cut by builders, which happened on my street a couple of days ago, and we were without internet and TV for 24 hours.

ItHurtsWhenIP

Redshoestoo wrote: »

I'm paying full wack for TV and Internet with UPC, however I am not getting fibre internet because on my road the UPC cable hangs from house to house and fibre does not work when exposed to the elements, only when buried under the ground. Check how UPC arrives at your home is it in cables that are exposed and at risk of being cut by builders, which happened on my street a couple of days ago, and we were without internet and TV for 24 hours.

I'm afraid that this is utter BS. There is fibre optic cable running along Eircom poles as part of the core network, totally exposed to the elements.

The cable you are talking about is a copper cable (co-ax I think) that UPC strings along from distributed nodes, which have fibre run to them from UPC that provide their fibre-powered broadband across the co-ax.

Redshoestoo

I read this in an article today posted on bonkers.ie
'Fibre optic cables are very delicate, however. They’re thinner than a human hair after all! They can’t be laid above ground or in shallow earth, where they’ll be at the mercy of the elements.'
It was in an article by Mark Whelen. Go to bonkers.ie and click on 'TV broad band and phone' his article is highlighted at the bottom of the page.

ItHurtsWhenIP

Redshoestoo wrote: »

I read this in an article today posted on bonkers.ie
'Fibre optic cables are very delicate, however. They’re thinner than a human hair after all! They can’t be laid above ground or in shallow earth, where they’ll be at the mercy of the elements.'
It was in an article by Mark Whelen. Go to bonkers.ie and click on 'TV broad band and phone' his article is highlighted at the bottom of the page.

Oh dear ... you are taking technical advice from a price comparison website ... :rolleyes:

I don't know what Mark Whelan is - he might be a consumer expert, but he has very limited cabling knowledge. I will re-iterate - that Eircom have core network fibre optic cable strung along their poles to my local exchange from the next village (10KM away) and from there to the next village (12KM away) and all the way back to Tipperary Town. This is exposed to the harshest of elements and is only disconnected by falling trees.

In fact, please see attached photo of this cable as it reaches the exchange in my village ... OK the elements were nice on the day this photo was taken, but generally they are less than pleasant.

ItHurtsWhenIP

OK - Sorry - I don't mean to be nasty. Yes - Fibre optic cable is better placed into underground ducting as it protects it from a lot (but not a JCB :P).

However it is perfectly fine to be out in the open too.

mass_debater

Just as well they coat it in polyethylene

Redshoestoo

I have no idea based on your photo what kind of cable that is, it looks like plain black cable to me:)
Part of my point with UPC cable is that it is much more precariously placed than cable from telegraph poles.
It is subject to the vagaries of home owners and builders. It follows the roof lines of each house down the road and then jumps to the next house. One home owner demolished and built a new house and refused to have the ugly cable hanging across his expensive new build so the cable was buried underneath his house, it goes down one side of the house, and then comes up the other, and then continues its journey down the road from house to house.

mass_debater

Redshoestoo wrote: »

I have no idea based on your photo what kind of cable that is, it looks like plain black cable to me:)
Part of my point with UPC cable is that it is much more precariously placed than cable from telegraph poles.
It is subject to the vagaries of home owners and builders. It follows the roof lines of each house down the road and then jumps to the next house. One home owner demolished and built a new house and refused to have the ugly cable hanging across his expensive new build so the cable was buried underneath his house, it goes down one side of the house, and then comes up the other, and then continues its journey down the road from house to house.

UPC is coax to the building

ItHurtsWhenIP

Redshoestoo wrote: »

I have no idea based on your photo what kind of cable that is, it looks like plain black cable to me:)

Well my friendly Eircom linesman told me it was a 48 core fibre optic cable and I believe him :P.

Redshoestoo wrote: »

Part of my point with UPC cable is that it is much more precariously placed than cable from telegraph poles.
It is subject to the vagaries of home owners and builders. It follows the roof lines of each house down the road and then jumps to the next house. One home owner demolished and built a new house and refused to have the ugly cable hanging across his expensive new build so the cable was buried underneath his house, it goes down one side of the house, and then comes up the other, and then continues its journey down the road from house to house.

Yeah - I lived in Limerick city and Dublin before and that was the way Chorus/NTL ran their co-ax. It wasn't great and they could only run it with every house's agreement. My parent's next door neighbour held up Westward Cable (showing my age) running it along our road in Limerick. It took months of asking them nicely to let it through so we could get more than 2 feckin channels!!! :eek:

beauf

Redshoestoo wrote: »

I'm paying full wack for TV and Internet with UPC, however I am not getting fibre internet because on my road the UPC cable hangs from house to house and fibre does not work when exposed to the elements, only when buried under the ground. Check how UPC arrives at your home is it in cables that are exposed and at risk of being cut by builders, which happened on my street a couple of days ago, and we were without internet and TV for 24 hours.

Your issue is not with the cables. But just that you had your service cut by builders.

Builders could also snag a overhead cable on telephone pole or cut cables underground when digging.

If they didn't go house to house it would take a lot longer to put all the cables under ground and cost more.

That said I think it looks terrible and often its fitted very poorly.

ED E

He sort of has a point. Eircom go out in spurs from aerial DPs while UPC run all non UG cables along properties. This means cutting a drop can take out a dozen homes vs just one or maybe two POTS lines.

Its that or them not servicing you as it'd cost loads more.

k123456

http://jamescausian.hubpages.com/hub/TP-Link-Archer-C7-vs-C8

Beamforming on the C8



Re laptop Nics, not easy to change a wired 100mb nic to 1gb, as they are usually part of the Motherboard (LOM)

Desktop should be easy enough, if PCI card

Wireless nics, very easy to change, check your laptop model hardware owners manual, your present NIC will prob only support bgn protocols, to get most out of your ac router , ac compliant wifi nic needed
http://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/how-to-upgrade-your-laptops-wi-fi-card/
https://www.google.ie/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=best+wireless+ac+card+for+laptop



I've ordered intel 7260 ac wi nic

Rock Paper Scissors

Just seen on the first page of this thread that the technicolor upc router has to be "hacked" via SNMP commands to activate bridge mode.

Guys does anyone who uses the Technicolor router from UPC have a TP link archer router connected to it successfully via bridge mode?

scrummonkey

great thread, thanks to all.
So i followed the guide and set my tc7200 as modem only and linked it to my archer c8. Am on upc 120 mb package. The wifi signal works great only intermittently, as it is constantly dropping now. Sometimes i can't connect any device,e.g. mac air, iPhone, iPad, iMac , to the internet. After a while the signal is perfect again. Anyone any ideas what is causing this please ?

mass_debater

scrummonkey wrote: »

great thread, thanks to all.
So i followed the guide and set my tc7200 as modem only and linked it to my archer c8. Am on upc 120 mb package. The wifi signal works great only intermittently, as it is constantly dropping now. Sometimes i can't connect any device,e.g. mac air, iPhone, iPad, iMac , to the internet. After a while the signal is perfect again. Anyone any ideas what is causing this please ?

Change channel, it may be interference

scrummonkey

mass_debater wrote: »

Change channel, it may be interference

thanks for reply. No one else seems to be on my 5ghz channel (36) and connection still drops. On 2.4ghz changing channel has no effect .

mass_debater

scrummonkey wrote: »

thanks for reply. No one else seems to be on my 5ghz channel (36) and connection still drops. On 2.4ghz changing channel has no effect .

Change channel anyway, see does it improve

scrummonkey

mass_debater wrote: »

Change channel anyway, see does it improve

tried it, no improvement.

TheDoc

This thread is really interesting.

I have been on 240mbps since it came out, and have been pretty chuffed with the performance. Down by the router my HTPC and NAS are hooked in via Ethernet and my HTPC fetches speeds just on the 240mb, which is brilliant considering its my main download manager etc.

however I've been getting tetchy with my main pc, which is running via power/homeplugs. Below is my latest speedtest.



To be honest I don't suffer lag or issues in games, which is my main purpose for my PC, but being the main Pc, I'm just greedy and want more.
The homeplugs are doing the best they can.

I'm in rented accommodation, and not sure if I can/should drill holes for Ethernet. Would be dead handy. Cable could go outside the house, up the back wall, into the room above, where my main PC is. I'd prefer to go out and in, rather then up through the ceiling, since god knows what cabling etc. is there.

But seeing people report on 200mb speeds over wifi is really impressive. Maybe to avoid hassle of cabling and drilling holes, I might look into this. What sort of outlay are we talking when it comes to buying the TPlink modem/router and then a wifi adaptor to harness the speeds in myPC?

To be honest I keep posting about this every so often, think I need to stop being lazy, and just cable the ****ing thing.

griffdaddy

TheDoc wrote: »

This thread is really interesting.

I have been on 240mbps since it came out, and have been pretty chuffed with the performance. Down by the router my HTPC and NAS are hooked in via Ethernet and my HTPC fetches speeds just on the 240mb, which is brilliant considering its my main download manager etc.

however I've been getting tetchy with my main pc, which is running via power/homeplugs. Below is my latest speedtest.



To be honest I don't suffer lag or issues in games, which is my main purpose for my PC, but being the main Pc, I'm just greedy and want more.
The homeplugs are doing the best they can.

I'm in rented accommodation, and not sure if I can/should drill holes for Ethernet. Would be dead handy. Cable could go outside the house, up the back wall, into the room above, where my main PC is. I'd prefer to go out and in, rather then up through the ceiling, since god knows what cabling etc. is there.

But seeing people report on 200mb speeds over wifi is really impressive. Maybe to avoid hassle of cabling and drilling holes, I might look into this. What sort of outlay are we talking when it comes to buying the TPlink modem/router and then a wifi adaptor to harness the speeds in myPC?

To be honest I keep posting about this every so often, think I need to stop being lazy, and just cable the ****ing thing.

Just get an Archer C7 or C8 and ac wireless card or USB adapter. Probably cost about 120 all in. If you get a USB adapter it's probably something you'll use for a long time to come, assuming the pc has Usb 3 ports.