Virgin Vs Other (Fibre)

hots

Does anyone know if Virgin speeds are affected by distance to cabs in the same way as Fibre is through the likes of Vodafone et al?

I get regular calls offering my a free change over to fibre but when Vodafone run the speed check to try and sell it to me they realise I can only hit 7Mb (unlike my current 10-15) and then sheepishly decide I won't be interested... curious to see if Virgin would be the same?

Also if anyone could explain in idiot terms why Fibre would be slower than my 'normal' connection I'd love to know! I whinge about it so often it would be good to have some more ammunition!

Gonzo

most 'fibre' packages in this country are Fibre to the Cabinet VDSL2 from street cabinets/nodes. They provide speeds up to a maximum of 100 / 20 (real speed 93 / 19) and after about 600 meters the speeds start to fall off a cliff untill they get down to a very conservative 7 / 1 after 1800 meters which is slower than ADSL in many cases. The reason for this drop, is that it's not real fibre. It is fibre to the cabinet and copper to your home. It's just a faster and more stable version of ADSL (once your within 1300 meters of the cabinet). But after 1500 meters this 'fibre' can provide worse speeds than ADSL.

Fibre with Virgin Media is a completely different style of fibre, run underground and AFAIK does not drop in speeds like the standard fibre services by the likes of Eir, Vodafone, Sky etc.

There is another type of fibre called Fibre To The Home and that is fibre run from an exchange, then along ducts and poles to reach into peoples homes. That fibre does not drop speeds either as there is no copper involved.

Having copper as part of a 'fibre' solution is the real problem because it's not really a fibre connection and that's why speeds can drop off very quickly if your too far away from the cabinet.

hots

Gonzo wrote: »

most 'fibre' packages in this country are Fibre to the Cabinet VDSL2 from street cabinets/nodes. They provide speeds up to a maximum of 100 / 20 (real speed 93 / 19) and after about 600 meters the speeds start to fall off a cliff untill they get down to a very conservative 7 / 1 after 1800 meters which is slower than ADSL in many cases. The reason for this drop, is that it's not real fibre. It is fibre to the cabinet and copper to your home. It's just a faster and more stable version of ADSL (once your within 1300 meters of the cabinet). But after 1500 meters this 'fibre' can provide worse speeds than ADSL.

Fibre with Virgin Media is a completely different style of fibre, run underground and AFAIK does not drop in speeds like the standard fibre services by the likes of Eir, Vodafone, Sky etc.

There is another type of fibre called Fibre To The Home and that is fibre run from an exchange, then along ducts and poles to reach into peoples homes. That fibre does not drop speeds either as there is no copper involved.

Having copper as part of a 'fibre' solution is the real problem because it's not really a fibre connection and that's why speeds can drop off very quickly if your too far away from the cabinet.

Thanks for explaining that, makes perfect sense! It's a shame, I can see a cabinet from my window but I guess we're connected to a different one further back on the close or something.

I've been onto Virgin and they are 'guaranteeing' (his words not mine) 180mb download speeds... that has to be a no brainer so right? I've seen their poor customer service around and trouble with TV but I've fairly little interest in that anyway and Vodafone are hardly falling over themselves to keep me as a customer.

Gonzo

hots wrote: »

Thanks for explaining that, makes perfect sense! It's a shame, I can see a cabinet from my window but I guess we're connected to a different one further back on the close or something.

I've been onto Virgin and they are 'guaranteeing' (his words not mine) 180mb download speeds... that has to be a no brainer so right? I've seen their poor customer service around and trouble with TV but I've fairly little interest in that anyway and Vodafone are hardly falling over themselves to keep me as a customer.

If your in a Virgin Media area then they are the obvious choice. Another point is you will have unlimited data which really is unlimited. Most other 'fibre' providers have a hidden fair usage policy. You will get far higher speeds than FTTC/VDSL2 is even capable of. With Virgin you should get either 240 or 360, depending on which plan you go for.

They are even a better choice over FTTH right now due to cheaper prices and unlimited data.

dam099

Gonzo wrote: »

Fibre with Virgin Media is a completely different style of fibre, run underground and AFAIK does not drop in speeds like the standard fibre services by the likes of Eir, Vodafone, Sky etc.

.....

Having copper as part of a 'fibre' solution is the real problem because it's not really a fibre connection and that's why speeds can drop off very quickly if your too far away from the cabinet.

Virgin is also only fibre to the cabinet so to that point is similar to VDSL, where it differs is the copper to the home is in a coax cable which is shielded and superior to the lighter unshielded telephone copper wires. With the distances of their coax runs to their cabinets Virgin dont generally have the same dropoffs in speed and are typically giving the advertised speeds i.e. 240/360.

hots

Excellent, I should have literally asked years ago, think they've been in the area a couple of years at least, I'll be showing Vodafone the door so! Cheers guys