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Best internet package for gaming and streaming?

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So as we will hopefully be moving soon, I am trying to look into getting our internet sorted at the new place. At the moment, we are using a basic Sky connection (just internet, no TV); it's ok but not amazing.

 

We basically need something that will allow streaming of TV/music, and online gaming (with 2 of us being online at once). I would also like a decent upload speed, as I often have to upload video files for my work. Currently, they upload really slow at about 1 Mbps (which I assume is because of our connection).

 

So what is a good package to go for? Not interested in phone calls, not sure about TV (if we can watch Walking Dead/Game of Thrones then that would be cool).

 

Is Virgin any good? I think we can get fibre in our area but not sure. Do you need the highest level packages for gaming?

 

Any help is appreciated of course! :)

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I've been with Virgin Media fibre over 3 houses for at least 7-8 years now. Maybe it's my area; but I've honestly never had much complaint about them(except when service goes down, but that's been rather rare for me and more often than not in working hours too). As a result I can't give any real comparison to any competition; but they've obviously been doing something right that we all use them. Mates with them seem to appreciate them too. Ofc, we could all be in some weird freakish super good area as we're mostly nearby each other. One thing to conisder is what customer services may be like if things DO go wrong - my mate's internet got knocked out for about 2-3 weeks or something silly recently and they kept saying it'd be fixed by x point when it wasn't. She was kinda sad as I'd just sold her dwarf's ps4 and Overwatch and she couldn't play at all! I realise that may be a harrowing thought for you, but thought it may be a relevantly extreme tale for yourself :p

 

(don't let it put you off though, it's the first terrible story I've heard about them from friends for a while)

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I've also been with Virgin Media for years. If you don't mind the constant price increases, they're great. Uptime and speed all very good. Once you reach a certain level of service, like 30 meg up, you don't really question whether you can do x on two devices at once or whatever, you can pretty much do anything, it's just a case of how fast you want your up/down. You say you think you can get fibre, you need to just go on the website and put in the postcode to find out for sure.

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I'm with Virgin and they're fantastic. I think I'm on 150meg for around £40 a month?

 

They do keep sneaking the prices up, but I think they're still in line with every other provider, so what are you gonna do?

 

I think their service has gone down maybe twice in the 7 years I've used them too.

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I've been with Virgin/Sky/Orange(EE) and BT...so here goes:

 

Virgin:

 

The most recent package and one I'm currently with.

 

Good:

 

- The best speeds in terms of download

- Likely the most reliable, but skip out on taking the hub 3 if you can as its complete junk

- Don't need a phone line to use them

- Customer service mostly seem very proactive on social media and on the phone.

 

Bad:

 

- Price increases, I've gotten around this mostly by not having a phone line

- Their upload speeds can be terrible compared to their download and regardless of the user upload speed is important! I get -

- 217mb down to 10mb up at the moment - wired. This is quite the common theme.

 

BT:

 

Good:

 

- Great speeds, I was getting 76mb down to 20mb up on wired.

- Pretty reliable also, in my time with them I had two down times, which I thought was pretty neat

 

Bad:

 

- Price increases, price increases everywhere

- Have to have a phone line - yuck!

- Customer service is piss poor.

 

Sky:

 

- Decent enough pricing

- Customer service was good personally

 

Bad:

 

- Price increases

- Limited speeds

- Unreliable service

- Bad tech

 

Orange(EE):

 

Good:

 

Er I can't actually remember anything good about being with these guys.

 

Bad:

 

- Shit customer service

- Bad speeds that decreased over time

- Getting out of a contract is almost impossible with them

 

So basically I'd say from my own experience that it's either BT or Virgin, it's entirely up to you and will likely depend on your usage AND your area. It also might depend on your router, I used to have the super hub 2 and for some reason it would click off once a week. We then moved contracts and have yet to have any issues...

 

I would also say if you DO go with virgin to get someone to refer you, when this happens the referrer gets £50 off their next bill and you get £50 off yours. (You have to be with virgin for a month for this but hey free bill).

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Been with BT for years, haven't had a problem with them. They don't like me using my own router and modem, but that's about the only issue (which is minor). Fibre speeds are pretty good, consistently get 30mbps down and 12mbps up on wired. Does what i want it to do.

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No longer with virgin, but I can say back in the UK they were really good as well, which suggests it's not just in one hot spot. I can't recall speeds involved, but that's because I never felt a need to do a speed test because the net just worked.

 

My brother has also switched to them from sky, and it seems they are much better for him than sky ever were. So virgin +2

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Thanks for the input guys!

 

Virgin does have my preference after checking out different packages. Might go for the VIVID 100 broadband, which seems to be £32 for 12 months (then moves onto £37.25 a month). We currently pay £29 for Sky (for slow internet and a phone line we don't use).

 

Will see if I can get some cashback on Quidco too of course. :)

 

Now to figure out when they can install it...

 

Virgin:

 

- Likely the most reliable, but skip out on taking the hub 3 if you can as its complete junk

 

Hmm, it does seem they only offer the Hub 3.0... is that an issue? :S

 

I checked some of the Virgin forum before and there were gamers complaining on there, but not sure if that's related to the hub or not...

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Personally I will always avoid BT. Their customer service is just the worst.

 

Example, you ring up to question some incorrect price increase on the bill and they assure you that it will be corrected next month. They hang up the phone and do nothing knowing it won't be their problem next time you call....

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Personally I will always avoid BT. Their customer service is just the worst.

 

Example, you ring up to question some incorrect price increase on the bill and they assure you that it will be corrected next month. They hang up the phone and do nothing knowing it won't be their problem next time you call....

 

Which is why you should always ask for their name and note down time, date and what they said they would do. BUt yeah, BT aren't great from what little contact I did have with them (two terrible years at uni :( )

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Thanks for the input guys!

 

Virgin does have my preference after checking out different packages. Might go for the VIVID 100 broadband, which seems to be £32 for 12 months (then moves onto £37.25 a month). We currently pay £29 for Sky (for slow internet and a phone line we don't use).

 

Will see if I can get some cashback on Quidco too of course. :)

 

Now to figure out when they can install it...

 

 

 

Hmm, it does seem they only offer the Hub 3.0... is that an issue? :S

 

I checked some of the Virgin forum before and there were gamers complaining on there, but not sure if that's related to the hub or not...

 

Installing Virgin router is easy, done it twice, super easy I promise!

 

Otherwise, not really an issue, but even on their web pages (virgin) they state its in an experimental state. Likely if you ever feel brave enough modem mode is the way to go, but day to day you should be fine :) Just learn how to reset it! (there's a little pin hole on the back of it).

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I was with NTL, then Virgin from 2006-2011 and they were excellent. Never had a problem, didn't need a phone line and the speeds were always top notch. I'd always opt for them if your address is wired up to them. The TV packages are very competitive as well.

 

I'm with BT now because Virgin isn't connected to my current address, and I've been surprised at how good it's been. I have to have a phone line, obviously, which is a pain, but I get 52mb and access to BT Sport for £28.49 a month, plus a £5 discount off my GF's unlimited sim only mobile package, with 20Gb of data a month, which she somehow manages to use up... All their services have worked perfectly since it was installed back in September. Gaming, HD streaming and using multiple devices has never troubled it.

 

I was apprehensive about BT because my parents' broadband is atrocious, it drops constantly and is painfully slow, but I don't think they're paying for fibre, and it's the standard ADSL. Either way it's horrible.

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Another Virgin customer here. Been with them for the last 4 years and only have mostly positive things to say about them. I think I pay about £57 per month.

 

The broadband is great (70MB is the lowest package I could get and that's what I'm on). I've noticed it slows down to about 30MB around 6/7pm, but that must be to do with heavy traffic.

 

We have the phone line, but don't use it much.

 

I like the TiVo box for what is essentially freeview channels with a couple of others thrown in. We don't watch loads of terrestrial TV, but it's a nice option.

 

I've had a router and a TiVo box die on me. On both occasions Virgin came out in a day or so and replaced the equipment with very little fuss.

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No need to gloat, dude...

 

He might not be gloating, you don't know what's coming after that ellipsis. He could be paying £430.

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I just ended up going for the VIVID 100 broadband, as they have a deal on to get it for £23 for 12 months (then up to £37.25 but I'll see if we can switch deals then or something). Cheaper than what we pay now!

 

Not interested in a phone line at all, and the tv stuff would be ok but we don't watch that much (what we watch is usually on NowTV or Netflix, which you would have to pay for anyway I guess?). No idea how the TiVo box really works, but think I'll just look into getting a Freeview recorder at some point so we can tape things/pause tv.

 

Now just to wait for them to install the internet... at the very end of the month. D:

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£57 @Mr_Odwin? I've got TiVo, phone (no extras) and 150 meg for £43...

 

Hmmmm.

 

I've not kept on top of this, but when I got it (four years ago) I went for the cheapest option for everything.

 

GHF6Mp4.png

 

This image suggests that maybe my TV and phone could be cheaper these days. Guess that's what happens over time.

 

I just messed around with their current bundles and closest to my current bundle is talk weekends, mix TV and 100MB broadband. Think I'll ring them and have a chat.

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It is really arseholey how they creep the price up every year and you have to ring them up every so often to ask them to bring it down again.

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