Virgin Media vs BE

luanswan2002 · 26 Dec 2009 at 18:46

I'm currently on Virgin Media (my step dad says it's too expensive) and I would like to change to BE broadband.

Is it any good? I play games mainly and download an average amount (mainly games from Steam).

Will it be a big downgrade going from cable to regular phone lines?

wozencl · 26 Dec 2009 at 18:51

Will it be a big downgrade going from cable to regular phone lines?

Yes. Unless you're lucky enough to live in an ADSL 2 area, there you might be able to get speeds that are similar to those offered by Virgin.

What package are you at the moment? You'll need to compare this speed and download allowance with the speed/quote you're likely to get via ADSL.Most people tend to get between 2-6MBps though a family friend is stuck at 336 KBps with Sky.

luanswan2002 · 26 Dec 2009 at 18:53

I entered my post code into the BE website and they said I'll get around 13mb/s which is faster than the 10mb package I'm on w/ Virgin atm.

Sorry I didn't post in the networking section but no one seems to reply there.

jamiehavok · 26 Dec 2009 at 18:59

i went from virgin to be, when i moved, my place is apparently right on top of the exchange and they said id get 17 mbps and they were about right - i get that most of the time. which is more than i got with virgins 20 mbit service most of the time.

its also more reliable with hardly any cut outs. virgin was pretty reliable for me to but be has the edge.

Seft · 26 Dec 2009 at 19:00

luanswan2002 said:
I'm currently on Virgin Media (my step dad says it's too expensive) and I would like to change to BE broadband.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think that the cost of VM 10meg + phone is less than BT line + Be Value.

luanswan2002 · 26 Dec 2009 at 19:03

jamiehavok said:
i went from virgin to be, when i moved, my place is apparently right on top of the exchange and they said id get 17 mbps and they were about right - i get that most of the time. which is more than i got with virgins 20 mbit service most of the time.

its also more reliable with hardly any cut outs. virgin was pretty reliable for me to but be has the edge.

How's gaming? And what's the best KBPS you have seen?

Calabi · 26 Dec 2009 at 19:03

If your lucky you might get half that, there is a big problem with the quoted speeds being no relation to the actual speeds, from everyone.

S.A.S · 26 Dec 2009 at 19:10

i've been wantng to go to BE because of their quoted upload speed which i really need, but i havn't seen any evidence that people actually get tht

Nuwidol · 26 Dec 2009 at 19:27

I'm on BE & couldn't be happier. My download speed isn't great but I knew it wouldn't be when I ordered. I pay for the ultimate package or whatvever they call it which os a max of 24MBPS but receive up to about 9MBPS. I chose to have the max upload possible which was one of the options you could tick when ordering. The upload is about 1.2MBPS. Not great but it does me fine. The best thing about BE is the reliability. I've been with Sky, BT, Virgin/NTL, Nildram & Tiscali in the past & This has been the best connection I've had yet. Who do you have your mobile phone contact with (if you have a contract..). Apparently BE & O2 are somehow the same network. I've read this somewhere before & I know if I do a speedtest on thinkbroadband.com it thinks I'm on O2. the reason I ask is O2 will do you a cheaper deal than BE if you hold a contract with them.

Good luck who ever you choose. Its never easy changing ISPs...

luanswan2002 · 26 Dec 2009 at 19:30

Thanks for all the replies and for putting my mind at ease, but please let me know what gaming is like with BE if you know 'cause I'm a gamer like most people here

Nuwidol · 26 Dec 2009 at 21:09

luanswan2002 said:
please let me know what gaming is like with BE if you know 'cause I'm a gamer like most people here

Great for me. Get great pings & no packet loss.

djangoo · 26 Dec 2009 at 21:10

Nuwidol said:
I'm on BE & couldn't be happier. My download speed isn't great but I knew it wouldn't be when I ordered. I pay for the ultimate package or whatvever they call it which os a max of 24MBPS but receive up to about 9MBPS. I chose to have the max upload possible which was one of the options you could tick when ordering. The upload is about 1.2MBPS. Not great but it does me fine. The best thing about BE is the reliability. I've been with Sky, BT, Virgin/NTL, Nildram & Tiscali in the past & This has been the best connection I've had yet. Who do you have your mobile phone contact with (if you have a contract..). Apparently BE & O2 are somehow the same network. I've read this somewhere before & I know if I do a speedtest on thinkbroadband.com it thinks I'm on O2. the reason I ask is O2 will do you a cheaper deal than BE if you hold a contract with them.

Good luck who ever you choose. Its never easy changing ISPs...

I'm on Be too, and I had Virgin Cable last year. Virgin was the worst ISP I have ever had the misfortune of subscribing to and now that I am on Be, I couldn't be happier. Oh and by the way, I'm a gamer too.

Glaucus · 26 Dec 2009 at 21:16

luanswan2002 said:
I entered my post code into the BE website and they said I'll get around 13mb/s which is faster than the 10mb package I'm on w/ Virgin atm.

Which means nothing mine was 12-18mb when I joined up but actual speed was 6mb and has now fallen to 3mb. Although the BT site does seem to of been updated and now says 6mb.

If you can stick with Virgin.

tomos · 26 Dec 2009 at 21:24

in my last place i was with O2 (same as be afaik) on their LLU and got around 19mbit throughout the day. no limiting.

go for whatever LLU is available in your area. non LLU adsl is carp. avoid bulldog though. they're tiscali now i think and even though they did adsl2+ before, they don't anymore. to standardise i guess. i was with bulldog on 18meg for a few years, lost my net for a few days and reconnected on 8meg. was told it was the max my line had ever supported?. hmmm.

cmndr_andi · 26 Dec 2009 at 21:24

S.A.S said:
i've been wantng to go to BE because of their quoted upload speed which i really need, but i havn't seen any evidence that people actually get tht

I think it depends where you are. I'm right on top of the exchange and I was getting band on 1.3Mbps on BE Unlimited. I then upgraded to BE Pro and the upload jumped to 2.5Mbps (my 24.6Mbps download dipped to around 23.4). So far I am very, very happy. I download a lot and game a lot - and I find this connection to be amazing. There is low pings, no traffic shaping and no enforcement of their fair usage policy - all in all a brilliant service.

Nemeses · 26 Dec 2009 at 21:33

Or if you already subscribe top Sky TV you could go with them, found sky so far to be the best, great line .. no cap on D/L and very cheap to boot

SniperDude · 26 Dec 2009 at 21:48

if your moving to BE just due to the cost of virgin (you didn't post how much you are paying) i think you end up paying more by moving to BE

if your getting virgin phone now you will need to get a BT line to get BE, line connection
for BT ranges from £20 to £120

monthly BT line costs are £11.25 min
BE Unlimited package costs £17.50
that's £28.75 a month

the service from virgin you are getting now
phone £11 (assuming you have the phone )
10Mb internet £12.50
thats £23.50

if your dad is paying more than this he should contact virgin on 150 from a virgin land line and choose the option "I am thinking of leaving virgin"
8am to 8pm normal working days

and ask why he is not getting as good a deal as new customers
and demand he does get the same deals or better.

when you do this your are not talking to customer service this is customer retentions/ relations this is how you get better deal from virgin

am currecnly paying just over £40 for 50Mb, phone xl with discount int calls
and tv M

first quarter of next year virgin is raising upload speeds I know the new upload
for the 50Mb will be 10Mb but am not sure on the other packages

Daegan · 26 Dec 2009 at 22:03

Speeds will depend entirely on the quality of your phone line and internal wiring. There's no way anyone here can tell you what you're likely to get without stats from an existing ADSL service, which you don't have. You can guess at what speeds you might get based on things like distance from the exchange or numbers in a BT database (all Be do), but you won't know for sure until the service is in place.

That's not an anti Be post, on balance they're the best ISP is the UK. But if you're happy with the service from VM it's probably not worth the hassle of moving.

Locky · 27 Dec 2009 at 11:12

If it's about cost, I would get o2 over BE, (same network).

shadowcreaper · 27 Dec 2009 at 12:59

virgin like other providers and now using capage/useage caps, so limits how much you can download per month in essance makes you have to think about how long you want to be online for and limit that time.

virgin have a useage cap and traffic managemant which means between certain times you cannot download above a limit then once over they lower your speed down a huge amount. example.

if you go on during 4 o clock and download 2 gb you then capped at a speed for the rest of the day/week, which can be very anoying if you like to watch videos or download music or play games online.

bt have simular system but call it useage cap and useally have around 2-10gb limit for whole month(10gb isnt that high trust me)