Cable Broadband is the way forward... (virginmedia.com)

Member Name: he6rt6gr6m

Product:	virginmedia.com
Date:	09/02/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Its Cable. Technically, its the very best way to deliver information.

Disadvantages: The TV channels arent as varied as Skys.

Virgin Media has a reputation around these parts as being the company that has rubbish services and poor Customer Services. That reputation has been passed down from the old ntl: days.

The problem there, was that ntl: had debt, and no ability to utilise the technology that is Cable.

Lets get something straight here. The Cable company we know now as Virgin Media, offers Fibre Optic to the little Green Cabinet at the end of your street, and then Cable to the home. Right now, Broadband-wise, it offers speeds of up to 50Mb, but has the capabilities of 100Mb, along with the TV through that wire, but at the moment, Virgin are upgrading the software that shoots all of that information down the line to you. Cable is the best way to deliver the best speeds in Broadband, and this is exactly why BT are secretly investing Millions into making their own Cable network.

Broadband is Virgin's strong point, and is unrivalled as far as technology is concerned. ADSL, which is what BT offer, along with Sky, AOL and the rest, state a speed, but you wont get it. Say, if AOL say you are getting upto 8Mb, you will get lower and lower speeds the further you are away from the Telephone Exchange. Cable? Well, given that the information is transmitted by light, that means the advertised Speed is the speed you should get. Typically, if you take Cable Broadband at 20Mb, you will have a 2Mb per second rate, which means you can download a film using the right software and optomised connection, along with enough uploaders uploading it, in about 5-10 Minutes.

Now, the Television is a different story. Cable TV currently has a lot less channes than Sky, and this is due to the limited Bandwidth currently available to Virgin Media. This is soon to change. Again, with the software that shoots the info down your line being upgraded, as well as the money being invested into obtaining more bandwidth for TV use, more channels and content will appear in the second half of 2009, particularly in the HD sector.

Currently, Virgin Media is the market leader in On Demand services and is, again, unrivalled in this department. BT Vision offers On Demand programming, however this requires a phoneline and a Broadband Internet Connection. Sky has Sky Anytime, however that is not a true On Demand experience. Sky Anytime is what people call Push Video On Demand, and that means that the box you have, which has to be a PVR (Sky+ or Sky+HD) will record certain things, and allow you to watch them that way. Virgins VOD service is available whenever you want it, and is stored at Head Ends local to you. The information is then streamed from there to your Box (any Virgin box can receive Video On Demand, it doesnt have to be a PVR) and no information is stored on your box.

The TV does have issues. The V+ PVR is still very buggy and very slow in certain places, but with 80Hours of recording capacity (as opposed to Sky's 40 Hours) and the ability to record two programs and watch a third (Sky offers a watch one, record one capability) as well as being HD Ready (Sky do HD Sky+ Boxes, which are separate to the Sky+ Box) the V+ specifications are the best on the market.

On their highest priced package, they offer Setanta Sports for the blokes included. This is a great deal, given Setanta charge around £12-£15 for a subscription a month on Sky and other providers.

All in all, Virgin is the very best choice for Broadband at a very reasonable price. They dont require a phoneline, however if you package it with the Broadband, it does look cheaper. And the TV isnt great, but if the company could advance the VOD content, and get a few more channels on the network, then Virgin could easily become a big threat to Skys consumer base.

Summary: Broadband, Broadband, Broadband...