Sky TV or Virgin TV?

thatbloke

thatbloke

Junior Administrator
So my Dad just asked me to start looking into the possibility of switching to Virgin Media for our phone/TV/Broadband (note: cable broadband) due to the price of our sky package going up again by a considerable amount this year.

Currently we have Sky TV (pretty much every channel available, this includes sports and movie channels), and the middle sky broadband package (currently running at up to 10mbps, though I get 8). Add to this the cost of having to have a separate BT line on top of that for our broadband and the fact we have a 2nd sky box aswell and it all adds up.

So I was wondering if any of you lot have Virgin TV/broadband/phone and what your experiences with the service are?

Is there some aspect of Sky's services that as a Virgin customer you wished you had? Conversely, for those on Sky, is there something that Virgin offers that Sky doesn't that you would prefer to have?

What about the quality of HD services if you have them?

Some cursory googling has so far only led me to some random forum posts where people have compared the two providers... I haven't yet found anything that really compares the two packages that well...
 
AcidK

AcidK

New Member
I used to have Virgin TV on XL package and still have Virgin Broadband on XL package. I didn't like the fact that because I opted for XL package, for more channels and better broadband, Virginmedia decided to charge me 50 quid a month for the service.

Currently I have a Sky+ box with all channels plus Virginmedia XL broadband for 45 quid a month. I have never had a HD package or box so cannot really comment on those.
 
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elDiablo

Guest
Do not use Virgin Broadband. Period. It sucks more than words can describe. Especially if there are a lot of people on your exchange, aka someone other than you is on it. Add to that that Virgin are keen to start deep inspection of packets, erm, you know, that nasty BitTorrent thing won't be a problem for you. Virgin cable was nice when I had it, low pings, high speeds even in a Virgin cable heavy area. Though again, BitTorrent. Didn't try Virgin HD stuff, but VOD was very nice at the time.

I've not tried Sky really, but am thinking of getting it just for TV. I already pay for BT line and BeThere super speeds Internet, so would only go for TV. And apparently there is a free download for the 360 for existing sky users to turn it into another sky+ box, persumably over broadband rather than dish though. Will google it when I get home.

Will give examples of Virgin suckiness too. Gary from work is currently on Virgin ADSL and has days when he isn't online, days of slow downloads, and no static IP causing him to change really everyday.

Help?
 
Nanor

Nanor

Well-Known Member
Gizmo and his clique use it 'round Middlesborough and they are full of loathing for it.
 
Dr Drae

Dr Drae

In Cryo Sleep
Right.

Sky; I had this for about a year, after getting off from BT, because it was supposed to be cheaper. Then they ramped up the prices. But before all that...

TV; Okay when it worked; kept on getting lots of either 'malfunctioning box' or just general loss of signal. It might just have been the area though. But that coupled with my internet, which was just atrocious (I've now got a reputation for d/c'ing during raids on WoW. That bad.) And then they ramped the prices up, and I decided that it just wasn't worth it. That, and there was one point where they barred our phone for god knows what, and even after repeated calls, took two weeks getting it back on.

Virgin, I much prefer, and am on now. Admittedly, I haven't tried the ADSL services, but their 50meg service is orgasmic ;) I mean, from the very start, I loved it: Even the techy turned up right on time. XD On a Saturday. Low ping, high speed internet, and the customer service isn't bad, etc. Prices can be manipulated a bit, if you're clever.

So the TV: Virgin On Demand is winsome: It's just a large library of stuff that you can watch (for free mind you), when you get the... medium package or above I believe. You still have to pay to watch films and all that adult stuff ;). (You'll find out if you order it) They do their own V+ box, which is Sky+ (I haven't tried the Sky+ service myself, but I think they both do roughly the same.) I don't have HD so I can't comment, but I'm otherwise thoroughly impressed with Virgin, and would recommend it, especially if Sky is the only other option. ;)

Also, my bittorrent speeds are still fine, with speeds up to about 2.2mbps highest (shared over a few low-seed torrents).

I've probably missed something, but that's my experience with both.
 
thatbloke

thatbloke

Junior Administrator
I know all about the Virgin internet - the DSL service is the worst ever, but I've not heard much bad about the cable service.....

Thanks for the opinions so far people
 
Taffy

Taffy

New Member
elDiablo said:
Do not use Virgin Broadband. Period.
Click to expand...

I completely and utterly disagree. When we were with Sky on the complete package, we were paying for 10mb broadband, basic sky with entertainment package and Sky phone, but only received <1mbps internet speed and the phone would sometimes just die for no reason. Now were on Virgin, paying for 20mbps, TV (though not V+ or HD) and phone, and it's awesome. We are in a very heavy cable usage area (as the phone lines appear to be crap), but the lowest speed I've ever ever had was 7mbps. I'd say typical speed is around the 16mbps mark? TV is great, on demand is a great feature and theres no problems with the phones.

So I'd say go Virgin in my experience :)
 
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elDiablo

Guest
Virgin Cable != Virgin Broadband. The broadband is their ADSL. And it sucks. At Uni we would get sub-56K modem speeds as soon as it got to 6pm for no reason. I agree that their cable is nice. The ADSL is not.

Also deep packet scanning won't decrease bittorrent download speeds, or stop them. Deep packet scanning merely let's them see what you are doing. If you are illegally downloading, they'll be able to tell. This goes with the old 3 strikes rule being brought into the UK. If that doesn't worry you and turn you off Virgin as an ISP, then you must be doing nothing illegal and not care about your privacy.
 
thatbloke

thatbloke

Junior Administrator
elDiablo said:
Virgin Cable != Virgin Broadband. The broadband is their ADSL. And it sucks. At Uni we would get sub-56K modem speeds as soon as it got to 6pm for no reason. I agree that their cable is nice. The ADSL is not.

Also deep packet scanning won't decrease bittorrent download speeds, or stop them. Deep packet scanning merely let's them see what you are doing. If you are illegally downloading, they'll be able to tell. This goes with the old 3 strikes rule being brought into the UK. If that doesn't worry you and turn you off Virgin as an ISP, then you must be doing nothing illegal and not care about your privacy.
Click to expand...

yea but the 3 strikes thing is being done by sky and virgin so it doesnt really factor into this discussion :p
 
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elDiablo

Guest
thatbloke said:
yea but the 3 strikes thing is being done by sky and virgin so it doesnt really factor into this discussion :p
Click to expand...

Seeing as the 3 strikes rule is a UK law, what the hell are you talking about? The fact that Virgin are doing crazy things to find out what you are doing means that you are screwed. Regular BT catching methods involve connecting to a tracker and seeing who you connect to, harvesting those IPs, connecting them with users, and building a list of illegal sharers. Deep packet scanning looks at EVERYTHING going into and out of your network.

So yeah, it really does factor into this discussion.
 
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elDiablo

Guest
It's more a discussion on the methods of effectiveness of Sky and Virgin doing the 3 Strikes. If 1 company is using a much more invasive, and harder to circumvent, method, than the other, then it really does factor into the discussion.

If you are happy to say, "Well, they are both trying to catch me, so I'm as likely to be found out by either one. Whatever...", then go ahead. If you'd rather say, "Hmm, well, this service is going to be looking at EVERYTHING I do on the internet and cause me to use encrypted traffic (etc.), while this other one is merely going to be doing things that have already been proven to not work..." then the decision is easiler!

Not that this argument affects anyone on these boards, of course!
 
Zooggy

Zooggy

Junior Administrator
Staff member
Hoy, :)

elDiablo said:
It's more a discussion on the methods of effectiveness of Sky and Virgin doing the 3 Strikes. If 1 company is using a much more invasive, and harder to circumvent, method, than the other, then it really does factor into the discussion.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... fair enough, actually.

I stand corrected. :)

Cheers,
J.
 
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