Because geek is cool and clever

Should I go with Virgin? April 29, 2008

Having recently moved house I’m looking at getting a secondary internet connection installed.
I already have a main ADSL line which is provided by my employer but this has a couple of negatives in that a) it’s not very fast – apparently physical distance from the ‘local’ exchange means I’m stuck with a connection that even on a good day with the wind behind it is usually somewhere around 1.5Mbps and b) I should at least be limiting my personal use of the company line to the occasional web page and email.
Obviously a second telephone line would result in a similarly paltry connection so last week as I was pondering the things I need to get sorted to properly complete my move (to Sky+ or not to Sky+? That is the question) and my mind turned to cable.
My last dalliance with cable was some years ago and left me loathing and detesting three particular letters of the alphabet – those of N, T and L.
Grade NTL’s reliability and customer support on a scale of one to 10 and it would be down in the minus triple figures.
Somewhere in the archives for this column are such tales of woe and misery that they’re probably sealed in a lead-lined box for fear of a national outbreak of a spleen-venting pandemic. And this was back in the day when those of us on the cutting edge were paying £45 a month for a 1Mbps connection!
These days, despite producing an involuntary shudder in me whenever I type its name, NTL is no more, having been bought up by the household favourite that is Virgin and renamed Virgin Media. Can my faith in cable be resurrected? Should I sign on the dotted line and have workmen channeling a line to my door?
Unfortunately, I’m still undecided.
As with everything I consider buying, I spent a long afternoon conducting online research into Virgin Media and wasn’t greatly encouraged by what I read.
I realise that an open forum is more likely to attract negativity but there’s a lot of stuff out there stating problems with a service that seems barely any better than the bad old days.
So could I open up the floor to readers of this column, please? What are your experiences with Virgin? Should I take the plunge or flee in terror?
Drop me a line at david.mcmanus@gmail.com