Hi.
I thought I'd add my own migration story too, being somewhat inspired by reading the thread by Destrike, as mine is a very similar one.
I too am/was with Virgin non-cable for broadband and phone calls. Likewise, I have been seeing a reduction in speeds with Virgin ADSL, and in many cases an unusable service. In my case I could never use BBC iPlayer, or Skype for video chat. Yet some services did work, the watch again player on ITV worked fine, as did many other video streaming services. I can also use AV chat using Google Talk without any trouble too. Even text only newsgroups have been stalling.
My modem connected at a steady 8meg for about the first year, but in the last six months it has fallen off a bit, and connects at 6-7meg. Some of my file downloads have been a steady 7-8meg at times, yet the services that are suffering only manage little more than dial-up speeds. I did get an iPlayer program to download at 9:00am a few days ago, but that's the first in a couple of months or more.
The final straw came when I went to help my Mum move house a couple of weeks ago, and she's on PlusNet Option 1 (suits her usage perfectly), and I took my MacBook with me. Immediately I could use all of the services I hadn't been able to before. Newsgroups just flashed along, and iPlayer worked without a single glitch. In fact they also work at my sister's house, whose on a terrible line (just about gets 2meg, and is lucky if the connection works for more than a couple of days).
I was also rather disgruntled at the non-inclusive call charges, they'd just put theirs up, then everyone else if getting cheaper (or even free with BT for 08x0), and generally they're almost double those listed by PlusNet.
Needless to say, when I got home after the move, and had been very impressed with PlusNet's handling of my Mum's move (since it took a few days to get a new number), and helped a lot with that, I immediately phoned Virgin for an MAC. That was a call I was dreading, as I was expecting a hard sell to keep me, and they did. Fair do's though, the staff were good, and helped as much as they could, although their suggestions for fixes weren't too helpful (faulty filters, and poor exchange congestion were some). They did say that my exchange was a busy one, but I checked this myself, and it is reported as having no capacity issues whatsoever.
It got really bad when they said that PlusNet wasn't a recognised ISP, and wouldn't be able to offer the support on the phone lines like they could, as they (Virgin that is) have much better links with BT. Erm, right :-\.
It was then that they wanted to put me through to their technical support again, and I just asked him to stop, and just give my my MAC. Unbelievably it arrived an hour later, and I called PlusNet to place my order. I spoke to Kevin, and got wonderful service from the outset, and the account was set up in a few minutes, and it even saves me a few pounds a month (and my Mum too - I love the referral scheme :)).
My Mum's line is also now back on, a full three days early. Well done chaps, thanks.
And, finally, I am actually a returning customer to PlusNet. I first joined them a few years back, when I moved from a cabled area to a non-cabled one, and needed ADSL. Unfortunately it was back when they'd had some problems, and sadly it caused me to move on. However, I've been keeping an eye on progress, and I feel happy to come back again. PlusNet have in fact been my provider of choice for a couple of people I've set up Internet for recently, and so far no complaints.
Sorry that was a bit long, but I needed to get that off my chest.
All the best.
Andy.
