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Home Internet by Virgin Mobile Canada

49K views 39 replies 20 participants last post by  John R.M. 
#1 ·
Virgin Mobile Canada offers super-speedy hook ups at home

Home Internet by Virgin Mobile is available right now to eligible Ontarians with two simple plans: 300 GB for $50/month or unlimited for $65/month. Both plans have no activation fee, no long term contract and no hidden fees. Download speeds of up to 25 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 10 Mbps.

Learn more about Home Internet by Virgin Mobile here.
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
Virgin Mobile Internet

Just saw on the front DH page, the post about Virgin Mobile Canada's Home internet.

https://www.virginmobile.ca/en/internet/index.html

Nothing groundbreaking. Its Cellular internet.. UPTO 25mbps.. so obviously will vary, based on cell signal, etc.


BIGGEST thing I can see, is the USAGE.

Comparing pricing to competitors, while technically i think theirs will allow higher speeds, signal allowing..
At the same price points, you are looking at 3-6g usage total..
Vs 300 & unlimited here.

This might be a very good RURAL internet option, depending on cell signal.
 
#8 ·
@gdmaclew Virgin's press release and resulting articles don't specify the connection method, so most people, myself included, assume it uses Virgin's mobile network. Then I found this article:
Virgin Mobile has told MobileSyrup that “Home Internet by Virgin Mobile is fibre-powered and currently available to existing eligible Virgin Mobile Members within the network footprint.” The company further specified that it was available in the fibre network footprint in Ontario only.
The modem's antennas are used for Wi-Fi - Bell's Home Hub 2000 that they use for Fibe installations also has 6 Wi-Fi antennas.
 
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well that article (minus the editorial comment at the end) makes that clear as mud.
It also fooled one of the the commenters too...

Read the comment above mine and then understand. Yes this is for home internet but it's NOT using bell lines. It's wireless internet, just like fido offers. Please read before making yourself look stupid.

Why would Virgin not make it absolutely clear that this was wired?

Too bad too because it would be groundbreaking if it was.

Now if the CRTC could be convinced to give LTE rural users a break on monthly caps...
 
#11 ·
well that article (minus the editorial comment at the end) makes that clear as mud.
It also fooled one of the the commenters too.
The update at the end (which I quoted) is what Virgin said after the author asked them for clarification on how the service was delivered.

That comment may have been posted before the update was made. Just to clarify things - Fido's Home Internet is delivered by coax cable, it's not wireless internet.
why would virgin not make it absolutely clear that this was wired?
They probably want to downplay their relationship with Bell.
 
#10 ·
Why would Virgin not make it absolutely clear that this was wired?
Fibred??? ;-)

Actually, they don't appear to say how it's carried. I also lean to fibre for this. I guess someone has to bite the bullet and try it. I don't know how well they'd deliver it to me at my home, where cell signals (both Bell & Rogers) are not that great at one end of my condo and pretty bad at the other. However, I won't be trying it, as I swore off using Bell¹ for anything, a few years ago.

1. For those who haven't clued in, Bell owns Virgin, just as Rogers owns Fido.
 
#26 ·
Virgin uses Bell Fibre network. Bell currently has fibre to the node. FTTN. Big brown box located on one of their poles in your neigbourhood, if you are currently living in a neighbourhood that has been upgraded to the fibe network. From there it is copper wired to your telephone point of demarcation. They don't do in house wiring in the installation. Steve the modem gets plugged into any available home phone jack in the house. Info on the exact details of the copper part are still unclear at this moment
 
#12 ·
I stumbled upon Virgin home internet recently while web surfing. I too wasn't sure if it was 4G LTE or broadband untill I stumbled upon a picture of their so called modem. It looks identical to Bell's Home Hub 2000 but with a smiley face and obviously a different model name: Steve. Either way its kinda like how fido offers rebranded rogers internet cable modems as well.
 
#19 ·
It sounds like Bell is using Virgin to take some business back from companies like TSI. It's standard practice for third party ISPs to use the incumbent company's techs for installation and service. Companies like Bell and Rogers don't want unknown techs messing with their networks.
 
#20 ·
Companies like Bell and Rogers don't want unknown techs messing with their networks.
Ummm... Over the course of several years, I have done work on Rogers, Bell, Telus, Allstream, Wind & MTS networks, along with the local phone company in St. John N.B., whose name escapes me at the moment. I have never worked for any of them, though I used to work Unitel, the remnants of which became part of Allstream. While I have never done residential work, I have worked on fibre, DSL, cell sites, short haul microwave and more. I worked for a contractor hired by those companies.
 
#21 ·
Disastrous !!

I got this Virgin Home internet connection last month, got my first bill this month and now I on the phone with the customer service for the past 35 minutes, just to understand my usage !

How bad can a customer service be?

Customers are charged one month in advance - still called "postpaid", billing cycle is different from usage cycle, usage cannot be checked online on your account page, nor on the modem - the only way ... to call the customer care and wait for 10 minutes for them calculate it and provide it to you.

"Sir"... how long will it take you to build a web page which can pull data from your billing systems and display it?
 
#22 ·
I worked for a contractor hired by those companies.
I understand that companies often hire contractors. That's still different than allowing third party ISPs to use people they hire to work on the network. From what I've seen, the incumbent network provider does the work up to the demarcation point. The ISP is responsible for everything past that.
 
#24 · (Edited by Moderator)
Steve is lousy

I have been using Virgin Internet -- which is Bell Fibe Internet with a different modem/router -- for almost two months. I will not be continuing with this service because the modem/router -- aka "Steve" -- is lousy.

I switched from Bell and their latest modem/router (Home Hub 2000?), and the WiFi capabilities of the "Steve" router are spotty, at best. Can't even stream Netflix without the picture going fuzzy multiple times during a show. My Ooma Telo -- which worked most of the time under the Bell unit -- barely functions with the Virgin unit. Mobile devices constantly drop their connection. Dead spots where none existed before.

I tried talking to tech support (which is actually Bell tech) and got lectured by the tech woman who thought I was just crazy to think I could have so many devices connected (even though only one was doing anything at a time). Well, it worked before and as soon as I switched to Virgin (to save money), my wifi service dropped like crazy.

If you live in a smaller home or apartment, this bargain service may work for you, but otherwise stay away unless you are willing to buy your own decent WiFi router.
 
#28 ·
The same thing can be done with VoIP. Just connect the output of the VoIP phone adapter (ATA) to a phone jack. It's best to disconnect it from the outside line first. I used the spare pair of inside conductors and a dual line phone plate to provide a second line with a Cisco SPA2102. The Virgin Mobile phone adapter will be no different. They just charge more than some other VoIP providers.
 
#30 ·
Working well for me, pretty much same speed as the Rogers Ignite 30 or whatever it is I had before, getting the advertised download speed on speedtest but upload is a bit lower than advertised.

Only issue I have is with the modem, I'm not sure if it's the best. The signal range is fine but I have had a couple wifi drops (and the 5 Ghz band was working when the 2.4 was down so I know the connection didn't drop altogether). I put my Rogers modem when I had that in bridged mode and then used my own router so I'm wondering if that's worth doing, connect my own D-Link instead of using 'Steve' if it fixes the connection drops, just gotta figure out how to put it in bridged mode lol because the interface on this router is weird.
 
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