G Network or Community Fibre? Broadband options in Brixton

[mack]

All good so far, getting the correct speed and as a bonus seem to have an an ip4 address, which is handy accessing my lan when needed. Thought it was going to be behind cgnat which would have required a workaround via tailscale (which is also amazing technology and simpler than using VPN.)

 

[catriona]

I share my downstairs neighbour's Community Fibre setup - the wifi works fine through the floor in our Victorian building. Costs £27/ month between us.

 

[Hollis]

Well I almost got Community Fibre.. a sale person came door knocking, and I signed up.

When I came to cancel with Virgin, they initially offered a £20 reduction, then when I refused I was put through to their 'cancellations team' who reduced my bill to £33 a month. Less than half what I was paying..

I'm not really sure why I am still with them, but as I don't have an external arial, I was abit wary of the CF TV set up.

 

[Hollis]

Well, after a couple more calls, I am now with Community Fibre. Virgin did offer me another deal which undercut CF... so even if you want to stick with Virgin it's worth telling them you're leaving several times.

The installation by them was fine. I have had 30 minutes of pfaffing around getting everthing set up on the new router, the TV up and running etc. Tbh - I think they could've provided a slightly better idiot's guide for people like me... I got it done via their FAQs..

I have the standard 300Mb package and WiFi seems fine.. bit faster than Virgin.

Only thing missing is terrestrial TV... all the apps etc are there.. so I think i need to buy an aerial for them.. though I'm not totally clear what the point it...

 

[Hollis]

The jury is very much out on their TV package.. Contrary to what I was told, the live TV doesn't work with the indoor arial they recommended. While this doesn't matter for BBC stuff as you can get it through iplayer... you can't get any live stuff through ITVx, Channel 4 or 5.

Instead you're given 100 channels of total crap which you don't want.

Anyway, I'm thinking of buying a streaming stick now to see if that works..

 

[Chz]

If you're after live TV, there isn't really a good IPTV solution. Doesn't matter what stick you buy.

 

[Hollis]

From what I've read you can get ITVx with live TV on Roku or Amazon Fire.. which would be better than not at all.

I am reaching the conclusion the best option if you don't have an aerial or dish is probably a smart TV with Freely... however as my TV refuses to conk out after 14 years I'm not sure I want to buy a new one.

Or go back to Virgin Media.

 

[Chz]

I mean, it will come. They want to turn off the transmitters in the medium future. There's already Freely, but you need a pricey PVR or a new telly for that (currently - they have "plans").

The major issue of course is that the majority of live stations don't actually have a live internet stream alongside. No app can cure that.

 

[Hollis]

I've bought an Amazon Fire Stick Lite version for £34... It does everything I need - all the apps have 'live TV' within them and quality of picture is fine.

So my conclusion is don't bother getting the TV package with Community Fibre..

 

[Chz]

I've bought an Amazon Fire Stick Lite version for £34... It does everything I need - all the apps have 'live TV' within them and quality of picture is fine.

So my conclusion is don't bother getting the TV package with Community Fibre..

How did you manage that? I can only get ITV and the various Four channels as live tv on the fire stick.

It doesn't even do BBC in its live tv bit, you have to launch iplayer.

 

[Hollis]

Sorry, that's what I mean within the apps I can get BBC, ITV, Ch4 and Ch 5 all live.

On CF I could only get BBC live - I couldn't get any of the others live within the app.

I think I am probably stuck with CF TV now, but I won't be using it, as the Fire stick has a much cleaner interface and I'm not confronted with random crap everytime i open it up.

 

[Chz]

Sorry, that's what I mean within the apps I can get BBC, ITV, Ch4 and Ch 5 all live.

On CF I could only get BBC live - I couldn't get any of the others live within the app.

I think I am probably stuck with CF TV now, but I won't be using it, as the Fire stick has a much cleaner interface and I'm not confronted with random crap everytime i open it up.

Oh wow, I didn't realise it was that useless. I'd complain and try to get it cancelled. They're overloaded, but not unreasonable people in my experience.

 

[Hollis]

Their technical support for the TV wasn't much good - after telling me to unplug/replug everything - which did no good - they farmed me out to their TV provider netgem.. Anyway, couldn't be arsed with it..

So requested cancellation of the TV on their chat support and they agreed - no questions asked. I was still in the 60 day 'satisfaction period'... so I always had the nuclear option if they didn't agree.

So I now have their broadband, and an Amazon Fire Stick - which seems to work fine.

 

[Hollis]

Hmm.. On my second outage in two weeks. One thing Virgin was was reliable..

 

[Hollis]

Been out 24 hours now! I think it's effecting alot of people.

There's something slightly nostalgic about having a house with no internet. Just need to chuck out the smartphone now...

 

[Hollis]

Seriously their communication has been abysmal. You'd think if the network was down for 24 hours they could manage more than a five word message.