We recently had Virgin media installed in our house. Our office is on the 3rd floor and we have the livingroom on the ground floor. Naturally, we didn't want wifi in the house so we intended to have ethernet cables to supply our laptops in both the office and livingroom.
When the Virgin installation team came to set up the package the router was placed in the office with something called a powerline adapter which boosts the internet signal I believe. We told the installation guys that we didn't want wifi in the house so he gave us a powerline adapter for the office without wifi (it has an ethernet port). We also asked them to put a powerline adapter into the living room so we could connect to the internet down there as well. He went off to look in his van for another adapter and installed that as well.
It was explained to us that we would have 2 network log-ins, one for the office and one for downstairs. As all routers come with wifi we were just going to log into our router and turn off the wifi manually and use ethernet for everything. Now, when the guys left and we turned off the wifi my phone picked up a signal from the second powerline adapter in the livingroom despite us having disabled wifi it on the computer.
As it turns out, Virgin installed a new "test" powerline adapter with 5G wifi which looks exactly the same as the one without wifi as part of a trial for new customers in the area. (The old wifi powerline adapters have big bulky ariels on them so it is clear that they are emiting a signal) It was intended to boost the wifi signal of not only us but of our neighbours as well to be able to give better service in the area. When this second adapter is installed the customer doesn't have the ability to control the wifi from the router. This was only discovered after a lengthy phone conversation with Virgin who initially tried to deny that the adapter was emitting a wifi signal.
Virgin then tried to have us pay £40 to have a non-wifi adapter sent out to us because we were "privilaged" to be a part of this test even though we explicitly stated that we didn't want wifi in the house and that we had signed the worksheet to say that we were happy with the installation. I explained that we were being used as a part of a 5G trial without our knowledge and that I wasn't going to pay for a new adapter as I had signed the worksheet under the impression the the identical adapter was also non-wifi.
I was put on hold on the telephone for some time and while I was on hold my partner asked if I had taken the name of the person I was talking to. I hadn't, but when the man came back on the line we entered another discussion and then offered his name. So it seems that even when a customer is on hold they can still hear what is being said even though we can't hear them. Again I was put on hold and while I was on hold I said to my partner that we were still within the 14 day cancellation time and that we would just cancel the entire package and then re-sign up under his name with the 2 non-wifi adapters this time. I asked aloud how much that would cost Virgin compared to just sending the new adapter.
Suddenly I was back off hold and they were being nice as pie, they granted us the new wifi-free adapter and it would be getting fitted the very next day with no charge.
So, if you are having Virgin media installed please be aware of this 5G trial that may be put into your home without your permission in order to boost their wifi signal in the area. Also be aware that you can't control the wifi settings on the adapters so even if you turn the wifi off your router, the signal will still be getting sent from the adapters.
When the Virgin installation team came to set up the package the router was placed in the office with something called a powerline adapter which boosts the internet signal I believe. We told the installation guys that we didn't want wifi in the house so he gave us a powerline adapter for the office without wifi (it has an ethernet port). We also asked them to put a powerline adapter into the living room so we could connect to the internet down there as well. He went off to look in his van for another adapter and installed that as well.
It was explained to us that we would have 2 network log-ins, one for the office and one for downstairs. As all routers come with wifi we were just going to log into our router and turn off the wifi manually and use ethernet for everything. Now, when the guys left and we turned off the wifi my phone picked up a signal from the second powerline adapter in the livingroom despite us having disabled wifi it on the computer.
As it turns out, Virgin installed a new "test" powerline adapter with 5G wifi which looks exactly the same as the one without wifi as part of a trial for new customers in the area. (The old wifi powerline adapters have big bulky ariels on them so it is clear that they are emiting a signal) It was intended to boost the wifi signal of not only us but of our neighbours as well to be able to give better service in the area. When this second adapter is installed the customer doesn't have the ability to control the wifi from the router. This was only discovered after a lengthy phone conversation with Virgin who initially tried to deny that the adapter was emitting a wifi signal.
Virgin then tried to have us pay £40 to have a non-wifi adapter sent out to us because we were "privilaged" to be a part of this test even though we explicitly stated that we didn't want wifi in the house and that we had signed the worksheet to say that we were happy with the installation. I explained that we were being used as a part of a 5G trial without our knowledge and that I wasn't going to pay for a new adapter as I had signed the worksheet under the impression the the identical adapter was also non-wifi.
I was put on hold on the telephone for some time and while I was on hold my partner asked if I had taken the name of the person I was talking to. I hadn't, but when the man came back on the line we entered another discussion and then offered his name. So it seems that even when a customer is on hold they can still hear what is being said even though we can't hear them. Again I was put on hold and while I was on hold I said to my partner that we were still within the 14 day cancellation time and that we would just cancel the entire package and then re-sign up under his name with the 2 non-wifi adapters this time. I asked aloud how much that would cost Virgin compared to just sending the new adapter.
Suddenly I was back off hold and they were being nice as pie, they granted us the new wifi-free adapter and it would be getting fitted the very next day with no charge.
So, if you are having Virgin media installed please be aware of this 5G trial that may be put into your home without your permission in order to boost their wifi signal in the area. Also be aware that you can't control the wifi settings on the adapters so even if you turn the wifi off your router, the signal will still be getting sent from the adapters.