Virgin Media announce launch of game changing new ‘Smart WiFi’

Virgin Media Ireland has unveiled free upgrades to their In-Home WiFi Hub that will add to their status as the nation’s leading broadband provider, with the revolutionary technology activated in all customers’ WiFi hubs automatically by the end of this week.

The development will provide all Virgin customers with Ireland’s fastest widely available broadband speeds in more areas of their home.  To avail of the Smart WiFi upgrades, you must have the white Virgin Media hub, and if you still have the older hub you can contact Virgin Media who will exchange your hub for you.

Channel Optimisation is a game-changing addition to the Virgin Media modem that will automatically change WiFi channels. The system chooses channels with the least amount of interference ensuring the best connectivity and fastest service is obtained by all devices being used in the home.

Airtime Fairness is a second addition that will ensure equal allocation of airtime to connected devices an ensure they achieve their highest possible speeds. This means any older devices you have will be able to access the Virgin Media WiFi hub and not become resource hoggers, because they will be given the exact bandwidth that they need.

“There’s a lot of noise and confusion around what comes next for broadband and WiFi and the focus up to this point has been around the race to improve speed of service, but we want to move away from that and focus on what consumers get from their service and their quality of connectivity for multiple devices,” states Paul Farrell, Vice President of Commercial at Virgin Media Ireland.

“Currently, we have an average of a little over ten devices using a Virgin Media WiFi hub in a home at present. That number is expected to rise to as many as 50 devices in the years ahead and what we have at Virgin Media is a hub that is ready for that level of expansion.

“We have been certified as having the best modem in the marketplace and now we’re looking to add functionality to that to ensure this debate moves beyond speed.

“You can have a Ferrari, but if the road isn’t connected or you have no petrol in the tank, it won’t give you the great experience you expect from it and what we are doing at Virgin Media now is providing the full package.”

Virgin Media rolling out Technological Innovations

Virgin Media Ireland is rolling out technological innovations that will enhance the experience for all customers, with the new additions to our modem that is already certified as the best in the Irish market taking the service to a new level.

“This is the start of our smart WiFi journey,” says Ruairi McGowan, Product Manager for Connectivity at Virgin Media Ireland. “This is chapter one and we are starting from a great base as we’re really confident in our hub, confident in our speed and convinced we have the best engineers to ensure the best possible in-home solution for our customers.

“What we’re focusing on now is the inner workings of the box and future proofing what is to come to ensure it can cope with anything our customers may throw at us in the coming years.

“What we aim to do with this upgrade is ensure our customers will never need to look at ways to improve their WiFi connection or consider rebooting their modem, as it will all be done for them through our smart hub.

“We’re rolling these revolutionary innovations out to all our customers automatically and by the end of this week, every Virgin Media Ireland customer will have Channel Optimisation and Airtime Fairness active in their home.”

Also mentioned was the news that later this year the Horizon setup boxes will be replaced by a newer model similar to the Virgin Media UK setup boxes which will feature 4K amongst other new features. As a Virgin Media customer, this is great news as I have lost count the number of times I have had to reset my Horizon Box.