Virgin Media Customers Get Discount on Plume Adaptive WiFi Kit
Cable operator Virgin Media UK has announced that “selected customers” of their broadband ISP and TV network will be able to sign-up to an exclusive offer for Plume‘s smart home services bundle (separate to their current VM subscription), which will enable them to receive the AI and Cloud powered WiFi boosting kit.
Some may recall that TalkTalk was the first ISP to offer this earlier in 2019, although it’s also now possible to purchase Plume’s mesh style system independently of any ISP for £99 per year. The product essentially consists of several “SuperPod” devices (similar size to plug-in WiFi extenders), one of which must connect directly into your Hub 3.0 router via an Ethernet cable, and an app to help manage them.
The service also adds customisable guest access for your network, as well as parental controls and various security features. Apparently only a “select number of Virgin Media customers will be invited to sign-up to Plume and they will receive a notification via email or when logging in to their My Virgin Media account.”
For those who get an invite there will be a range of options available, including a three-pod Plume package for £6 per month.
Richard Sinclair, VM Executive Director of Connectivity, said:
“As speed leaders in the UK, Virgin Media never stands still and is always looking to make Britain faster. We constantly explore new and innovative ways to improve connectivity for our customers in a way that suits their needs in the home. This is why we are working with Plume to offer a range of products to selected customers.”
Fahri Diner, CEO of Plume, said:
“Plume is honoured to be partnering with Virgin Media to build on their commitment to bring customers the best Internet experience possible through reliable whole-home Wi-Fi, personalised parental controls & guest access, and tightly secured & protected devices. Together, Virgin Media’s broadband offering and Plume’s suite of services create a powerful solution for the ever-changing smart home.”
End.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Just confirming the routers are so bad they need extra equipment.Why should you have to pay even more?
Yep I totally agree biggest pile of trash can’t wait for contract to run out in a months time
vermin back at it again They squeeze every penny out of ya
Virgin broadband is losing its strength, why should I pay extra?
I’ve looked at a number of these subscription based mesh systems and can’t come to understand what the value proposition is. Once the subscription expires, if you don’t renew it (which I’m sure will be done automatically so it’s “seamless” for you cough cough) the devices still work but you don’t get updates or any of the subscription benefit.
What exactly is that benefit though? Surely for most end users at home consumer level, they don’t need an all seeing entity to manage and administrate their home network? Maybe if it’s a SOHO arrangement… maybe? But home users who don’t know what they’re doing are surely better off using Google and 20 mins of their time learning about the basics such as positioning, channel selection, difference between mesh and extenders and repeaters and so forth.
Subscription WiFi just seems like a monetisation vector for something that doesn’t lend itself to such a business model. Why rent something that you can buy upfront fairly cheaply when you still have to pay an upfront cost?
You can buy mesh kit outright such as BT’s Whole Home kit, there are no subscriptions. I have it and it works well as my walls are thick and no single router will ever get through them all.
Remember that a wifi signal goes out in multiple straight lines and if it hits a wall at an angle then the wall won’t be 6 inches but a couple of feet for that signal.
I’m keep TP-Link AV1000 Gigabit Powerline Starter Kit is better I have WI-FI in V6 box is working just fine don’t worry about doesn’t matter.
I’m sure the plume wifi kit provides decent wifi. Pointless exercise when the superhub 3 is essentially a piece of overpriced crap.
My house is such that I need wifi extenders to get coverage everywhere. It is a combination of the shape of the building and the walls. This is very common, especially in new build houses where the walls and wifi signals are not that compatible. There are so many people (on here and elsewhere) that complain about their broadband provider when the problem is actually their home environment. Rather than just recommend going to your local PCWorld and buying a wifi extender kit it appears that ISPs are now seeing a cash cow here and offering a subscription service to resolve a simple problem. And there will be many people who fall for the “well sir / madam, if you take out our premium service, then we can install some extra kit that does all the additional fancy things that you don’t actually need ….”. And that’s the way the world works and how some people get rich and others don’t.
Does the SSID become seemless between the Superhub 3 and the plume devices / is it a separate SSID / or do you turn off the WIFI on the superhub and use the plumes completely?
Leave it to Virgin media to try to sell you a monthly subscription to something you can buy outright and save money.
Virgin speeds are not what they claim, well mine aren’t anyway. I have the superfast fibre but have switched to talk talk which works faster and better in every way to the virgin ‘super’ hub. When I asked virgin they blamed my equipment and offered me a deal to get it checked and fixed, for £5 a month extra. Can’t leave though as I’m stuck in a deal, will be as soon as i can though.
Such a shame they have gone the route of others like BT and Talk Talk with a pay monthly to boost your wifi range scam.