Cable operator Virgin Media has confirmed that some owners of its new SuperHub (NetGear VMDG480) broadband ISP router, which comes with their latest 100Mbps, 50Mbps (XXL) and 30Mbps (XL) packages, are being affected by a "data throughput" issue that can slow their internet access speeds.

A number of customers have also reported connection and website loading problems since changing to the new kit. The issue is especially annoying for those who have just lashed out £30 for the privilege of upgrading from their old XL speed of 20Mbps to the new speed of 30Mbps, only to find sub-20Mbps performance as a result (especially at peak times).

Customers on Virgin Media's Support Forum further claim that the operator has so far managed to blame almost everything else under the sun rather than admit that the fault might be with their own kit or network.


It's understood that some of the connection problems can be resolved by un-ticking IP Flood Detection in the SuperHub's advanced settings (services tab). However this does not resolve the speed issues and others have reported that the difficulties return if you reboot the device (i.e. turn it off and on). Thankfully The Register notes that Virgin Media has now coughed up to the issue and promised a firmware update in the very near future.


The bad news is that there's no firm ETA for when this update, which will be applied to SuperHub's automatically, will actually happen. However, one of Virgin's forum support managers did recently offer a rough indication about when it might become available, but affected individuals aren't going to like it.


May 2011 is a very long time to wait for your broadband performance to be fixed and in the meantime affected customers may feel as if they are paying a premium for a service that is performing well below its expected level. Separately a number of customers have also reported performance and coverage problems with the new hub's wireless ( Wi-Fi ) capability.