Virgin Media Wifi is starting to add capacity to its network, using customers SuperHub v3 routers to according to Engadget. This will use separate bandwidth provisioned to the SuperHub router and create a new SSID only for public WiFi use on the device. This operates in a similar way that BT’s FON environment works. The use of household routers to extend WiFi networks does increase the coverage at little cost to the provider. We’ll see if the increased coverage leads to a useful service, extending their coverage on the London Underground, and also in airports.
There is still the challenge of locations where Virgin Media doesn’t have a presence from their cable network. BT Openreach can provide FON almost anywhere due to their ubiquitous network. However, Virgin’s cable network should support higher speeds than the ADSL or Infinity based FON environment. Virgin Media has had problems with rollouts in the past, being consistently slow in previous bandwidth upgrades, so we’ll have to see if the promise is delivered.
Engadget got their information via ISP Review, and their article “Virgin Media Start Deploying Broadband SuperHub Public WiFi Sharing“. They in turn from Virgin Media emails to their customers explaining the deployment to customers. Virgin Media also provide some information on the future rollout via their webpage.
