JesmondLocal reader Jane Cooper wants Virgin Media to explain why her supposedly lightning-fast cable broadband connection – and that of others in the NE2 postcode – often slows to a snail’s pace.

Photograph: Gene Hunt

Cooper has joined other Jesmond residents in posting complaints on the Virgin Media Help & Support Forum, with some saying it can take five minutes for a page to load completely. Others say they have been told by Virgin Media engineers that the root of the problem is the number of students in Jesmond who “max out” their connections by downloading music and videos. “If that is true, that’s a disgrace that Virgin would try to blame students because they’ve taken on more customers than the system in NE2 can handle,” says Cooper. “Virgin needs to stop taking on new customers when they don’t have the capability to provide even a fraction of what the customer thinks they are buying.”

JesmondLocal is attemtping to get a response from Virgin Media. In the meantime, let us know your experiences and opinions by posting your comments below, or joining our discussion forum here.