VIRGIN MEDIA HAS said it’s looking into fixing a situation where some of its customers are experiencing slow speeds for Netflix or unable to access it at all.

The issue saw some users unable to load up shows and films in anything other than standard definition instead of high definition.

The problem appeared to have started last week with customers bringing up the issue on boards.ie. Many reported shows being broadcast in 480p instead of 4k despite having 240Mb connections.

When some used a VPN (Virtual Private Network, used as a way to access content from other countries), they found the speeds increased. Using other services with the same connection did not see a drop in speed.

A spokesperson for Virgin Media said it was checking “what appears to be an intermittent fault with accessing Netflix being experienced by a handful of customers”.

“We’re working through a resolution in each customer case and are confident this will be resolved very shortly”, they said.

Virgin Media was originally UPC before it was rebranded back in October where alongside its broadband and TV packages, it announced it would be entering the Irish mobile market.

In the global speeds report compiled by Netflix, Magnet was the fastest with 3.42Mbps followed by eir (3.15Mbps) and BT Ireland (3.15Mbps). Virgin Media fell two places to fourth with 3.08Mbps.

Netflix recently announced it would be clamping down on proxies and unblockers as it’s now available in almost every country in the world. It said its goal was to ensure that content was consistent across all countries which its CEO Reed Hastings believes will be the case “over the next five to ten years”.