Is Virgin broadband any good?
We have reviews and ratings from 29 verified customers of Virgin broadband.
We surveyed new customers 60 to 120 days after switching to Virgin - here's what they told us:
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Speeds not close to advertised speed. Online sign up suggested we could self-install based on address but this was not the case and had to get an engineer out. There are times of intermittent disconnection
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The service has been superb. The switch was seamless and less stressful. It great value for money and I'm happy with my choice
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It's great value for the speed indoors. WiFi is fast and had no issues at all. Happy all round.
On average, people switching to Virgin saved around £2.9 per month, and rated their Virgin broadband 8.3/10.
New customers told us that they waited around less than 2 weeks between ordering and getting set up with Virgin.
To read more about what customers think of Virgin's broadband deals, check out our Virgin Media reviews page for 26 more reviews and in-depth ratings data.
Everything you need to know about Virgin Media
Virgin Media has 5 million broadband customers in the UK.
It was founded in 2006 as a merger between NTL and Telewest and has gone on to become one of the biggest telecoms companies in the country.
It’s one of the few quad-play providers in the UK, offering broadband, phone, TV and mobile services.
You can bundle all these services into one handy package, if you’re so inclined.
Virgin installs its own cables to provide broadband. Unlike BT, Sky, TalkTalk and the rest, it doesn’t rely on using Openreach’s fibre wires to deliver internet, and so has a totally different package for users.
You’ll see Virgin broadband listed in speed tiers which are nice round numbers, 125Mbps, 250Mbps and 350Mbps but the average speeds achievable with those products are actually slightly higher, 132Mbps, 264Mbps, 362Mbps.
Most Virgin broadband deals come with 18 month contracts, so they’re not as onerous as the 24 month contracts you may be locked into elsewhere.
There is the odd Virgin 30-day rolling contract but it does come with a hefty payment upfront and you will pay more on average per month for the same service.
What can you get with Virgin Media?
ADSL broadband
Virgin doesn’t do ADSL (up to 17Mbps). Its entry-level package starts at 50Mbps, which is already faster than most basic fibre broadband.
Calls
Inclusive weekend calls come with no extra cost for the first 18 months of many of Virgin’s broadband & phone deals.
Fibre
Virgin does do fast broadband but it’s not fibre, it’s their own cable network.
Virgin offers five tiers of broadband at average speeds of 54Mbps, 132Mbps, 264Mbps, 362Mbps and 516Mbps.
Virgin recently introduced their ‘Gigafast’ broadband tier with an average achievable speed of 1130Mbps, but its not widely available just yet.
Virgin TV
You can add TV to most Virgin Media broadband products, but they also have ‘bundles’ available They come in three base entertainment channel packages: Big, Bigger and Biggest, with movies and sports packages available as add-ons.
Each comes with a 500GB Virgin TV V6 Tivo box, with which you can pause, rewind and record live TV.
Big Bundle gets you 110 channels with all the essential free-to-air entertainment and news including BBC iPlayer, ITVPlayer, Channel 4 and VEVO.
Bigger Bundle offers over 198 channels and players, with more TV favourites including Sky Sports News, Sky 1, Sky Living, and Boomerang and Cartoon Network for the kids.
Biggest Bundle gives you access to over 226 channels including up to 50 in HD. You get premium channels including BT Sport HD 1, 2 and 3, CBeebies, Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel, the above Sky channels as well as UK TV Gold, MTV HD, and Comedy Central HD.
Virgin Media TV & Broadband bundles start from £33 a month.
Mobiles
Virgin Mobile is one of the largest SIM Only and contract providers in the UK, with over 4 million subscribers as of September 2017.
Virgin SIMs currently use the Vodafone network for 4G data and calls, giving it coverage across 98% of the UK. It is expected that they will migrate over to the O2 network following the Virgin Media O2 merger.
Mobile broadband
Virgin Media mobile broadband comes in the format of a 4G WiFi hub with a SIM. Its currently only available on a rolling 30-day contract (with a cost of £39.99 upfront for the device) from £8 a month for 3GB data, all the way up to 15GB data for £20 a month.
Not sure if Virgin Media is right for you? Have a look at what else you could get with our best broadband deals and compare before you order.
