No need for line rental if you opt for a broadband-only deal - cable to the property allows for broadband-only packages
Fastest widely available provider in the UK, averaging 516Mb download speed, more than 7 times that of BT fibre, which is currently averaging 67Mb on its fastest speed
99.88% network uptime as of December 2020, based on 12 month average
Consistently the fastest of the big national providers in our monthly speed test report
Hub 3 router standard on all deals offers 802.11ac advanced wireless technology with faster speeds at a distance
Equipment is 'rented', meaning Virgin provides free repairs and replacements (provided that the customer hasn't abused the equipment)
No switching hassle - different technology, can run concurrently with ADSL while one or the other is set up
TV services provided by underground high speed cables so not affected by storms or heavy usage of your broadband service
Family Plan - existing broadband and TV customers on a Virgin Pay Monthly SIM can bundle up to 5 SIMs on one account to get discounts and additional parental controls
Rated highest for reliability out of all TV with broadband providers by Broadband.co.uk vistors
Possible downsides
Only available to around 60% of the UK, ruling out the vast majority of rural areas, but their footprint is growing
Installation can be more complex if your home hasn't been connected to Virgin Media before
Annual CPI increase - prices for broadband (and any other addons, such as line, call plans and call charges) increase by the Consumer Price Index in April of each year plus 3.9%, and then each April onwards
Features at a glance
Top speeds average 1.1Gb download speeds and 52Mb upload speeds
18 month or 30 day contracts
Truly unlimited usage on all packages
£35 upfront cost as standard
Free technical support by phone or online - 8am-9pm Weekdays, 8am-8pm Saturdays, 8am-6pm Sundays
Free anti-malware protection, firewall and parental controls for up to 5 devices
Free advanced Hub 3 802.11ac wireless router with all deals
Full range of premium Pay TV channels available, including Sky Sports and Sky Cinema
Phone bundles available
Free wi-fi at over 3.5 million hotspots, including in the London Underground and Glasgow Subway
Sometimes the best way to get a feel for a broadband provider is to read what those who are already customers think of the service they're receiving. Below are all the reviews we've received for Virgin Media.
Ratings are left by users of our speed test as well as by reviewers. Recent star ratings summarise the last 12 months of ratings or the last 100 placed, whichever is largest.
Avoid Virgin at all costs. They charge exorbitant fees to cancel the contract, but also charge ridiculous fees to do anything in general. We upgraded our broadband to the most costly package because our wifi was working so poorly. The upgrade didn’t help and customer service was not helpful whatsoever in trying to rectify the issue. They made us go through the whole process of using their app to assess the broadband in each room. The app showed the quality of our broadband was poor in more than half the rooms, yet we still didn’t qualify for wifi extenders to be installed. When we inquired further, we were told they could send an engineer, but if they “decided” nothing was wrong, they would charge us £25 for the visit. Absolutely ridiculous, don’t waste your money!
Satisfaction
1 star
Customer Service
1 star
Speed
1 star
Reliability
1 star
Madison
London
Virgin Media
2024-04-05
It isn't obvious but Virgin line quality is shockingly bad. Most of the time browser caches and video buffering will hide the line drop outs. Poor line quality is hell for VPNs required for working from home. Spending fifteen minutes waiting and wondering what is happening while the router resyncs and trying to work is frustrating. Also the DNS servers occasionally go offline which makes using the internet next to impossible, but you ARE still connected confusing support staff. And Virgin won't mention this.
Our Tech Support Staff echo the comments about Virgin being the worst broadband supplier. DON'T use Virgin for working from home.
Satisfaction
1 star
Customer Service
1 star
Speed
3 stars
Reliability
1 star
Sean
Heartfordshire
Virgin Media
2024-04-05
Tempted by low prices and promise of fast speeds, I am now trapped in a hell of no or intermittent service, and non-existent technical and billing support. My broadband has been out completely for days on end, and also intermittently cutting out for over four weeks. Virgin neither warns, apologises, nor compensates us. I’ve had to conduct important meetings from my phone sitting on a wall outside the house.
When I have tried to contact them I get obsequious apologies and absolutely zero help. I submitted a complaint; they responded that “we just checked your service and it’s fine, we are closing this complaint” - even though their records should show that engineers and subcontractors had been sent to our road every day for two weeks! Oh and I got an email announcing an 8% price rise after another weekend with zero service.
In despair after an online presentation and online PhD examination had to be cancelled because of unplanned outages, I tried to cancel my contract. Was told I owed £200 in penalties for early cancellation. I refused to pay so much money for such a faulty product. They said, call 150 and speak to the technical team, maybe they can waive the extra fees. I can’t call 150 because my landline is out. So I call the costly number from my mobile and try to get through to technical support and get a recorded message - “there’s a fault in your area” - then bumped straight back to the main menu.
It’s impossible to speak to a human or get hold of anyone who will take responsibility or can help us. I have lost huge amounts of time and am going mad with stress and frustration. The worst consumer experience I’ve ever had, and it has been the same for every Virgin customer in my road - all of whom are switching at the first opportunity. If my suffering helps one other person to avoid this horrible catastrophe of a country, that would make me feel a bit better. The regulators should shut them down; they should go bankrupt.
Going to try to post this now before the broadband goes down again
Satisfaction
1 star
Customer Service
1 star
Speed
1 star
Reliability
1 star
Andrea
London
Virgin Media
2024-04-04
I gave the engineer freedom to put the router in the best place and explained we'd had problems before with Wi-Fi reaching all areas of the house. He assured me their hub was the best on the market, with super strong reach and great connection speeds but that if we did struggle then Virgin would supply us with a free mesh pod to help. That was not true. The reach is worse than it was before and they want me to pay an extra £96 a year to improve it with their pod. When I asked to put a complaint in, I was told I'd get an email in response. I was not told the agent had closed it himself and marked it resolved without any such agreement with me. We've been a customer less than a week and I'm now trying to decide whether to use the 14 day cooling off period to go elsewhere or to stick with it and go to the Ombudsman. It's disgusting how poor the service has been and how bad the connection is.
Satisfaction
1 star
Customer Service
1 star
Speed
1 star
Reliability
1 star
Becky
Staffs
Virgin Media
2024-03-29
If you have a stable connection and all is working as it should there is no issue. I was happy for a long time. However when I tried to leave it all went wrong.
We are moving abroad so we had no choice but to cancel. As we knew we were leaving we let our contract expire, knowing Virgin did not operate in the country we are moving to ( thankfully!)
I gave 30 days notice as per my contract and told virgin we had sold our house and the sale was completing on 24th April. We were told it was fine and our purchasers then applied to move their services to the new address on 24th April. I have emails for both transactions. On Monday we woke to find all our services disconnected and this week I have tried to get them reinstated. It has been an absolute nightmare. Lies, broken promises, breach of contract aside there is absolutely no way to get my services back and the best they can odder by way of compensation IS THAT THEY WONT CHARGE US FOR THE REST OF OUR CONTRACT ( for services we have not had!!!)
Like many I am left wondering how their customer services have been allowed to get this bad.
Oversees call centres and limited access to systems aside I cannot believe they can cancel services with no notice, without redress to their own contract and just shrug and say tough when all I want is for them to honour their own contractual obligations.
This is a company to avoid. All the major customer review sites have them just above a 1. The only reason for that is you cannot score them as 0
AVOID AVOID AVOID
Satisfaction
1 star
Customer Service
1 star
Speed
4 stars
Reliability
4 stars
Mark
Leicester
Virgin Media
2024-03-28
Absolutely shocking customer service and contract.
You should seriously consider before signing a contract with Virgin Media since the price IS NOT fixed. Unless you're happy to pay for more than what you've contracted for, go for it.
Also, their customer support is absolutely shocking. Cheap outsourced Indian call centre who read off a script.
Virgin Media simply doesn't have the reputation it used to have
Satisfaction
1 star
Customer Service
1 star
Speed
5 stars
Reliability
2 stars
Saher
Blackburn
Virgin Media
2024-03-26
I agreed in January to start in April but they wanted to start service in February and had an installation date of 24th Feb. So I cancelled immediately wrote to webservices, and rang customer services it was acknowldeged and so they did not turn up on the 24th Feb. I thought that was the end of it, but I was on holiday in March and webcam picked up workmen installng Virgin box to my property on the 12th March, without my knowledge or agreement atall. Infact I rang the police as I did not know it was Virgin at first. They confirmed on the phone that I had cancelled, and I wrote a formal letter of complaint as the Police stated it was trespass and 'criminal damage' to my property as they had drilled in to my brickwork. I have never redeived the Hub pack, router or anything else so no service, but today O2 rang me saying they wanted to give me a SIM to start my broadband service with Virgin and he insisted I was with them now. I told him that no permission had been given no notification at all to install equipment on my property was given to me and that I considered this to be ongoing aerial trespass and was seeking damages now. I asked him to feed that back. They are impossible to contact, leave you ages on the phone and pass you to other departments where you get cut off. Absolutely terrible I shall never recommend this company now.
Satisfaction
1 star
Customer Service
1 star
Speed
1 star
Reliability
1 star
Susan B Smith
Stanley, Co Durham
Virgin Media
2024-03-24
Would give zero stars if it was possible. Absolutely shocking!! What has happened to virgin media?? Awful awful company. Shocking service in relation to the TV and broadband but also their customer service. Rude, constantly being cut off, being talked over trying to offer new packages instead of listening to the body of the actual complaint!! Will NEVER use virgin again. Hopefully the new companies on the block currently out rolling i.e BRSK who offer 1gb download speed will give us back the choice as virgin were the only ones to be able to offer these quicker speeds.
Avoid Virgin at all costs.....we had constant outages the online account was ridiculously difficult to try and find the link/button to log the complaint in order for them to acknowledge it even tho they email us to notify us that there is an outage or problem in the area. STAY AWAY FROM VIRGIN MEDIA it's really that simple.
Satisfaction
2 stars
Customer Service
1 star
Speed
2 stars
Reliability
1 star
Patrick
Stourbridge
Virgin Media
2024-03-24
Scammers. I rang to cancel 2 weeks ago (beginning of March). They've sent me a full bill for the whole month of April. They have a 30 day cancellation policy. It takes ages sorting things out on the live chat and yesterday evening didn't get any help at all. Furthermore, I was poorly when my contract ended and have been charged an extortionate amount since. AVoid avoid avoid.
Satisfaction
1 star
Customer Service
1 star
Speed
1 star
Reliability
1 star
Penelope
Birmingham
Virgin Media
2024-03-22
Absolutely awful and crooked company! Tried to charge me extra even after cancellation. 221.01!!! No help for loyal customers.
The reviews published on this page are those of the individual authors who have warrantied that they abide by our review guidelines. Reviews are not the opinion of Broadband.co.uk.
Ofcom's latest figures on broadband complaints are out - and it's bad news for Virgin Media. The company has rocketed to the top of the list as the major broadband supplier that gets the highest rate of complaints.
The report covers January to March this year, and counted the number of complaints made to Ofcom about providers with a market share of 1.5% or more.
It shows that Virgin Media generated 33 complaints per 100,000 customers, an increase of 20 in just a year. That puts them a long way ahead - or should that be behind - the next two worst performers, with Vodafone and TalkTalk both getting 24 complaints. Vodafone had been the worst ranking provider in six of the last seven quarters. Plusnet also generated complaint levels above the industry average.
And that's not the end of the bad news for Virgin Media. They also racked up the highest complaint levels for their landline service (19 per 100,000) and their pay TV service (17 per 100,000), and were second worst for mobile (5 per 100,000) behind Three.
The biggest reason why customers complained to Ofcom about Virgin Media was failings in the broadband provider's own complaints handling system - amounting to 39% in total. A third complained about faults and issues with the service, and a further 13% about billing problems.
Industry-wide, faults, service and provisioning issues accounted for 42% of reports, followed by complaints handling and billing.
Sky and EE were the least complained-about providers, generating just seven apiece. They've been in the top two positions for the last two years. The only other provider to beat the industry average was BT, with 15.
In good news for the industry overall, the average number of complaints has more than halved over the last decade, from 40 per 100,000 in the first quarter of 2011, to 19 now. The numbers are up from a record low of 10 in Q2 of last year, perhaps in part a consequence of pandemic disruption and the increasing importance of internet access for work, school and entertainment.
Broadband complaints per 100,000 customers
EE: 7
Sky: 7
BT: 15
Industry average: 19
Plusnet: 21
Vodafone: 24
TalkTalk: 24
Virgin Media: 33
In pay TV, Virgin Media generated 17 complaints against an industry average of 6. Sky performed best with just two. For landlines, Virgin had 19 complaints, eight more than the average, and EE and Sky tied as best performers with five each.
Mobile complaints were largely flat, and at much lower levels. Three performed worst with six complaints, while Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile and EE had just one each.
Service reliability, billing, and complaint handling are important factors you should consider when choosing a new broadband provider. Our site contains thousands of customer ratings and reviews that can give you a true feel for how each provider performs. Currently, Zen top our list for customer satisfaction.
If you aren't happy with the service you're getting from your supplier, and you're coming to the end of your contract, it's easy to switch. Use our postcode checker to find the best broadband deal available in your area today.
There are so many well established ideas about broadband and switching broadband providers that get repeated again and again.
The trouble is, many of them are wrong - and they're costing you money.
Switching suppliers can easily save you a hundred pounds or more every year, and if you're stuck on a slow internet package when you need something much faster, it doesn't have to cost you a fortune to upgrade.
So here are some of the biggest myths about broadband, and the truth that you need to know.
"Fibre is fibre - all fibre broadband is the same"
While fibre broadband is used as a catch-all term, it encompasses very different things.
Most of us are using something called fibre-to-the-cabinet broadband. This is where the ultrafast fibre cables carry your broadband signal as far as your nearest street cabinet - that green box down the end of your road. The connection from the cabinet to you house is over the old copper telephone cables. These are a lot slower, and the signal degrades the further it has to travel, which is why a house on one of the street can get very different performance levels to one at the other end.
There's now a big push to roll out "full fibre" broadband, which is also known as fibre-to-the-home. Here, the fibre cables run right up to your house. The result is that the speeds are much, much faster and the service is more reliable.
"There's no benefit to upgrading to ultrafast broadband"
A recent survey found that one of the main things that stopped people from upgrading to ultrafast or full fibre broadband was the belief that it didn't really offer any benefits. But there are many.
The main one, obviously, is that you get much faster download speeds. Our internet use is skyrocketing - Ofcom's recent Communications Market Report shows that the average household now burns through 429GB of data each month, an increase of 36% on the previous year. Even if you think you don't need faster speeds right now, you will do soon.
On top of that, you get vastly quicker upload speeds, which will be essential if the working from home revolution continues. The service should be more reliable, too, as you won't have to deal with line faults on the old telephone cables.
And it's also better value for money: currently, you pay the same price for your broadband as your neighbour down the street, yet you could be receiving a much slower service. That's far less of an issue with full fibre.
"It's too much hassle to switch providers"
By now it's well established that those of us who are willing to switch providers will get a better and cheaper deal than those who stick with the same provider for a long time.
Why don't more people switch? Because it's seen as too much hassle. But it really isn't.
If you move between two providers on the Openreach network - which includes almost all the main providers, including BT, TalkTalk, Sky, Vodafone, Plusnet and so on - then the one you are moving to will handle the entire switchover process for you. You won't have to do anything, and the whole process should be done within a couple of weeks.
Granted, it is a little more complicated to switch to or from a provider that uses a different infrastructure, like Virgin Media, as you may need an engineer to come and install it. But these companies are now set up to make even this part as easy as possible.
"You'll lose internet access when you switch"
Another reason people are reluctant to switch is that they assume they'll be left without internet access while it happens. This is another myth.
Generally speaking, your old service gets turned off as your new service gets switched on and you might be disconnected for a few minutes in between, but nothing more dramatic than that. If you're switching to or from Virgin Media, you can even arrange an overlap where your new service is connected before your old one is turned off.
"You always have to sign a long contract"
Something that puts off a lot of people when they're looking at broadband deals is the prospect of having to commit to a long contract.
In fact, you don't have to. NOW Broadband, Virgin Media, and newcomer Cuckoo are among the providers that offer no-contract deals. You have to pay a little more on the activation fee up front, but this might be worth it for the flexibility of being able to cancel at any time. These deals can be especially worth it for students or anyone who's planning to move house in the near future.
Most suppliers offer 12 month contract options as well. And keep in mind that if your reluctance to sign a long deal is through the worry that you'll be stuck with something you aren't happy with, then there are ways you can quit a contract without charge. If your broadband speed constantly underperforms, for example, and your supplier cannot fix it, or if they put your prices up by more than the amount in agreed in your contract.
"It's too complicated to find a better deal"
There are a lot broadband suppliers in the UK, and they offer a lot of deals between them. Trying to figure out the differences can be tricky, especially if you aren't that tech savvy.
But it needn't be that complicated. We make it easy for you to compare all the latest broadband deals, and you can filter them based on whatever you want most. So, you can see the cheapest deals, or the fastest deals, or just the fibre packages, or those that offer broadband without a contract.
And if you then sort them further by speed or first year cost, you'll very quickly narrow your list of options down to just a few packages.
"Faster broadband always costs more"
While it's natural to assume that upgrading to faster broadband will cost you more, it isn't necessarily so.
If you're in a coverage area, you can get full fibre from Hyperoptic (at the slower 30Mb speed) at a rate normally reserved for the old, standard broadband deals; you can upgrade to a faster 67Mb plan from OneStream for just £22.50 a month; or you can burst through the 100Mb barrier with Vodafone for just £26 a month. These are some pretty keen prices, that make faster broadband more accessible than you might have expected.
So, now you know the truth about broadband and how to upgrade, are you ready to start shopping? Use our postcode checker to discover the best broadband deals available where you live.
Virgin Media Broadband Buyers Guide - Is Virgin Media right for you?
Can I get Virgin Media?
Virgin Media ultrafast broadband is only available through the company's own fibre optic cable network, meaning you need to live in a Virgin Media cable area to be able to get it.
The network currently comprises about 60% of UK homes, although Virgin Media are looking at expanding their coverage. Ultrafast speeds (in excess of 100Mb) are available in all cable areas, and the full upgrade from M250 to M350 rolled out across 2018. M500 rolled out across 2019, and Gig1 has rolled out as part of TV packages, but expect that to extend to other packages later on.
You can use our broadband checker to see if you live in an area with cable.
What packages are available?
Virgin Media provide 5 different broadband packages, each providing a different speed of broadband service:
All packages except Gig1 can be taken as standalone broadband deals, or with the option of line rental and a Weekend or Anytime calls package. Broadband is fully unlimited, with no restrictions on downloads or uploads. You can get Virgin Media broadband on both 18-month and 30-day rolling deals. The short term deal offers greater flexibility, but comes with a much higher upfront installation cost, typically £80, compared to £35 on the long. They're also more expensive per month if you choose a package with calls. You also have the option boost your speeds to the next package and get a 2GB data SIM bundled in.
Virgin Media is a "quad play" provider. This means that you can add a full range of pay TV services, plus a mobile deal, to your broadband and phone package. All TV deals require an 18 month contract.
Fibre optic broadband like that provided by Virgin Media does not vary in speed depending on how far you are from a telephone exchange, unlike their competitors who use copper phone lines.
Which package should I choose?
All Virgin Media broadband packages are truly unlimited, and offer 'superfast' and 'ultrafast' speeds over 24Mb and 350Mb respectively. When deciding which package is best for you, you should consider how heavily you use the internet, how many people will be using your connection, and your budget - you don't need to pay more than necessary.
Virgin Media claims an average 5 second download time for an album, and 2.4 minutes for a movie on M125, and even faster on M250 with less than a 4 second average download for an album and 1.45 minutes for a movie, and even faster still on M350. These speeds are more suited to people who download a lot, or who regularly play online games, especially if there is more than one person doing this.
As most internet users do not need the higher broadband speeds, the size of your household should be a primary consideration when selecting which package you wish to go for. Virgin Media claim the M125 package is ideal for families, and the M250 and M350 packages are the 'ultimate experience' easily adequate for 5 or more people. This assumes that everyone will be using the internet a lot - which may be the case for some larger families or student households, in which case going for a faster package will enable you to avoid slowdown when everyone is online at the same time.
However, there is no point in paying for more than you need.
Points to consider before you choose
How many people will be using your broadband connection?
Are you a heavy downloader, or do you regularly play online games?
Would the expense of the faster speed be worth it for you?
As well as their very fast broadband speeds, another big attraction of Virgin Media is the range of premium Pay TV services they offer.
Virgin Media TV is delivered via Virgin's cable infrastructure, so you need to live in an area where this has been installed. You watch via the Ultra HD-ready Virgin TV V6 box, which allows you to record six shows while watching a seventh. You also get on-demand viewing and support for Netflix and YouTube. In addition, the Virgin TV Go app lets you watch on a phone or tablet. These services come on a 12 month contract.
Virgin Media TV offers four bundles with an increasing number of channels:
Big Bundle: over 120 channels, most of which are available through Freeview. You can add Sky Cinema or Sky Sports as add-ons without contract. The standard Player TV bundle comes with Virgin's M50 fibre broadband.
Big Bundle + Entertainment Picks: more than 150 channels, including the above plus premium entertainment channels like Sky One, Sky Witness and Fox. Sky Atlantic is not available on Virgin. Boost your TV options by adding Entertainment Picks, with a choice between Drama, Documentaries, Lifestyle and Sport Lite
Bigger Bundle: over 240 channels including HD and +1 versions of many of the Mix TV channels, plus BT Sport in Ultra HD and the Virgin TV Ultra HD channel. You can add Sky Cinema or Sky Sports as add-ons without contract. Bundled with M125 fibre broadband.
Ultimate Oomph Bundle: the full package of over 280 channels, including Sky Sports HD, Sky Cinema HD and BT Sport UHD, plus the Virgin TV Ultra HD channel. Bundled with the ultrafast M500 fibre broadband, Anytime calls and a mobile SIM with truly unlimited data, minutes and texts.
Virgin offers certain bundles that match TV packages with specfic broadband deals, but you can mix and match, too, to ensure you get exactly what you need. All TV packages come with an option to boost your speed to the next tier, aside from Ultimate Oomph which already offers the fastest speeds available.
How do I switch/sign-up?
Customers switching to Virgin Media will have an engineer come over to their house to install the cables and help you get set up with fibre broadband, including the Hub 3 router.
If you are switching to a Virgin Media package that includes phone services, you will need to switch your phone line. Virgin Media should do everything for you, including letting you keep your pre-existing phone number. If you do this, then your previous provider will automatically cancel your phone line and any broadband services that are associated with it.
If you're not switching phone services, you will need to give your current broadband provider 30 days notice of cancellation. If you're worried about downtime, you can always arrange for your current broadband to end a few days after your Virgin start date.
It's always good to know upfront what you'll get when signing up with an ISP so you know what you can enjoy for free, or to budget for any extras you may want.
Wireless router - All customers signing up to Virgin Media fibre broadband will get a free Virgin Media Hub 3 wireless router with the very latest 802.11ac wireless technology offering the fastest speeds and greatest range. The routers will be set up by a Virgin Media engineer on installation day.
Online security - F-Secure SAFE, an anti-virus tool worth £79.99 a year, is included free for all Virgin Media broadband customers. You can install this on up to five devices for 12 months, including PCs and Macs, and Android tablets and phones. You also get Virgin Media's Web Safe parental controls tools.
Inclusive phone calls - Virgin Media provide the option of getting phone services along with your broadband packages. The phone inclusive packages are less per month than the broadband-only packages. These phone packages offer Talk Weekends, which means unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines and Virgin Mobile numbers, and you can extend this to evenings and weekdays, or add international or mobile calls as optional extras for an extra cost. 087x and 084x numbers are subject to extra service and access charges.
Option of TV - You can also get broadband, phone and TV altogether as a combination package. These packages come in various sizes ranging from basic collections for lighter users to the VIP collection for those who want it all. These packages offer a wide range of cable and HD channels, with over 200 channels including most Sky channels with the larger collections. You also get a 1TB Virgin TV V6 box, which enables you to record up to 500 hours of TV.
Free tech support - If you experience any problems you can support over the phone between 8am and 10pm, seven days a week. Online chat is also avalable Monday to Saturday between 8am and 8pm.
What are the benefits of Virgin Media?
The benefits offered by an ISP may be what seals the deal in your decision to buy a package from them.
Fastest widely available broadband speeds - Virgin Media currently offer the fastest affordable consumer broadband speeds in the UK (excluding some full fibre services in limited localities) with ultrafast (above 100Mb) broadband available in all cable areas. Full speeds averaging 362Mb are in the process of being rolled out with many areas already upgraded and all areas can achieve average speeds of 213Mb.
Free hardware support - All Virgin Media broadband customers are entitled to free servicing and repairs on your broadband connection and Virgin Media Hub 3 router, and round-the-clock technical support for when things go wrong. However, because the equipment remains property of Virgin Media, and customers technically only rent it for free, any perceived misuse or mistreatment will not be covered by the free servicing and repairs.
Free London Underground wi-fi - Virgin Media customers are able to use wi-fi connections free of charge at over 250 London Underground stations, plus everywhere on the Galsgow subway.
All deals get the premium router - Virgin Media offer their very best router with the latest 802.11ac wireless on even their cheapest products. Equally, all TV customers get the same high-end V6 box regardless of how many channels they choose to take.
What are the drawbacks of Virgin Media?
Let's face it, not everything can be perfect, and even the best deals may have a downside.
Installation is more complex - If your house has never had Virgin Media before, then the installation will more complex. An engineer will need to run cabling from the connection point on your pavement to an outside socket installed on your outside wall, to a wall socket inside your house. Virgin says it normally takes around two hours, although could be longer in some cases. However, if your home is already set up for Virgin, a self install option might be available.
No fixed IP addresses - Virgin Media do not offer fixed IP addresses as part of their regular packages. However this is only likely to be an issue if you wish to set up a local web server, otherwise you are unlikely to notice the difference.
Slower upload speeds than most FTTC - Although Virgin Media's download speeds tend to outstrip fibre to the cabinet alternatives, their upload speeds don't tend to keep up. Many other fibre services offer upload speeds averaging around 19Mb while Virgin Media's M125 service offers only 6Mb average upload speeds, although their most expensive M350 service now offers 21Mb average upload speeds, and the new M500 service will offer 35Mb upload speeds.
High customer complaints - According to an Ofcom report, Virgin Media are the third most complained about of the major broadband suppliers.
Annual CPI increase - Prices for broadband (and any other addons, such as line, call plans and call charges) increase by the Consumer Price Index in April of each year plus 3.9%, and then each April onwards
