Virgin Media broadband speeds: How fast are they & what’s on offer?

Wednesday 22 May 2024 by Jonathan Victoria  Guides

Virgin Media offers an impressive variety of broadband speeds ranging from the revolutionary hyperfast gigabit broadband to low-speed full-fibre for the less connected households who still require a strong and fast connection.

This guide will take you through the Virgin Media broadband speeds available and the types of broadband package bundles you can purchase so you can make a more informed decision on which option you want/need before purchasing.

Virgin Media’s broadband-only packages

In total, Virgin Media has five packages on offer that provide different speeds. Four of them also come with a home phone option with line rental included, but with full-fibre, a phone line isn’t necessarily required so we’re taking a look at the broadband-only options.

All of Virgin Media’s broadband comes with unlimited usage so you are free to use as much broadband as you like all day, every day.

It’s also important to note that the average download and upload speeds may differ depending on certain variables, such as location or number of devices connected and using the broadband at the same time.

All the following packages also come with no upfront cost to pay initially, although that is if you choose the self-install kit which is available to those whose homes already have Virgin media cables installed. Otherwise, an engineer will be needed to come out for installation at a cost £30 as they would need to do some work on the inside and outside of your home.

Virgin Media M125

M125 is Virgin Media’s entry-level package, offering average download speeds of 132Mbps and average upload speeds of 20Mbps.

This kind of speed is suitable for a small household of around four who are fairly connected. It is capable of handling online activities like streaming and gaming consecutively, although too many devices connected at once may hamper the speeds. 

It’s also decent enough for working from home, but if you are looking to do that with other things working in the background, you may want better.

Virgin Media M250

The next step up is the M250 offering, which comes with average download speeds of 264Mbps and average upload speeds of 25Mbps.

Again, this is ideal for a smaller household but is more capable of handling heavier usage without too much strain. Streaming in 4K should be fine on multiple devices, although not too many all at once.

Working from home should also be more than fine with M250, even if there are other devices connected and doing things elsewhere in the house. 

Virgin Media M350

The M350 option provides strong average download speeds of 362Mbps and impressive average upload speeds of 36Mbps.

Moving up to medium-sized households now, Several people could be streaming in 4K while somebody else is syncing lots of large documents to a cloud service and you’d still have enough spare bandwidth to enjoy a marathon gaming session. 

Working from home would also be a breeze with the M350, with minimal impact from other devices should they be in use at the same time.

Virgin Media M500

With incredibly fast average speeds of 516Mbps download and 52Mbps upload, the M500 package ensures all people in your household receive a strong connection that is unsusceptible to wavering.

At such speeds, you can have many devices doing their own thing without interrupting each other, be it streaming in 4K, playing games online with zero lag and low latency or making conference calls for work.

Virgin Media Gig1

The ultimate option provided by Virgin Media, the Gig1 package offers hyperfast speeds that reach the next generation of broadband, gigabit broadband.

At 1130Mbps average download and 104Mbps average upload, you’d be getting more broadband than you probably know what to do with.

Anything that you’d need to do via broadband would be done with zero issues, no matter how many devices are connected. Three-figure upload speed is also exceptional, making this one of the leading gigabit broadband packages available in the UK.

Virgin Media bundle packages

As well as the broadband-only packages, you can find many Virgin Media package bundles that put together their broadband services with some of the company’s other great services, such as TV.

Most of the packages are also customisable so you are able to add more services to them at checkout, including Sky channels, TNT Sports and more.

Here are the bundles currently available. Note that the prices, speeds and inclusions listed are deal prices and are correct as of 22/05/24 (prices may change during contract). All bundles are available on 18-month contracts:

Virgin Media Volt bundles

Virgin Media Volt bundles are a result of the company’s partnership with O2. Volt bundles come with an O2 SIM for your phone plus all the benefits of being an O2 customer, such as O2 Roaming with the SIM and epic 5G.

You’ll also find more benefits being a customer with both, such as double data on your O2 plan, a broadband speed boost to the next available level, and O2 Travel Inclusive Zone, which allows you to roam in 75 destinations at no extra cost.

You don’t have to be an O2 customer before getting a Volt package, but you would be signing up to become one with the deal.

Here are the Volt packages available. Prices, speeds and inclusions are correct as of 22/05/24 (prices may change during contract). Packages are available on 18-month contracts:

Virgin Media broadband routers

Virgin Media has four hubs available for their range of broadband. Each one provides their high-speed WiFi, gigabit Ethernet and support for WiFi 5 or 6.

The four hubs available are: 

• Virgin Media Hub 3
• Virgin Media Hub 4
• Virgin Media Hub 5
• Virgin Media Hub 5x

All new customers for Gig1 Fibre will receive a Virgin Media Hub 5, with the 5x hub coming to all new FTTP customers in the future. The reason for this is that the Hub 5 comes with WiFi 6, the latest in WiFi technology, as opposed to WiFi 5 which is used on the Hub 4.

The Hub 4 is used for Gig1 customers as well as the Hub 5 as they do perform somewhat similarly. There are improvements from the 4 to the 5 that can be noticeable and the only reason why you may get the 4 is because of limited availability with the 5. It is still mainly used for M350 and M500 customers (depending on availability again).

The Virgin Media Hub 3 is mainly for customers who opt for the M125 and M250 packages but can also support the M350 and M500 packages, albeit with slightly less efficiency. Here are the main specs for each hub:

Virgin Media Hub 3

DOCSIS 3.0 technology, Dual-band WiFi radio with 5 antennas, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, WiFi 5, 4x 1Gbps Ethernet ports. WPS & WiFi Pod compatibility as extras

Virgin Media Hub 4

DOCSIS 3.1 technology, Dual-band WiFi radio with 7 antennas, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, WiFi 5, 4x 1Gbps Ethernet ports. WPS & WiFi Pod compatibility as extras

Virgin Media Hub 5

DOCSIS 3.1 technology, Dual-band WiFi radio with 7 antennas, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, WiFi 6, 3x 1Gbps Ethernet ports, 1x 2.5Gbps Ethernet port. WPS & WiFi Pod compatibility as extras

Virgin Media Hub 5x

XGS-PON technology, Dual-band WiFi radio with 7 antennas, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, WiFi 6, 3x 1Gbps Ethernet ports, 1x 10Gbps Ethernet port. WPS & WiFi Pod compatibility as extras

Virgin Media speed guarantee

Virgin Media stresses that the speeds outlined for each offering are average speeds and that there are always different factors involved that will affect the speeds that you actually get.

When you are choosing your selected package, Virgin will check your postcode and house number to first see if their network is available where you are, then if it is, they will then look at what speeds could be available to you and only provide the packages that you would be able to get.

Even then, they will outline the speeds you should expect from the router, and then will also give you the minimum download speed guarantee.

The minimum download speed guarantee is 50% of the advertised internet speed for your service on the date you placed your order, not the average advertised in the sections above.

If you require an engineer to install your router, they will be able to test the connection once it is all set up and outline the speeds that you should expect, including what your minimum download speed guarantee would be.

Should your download speeds fall below the minimum download speed guarantee for three consecutive days (continuously or intermittently) and Virgin Media are unable to fix the problem within 30 days, you may be entitled to leave your contract early without having to pay an early disconnection fee.

Please note that the minimum download speed guarantee does not apply to outages.