Review contents
Insanely fast broadband but terrible customer service – this one is hard to call. There’s lots to love about Virgin Media but as soon as something goes wrong it’s a nightmare. We’re giving it 3 stars and recommend only to those who want the fastest internet going.
One of the biggest names in broadband, it’s got to be the best right? Well yes and no. Let’s run through the key things to look for in an internet provider – speed, cost and customer service.
To put it swiftly, Virgin Media is fast, super fast. There’s a reason why Usain Bolt is the face of the ads! You could probably watch 100 movies at once with their new Gig1 Fibre package (that’s a cool way or saying 1 gigabyte per second speed). Waiting for stuff to download could be a thing of the past, hooray!
The cost of the Gig1 package is currently £62 per month, so a bit too pricey for us average joes. But don’t worry, their cheapest option is still 10x faster than the UK average speed of 64Mbps (Megabits per second), and it comes in at £28 per month.
Plus you can get £50 cashback when you sign up through Nuts About Money¹.
The nice guys at Virgin Media are giving our readers £50 cashback when they sign up (that's you!) 🎉
Back to the speed, here’s how it compares to the other heavyweight broadband providers, As you can see it’s by far the fastest!⚡
So, super fast broadband, check! But, and it’s a big ‘BUT’, if you have an issue and want to chat to customer service over the phone be prepared to wait. We’re talking put your feet up with a cuppa and a novel.
The waiting times can be long, very long, and you will probably be bounced around from department to department, and be prepared to answer lots of questions about your first cat, where you were born and mothers maiden name! Painful!
Their Trustpilot score sums it up perfectly, just 1.6/5 from over 22,000 customers. We’ve read a fair few of them, maybe not all 22,000 but enough to know that the biggest problem is their customer service. If customer service is a deal breaker for you, check out our Cuckoo broadband review, they have an average customer waiting time of just 2 minutes.
Still with us? Great, we think Virgin media has a lot to offer overall. Yes the customer service should trigger warning flags, but it’s worth noting that people only write negative reviews when they are frustrated. Bad customer service will do that to you! But we’re not excusing it, we want to give you all the facts so that you can make up your own mind.
They claim to have an impressive 99.88% reliability, which is really high for the broadband sector. So feel safe in the knowledge that you won't miss that final penalty kick in the World Cup final! Well, only unless ITV switch to the ads...
You also get access to millions of free wifi hotspots when you're out and about, so you can quickly download the latest episode of that series you’re bingeing without using your phone data, result!
The router (the box that sends the wifi signal around your house) is pretty decent too. It has a good range for most standard size homes. And if you have any ‘black spots’, places in your home where the wifi doesn’t reach, you can easily get a wifi booster.
Tip: Virgin Media might try and loan you their boosters for £5 each a month, it’s not worth it, it’s just another way for them to make more money. You can buy these for about £20-£30.
Let’s run through the pros and cons of Virgin Media Broadband.
So that’s it, a good company with one major flaw – customer service. If you like your internet speed nice and fast you can’t go wrong. Just be prepared to deal with some pretty bad service to get it.
Overall we’re giving it 3 stars, we like our broadband fast, and Virgin Media is the fastest – no one else comes close. But we only recommend it if you are genuinely after the fastest speeds going. There are plenty of other providers out there who provide great speeds, service and value for money.
Yes! Get £50 cashback when you purchase any broadband package. All you need to do is get started here¹, or if you’re ordering over the phone mention the code EGFZFDQN.
And full disclosure, we’ll get a small fee too, which helps us keep the light on. If you’d prefer not to use it, or simply want to learn more, here’s their website. You can always come back later for the discount when you’re ready to go ahead.
The nice guys at Virgin Media are giving our readers £50 cashback when they sign up (that's you!) 🎉
The nice guys at Virgin Media are giving our readers £50 cashback when they sign up (that's you!) 🎉
The nice guys at Virgin Media are giving our readers £50 cashback when they sign up (that's you!) 🎉
This article was written by the team at Nuts About Money, and fact-checked by 2 independent reviewers. You’re in safe hands.
The nice guys at Virgin Media are giving our readers £50 cashback when they sign up (that's you!) 🎉
