Our broadband speeds explained

Starting from 1st March 2019, we’ve signed up to a new, voluntary code of practice to make sure we’re giving you transparent, realistic info about the speed you are likely to get when you use our broadband services. This covers the things that may affect the speed you’re getting, as well as how to end your contract without penalty if you’re getting speeds below our minimum download speed guarantee.

On the Ofcom website, you can find a copy Ofcom’s customer guide to the Residential Codes (click here), and Business Codes (click here).

The new voluntary code will apply to all new broadband customers that join us, or existing customers that re-contract or change their broadband services on or after 28th February 2019.

All of our broadband services are suitable for:

• Web browsing

• HD streaming

• Voice over IP

• Online gaming

• Video calling

For Ultra HD streaming to a TV we recommend having a broadband service that has an advertised download speed of at least 30Mbps.

All of our broadband services are capable of achieving our advertised download and upload speeds, but the actual speeds you experience in your home may vary, particularly at peak times. This is why we’ve agreed under the Voluntary Ofcom Speed Code to give you some additional broadband speed info. In particular, we’ll now provide new and re-contracting broadband customers with an estimated, normally available (peak time) speed range and for peace of mind, a minimum download speed guarantee.

This is an estimated range of download and upload speeds you can expect to get to your Virgin Media Hub at peak times (8-10pm, Monday-Sunday).

With help from the experts at SamKnows, we’re given measurements that let us show you our broadband speeds, as required under Ofcom’s Voluntary Speed Code. Every Virgin Media Hub has the SamKnows measurement tech inside it, meaning we get a good picture of broadband speeds across our network and can provide you with all the speed information we need to under the Code, including an estimated speed range and minimum guaranteed download speed (this needs to be at least 50% of our advertised speeds).

The technical bit:

A subset of Hubs with SamKnows measurement tech are configured to run download and upload speed tests during peak hours (8-10pm). Each speed test uses three concurrent TCP connections and measures speed to a cluster of test servers located in a major London datacenter, outside Virgin Media's network. The sample of Hubs is no fewer than 3 lines per Virgin Media broadband service, across at least 250 of our local aggregation hubs (called a CMTS).

The actual speeds you get can vary from the advertised speed of your product, particularly at peak times. Broadband speeds may be affected by things we can’t control – like the use of WiFi, the device you’re using, the wiring in your home and the number of users online and accessing a particular website. Also, at peak times, high usage, e.g. during major sporting events, may cause congestion.

If the actual download speed provided from our network to your Virgin Media Hub falls below the minimum guaranteed download speed (which is 50% of the advertised speed for your broadband service on the date you placed your order), and this happens for 3 consecutive days or more (whether continuously or intermittently during the day) and we are unable to fix the problem, you may be able to leave your contract without paying an early disconnection fee. You need to contact us if you have a speed problem via the contact us page.

A bunch of things outside our control might affect your broadband speeds at home, including the location of the Hub, how you use your WiFi, the devices you use and the wiring in your building. Plus, unlike our Hub 4, our Hub 1, 2 and 3 can only measure speeds to themselves, not to your devices. To get the most out of your in-home WiFi, or to fix any WiFi issues, check out our help pages.

We’ve put together a handy guide on how to check your broadband performance with some great tips to make sure you’re getting the most from your service. You can find it here: Checking your Virgin Media broadband performance.

If you’re still not happy with your speeds, then you can find more advice and details of how to troubleshoot your connection here.

Our retail stores and kiosks aren’t able to help with speed related faults. Instead, drop us a line on our 'Contact Us' page. Just so you know, our fault agents will need to perform checks to try to fix the fault, so you’ll need to be at home for this.

If you’re having speed issues and we haven’t been able to fix things on our call with you, we’ll set up a few scheduled speed tests for your Hub, beginning on the day after you told us about the problem. You won’t have to do anything – but it’s worth knowing that we’ll only run these tests if we detect you’re not using the connection for anything else.

We’ll let you know the results as soon as possible after we’ve finished the tests.

If the actual download speed you received to your Virgin Media Hub during the test period falls below our ‘minimum guaranteed download speed’ for 3 days in a row (continuously or intermittently), we’ll confirm that there’s a speed fault, and if we can’t fix the issue within 30 days of your report, you may be eligible to leave us without paying an early disconnection fees.

Don’t forget, our minimum guaranteed download speed is to your Virgin Media Hub, not the device you’re using WiFi on. Even when using a wired connection, some older devices might not support our fastest speeds.

We’ll always contact you by email at the end of the 30-day period to let you know what’s happening, and ask you to contact our customer service team to talk through your options.

You can read more about ending your contract in Section N of the terms and conditions. If we don’t provide the ‘minimum guaranteed download speed’ as set out above (i.e. we have not remedied the speed problem within 30 days of your notifying us or we cannot address the problem) then we’ll offer you the opportunity to end your contract immediately, without an early disconnection fee. In exceptional circumstances (for example where you cancel technician visits or miss appointments) we may extend the 30 days but we’ll always discuss this with you beforehand.

Once you report a speed issue to us, we’ll perform checks to try to fix the fault. You need to keep your Virgin Media Hub plugged in, switched on and set to enable us to get speed information from it, which will help us diagnose any problems. We’ll keep you informed every step of the way and within 30 days of you reporting the speed issue to us, we’ll let you know whether we’ve found a speed issue, and if we’ve been able to fix it. If we haven’t been able to sort it in 30 days, we’ll give you the right to end your contract without paying an early disconnection fee.

No, of course not! We really want you to stay. If you decide to stay with us, there may be some other options available to you, which we’ll discuss at the time.

You have 30 days from the day we write to confirm your right to end your contract without paying an early disconnection fee, either to take up the offer or choose a different option. After this, your right to end your contract without paying an early disconnection fee will expire.

If you’ve allowed your right to cancel to expire and haven’t taken up any other option we’ve offered you but are still experiencing speed problems, you should contact us again via the contact us page.

Get helpful advice from the friendly community at our forums and find out how to get in touch with us via contact us page.