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Broadband speeds explained
When it comes to broadband, speed can be a confusing subject.
Broadband companies use the phrase "up to" when talking about broadband speed, because some things may affect your speed, such as:
- Some websites simply can't cope with high speeds
- If lots of people are downloading from a site at once, the site can slow down
- Computer specifications - Check your computer now
Ofcom rates Virgin Broadband top for speed
To try and untangle some of the confusion, Ofcom, the UK communications industries regulator, has published a review on broadband speeds delivered by the UK's biggest broadband providers.
Ofcom's review ranked the average download speed of Virgin Media's up to 10Mb broadband as almost double the UK average.*
Here's a breakdown of the results in a handy table:
| Provider | Speeds |
| Virgin Media ('up to' 10Mbit/s) | 8.1 to 8.7Mbit/s) |
| AOL ('up to' 8Mbit/s) | 3.3 to 3.9Mbit/s |
| BT ('up to' 8Mbit/s) | 3.8 to 4.2Mbit/s |
| O2 ('up to' 8Mbit/s)* | 4.1 to 5.1Mbit/s |
| Orange ('up to' 8Mbit/s) | 3.8 to 4.5Mbit/s |
| Plusnet ('up to' 8Mbit/s)* | 3.8 to 4.9Mbit/s |
| Sky ('up to' 8Mbit/s) | 4.0 to 4.7Mbit/s |
| Talk Talk ('up to' 8Mbit/s) | 3.8 to 4.6Mbit/s |
| Tiscali ('up to' 8Mbit/s) | 3.2 to 3.7Mbit/s |
Data for O2 and Plusnet should be treated with caution as sampled sizes were smaller than for other ISPs.
See a BBC news report about the Ofcom findings
Go even faster with up to 50Mb
Our top speed is a mind blowing up to 50Mb, the fastest broadband in the land.
And it's totally unlimited?
Yes. There's no limit to the amount you can download and use your connection with Virgin Media.
However, we do have an "acceptable use" policy1. This is to protect the majority of Virgin broadband users from a small amount of people who misuse their broadband connection.
Managing our traffic
We want everyone to enjoy their broadband to the max, so we manage our traffic so that a very small amount of customers don't "hog" a large part of our bandwidth, and make the speeds slower for everyone else. What this means in practice is that we sometimes moderate speeds for the top 5% of customers who are downloading and/or uploading an unusually large amount. Most broadband providers manage traffic in a similar way – it helps keep things fair for everybody.
Traffic management: the key facts
- Traffic management applies to our M, L and XL packages, but not XXL
- Over 95% of our customers are unaffected by traffic management, since we only look at traffic from the top 5% of users each day - the top 3% of downloaders and top 3% of uploaders (with some overlap, this amounts to just under 5% of all our users).
We're constantly reviewing our traffic management policy to ensure it benefits as many customers as possible.
Choose your broadband package
| Size: L - up to 10Mb | Size: XL - up to 20Mb | Size: XXL - up to 50Mb |
|---|---|---|
|
£5 a month*
+ Unlimited weekend UK landline calls
Find out more
for 3 months, |
£10 a month*
+ Unlimited weekend UK landline calls
Find out more
for 3 months, |
for 3 months, |
|
*Plus a Virgin Phone line for £11 a month. These offers require you to pay by Direct Debit and use eBilling. Other options shown below. |
||
Or build your own bundleCreate your perfect mix of broadband, TV & phone
Broadband+TV+Phone
|
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The Legal Stuff
1Acceptable Use Policy applies. Traffic Management operates from 4pm to 9pm and 10am to 3pm to ensure a consistent user experience.
If you prefer not to pay by Direct Debit and/or want to receive a paper bill, the monthly price for your Virgin Phone line with these options is: Phone line and non-Direct Debit payment handling: £16; Phone line and paper bill: £12.25; Phone line, non-Direct Debit payment handling and paper bill: £17.25 (£18.50 with mobile broadband paper bill). Prices include a £5 payment handling charge payable to Virgin Media Payments Ltd and/or a paper bill charge of £1.25.
SERVICES AVAILABLE IN VIRGIN MEDIA CABLED STREETS ONLY. Subject to network capacity, 12-month minimum term contract. If you cancel during the minimum contract period you will incur an early disconnection fee.
General: Installation charges apply (starting from £35 for standard installation and, subject to availability, from £15 for Quickstart self-install. Quickstart self-install is not available for up to 50Mb broadband). An additional £20 activation fee is payable for 50Mb Broadband. Payment may be required in advance. All prices include VAT. These terms and conditions are in addition to and form part of our standard customer service contract.
Free installation offer: Free installation includes standard and Quickstart installation worth up to £35. This offer is available for online purchases that include cable broadband and phone services as part of a bundle including TV size M+, L or XL on a 12 month contract. The credit will be applied to your first monthly bill. Offer available to new customers only. As part of this offer, Priority install is reduced to £30 (normal price £65). Free installation offer does not include V+ set-up fee (Current V+ set-up fee offer is £75). Free installation offer ends 31 st January 2010. Check out the Product terms and conditions. This offer may not be used in conjunction with certain other offers. To see if another offer qualifies for free installation, check that offer's Legal Stuff.
*Source: Ofcom review of UK broadband speeds (July 2009) using SamKnows measurement data for major ISPs with up to 8Mb (DSL)/10Mb (cable) connections, April 2009.
