Broadband speeds explained

Got some questions?

What things can affect my broadband speed?
At Virgin Media, we're always working to deliver the best broadband service we can, but there are a few things that can affect your speed.

When we talk about broadband speed, we use two terms to describe the different types there are: Advertised Speed and Actual Speed. Here's what they mean:

Advertised Speed - That's the fastest speed you can get on our network e.g. "up to 20Mb".

Unlike Cable, not all ADSL customers can receive the Advertised Speed. It depends on how far you live from the telephone exchange.

The Actual Speed - That's the actual speed that you'll receive at a particular moment in time. Lots of things can affect this. You can find out more about them below.

What factors can affect the actual speeds you receive?
There are 3 main factors that can affect actual broadband speeds:

• Your equipment
• The way the internet works
• Our network

Find out more below.

Your own equipment

Using wireless?
Wireless routers can slow down broadband speeds. It's quite possible (especially for speeds above 8Mb) that the speed of the wireless network in the house is less than the speed that's provided to the router. In other words, you sacrifice some speed for the convenience of wireless. This can be down to factors like the construction of your home (thick walls can be a problem) and the position of the router, since they often work best when they're in sight of the computer using the connection. There's also the age and specification of the wireless equipment.

More than one person using the broadband connection at the same time?
Whether it's wirelessly, or using a wired network, this can slow you down. For example, if the kids are playing on the Xbox online, Dad's downloading songs and Mum's watching iPlayer on her laptop, the speed is shared between them all. In this case, our faster broadband packages like XL, would suit you best.

Is your computer ready?
It's really important that your computer meets our minimum specifications for broadband. If your computer is older and running out-of-date operating systems, it might not be able to cope with higher speeds. Even some newer operating systems, like Windows XP, need to be specially set up to get higher broadband speeds. More information on this can be found in the help section of our website at virginmedia.com.

Using a USB connection?
This could be slowing you down, too. Especially if your package gives you speeds of 8Mb or faster. To speed things up, swap to an Ethernet connection and make the most of your fibre optic broadband. All our new packages come with an Ethernet connection as standard, which means you're making the most of your speeds from the moment you join us.

Protected?
Spyware and viruses can slow down your computer. Certain viruses can even make your computer generate lots of outgoing traffic, like spam emails. That's why it's essential to run up-to-date anti-virus software, like PCguard, if you're using the internet. Find out more about PCguard.

The way the Internet works
The internet is literally a 'web' of different networks all over the world, communicating with each other all the time. They can sometimes be poorly maintained, suffer from congestion, or even have parts temporarily closed.

Internet service providers (ISPs) like Virgin Media have no way of controlling what happens on other parts of the internet, but these issues can still affect our customers' speeds.

Websites themselves can also be part of the problem. There are millions of websites on the internet, but no standard that they all have to conform to. This means you might not know if a site can even cope with your broadband speed.
Some of the sites you use most might be very popular ones, so they have the added problem of congestion. Think about it like a crowd getting through a door - there's limited space, but huge numbers of people, so it slows down for everyone.

Our own network
Lots of people downloading things from the internet at the same time can slow you down. At Virgin Media, we call that 'traffic' and at some times of the day, you can get stuck in a traffic jam. We manage these to make sure you're always getting the best from your service using our Traffic Management Policy.

When can I expect my Actual Speed to vary?
Speeds can vary at any time, but we've found that our busiest times are between 5pm and 11pm, when a large proportion of customers are using their broadband connection.

How can I find out my Actual Speed?
If you want to find out your Actual Speed then you could use an online speed checker. Just do a simple Google search. Make sure you only use the tests as a guide, though. They aren't all accurate.

Take a look at our Speed Testing Report and FAQs: