Sky/Virgin Media

[Since90+2]

Our contract with VM is up soon and wondered what everyone else is paying for their packages?

Our current price is £69 a month but they want to increase that to £138 which is never happening.

[HH81]

Ring them up they will give you a deal. We did it with Virgin not long ago.

[Sir David Gray]

I just joined Virgin last month and I'm paying £41.99 per month during my 18 months contract for 200 mbps and Talk anytime plus line rental.

The right price for it is £65 per month.

I have Sky for my TV and that's £99 per month for Sky entertainment, Sky Box Sets, Sports, Cinema, Sports HD, Sky HD and one Multiscreen box.

I'm going to contact them soon for a better deal.

[ronaldo7]

Our contract with VM is up soon and wondered what everyone else is paying for their packages?

Our current price is £69 a month but they want to increase that to £138 which is never happening.

We got this package with Virgin 3 months ago. 18 month contract but got the first 3 months free. Cracking broadband speed, all the sports, cinema etc, an extra box for the bedroom, and a mobile sim with unlimited data and calls etc. Virgin tv go is decent too.

https://www.broadbandanalyst.co.uk/reviews/virgin-media-vip-bundle/

[Since90+2]

We got this package with Virgin 3 months ago. 18 month contract but got the first 3 months free. Cracking broadband speed, all the sports, cinema etc, an extra box for the bedroom, and a mobile sim with unlimited data and calls etc. Virgin tv go is decent too.

https://www.broadbandanalyst.co.uk/reviews/virgin-media-vip-bundle/

That seems a great deal. £79 for everything TV wise and high speed broadband.

[Since90+2]

I just joined Virgin last month and I'm paying £41.99 per month during my 18 months contract for 200 mbps and Talk anytime plus line rental.

The right price for it is £65 per month.

I have Sky for my TV and that's £99 per month for Sky entertainment, Sky Box Sets, Sports, Cinema, Sports HD, Sky HD and one Multiscreen box.

I'm going to contact them soon for a better deal.

That seems a lot. The deal from Virgin posted above includes all of that for about half the price.

[ronaldo7]

That seems a great deal. £79 for everything TV wise and high speed broadband.

:agree: Two boxes, and sim card for the phone, Sports, Cinema, Fibre broadband, land line. I'm back watching the NFL during the night. :greengrin

You're even allowed to have someone else watch the TV go app, so my son watches the football in his house with my system.

[RyeSloan]

:agree: Two boxes, and sim card for the phone, Sports, Cinema, Fibre broadband, land line. I'm back watching the NFL during the night. :greengrin

You're even allowed to have someone else watch the TV go app, so my son watches the football in his house with my system.

It’s an unlimited data sim as well so handy for the data hungry teenager in the house!

Pretty much unbeatable value I think.

The only thing you want to hope is that you never need to contact their customer services as they are by far the very worst of a bad bunch on that front!

[danhibees1875]

To give an idea of the package price without sky sports or cinema channels etc, I've a £43/month package for internet, phone line (I think?), and TV with the box thing that pauses/records and has all the apps etc.

They pretty much forced me to take BT sports with it which I think is the only fancy channel.

[Sir David Gray]

That seems a lot. The deal from Virgin posted above includes all of that for about half the price.

I'm not sure if Virgin may have been cheaper if I'd gone to them for everything but I prefer Sky for the TV but desperately wanted Virgin broadband installed as I can't get fibre with any other provider in my area.

[H18 SFR]

Virgin media full package in two rooms and top internet for £79 over 18 months through my workplace childcare voucher provider rewards scheme.

[lord bunberry]

My sky bill had crept up over the £100 mark which is the maximum I’m prepared to pay, I phoned them up and they brought it down to £95 and I now get BT Sports as well. I’ve not had BT Sports since I got rid of Virgin a few years ago, when I first got Sky you had to order it direct from BT.

[JeMeSouviens]

I am on a £90ish VM package, currently paying £54 pm. Last year I had it for £29 pm. In both cases the way to get it cheaper is to phone and cancel. They will offer you something to stay but if you reject that they'll call you back a couple of weeks later with a better offer. Obviously the call back is not guaranteed so you need to be prepared to go elsewhere just in case.

[JeMeSouviens]

We got this package with Virgin 3 months ago. 18 month contract but got the first 3 months free. Cracking broadband speed, all the sports, cinema etc, an extra box for the bedroom, and a mobile sim with unlimited data and calls etc. Virgin tv go is decent too.

https://www.broadbandanalyst.co.uk/reviews/virgin-media-vip-bundle/

That is a brilliant deal. I bet you can't get it as an existing customer. :rolleyes:

[Since90+2]

I am on a £90ish VM package, currently paying £54 pm. Last year I had it for £29 pm. In both cases the way to get it cheaper is to phone and cancel. They will offer you something to stay but if you reject that they'll call you back a couple of weeks later with a better offer. Obviously the call back is not guaranteed so you need to be prepared to go elsewhere just in case.

Do you get Sky/BT Sports or movies for your £54?

[ronaldo7]

That is a brilliant deal. I bet you can't get it as an existing customer. :rolleyes:

I was a new customer, as they'd just rolled out Fibre through Musselburgh. They were doing a deal for Scots(according to their literature) where they were giving the first 3 months free. The TV GO app is a bonus as two folk can access the channels from different households. Unlimited sim card for the mobile, land line with unlimited calls. Sky and BT sports, SKY movies.

It's been a lifeline during this pandemic.

[JeMeSouviens]

Do you get Sky/BT Sports or movies for your £54?

BT but no Sky. We basically get everything on Virgin TV bar the Sky movie and sports channels. 200Mb broadband and anytime landline calls.

[RyeSloan]

That is a brilliant deal. I bet you can't get it as an existing customer. :rolleyes:

You can call at the end of the contract and get a very similar or the same deal.

You can also just use the other adults name in the house (if there is one) to be the ‘new customer’...that prompts a ‘new install’ where they essentially take the old kit back and put in new kit but that takes one quick appointment as all the connections etc. are clearly already in place.

[JeMeSouviens]

You can call at the end of the contract and get a very similar or the same deal.

You can also just use the other adults name in the house (if there is one) to be the ‘new customer’...that prompts a ‘new install’ where they essentially take the old kit back and put in new kit but that takes one quick appointment as all the connections etc. are clearly already in place.

Top tip, hadn't thought about my wife as new customer.

My contract is up quite soon but I'm moving house in July to a non-VM area so I don't think we can sign up to any fixed term deal. Not quite sure what to do tbh.

[Sir David Gray]

Top tip, hadn't thought about my wife as new customer.

My contract is up quite soon but I'm moving house in July to a non-VM area so I don't think we can sign up to any fixed term deal. Not quite sure what to do tbh.

If you sign up to a new contract and then subsequently move to a non-Virgin area within that new contract period, you'll be liable for early termination fees.

[Jamesie]

£49.20 for Sky Q with a 2TB box and UHD Sky Sports / Boxsets in the living room and a Sky Q Mini (with the same but in HD) in the bedroom.

[silverhibee]

Land line broadband and the cheapest box from virgin costs me £63 per month, the longer I am with them the dearer it gets, it would seem, and it's going up again. :rolleyes:

[lord bunberry]

Land line broadband and the cheapest box from virgin costs me £63 per month, the longer I am with them the dearer it gets, it would seem, and it's going up again. :rolleyes:
You should give them a phone, just get through to the cancellation team.

[matty_f]

I have Virgin fibre and am just switching to BT - about the same price but the big difference is BT guarantee wifi in every room. We have a pretty small house but the Virgin hub is atrocious. It's the single most-complained about thing in my house. I ended up switching my mobile contract to get unlimited data because it's better using that than the wifi in the house (we're on the Virgin 350 pack, so the speeds should be brilliant. They're great to the hub and then awful beyond that).

I'd never go back to Virgin unless they seriously upgraded their equipment.

[JeMeSouviens]

I have Virgin fibre and am just switching to BT - about the same price but the big difference is BT guarantee wifi in every room. We have a pretty small house but the Virgin hub is atrocious. It's the single most-complained about thing in my house. I ended up switching my mobile contract to get unlimited data because it's better using that than the wifi in the house (we're on the Virgin 350 pack, so the speeds should be brilliant. They're great to the hub and then awful beyond that).

I'd never go back to Virgin unless they seriously upgraded their equipment.

Their hub is a total PoS. :agree: It's ok in modem-only mode with a wifi-router on the side. Once you do that the VM service is actually pretty good and the fastest you're going to get for most people, unless you're lucky enough to live in an FTTP enabled area.

[Since90+2]

I have Virgin fibre and am just switching to BT - about the same price but the big difference is BT guarantee wifi in every room. We have a pretty small house but the Virgin hub is atrocious. It's the single most-complained about thing in my house. I ended up switching my mobile contract to get unlimited data because it's better using that than the wifi in the house (we're on the Virgin 350 pack, so the speeds should be brilliant. They're great to the hub and then awful beyond that).

I'd never go back to Virgin unless they seriously upgraded their equipment.

I'm the opposite. Never had any issue at all with WiFi and it's normally as fast as anyone could need.

[RyeSloan]

I'm the opposite. Never had any issue at all with WiFi and it's normally as fast as anyone could need.

I’m the same. Maybe not the biggest or heaviest usage but I’ve always found the VM broadband speed superb even across WiFi. Also a very reliable service with zero outages that I can recall.

The £79 package including the unlimited data sim is a big one for me, that removed a £20+ cost for one of the mobiles in the house so effectively gave me two boxes, all sports, movies, broadband etc for the equivalent of c£55 which not only was beating all other options also seems pretty good value considering how often it’s used!

[Mon Dieu4]

I'm the same with VM, I have everything in the living room hardwired but my phone, iPad, work laptop and TV in my bedroom have never had any issues with connection or speed on WiFi

[stoneyburn hibs]

£37 per month for VM broadband, no landline telephone or tv package.

[matty_f]

Their hub is a total PoS. :agree: It's ok in modem-only mode with a wifi-router on the side. Once you do that the VM service is actually pretty good and the fastest you're going to get for most people, unless you're lucky enough to live in an FTTP enabled area.

We're getting the 1Gb BT service in March.

[Sir David Gray]

Just on the back of this, I live in a fairly small bungalow and the Virgin hub is located in the living room at one side of the house and the wifi signal in the bedroom on the other side of the house when I'm on my phone is next to zero.

So I bought a booster which has resolved the signal issue but the speed tests I'm doing come in at less than 10% of the advertised speed (less than 20 mbps from a 200 mbps hub).

I fully understand that the advertised speed is only referring to what's coming into the hub from the line outside and wifi in itself will reduce the speed that the device experiences and not only that but the further away you are from the hub will also have an impact so I'm happy with that.

My question for the technical people on here is whether less than 10% of an advertised speed is normal when connecting through a booster and whether the type of booster being used could improve things?

The booster I have is from TP-Link and on the box it refers to 300 mbps, I obviously know I won't get that speed since my hub's not even capable of reaching that but does this reference mean that the booster is capable of handling speeds of up to this sort of speed or does it mean something else entirely in relation to boosters?

If it does mean it's capable of reaching this kind of speed, should I not be getting more out of my 200 mbps hub than around 16 mbps when connecting via the booster?

[JeMeSouviens]

We're getting the 1Gb BT service in March.

**** off a shiny shovel! Let us know how you get on with it. How much are they charging, if you don't mind me asking?

[Killiehibbie]

I have Virgin fibre and am just switching to BT - about the same price but the big difference is BT guarantee wifi in every room. We have a pretty small house but the Virgin hub is atrocious. It's the single most-complained about thing in my house. I ended up switching my mobile contract to get unlimited data because it's better using that than the wifi in the house (we're on the Virgin 350 pack, so the speeds should be brilliant. They're great to the hub and then awful beyond that).

I'd never go back to Virgin unless they seriously upgraded their equipment.

Had to get rid of Virgin for the same reason. Boys tried all sorts of boosters but signal was still crap for playing their games. No complaints from them since we went back to BT.

[matty_f]

**** off a shiny shovel! Let us know how you get on with it. How much are they charging, if you don't mind me asking?

£68 I think, that includes the £10 for the wifi guarantee (they give you wee booster discs to extend the network if you're having problems).

I'm £66 with Virgin at the moment, so it's much of a muchness.

[One Day Soon]

£68 I think, that includes the £10 for the wifi guarantee (they give you wee booster discs to extend the network if you're having problems).

I'm £66 with Virgin at the moment, so it's much of a muchness.


The trick with Virgin is to use a cable from your router to your laptop or whatever. That changes the speed completely. Of course you can only get so many cables into the back of their routers...

[speedy_gonzales]

The trick with Virgin is to use a cable from your router to your laptop or whatever. That changes the speed completely. Of course you can only get so many cables into the back of their routers...

If with the Virgin, the secret is definitely turning their wi-fi router in to cable modem mode only and investing in a decent WiFi router.
I did just that at the start of lockdown as my partner was having difficulty working from home and hosting zoom/teams calls without dropouts and buffering.
I now have great coverage throughout the house and rarely get less than 60meg download/40meg upload per device.
Admittedly, my package States 600 meg but I've probably got 20+ devices connected at any one time.

[One Day Soon]

If with the Virgin, the secret is definitely turning their wi-fi router in to cable modem mode only and investing in a decent WiFi router.
I did just that at the start of lockdown as my partner was having difficulty working from home and hosting zoom/teams calls without dropouts and buffering.
I now have great coverage throughout the house and rarely get less than 60meg download/40meg upload per device.
Admittedly, my package States 600 meg but I've probably got 20+ devices connected at any one time.

20 plus devices?!?! Is every appliance in your home ‘smart’?

[speedy_gonzales]

20 plus devices?!?! Is every appliance in your home ‘smart’?
Ha ha, just checked the router, 25 connected devices right now.
Still got a few devices that aren't even switched on.

For 3 of us, we've got 5 phones, 3 laptops, 3 IPads, 2 smart TVs, 2 TiVos, sound bars, 4 Google nest minis, Nest hub max, Nest hello (doorbell), smart thermostat, 5/6 smart plugs, smart lights, Wii, PS5, Synology Diskstation,,,,, I'm sure there's others 🤣

[EI255]

I just joined Virgin last month and I'm paying £41.99 per month during my 18 months contract for 200 mbps and Talk anytime plus line rental.

The right price for it is £65 per month.

I have Sky for my TV and that's £99 per month for Sky entertainment, Sky Box Sets, Sports, Cinema, Sports HD, Sky HD and one Multiscreen box.

I'm going to contact them soon for a better deal.I'm paying Sky £100 for everything you have but also Sky broadband and the phone / line rental. I don't have movies though.

Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk

[One Day Soon]

Ha ha, just checked the router, 25 connected devices right now.
Still got a few devices that aren't even switched on.

For 3 of us, we've got 5 phones, 3 laptops, 3 IPads, 2 smart TVs, 2 TiVos, sound bars, 4 Google nest minis, Nest hub max, Nest hello (doorbell), smart thermostat, 5/6 smart plugs, smart lights, Wii, PS5, Synology Diskstation,,,,, I'm sure there's others 🤣

Are you mission control, Cape Canaveral?

[overdrive]

20 plus devices?!?! Is every appliance in your home ‘smart’?

A few Alexas/Nests/etc in each room, phones, personal laptops, work laptops, tablets, smart bulbs, hive, etc. and you’d easy reach that.

[Since90+2]

That is a brilliant deal. I bet you can't get it as an existing customer. :rolleyes:

We called up and cancelled our contract (the term was up in a few weeks). They offered us the £79 deal so now get Sky Sports, BT Sport, Sky Cinema all in HD plus Virgin's fastest possible fibre broadband.

[ronaldo7]

We called up and cancelled our contract (the term was up in a few weeks). They offered us the £79 deal so now get Sky Sports, BT Sport, Sky Cinema all in HD plus Virgin's fastest possible fibre broadband.

:aok: Remember to get your unlimited data sim for the phone.

[Jamesie]

Ha ha, just checked the router, 25 connected devices right now.
Still got a few devices that aren't even switched on.

For 3 of us, we've got 5 phones, 3 laptops, 3 IPads, 2 smart TVs, 2 TiVos, sound bars, 4 Google nest minis, Nest hub max, Nest hello (doorbell), smart thermostat, 5/6 smart plugs, smart lights, Wii, PS5, Synology Diskstation,,,,, I'm sure there's others 🤣

On the back of this I counted up my own - 19 connected devices and I live alone (and that’s counting the various Hue lighting as one item) :rolleyes:

[Booked4Being-Ugly]

I'm going to bin my current Sky and Virgin 'deals' today. Both bills are creeping up since my old contracts expired and when you compare them to new deals going around I'm getting well ripped off.

I tried calling both but the discounts they offer are insulting when you consider I've been with both for a while. I know loyalty means jack these days but you'd think they'd still make more of an effort not to piss you off!

Virgin is in the mrs name and i was thinking of cancelling and taking out a new contract in my name but does it not go by address? Has someone actually done this without any hassle?

[Since90+2]

I'm going to bin my current Sky and Virgin 'deals' today. Both bills are creeping up since my old contracts expired and when you compare them to new deals going around I'm getting well ripped off.

I tried calling both but the discounts they offer are insulting when you consider I've been with both for a while. I know loyalty means jack these days but you'd think they'd still make more of an effort not to piss you off!

Virgin is in the mrs name and i was thinking of cancelling and taking out a new contract in my name but does it not go by address? Has someone actually done this without any hassle?

If your virgin contract is close to finishing phone up and tell them you are leaving. We done that and 4 days later they called and gave us the £79 deal which basically includes every single channel in HD.

[Booked4Being-Ugly]

If your virgin contract is close to finishing phone up and tell them you are leaving. We done that and 4 days later they called and gave us the £79 deal which basically includes every single channel in HD.

Thanks for the reply. I’m not tied into anything contractually atm so free to look around. My only problem is that Virgin and BT are the only shows in town for fibre broadband at the higher speeds.

Might be a daft Q but do you get sky sports with that package(Virgin)? TBH, I’d do away with sky sports but the wee man loves watching all the EPL games.

[Since90+2]

Thanks for the reply. I’m not tied into anything contractually atm so free to look around. My only problem is that Virgin and BT are the only shows in town for fibre broadband at the higher speeds.

Might be a daft Q but do you get sky sports with that package(Virgin)? TBH, I’d do away with sky sports but the wee man loves watching all the EPL games.

Yeah, all sky sports and BT channels in HD.

[RyeSloan]

I'm going to bin my current Sky and Virgin 'deals' today. Both bills are creeping up since my old contracts expired and when you compare them to new deals going around I'm getting well ripped off.

I tried calling both but the discounts they offer are insulting when you consider I've been with both for a while. I know loyalty means jack these days but you'd think they'd still make more of an effort not to piss you off!

Virgin is in the mrs name and i was thinking of cancelling and taking out a new contract in my name but does it not go by address? Has someone actually done this without any hassle?

You need the Mrs to cancel her account first. That then frees up the address and you can then apply as a ‘new customer’ in your name.

It’s a wee bit of a hassle and you need to get your install date right to avoid a gap with no service but the savings can be significant.

It would of course just be easier for VM to offer existing customers the same deal they give new ones but VM and sensible are rarely seen in the same sentence.

[JimBHibees]

You need the Mrs to cancel her account first. That then frees up the address and you can then apply as a ‘new customer’ in your name.

It’s a wee bit of a hassle and you need to get your install date right to avoid a gap with no service but the savings can be significant.

It would of course just be easier for VM to offer existing customers the same deal they give new ones but VM and sensible are rarely seen in the same sentence.

If you cancel with Virgin how long is it before the services stop? Assume you would then need to reorder the new deal so that it is near the same date?

[RyeSloan]

If you cancel with Virgin how long is it before the services stop? Assume you would then need to reorder the new deal so that it is near the same date?

Think it’s 30 days notice.

My memory is a bit fuzzy on the precise steps taken but I do remember it was achieved with only a 3 day gap in services and that the cancellation step was first.

[EI255]

I got told from a Virgin salesman around a year ago to phone up around 4 months before my Sky contract was up and that Virgin would pay off the remaining balance of my sky contract.

Was gonna go through with it until family members told me to avoid Virgin at all costs. Glad I did, as now got a much improved Sky deal Inc new Q box and mini boxes and WiFi extenders etc.

The Virgin sales guys are verging on creepy. Handing over business cards, knocking on door repeatedly and phoning up harassing with sales patter. No ta.

[JimBHibees]

Think it’s 30 days notice.

My memory is a bit fuzzy on the precise steps taken but I do remember it was achieved with only a 3 day gap in services and that the cancellation step was first.

Thanks :aok:

[Booked4Being-Ugly]

I thought i'd share my update.

I had Virgin media for broadband + phone and sky TV. Had nothing but hassle from both of them, trying to get better deals as an existing customer after my contract had ran out. They were only offering a pitiful few pounds off any time i called to get a better deal. Threatening to leave doesn't do any good either. I know you have to phone around for better deals for everything now but we were limited to what was on offer down our new estate. BT had since been in and they could now offer fibre. I intended binning my providers sooner though left it too long as the hassle of phoning them was painful. Both bills were now up to a combined £117 p/m!

I've now went with BT for £69 p/m. I get BT broadband and phone (although the phone is pay as you go but i don't intend to use it). I get sky sports + BT sports thrown in as well for the wee man.

Strange thing was obviously BT contact Virgin to say they're going in to hook up my connection and as if by magic Virgin contacted us and said "you know all those new deals you were phoning about [for the last 6 months], that's it approved now so your broadband is now £23 p/m.

I went ahead and binned Virgin and Sky anyway, can't be bothered with the financial bull****tery.