Unlimited broadband deals
Virgin Media’s broadband isn’t just fast, it’s totally unlimited too. That means you can stream, game, browse and keep your smart speakers connected without worry of fair usage limits, traffic management or speed throttling with our unlimited broadband deals.
What is unlimited broadband?
Unlimited broadband is a broadband service that doesn’t have any restrictions on how much data you can download and upload each month. You’ll have complete freedom to use the internet as much as you like without having to worry about monthly data usage limits on your account.
What is traffic management and throttling?
Traffic management is when broadband speeds are lowered to make sure everyone gets a fair speed overall. This usually comes into effect at peak times. It is a bit like rationing. Everyone gets slightly slower speeds, instead of the extremes where some would end up getting slower speeds – or no internet at all. Traffic management can also be applied to individual lines to protect the services and speeds for other broadband users on the network.
Throttling is when your internet service is slowed down on purpose. This could be because the network is overloaded and you notice it occasionally when streaming services all of a sudden take a little longer to load.
At Virgin Media we make sure our home broadband service is fair for everybody. We sometimes moderate the speeds for the top 5% of customers who are downloading or uploading an unusually large amount. We do this to try to make sure the service runs as smoothly as possible.
What are fair usage limits?
Unlimited broadband packages usually come with a fair usage policy. These are put in place to prevent one person on a network from downloading too much and having a detrimental affect on other users in the area.
Regular levels of streaming and downloading will probably not constitute as unfair usage, so most of us will not encounter these limitations. Check with individual internet providers to see what they constitute as fair usage, and what will happen if the terms are breached.
Do I need unlimited broadband?
There are so many uses for internet bandwidth these days, it’s hard to argue why you wouldn’t want unlimited broadband. In fact, there aren’t really that many packages with limited broadband, but they do pop up occasionally. More than likely your deal will offer you unlimited supply so you may as well consider the benefits; whether you’re a gamer, film fan or just shift a lot of data around in your regular day to day projects.
Who is unlimited broadband for?
There are quite a few set-ups at home that would benefit unlimited broadband.
- Gamers. If anyone at home is a keen gamer, unlimited broadband will more than help. Downloading games is demanding on broadband, as is streaming them on services like Google Stadia. More data means unlimited supply.
- Larger households. If there’s more than one of you, unlimited broadband helps. With video calls, streaming and much more on every screen, it simply makes sense.
- Heavy Streamers. If folk at home get heavily into Netflix, Now TV, Disney+ or similar, it would be fairly easy to use up a whole internet allowance with some binging. Unlimited broadband means they could attack any virtual boxset without worry.
- Everyone else! There really aren’t any strong cases for having limited broadband when the world is now digital and always-on, for everyone.
What are the benefits of unlimited broadband?
One of the main benefits of unlimited broadband is an easier and smoother internet and digital life at home. Whether you’re bingeing seven episodes of the latest TV show, on video calls or just browsing; it’s better not to have to worry about limits. And if you have a busy household, with gamers, students or occasional work-from-homers, the last thing you need to worry about is a broadband outage or slowdown. Unlimited broadband lets you get on with your digital life.
Another benefit is that you won’t incur a charge for exceeding the usage limit as no such restriction applies. On limited broadband deals, you could be charged extra for any internet usage that’s over and above your contractual limit. Choosing an unlimited broadband deal could save you money in the long run, especially if you and your household use the internet regularly. Why not check out our broadband deals to find a package that’ll suit your needs?
What download speeds will I get with unlimited broadband?
The speed of internet connection you enjoy with unlimited broadband largely depends on whether your provider uses ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line), cable or a fibre optic connection.
- ADSL is the most widely available connection, which also offers the slowest download speeds, around 10-30Mbps, on average.
- Cable broadband packages are not as widely available as ADSL but they can offer speedier average download speeds – Virgin Media offers between 50Mbps and 1Gbps packages.
- Fibre broadband is becoming more widespread in the UK and usually offers the fastest speeds available – often between 50 and 300Mbps.
Pick your broadband speed
If you are looking at a fibre broadband option and you’ve used our Broadband postcode checker to see if you can get it in your area, then it is worth looking at the speeds you can expect. Fast downloads and uploads can give your digital life an enjoyable upgrade and let everyone at home get on with what they want to do.
Check out Virgin Media broadband speeds
What other services can I get with unlimited broadband?
With the freedom of unlimited broadband, you often get a package that’s bundled together with a landline and or a TV deal. If you opt for either of these, it’s possible you can save some money, with the added benefit of convenience. At Virgin Media, our unlimited broadband packages come in the following ways:
FAQs
Virgin Media’s broadband service utilises the latest cable technology that connects the customer’s home to the cabinet over a coax cable. These cables are capable of delivering much faster speeds than a standard copper wire network.
From the cabinet and onwards, Virgin Media then passes the traffic across its own fibre optic network where it travels at the speed of light, similar to other fibre networks.
Yes, for residential households (with reasonable expectations: acceptable usage agreement applies). All of our broadband deals are unlimited and don’t have a data usage allowance, so stream, download, and connect with loved ones as much as you like.
If you’re talking about Virgin Media packages, there are a range of them available. Best to have to quick look through and see what type of package suits.
Explore unlimited broadband deals.
Getting ‘unlimited’ internet without a phone line is possible with our fibre broadband services. With Virgin Media, you can get broadband in your home without landline with one of our broadband only packages or with mobile broadband. Use our broadband postcode checker to see if you can get our services where you live.
Yes, you can get unlimited broadband as part of a package in one of our bundles. The option you go for just depends on what type of set-up you have and what your preferences are, in terms of extras around your broadband.
Compare Virgin Media broadband packages.
Our acceptable usage agreement will let us step in when broadband is used for illegal or non-residential purposes and when usage is so extremely high that it’s affecting others on our network. So, yes – technically, terms do apply. But broadband is rarely limited for average households.
Yes, across the range of Virgin Media’s broadband packages, each one is unlimited, so you can surf, video-call and download without fear of limits slowing you down. Keep your smart speakers connected and stream as you like, without traffic management or speed throttling ruining your day.
The speed you get on your unlimited broadband package should be in line with the initial speed you were promised, provided there is no traffic management or speed throttling going on. For truly unlimited broadband, you just have to look at the upload and downloads speeds offered by the provider.
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The legal stuff
*Monthly price of Virgin Media’s main services and O2 Airtime Plan will increase each April from April 2025 by the Retail Price Index rate of inflation announced in February each year plus 3.9%. Doesn’t apply to any add-ons you may have selected, out-of-bundle charges or admin costs, which may increase separately. See www.virginmedia.com/prices and www.o2.co.uk/prices for details.
Virgin Media £50 bill credit: This offer is available to new Virgin Media customers ordering M500 broadband only online. This bill credit will be applied to your first bill. Any that’s left over will be applied to your following bills until it’s all used. This offer runs between 31 October and 11.59pm on 6 November 2024.
Virgin Media £75 bill credit: This offer is available to new Virgin Media customers ordering Gig1 broadband only online. This bill credit will be applied to your first bill. Any that’s left over will be applied to your following bills until it’s all used. This offer runs between 31 October and 11.59pm on 6 November 2024.
Virgin Media M500 Fibre Broadband: New customers only with existing O2 contract. Minimum term applies to your broadband service, check basket for details. M500 Fibre Broadband (average download speed 516Mbps). 18-month minimum term product: £32.99* a month for 18 months, then £72* a month thereafter. Offer ends 04/11/24. Monthly price will increase each April by Retail Index Price +3.9% Broadband only. If you cancel your service during your minimum term an early disconnection fee will apply. If you upgrade any aspect of the service, standard pricing will apply to that upgrade. Virgin Media reserves the right to withdraw or amend the pricing if you change any part of your package. Virgin Media reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time. Offer may not be used in conjunction with any other offer unless stated by Virgin Media. Eligible Virgin Fibre areas only. Virgin TV 360 and, for the time being, home phone is not available in new network expansion areas. Subject to survey, network capacity and a credit check. No set-up fee for self-install, Technician installation costs £30.
Virgin Media M500 Fibre Broadband (Speed Boost to Gig1) ‘Save £126’: achieved by £7 per month saving over 18 months compared to current price for Gig1 (Broadband Only) for non-O2 customers.
No setup fee
This promotion means you won’t pay the usual setup fee of £35. No setup fee is available on all bundles, broadband & phone, and broadband only packages. If you can set up using a Self-Install pack, but choose to use an engineer for the installation, you’ll still be charged £30 for this service.
These prices are for new customers only.
Virgin Media services are only available in eligible Virgin Media network areas. Virgin TV 360 and, for the time being, home phone are not available in new network expansion areas.
All of the products on this page are subject to survey, network capacity and a credit check.
Each service has a minimum contract length that’s shown in your basket.
If you take a bundle with both Virgin Media and O2, you’ll have separate contracts and bills – one for Virgin Media, and another for O2.
- Offers are subject to eligibility and availability.
- Read the terms on the Priority app or at o2.co.uk/terms
Get fast, reliable WiFi gliding through every room or money back
Eligible Virgin Fibre areas only. WiFi Guarantee available with M50 broadband or faster. £8p/m extra or included with Gig1, Gig2 or Volt. At least 30Mbps download speeds in every room or £100 one-off credit. Up to 3 WiFi Pods if needed. Exclusions & legal stuff apply.
†To verify, see: /legal/awards. Best Broadband Experience Award: GWS network award based on national tests Dec ’23-May ’24 comparing major UK providers’ average scores in respect of speed, reliability, latency, packet loss & video streaming. User speed depends on broadband package choice. Virgin Fibre areas only. Best Combined Connectivity Experience: based on GWS test results Dec '23-May '24 comparing data connectivity performance of major UK mobile operators and their associated ISP partners to form a combined score across both mobile network and WiFi experience. Best in Test: based on umlaut Fixed Broadband Benchmark 2023 comparing major UK ISPs on download speed, upload speed, latency and stability. Uswitch Most Popular Broadband Provider: based on Uswitch consumer research Dec 2022 - Jan 2023 conducted by Opinium comparing broadband sales volumes and overall customer satisfaction of major UK ISP operators, split equally to form a combined score.