EE broadband vs Virgin Media broadband

EE and Virgin Media both offer ultrafast and gigabit broadband - Openreach full fibre for EE, Virgin Media's own cable and full fibre network.

EE supplies a WiFi 7 router as standard and offers premium upgrades including 4G backup, while Virgin Media provides a WiFi 6 Hub 5 across all plans.

Virgin Media is cheaper across most equivalent speed tiers, but EE's superior hardware makes it the stronger option for customers who want more from their home network.

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Quick verdict

Virgin Media is cheaper across most speed tiers and includes more in its bundles - particularly through Volt, which combines broadband, an O2 SIM and WiFi Max in a way EE's add-on model struggles to match on total cost. Its TV service is also more comprehensive and cheaper across most categories.

EE's case is built on hardware and reliability. WiFi 7 as standard, stronger minimum speed guarantees across every tier, and premium add-ons like Hybrid Connect set it apart as the more feature-led option - but building an equivalent bundle to Virgin Media's typically costs more.

Decision: for most households, Virgin Media offers better overall value. EE earns its place for those who want newer hardware, broader multi-gigabit availability, or a more configurable setup and are willing to pay for it.

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At a glance: EE vs Virgin Media

Top picks: EE and Virgin Media broadband deals

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Price

Winner: Virgin Media broadband deals are cheaper across all equivalent speed tiers than EE broadband.

Virgin Media broadband starts from £23.99 per month for new customers on its entry-level M125 Fibre Broadband plan, with no upfront cost. EE's closest equivalent comes in a few pounds more, despite similar setup terms.

Virgin Media holds the price advantage at the entry level, with EE's cheapest plan typically costing around £3 more per month for a similar speed. That gap continues across most tiers, though it narrows as speeds increase.

Both providers let you add a home phone, but the cost structures differ. Virgin Media charges £8 per month over broadband-only for a bundle with anytime calls included, while EE charges £5 per month for line rental with pay-as-you-go calls, or £18 per month for a plan with anytime calls included.

For mobile, the approaches are quite different. Virgin Media offers O2 SIM bundles - for example, M250 with a 4GB O2 SIM costs £28.99 per month, effectively adding mobile for around £3 over the broadband-only price. EE's equivalent is EE One, which boosts an existing EE mobile plan with unlimited data when combined with EE broadband, with no additional charge for the upgrade itself.

For customers wanting a landline with inclusive calls, Virgin Media's £8 add-on is straightforward and competitively priced. EE's lower entry point is offset by the higher cost of its anytime calls plan, making it the more expensive option overall for typical use.

Back on broadband-only pricing, the gap narrows at higher speeds, with both providers aligning at the gigabit tier.

At this level, Virgin Media's Gig1, Gig2 and Volt plans include the WiFi Max guarantee at no extra cost - a saving compared to EE's £10 per month Smart WiFi Plus add-on. EE does, however, position itself as a more premium service, with newer WiFi 7 hardware and additional service features such as Hybrid Connect and in-home optimisation tools.

Both providers apply annual price rises - Virgin Media by £4 per month from April 2027, and EE by £4 per month for broadband-only plans from March 2027, or £6 per month when TV is included.

Overall, Virgin Media is cheaper across the board, and its bundle options tend to deliver better value when adding phone or mobile. EE's higher pricing reflects a more premium setup, with newer hardware and a wider range of service-level add-ons.

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Broadband packages

Winner: Virgin Media and EE both offer a wide range of speed tiers and bundle options, though Virgin Media is generally cheaper across equivalent packages.

The key difference between EE and Virgin Media is not just price, but how services are included versus added on.

• EE uses the Openreach network, covering around 94% of the UK for part fibre and over 60% for full fibre, while Virgin Media's own network passes over 60% of UK homes
• EE builds packages through add-ons - including WiFi 7 routers, Smart WiFi Plus (whole-home coverage), Hybrid Connect (4G backup), TV and call plans
• Virgin Media builds more into pre-made bundles, including TV packages, inclusive call plans, O2 SIMs and WiFi Max guarantees
• EE's top speed reaches 1.6Gbps across its full fibre network; Virgin Media reaches 2Gbps in selected full fibre areas

EE's setup is built around upgrading the connection itself. Alongside WiFi 7 hardware as standard, customers can add Smart WiFi features to improve coverage and performance, or Hybrid Connect to provide automatic 4G backup if the fixed line drops. These features are either included on higher-tier plans or available as monthly add-ons.

TV and calls are also modular. EE TV can be added with flexible monthly subscriptions (including services like NOW, Netflix and Apple TV), while home phone options range from pay-as-you-go line rental to inclusive anytime call plans.

Virgin Media takes the opposite approach, bundling these elements upfront. Broadband can be combined with TV, phone and mobile in a single package, with clearer pricing at the point of purchase. Call plans are typically included as part of a bundle upgrade, rather than built separately, and TV packages are integrated into the deal rather than added as modular subscriptions.

The table below shows how the two providers compare on broadband-only plans across all speed tiers:

Virgin Media is cheaper at the entry level, with the gap narrowing towards the gigabit tier. At higher speeds, the choice becomes less about price alone and more about what's included versus what needs to be added on.

Virgin Media's Volt bundles are central to its value. These include an O2 SIM, WiFi Max guarantee (with up to three WiFi Pods if needed), and double data on all eligible O2 plans in the household, alongside a broadband speed boost.

The following Virgin Media bundle shows how the O2 SIM option is priced alongside broadband:

For mobile, Virgin Media adds a new O2 SIM at a low incremental cost, while EE's EE One enhances existing mobile plans - offering unlimited data boosts and discounts across additional SIMs and devices, rather than introducing a new line.

Both providers offer plans above 1Gbps, but availability and what's included differ. EE's Full Fibre 1.6Gbps plan is available across its full fibre footprint and includes WiFi 7 hardware, with optional add-ons such as Hybrid Connect and Smart WiFi Plus to enhance reliability and coverage. Virgin Media's Gig2, delivering average speeds of 2Gbps with optional symmetrical uploads, is currently limited to newer full fibre areas.

Virgin Media's Gig2 plans also include extras such as a Netflix subscription, adding value at the top end. EE does not bundle equivalent content, instead focusing on hardware and service-level upgrades.

Overall, Virgin Media is cheaper and includes more upfront - particularly for TV, calls and mobile. EE offers more control over what you add, with newer hardware and a wider set of service-level upgrades, but building an equivalent bundle typically costs more.

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Broadband speed

Winner: EE offers multi-gigabit broadband to over 60% of UK homes, with stronger minimum speed guarantees across all tiers - Virgin Media's faster Gig2 plan is limited to newer full fibre areas.

Virgin Media launched its multi-gigabit Gig2 plan in February 2024, offering average download speeds of 2Gbps, with an optional symmetrical upload add-on. These plans are only available in areas where its newer full fibre infrastructure has been deployed, currently covering around 7 million premises.

EE, owned by BT Group, delivers both part and full fibre broadband over the Openreach network, covering around 94% and 60% of UK homes respectively. Its fastest widely available plan is the 1.6Gbps tier, which is also offered by a small number of other providers on the same network, including Vodafone.

The main limitation of Openreach's current 1.6Gbps service is upload speed. Despite the increase in download performance, uploads are capped at 115Mbps - only slightly higher than the 110Mbps available on its 900Mbps tier. This reflects the underlying GPON technology, which prioritises download capacity.

Openreach is now trialling XGS-PON, a newer full fibre standard capable of delivering symmetrical speeds and significantly higher capacity. EE has begun inviting customers to take part in early pilots, currently covering around 40,000 premises in the Guildford area. The trial includes a 3.3Gbps tier with either 330Mbps or full symmetrical uploads, as well as asymmetric speeds of up to 8.5Gbps. However, commercial rollout and wider availability are still some way off.

Here are EE's available speed tiers:

Virgin Media offers the following broadband speed options:

For most households, the choice between EE and Virgin Media won't be driven by multi-gigabit availability alone. Speeds across comparable tiers are broadly similar, and both providers are well suited to everyday use including streaming, gaming and home working.

Virgin Media has longer-term plans to upgrade its existing cable network to full fibre by 2028. This would bring symmetrical upload capability to a much larger share of its footprint, reducing one of the key differences between the two networks.

Minimum guaranteed speeds are another important point of comparison. Introduced under Ofcom guidance, these guarantees give customers the right to leave their contract without penalty if speeds fall below a set threshold for at least three consecutive days - although providers typically allow up to 30 days to resolve the issue first.

The table below shows the minimum guaranteed speeds for both providers across tested plans:

EE's minimum guaranteed speeds are consistently higher relative to headline speeds across all tiers. For example, Virgin Media's M500 plan guarantees a minimum of 258Mbps, while EE's Full Fibre 500 guarantees 425Mbps - a significant difference for customers prioritising consistent performance. Virgin Media often delivers higher average speeds at equivalent tiers, but EE's guarantees provide a stronger and more reliable baseline.

Overall, Virgin Media leads on peak speeds at the top end and can offer stronger upload performance in its full fibre areas. EE, however, provides broader access to multi-gigabit services and backs this up with stronger minimum speed guarantees across its range.

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Router

Winner: EE supplies every customer with a WiFi 7 router as standard, with a premium upgrade available - Virgin Media's Hub 5 and 5x are WiFi 6 across all plans.

Virgin Media provides the Hub 5 or Hub 5x to all customers, depending on connection type. The Hub 5x is supplied in full fibre areas and supports XGS-PON, while the Hub 5 covers cable connections. Both are WiFi 6 routers with identical wireless specs - dual-band, WPA3 encryption, and mesh support via the WiFi Max add-on.

EE supplies the Smart Hub 7 Plus as standard across all broadband plans. This is a WiFi 7 router - a step up from the WiFi 6 hardware Virgin Media provides - supporting dual-band wireless and a 2.5Gbps LAN port alongside three 1Gbps ports. Customers on the Full Fibre 1.6Gbps plan, or those paying £15 per month extra, receive the Smart Hub 7 Pro instead, which adds a tri-band 6GHz radio, four 2.5Gbps LAN ports, NFC pairing, and a more powerful quad-core processor.

Here's how the three routers compare:

The key differences come down to wireless generation, spectrum and wired capacity. The Hub 5 and 5x are capable WiFi 6 routers, delivering strong performance for most households, but EE's Smart Hub 7 Plus already moves to WiFi 7 as standard - offering higher potential speeds, lower latency, and better handling of multiple devices, particularly in busy homes.

The Pro model extends this further with a dedicated 6GHz band and four multi-gigabit LAN ports, making it better suited to households with lots of connected devices or faster wired connections above 1Gbps.

NFC pairing is a small but useful usability feature on the Pro model. It allows compatible smartphones to connect to WiFi instantly by tapping the device against the router, rather than entering a password manually. In practice, this makes it quicker to add devices and reduces friction for guests or less technical users - though it's a convenience feature rather than a performance upgrade.

WiFi 7 support is still limited to newer devices, so not every household will see an immediate benefit from EE's hardware. But it does provide more headroom for future devices, and improvements in efficiency and latency can still help in busy environments even on mixed networks.

Overall, EE wins this category. Virgin Media has closed the gap by standardising the Hub 5 across all plans, but EE's WiFi 7 hardware as standard - combined with a higher-spec upgrade option - gives it a clear advantage that Virgin Media doesn't currently match.

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Call plans

Winner: Virgin Media is cheaper for home phone, but only when taken as part of a pre-made broadband and phone bundle.

Virgin Media takes a more bundled approach to home phone, but pricing depends on how it's added. The best value comes from broadband and phone bundles, which start from £31.99 per month - £8 more than the equivalent broadband-only price - and include anytime calls to UK landlines and mobiles as standard.

However, that pricing only applies to specific broadband and phone bundles. If you add a home phone to other packages - such as TV bundles - Virgin Media reverts to its standard line rental and call plan pricing, which is significantly higher.

EE's approach is more consistent. Customers can add a landline for £5 per month on a pay-as-you-go basis, or pay £18 per month for inclusive anytime calls. There is no mid-tier option, but the structure is the same regardless of whether broadband is taken on its own or as part of a wider package.

The following Virgin Media bundles show how broadband and phone are priced together:

Virgin Media's advantage comes specifically from those bundled deals. Taking broadband and phone together at the point of purchase works out cheaper than adding an anytime calls plan to EE broadband, where the £18 per month add-on increases the overall cost.

Outside of those bundles, the comparison becomes less favourable for Virgin Media. Adding a phone line onto TV or other packages typically costs more than EE's equivalent add-ons, where pricing remains lower and more predictable.

Virgin Media does offer an evening and weekend calls add-on for £5 per month on top of standard line rental, giving a lower-cost option for customers who don't need anytime calls. EE does not offer an equivalent mid-tier option.

The table below sets out the call plan costs for each provider directly:

Overall, Virgin Media offers better value when broadband and home phone are taken together as a bundle. EE's simpler add-on pricing makes it the cheaper and more consistent option when adding a landline to other types of package, particularly TV bundles.

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TV

Winner: Virgin Media offers a more comprehensive TV service at lower prices across most categories - though EE is cheaper for TNT Sports and includes HBO Max as standard.

Both EE and Virgin Media let customers bundle pay TV with broadband, with access to Sky content, Netflix, and streaming services including HBO Max.

EE TV is built around NOW memberships - including NOW Entertainment and NOW Sports - which provide access to Sky channels such as Sky Atlantic. From launch, EE customers taking NOW Entertainment are automatically upgraded to include HBO Max's Basic with Ads tier at no extra cost, giving integrated access to both Sky and HBO content within the same subscription.

Virgin Media offers two main routes. The Flex streaming box provides app-based access to streaming services on a rolling monthly basis, with premium content added separately. Mega TV bundles use the same Stream box but include Sky Entertainment, Sky Atlantic and Netflix within the package price. Sky Atlantic launched on Virgin Media in April 2026, and is included at no extra cost for customers taking Sky Entertainment channels.

Unlike EE, Virgin Media does not include HBO Max within its TV bundles. Customers can watch some HBO content through Sky Atlantic where licensing overlaps, but access to the full HBO Max catalogue requires a separate subscription, starting from £4.99 per month.

Here's how current TV and broadband packages compare:

On price, Virgin Media's Mega TV bundles are cheaper than equivalent EE TV packages for comparable entertainment content, with more included upfront. For Sky Sports, Virgin Media is also the cheaper broadband and TV bundle option.

For TNT Sports, the pricing reverses. EE offers TNT Sports from £20 per month as an add-on, compared to £22.50 per month with Virgin Media Flex (after the 10% bill credit) and £25 per month on Mega TV bundles.

EE's inclusion of HBO Max is a clear advantage. It removes the need for a separate subscription and brings additional content into the base package, whereas Virgin Media customers need to add it on if they want full access.

EE TV's structure is also more flexible. Customers can swap NOW memberships month to month, making it easier to move between sport and entertainment depending on what's in season. Virgin Media's Flex box offers similar flexibility at the app level, but its main value comes from the bundled approach in Mega TV.

Overall, Virgin Media offers better value for Sky Sports and general entertainment, with more included in its core bundles. EE is cheaper for TNT Sports and stands out for including HBO Max as standard, adding meaningful value for customers who want premium content without additional subscriptions.

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Customer service

Winner: Virgin Media has improved significantly and now sits below the industry average for complaints - but EE's higher complaint rate makes Virgin Media the stronger performer on current data.

Until mid-2023, EE was consistently one of the better-performing providers for complaints, regularly sitting below the industry average. That position has since reversed. In both Q2 and Q3 2025, EE recorded 10 complaints per 100,000 customers - placing it among the highest of the major providers and above the industry average of 8. Ofcom attributed the increase primarily to faults, service quality and provisioning issues, suggesting pressure on installation and network performance rather than isolated incidents.

Virgin Media's trajectory has moved in the opposite direction. Complaints peaked at 32 per 100,000 customers in Q3 2023 - more than double the industry average - following an Ofcom investigation into complaints handling and contract cancellations. Since then, Virgin Media has made targeted changes, including a UK-based specialist support team, expanded training, and AI-assisted tools aimed at improving resolution times. By Q3 2025, complaints had fallen to 7 per 100,000 customers - below the industry average for the first time since 2019.

This creates a clear reversal: EE has moved from below-average complaint levels to above-average, while Virgin Media has moved from a clear outlier to slightly better than the industry baseline. The gap between the two has narrowed, but the direction of travel is materially different.

Ofcom's 2025 Comparing Customer Service report, which reflects 2024 data, gives a broader view of day-to-day experience:

These results present a different picture. EE leads on overall satisfaction, speed of service, and complaints handling - with a 13-point advantage in the latter. Fewer EE customers reported having a reason to complain in 2024, indicating a stronger baseline experience across the year as a whole.

However, Virgin Media's higher annual complaint figure (56 per 100,000 customers) is heavily influenced by its earlier peak in 2023. The more recent quarterly data suggests that underlying performance has improved significantly since then, even if that improvement is not yet fully reflected in annualised metrics.

One area where Virgin Media continues to perform relatively well is fault resolution speed, where it has historically recorded some of the fastest repair times among major providers - an important factor when issues do arise.

Overall, the comparison depends on whether you prioritise recent performance or longer-term experience. Virgin Media currently has the lower complaint rate and a clear improvement trend, while EE continues to score higher on customer satisfaction and perceived service quality. Neither provider has a consistently strong record, and the gap between them has narrowed - leaving a genuinely mixed picture for customer service overall.

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Verdict: EE or Virgin Media for broadband?

Overall winner: Virgin Media is cheaper across most speed tiers and includes more in its bundles - but EE's premium hardware, wider multi-gigabit availability and stronger satisfaction scores make it a compelling choice for customers who want more from their connection.

Virgin Media's core advantage is price. Its broadband-only plans undercut EE at the entry level, and its pre-built bundles - particularly Volt - combine broadband, mobile and WiFi boosters in a way that EE's add-on model struggles to match on total cost. Its TV service is also more comprehensive and cheaper across most categories, including Sky Sports.

EE takes a different approach, built around hardware and configurable upgrades. WiFi 7 routers are supplied as standard, with a higher-spec upgrade available, and add-ons such as Hybrid Connect, Smart WiFi Plus and EE One allow customers to layer in backup connectivity, in-home optimisation and mobile benefits. Its full fibre network now reaches over 60% of UK homes, giving it broader multi-gigabit availability than Virgin Media's Gig2, which remains limited to around 7 million premises.

On customer service, the gap has narrowed but the direction of travel differs. Virgin Media now sits below the industry average for complaints for the first time since 2019, following a sustained period of improvement. EE has moved the other way, with recent quarterly complaint figures among the highest of the major providers. However, EE continues to lead on overall satisfaction scores in Ofcom's 2025 Comparing Customer Service report, pointing to a stronger underlying experience despite the recent rise in complaints.

Virgin Media is the better choice for:

• Cheaper prices on broadband-only and bundled plans
• Strong value through Volt - combining broadband, O2 SIM, WiFi Max and double mobile data
• A more comprehensive and cheaper TV service, including Sky Sports
• A complaints record that has improved significantly, now below the industry average

EE is the better choice for:

• WiFi 7 hardware as standard, with an upgrade to the Smart Hub 7 Pro
• Wider availability of multi-gigabit broadband across its full fibre network
• Premium add-ons such as Hybrid Connect (4G backup) and Smart WiFi Plus
• A more configurable setup with greater control over features and upgrades

Overall, Virgin Media offers better value for most households - particularly those taking TV, mobile or bundled extras. EE suits customers who prioritise newer hardware, broader multi-gigabit coverage and a more configurable, feature-led setup, and are willing to pay more for it.