Virgin Media Gig1 Fibre Broadband

Gig1 is Virgin Media's fastest broadband plan with nationwide availability, offering average download speeds of 1,130Mbps.

At that speed, it's one of the fastest widely available broadband plans in the UK, and competitively priced against rival gigabit deals.

It comes with a WiFi 6 router and free WiFi Max guarantee, and can be bundled with phone, TV, or an O2 mobile plan - with symmetrical uploads available in full fibre areas.

---

---

At a glance

Virgin Media Gig1 broadband plans

---

What does Virgin Media Gig1 include?

Gig1 is Virgin Media's flagship broadband plan, offering average download speeds of 1,130Mbps and upload speeds of 104Mbps. It's available as a standalone plan or bundled with a home phone, TV, or as part of a Volt package for customers who also have an O2 Pay Monthly plan.

All Gig1 customers get Virgin Media's Hub 5 router and WiFi Max included free. WiFi Max is worth £8/month standalone and comes free with Gig1. It guarantees minimum download speeds of 30Mbps in every room, backed by a £100 bill credit if Virgin Media falls short. Customers can request up to three WiFi 6 Plume mesh pods, which plug into a standard power socket to extend coverage around the home.

The Hub 5 supports the latest WiFi 6 standard and includes a 2.5Gbps ethernet port, so wired connections can take full advantage of Gig1 speeds. In full fibre areas, customers receive the Hub 5x instead, which is otherwise identical but includes a 10Gbps ethernet port.

In full fibre areas, customers can also add a symmetrical upload upgrade for £6/month, boosting uploads from 104Mbps to match the 1,130Mbps download speed. Gig2 - Virgin Media's 2Gbps plan - is also available in those areas, currently covering over 8 million premises.

Volt is automatic for any household with both a Virgin Media broadband plan and an O2 Pay Monthly SIM. It doubles data on all household O2 plans.

---

Who is Virgin Media Gig1 best suited for?

Virgin Media Gig1 fibre broadband is a gigabit connection best suited to busy, super-connected households - typically those with six to eight people and 20 or more devices online at the same time.

At 1,130Mbps, there's enough bandwidth to support multiple simultaneous 4K streams, online gaming, video calls, and large file downloads all at once without anyone noticing the others. It's well matched to households where people regularly:

• Stream 4K content on six or more TVs simultaneously
• Game online across multiple consoles or PCs at the same time
• Video call in HD or UHD on multiple devices
• Work from home on multiple devices with heavy cloud and upload needs
• Connect 20 or more smart home and everyday devices without congestion
• Support six to eight people all online at the same time

At its current price, Gig1 is only £2/month more than the M500, making it worth serious consideration for anyone already looking at that plan - the step up delivers more than double the download speed for a marginal extra cost.

Customers who already have an O2 Pay Monthly SIM, or take one out alongside their broadband, will automatically receive Volt benefits. That means doubled data on all household O2 plans at no extra cost - though as Volt is capped at 1Gb, there's no speed upgrade available for Gig1 customers.

---

How much does Gig1 broadband cost?

Gig1 is Virgin Media's fastest widely available broadband plan, currently priced from £29.99/month on a 24-month contract with free setup.

Annual price rises are fixed at £4/month each April for the duration of the contract - so a plan starting at £29.99 becomes £33.99 from April 2027, then £37.99 from April 2028. That's worth factoring in when comparing against rivals, particularly full fibre providers whose prices may rise by a smaller amount or on different terms.

WiFi Max is included free with Gig1, worth £8/month if taken separately. Up to three WiFi 6 Plume pods are available at no extra cost to extend coverage to every room in the home. Flex TV can be added for £5/month on a rolling contract with no setup fee, giving access to live TV and streaming apps via the Stream box - a low-commitment way to dip into TV without locking into a longer bundle.

In full fibre areas, the symmetrical upload add-on costs £6/month and boosts uploads from 104Mbps to a full 1,130Mbps - a meaningful upgrade for remote workers, content creators, or anyone regularly backing up large files to the cloud. Gig2 is also available in those areas for customers who want even more headroom, currently covering around 8 million premises.

Gig1 launched in October 2019 and completed its rollout across Virgin Media's entire 18.8 million premise network by the end of 2021 - meaning it's now available to roughly 60% of UK homes. Upload speeds were doubled from 52Mbps to 104Mbps in May 2023, at no extra cost to existing customers, bringing them more in line with rival gigabit plans.

Gig1 + calls

Adding a home phone to Gig1 on a standalone basis costs £19/month for line rental, with anytime calls a further £10/month on top - £29/month in total. That's expensive compared to taking one of the pre-made phone bundles in the table above, where anytime calls are included at £8/month. For regular landline users, the bundle route is the considerably better value option.

Customers who take a line can add one of the following call plans:

Out-of-allowance calls are charged at 24 pence per minute plus a 24 pence connection fee.

---

Gig1 broadband + TV

Customers who take Gig1 can bundle Virgin Media TV, which works out cheaper than taking the services separately. There are two pre-made bundles available, or customers can build their own using Flex.

The Max Volt bundle is Virgin Media's top-tier TV package, combining Gig1 with Sky Entertainment, Sky Atlantic, Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, Netflix, and a Kids pack, plus an O2 SIM with unlimited data. The Gig1 Sport HD + Cinema + Netflix + O2 SIM bundle covers the same core channels at a lower price, with a 10GB O2 SIM instead - the only difference is the Kids pack and the size of the SIM data allowance.

Sky Atlantic arrived on Virgin Media in April 2026, ending a long period of Sky exclusivity - it's included in both bundles and worth noting for drama fans weighing up their options.

For a lighter TV option, Flex costs £5/month on a rolling contract with no setup fee. It includes the Stream box and access to a range of add-on channel packs - Sky Entertainment and Sky Atlantic are available together as the Essential Entertainment pack for £15/month, with Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, TNT Sports, Disney+, Paramount+, and Apple TV+ available to add separately. Customers get a 10% bill credit on any subscriptions not already discounted.

Read more on the Max Volt bundle here.

---

How does Virgin Media Gig1 compare?

Gigabit broadband is now available to more than 90% of UK homes, with an increasing number of properties able to choose from more than one provider. For customers on the Virgin Media network, Gig1 is available across all 18.8 million premises.

Here's how the plan compares on price:

Gig1 has the fastest download speed of any plan in the table at 1,130Mbps, though upload speeds tell a different story - Openreach-based plans from Sky, BT, and EE deliver 90-110Mbps uploads, putting them broadly in line with Gig1's 104Mbps despite their slower downloads.

The more meaningful comparison is like-for-like - gigabit speed plus a whole-home WiFi guarantee included. On that basis, Gig1 at £29.99/month undercuts every rival. EE is the only provider that comes close on headline price at £25.99/month, but once the whole-home WiFi guarantee is added, it's £10 more expensive than Gig1. Vodafone and BT both cost significantly more once comparable WiFi is factored in, while Plusnet matches Gig1 on price but offers a WiFi 5 router with no coverage guarantee.

Price isn't the only factor worth weighing up. Vodafone broadband customers get discounts and bill credits when they also hold a Vodafone mobile plan, in the same way Virgin Media's Volt benefits reward O2 customers - so existing mobile contracts can shift the value calculation meaningfully. Plusnet and Vodafone are the weakest on TV, with no bundle options to speak of, while Virgin Media has a clear advantage with Flex and full bundle options. On customer service, Virgin Media has improved significantly - complaints hit a six-year low in 2025 - but Sky has been performing consistently better for longer and remains the stronger choice for customers who prioritise support.

Ultimately, on a broadband-only basis with whole-home WiFi taken into account, Gig1 is the cheapest gigabit plan available. Whether a rival edges ahead depends largely on your mobile network, how much TV matters, and how much weight you put on customer service track record.

Read more about how Virgin Media compares with Sky, against Hyperoptic, and next to Community Fibre in these head-to-head guides.

---

How fast is Virgin Media Gig1 broadband?

Virgin Media Gig1 broadband delivers average download speeds of 1,130Mbps at peak times, with average upload speeds of 104Mbps. That's 186Mbps faster on average than gigabit plans on the Openreach network, and available across Virgin Media's entire 18.8 million premise network.

In most areas, Gig1 runs over Virgin Media's DOCSIS 3.1 cable network - fibre to the street cabinet, then coaxial cable for the last mile into the home. In full fibre areas, including those served by Nexfibre, the connection runs on XGS-PON technology all the way to the premises, delivering lower latency and the option to upgrade to symmetrical speeds. Around 8 million of Virgin Media's 19 million premises have already been upgraded to full fibre.

The Hub 5 supports WiFi 6 and includes a 2.5Gbps ethernet port, meaning wired devices can receive the full line speed. Over WiFi, real-world speeds will vary by device and distance from the router - a WiFi 6 laptop in the same room can typically achieve 700-800Mbps, while a WiFi 5 device one room away may see closer to 400-500Mbps.

Upload speeds

Gig1 upload speeds sit at 104Mbps as standard - doubled from the original 52Mbps in May 2023 at no extra cost to existing customers. That puts them broadly in line with Openreach-based gigabit plans from BT, Sky, and EE, which average around 90-110Mbps on uploads.

The gap opens up against symmetrical providers. Community Fibre, Hyperoptic, and Sky or Vodafone in CityFibre areas all offer uploads as fast as downloads. For most households 104Mbps is more than sufficient, but customers with heavy upload demands should factor this in.

Speed guarantees

Virgin Media is signed up to Ofcom's Code of Practice on Broadband Speeds, giving customers a minimum speed guarantee at sign-up. If speeds fall below that threshold for three consecutive days or more and Virgin Media cannot resolve the issue within 30 days, customers can exit their contract penalty-free.

Gig1 customers also benefit from a wireless speed guarantee through WiFi Max, included free of charge - something most providers charge extra for or don't offer at all. That means two layers of protection: a guaranteed minimum line speed, and a guaranteed minimum of 30Mbps in every room of the home.

If Virgin Media falls below the minimum line speed for three consecutive days and cannot resolve the issue within 30 days, customers can exit their contract penalty-free. If the WiFi speed guarantee isn't met, customers receive a £100 bill credit.

Reliability

Virgin Media performs well on fault resolution, helped by operating and maintaining its own network rather than relying on third-party engineers - one of the reasons it features in our top three most reliable broadband providers. However, Virgin Media's cable network delivers higher latency than Openreach full fibre connections, a consequence of using coaxial cable for the last mile in most areas.

BT's FTTP network delivers roughly half the latency of Gig1 - imperceptible for streaming or browsing, but relevant for competitive online gaming. As Virgin Media's full fibre upgrade progresses, latency will fall in line with FTTP rivals.

Read more about how Virgin Media broadband performs in our full review.

---

Hub 5 router

Virgin Media supplies the Hub 5 router as standard to all customers, with Gig1 customers in full fibre areas receiving the Hub 5x instead. Both routers share identical WiFi specs - the difference is the ethernet port, with the Hub 5x including a 10Gbps port to future-proof wired connections in full fibre areas.

The Hub 5 supports WiFi 6, which handles multiple simultaneous device connections more efficiently than WiFi 5 - useful in busy households where phones, laptops, smart TVs, and gaming consoles are all online at the same time. Newer routers from providers like EE now offer WiFi 7 as standard, though the benefits only apply to WiFi 7-compatible devices, which remain uncommon in most homes. Here are the full specifications:

In full fibre areas, the Hub 5x replaces the Hub 5. WiFi performance is identical, but the 10Gbps ethernet port means wired connections can take full advantage of symmetrical gigabit speeds where the upgrade has been taken.

Virgin Media WiFi Max

Virgin Media's WiFi Max uses Plume's adaptive WiFi technology, which learns network usage patterns over time and automatically optimises channel selection and device connections to reduce congestion. Rather than a fixed mesh network, each pod communicates with the Hub 5 and other pods dynamically, routing traffic via the least congested path.

Customers can request up to three WiFi 6 Plume pods, each of which plugs into a standard power socket. The pods operate on the same network as the Hub 5 and support the same WiFi 6 standard, so devices connecting via a pod get the same protocol benefits - including better handling of multiple simultaneous connections - as those connecting directly to the router.

The guarantee promises a minimum of 30Mbps in every room. If that isn't met, Virgin Media will first attempt to resolve the issue with additional pods before issuing a £100 bill credit.

---

Verdict: Is Virgin Media Gig1 a good choice?

Gig1 is Virgin Media's strongest broadband product - and on a like-for-like basis, one of the most competitively priced gigabit plans in the UK. It's best suited to busy households with six or more people and a high device count, where the bandwidth headroom genuinely makes a difference.

The strongest reasons to choose Gig1:

• The cheapest gigabit broadband plan in the UK when whole-home WiFi is factored in
• Average download speeds of 1,130Mbps - 186Mbps faster than gigabit plans on the Openreach network
• WiFi Max included free, worth £8/month, with a guaranteed 30Mbps in every room
• Hub 5 with WiFi 6 as standard, and Hub 5x with 10Gbps ethernet in full fibre areas
• Symmetrical upload upgrade available for £6/month in full fibre areas

The trade-offs worth knowing about:

• Latency is higher than Openreach FTTP connections in cable areas - not noticeable for most uses, but relevant for competitive gaming
• Upload speeds are capped at 104Mbps outside full fibre areas, where symmetrical providers have a clear advantage
• Virgin Media's complaints record has improved significantly - hitting a six-year low in 2025 - but Sky has performed more consistently over a longer period

For households that also want TV, Gig1 becomes a stronger proposition still. Flex adds live TV on a rolling contract for £5/month, while the Max Volt bundle combines Gig1 with Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, Netflix, and an unlimited O2 SIM in one package. For O2 customers already, Volt kicks in automatically at no extra cost, doubling mobile data on all household O2 plans.

Gig1 is a well-rounded gigabit plan that holds up strongly on value, speed, and included extras. The main reasons to look elsewhere are latency-sensitive gaming, heavy upload workloads, or a preference for a provider with a longer track record on customer service.