Virgin Media Gig2 Fibre Broadband

Virgin Media Gig2 is the latest broadband package from the provider and offers multi-gigabit speeds of 2000Mbs on average at peak times.

Customers can choose to upgrade upload speeds to symmetrical 2Gbps for just £6, or receive uploads of a still adequate 200Mbps.

The biggest drawback to Gig2 is availability, with the plan only available where Virgin Media have connected customers by XGS-PON full fibre broadband.

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At a glance

Special offers

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Who is Virgin Media Gig2 best suited for?

Virgin Media Gig2 fibre broadband is best for homes that want the fastest possible broadband speeds, especially where multiple people are going online at the same time and sharing the connection.

However, it's currently only suitable for those living in select areas where Virgin Media has connected homes to its network using new full fibre technology. Areas connected via cable broadband - which is likely to be anyone who's had access to Virgin Media for a while - instead have a top speed of 1130Mbps with Gig1.

For those who can get it, Gig2 is ideal for:

• Multiple people working from home
• Online gaming at the same time as others
• Ultra HD streaming, gaming and video calls
• Content creators who need fast upload speeds

Gig2 currently costs £84 per month, which makes it quite expensive for a residential broadband deal, and so will likely best suit larger homes where multiple people are sharing the cost of the connection.

In comparison, Gig1 now costs just £39 per month, making it less than half the price of the new Gig2 plan. With 1130Mbps average download speeds, and still offering the benefit of symmetrical uploads in full fibre areas, customers may find Gig1 is a better option than Gig2 for the time being.

Overall, except for a few specific users, the biggest advantage of Gig2 could well be the reduced price of Gig1 broadband, offering gigabit-capable speeds for less than £40 per month for the minimum term.

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What does Gig2 broadband offer?

Launched in February 2024, Gig2 from Virgin Media offers average download speeds of 2000Mbps at peak times, and upload speeds of 200Mbps.

Here is how much the basic Gig2 package costs:

It's also possible to choose an upload speed add-on and boost uploads to symmetrical speeds to match the download of 2000Mbps. This costs an extra £6 per month, and is also available on other plans from Virgin Media if customers are living in eligible areas.

Due to being such a newly launched package, Gig2 is rather expensive compared to other residential broadband deals, especially considering the price of gigabit-capable connections is currently falling.

Gig1 for example now costs just £39 per month for new customers, less than half the price of Gig2. Yet when Gig1 first launched back in October 2019, it too was a lot more expensive at £62 per month. So, it's likely in time Gig2 will also become more affordable.

In fact, as we've mentioned, Gig2's biggest selling point could indeed be that the pricing of Gig1 has reduced recently from a competitive £45 per month, down to its current lowest at under £40.

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Gig2 broadband + TV

Gig2 fibre broadband can be bundled with Virgin Media's new Stream TV service, where it's possible to add subscriptions to Entertainment, Sky Sports, Sky Cinema, and TNT Sports packs, as well as on-demand services like Netflix and Disney Plus.

Without the channel packs Stream TV can still be used for Freeview and over 40 channels as well as free on-demand apps like BBC iPlayer for no extra monthly cost.

Here is the Gig2 broadband plan with Stream TV:

As the above table shows, there is a small £35 setup fee to get the Stream box, but on-going costs are independent of the broadband contract and can be upgraded or downgraded on a rolling monthly basis.

While it is also possible to customise Virgin Media's TV 360 bundles to add Gig2, it's not currently cost effective to do so, with some plans increasing by almost an extra £100 from the 1130Mbps speeds of Gig1.

Overall, Virgin Media Stream is an extremely flexible and cost-effective way to add premium TV services to Gig2 fibre broadband.

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Virgin Media Gig2 vs Gig1 fibre broadband

While Gig2 nearly doubles the download speed from Gig1 broadband, at the time of writing, the monthly price also more than doubles.

Here are Virgin Media's fastest broadband plans side-by-side:

As a brand-new package, it's likely Gig2 will come down in price over the next year, but for now, the high monthly cost is likely to detract some customers who may find the gigabit speeds of Gig1 ample and better value for money.

However, for some users who demand a multi-gig broadband plan, Gig2 is certainly an option for those living in enabled areas, especially where they also demand fast upload speeds and will benefit from the symmetrical uploads upgrade.

Read more in our review of Gig1 Fibre Broadband.

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How fast is Virgin Media Gig2 broadband?

Virgin Media's new Gig2 Fibre Broadband plan offers average download speeds of 2000Mbps at peak times, or, in other words, 2Gbps between 8pm and 10pm in the evening when the network is busiest.

That makes Gig2 one of the UK's fastest broadband packages.

Gig2 also offers average upload speeds of 200Mbps, but customers can opt for the uploads add-on to boost speeds to symmetrical 2000Mbps speeds, which could be beneficial for content creators, online gamers and those who work from home.

The uploads add-on costs an extra £6 per month, and can be added to any Virgin Media broadband plan if a customer lives in a Gig2 enabled area.

Speed guarantees

Like all other Virgin Media broadband deals, Gig2 comes with a minimum speed guarantee, which means customers can exit their contract early if their broadband isn't fast enough.

Ofcom's code of practice on broadband speeds states that customers should be free to exit their contract early and without penalty if they don't receive the minimum guaranteed speed for 3 consecutive days and the provider doesn't resolve the issue within 30 days of being notified.

Virgin Media offer customers the following estimated download speed and minimum guaranteed download speed for Gig2:

It's typical for Virgin Media to offer a minimum guaranteed speed around half that as the advertised download speed, with Gig1 promising minimum speeds of 565Mbps for example.

However, it's worth remembering it is an absolute minimum and at least 50% of their customers receive the advertised average speed of 2000Mbps during the busiest hours.

As with Gig1, Gig2 also comes with the WiFi Max guarantee for free, which is worth £8 per month and promises minimum download speeds over wireless of 30Mbps in every room or a customer can claim a £100 bill credit.

It's one of the better whole home WiFi guarantees on the market and customers will receive up to three Plume mesh pods to help boost wireless speeds around their home.

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Hub 5x router

The Hub 5x router is adaptation of Virgin Media's Hub 5 device that will work with the newer XGS-PON full fibre connections.

Customers signing up to Gig2 Fibre Broadband will be provided with the Hub 5x, which also offers a wired Ethernet LAN port up to 10Gbps.

Like the Hub 5, the Hub 5x supports dual-band wireless up to the 802.11ax - or WiFi 6 - protocol

Here are the specifications of the Hub 5x router:

Overall, the Hub 5x is a decent router capable of supporting the multi-gig speeds of Gig2 Fibre Broadband, though with just one Ethernet LAN port running at over 2Gbps customers may find they need additional devices to expand the network.

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Where is Gig2 available?

Gig2 Fibre Broadband from Virgin Media is available in locations where they've rolled out their new full fibre network, or they've upgraded existing connections from cable to fibre.

Belfast, Cardiff, London, and Glasgow are some of the first locations to benefit from the faster speeds available from the new XGS-PON full fibre connections.

Nexfibre, the wholesale network responsible for expanding the Virgin Media network with full fibre connections, went live in June 2023, and plans to reach a total of 7 million premises over the next few years.

While full fibre connections will continue to expand, Virgin Media has said Gig2 is only available in full fibre locations, which means customers connected via their existing cable network won't be able to benefit.

Instead, those on older DOCSIS 3.1, or coaxial cable, connections will have a top speed of 1130Mbps through Gig1, which is available across the entire Virgin Media network.

Previous trials carried out on their existing DOCSIS3.1 network successfully achieved 2.2Gbps download speeds in 2020, so it's possible Virgin Media could open up Gig2 before the network is fully upgraded to full fibre but they've given no intention of doing so.

In the meantime, then, customers will have to make do with the gigabit speeds of Gig1 until the Project Mustang upgrade to full fibre completes by the end of 2028.

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Verdict: Is Virgin Media Gig2 worth it?

Gig2 is now one of the UK's fastest multi-gig broadband packages, although availability is currently limited to full fibre sites where Virgin Media have rolled out new connections.

As a new package at a market-leading speed, Gig2 is rather expensive compared to other gigabit-capable deals. For example, it's more than twice the monthly price of Virgin Media's Gig1 plan - which many households will find more than adequate.

For those who really want the fastest possible speeds however, we like Gig2 because:

• It offers multi-gig download speeds at 2000Mbps on average at peak times
• Customers can boost upload speeds to symmetrical for just £6 extra
• It's bundled with a WiFi 6 router and free whole home WiFi guarantee
• It can also be bundled with Virgin Media's new Stream TV service

The biggest downsides to Gig2 are availability, with the bulk of the Virgin Media network missing out until closer to 2028 when the entire network is upgraded to full fibre.

It's also expensive, at £84 per month, it's hard to imagine many residential customers wouldn't be just as well provided by Gig1 for less than half the price.

Ultimately, Gig2 is a niche broadband deal for now, with some specific customers no doubt making the most of the ability to gain multi-gig symmetrical speeds.