Virgin Media Broadband Size: XL Special Offer Broadband Bundle

Review of Virgin Media Broadband Size: XL Special Offer

NOTE: This is a special offer 'bundle' and may end at any time.

DON'T take the Virgin Media Broadband Size XL package on its own - take this special offer package instead!

Why? Well here you can get the Virgin Media Broadband XL package, but also get a free home phone package thrown in and save a few pounds a month too! Sure, the deal is only an 'introductory' price, but the introductory period does last a full year, which is exactly Virgin Media's minimum contract period (which means you can cancel it at the end of 12 months and change packages if you want).

So we say it again, you'd be a fool to just take Broadband XL when you can get it cheaper and get more doing it this way!

Virgin Media's Size XL broadband is, in itself, an excellent broadband package. It offers cable speeds of up to 20MB which, as we've said before, is fast enough to blow Branson's floppy hair straight!

The Virgin Media XL broadband also boasts a free cable modem as well as the excellent and comprehensive PCguard Total security suite.

In order to get the low introductory price for the broadband though, you will have to take a Virgin Media Phone package, the cheapest of which is Virgin Media Phone Size M, which gives you free UK weekend calls. Calls at all other times are a reasonable 3p per minute. If you use the phone a lot, you can always upgrade to a better phone package and still get the cut price broadband fee.

Since this is a cable connection, you do not need a phone line and you don't have to pay £11.75 a month line rental to BT.

With its 30 day money back guarantee and a minimum contract that ends at the same time as the introductory offer, we wholeheartedly recommend taking Virgin Media up on this extraordinary special offer.

Forget the amazing special introductory price for the first year (which makes this package extraordinary value) the Virgin Media Broadband Size XL package is fast. Really fast. Fast enough to blow Richard Branson's floppy hair right back, in fact.

Is it a good deal though?

While the introductory offers make it more than affordable for the first year, it is slightly pricey. However remember that you don't need line rental to get this package, so you can safely subtract £11.75 a month from the cost to see a more realistic figure. See what we mean about being more than affordable?

Being cable there is, unfortunately, a £30 one-off connection charge, but the modem is free.

The best thing of all about this, and all other Virgin Media broadband packages, is their 30-day moneyback guarantee. You are safe to try it all for yourself and see what 20Mb speeds really feel like.

	Virgin Media Broadband Size: XL Special Offer is currently offering £10 for the first 3 months (plus £11 for phone package).

A little more detail

Broadband

			Special Note..	Any good?
Package Name:		Size: XL	-
Connection Type:		Cable	-
Max Speed:		20Mb	-
Usage Limit:		Unlimited	Fair use policy applies
Hardware:		Modem	-
Anti-virus Protection:		Yes	Part of PCGuard Total package (which includes PCguard features as well as extra Anti-Spyware, Identify Theft Protection and Parental Control features)
Firewall:		Yes	Part of PCGuard Total package (which includes PCguard features as well as extra Anti-Spyware, Identify Theft Protection and Parental Control features)
E-mail Account:		Yes	Up to 15 email addresses
Webspace Provided:		Yes	55MB of webspace
Domain Included:		No	-
Backup Dialup:		Yes	0845 dial backup
Consoles Supported:		All major consoles supported	-

Home Phone

Package Name:		Size: M
UK Weekend Tariff:		Free to UK landlines
UK Evening Tariff:		3.25p per minute, with 7p connection charge
UK Peak Tariff:		3.25p per minute, with 7p connection charge
International Tariff:		Lower international rates with Talk International (£1.50 per month)

Payment, Installation and Contract

Payment Method(s):		Direct Debit only (other payment methods incur a £5 charge)
Activation Fee:		Free
Installation:		From £30
Minimum Contract:		12 months
Line Rental:		No line rental required
Support:		25p per minute technical support

Actual User Ratings

At a Glance

Our Rating
Max Speed	20Mb
Usage Limit	Unlimited
Monthly Price	£31.00
Set Up Cost	£30.00
Min. Contract	12 months

	Bundle details:
	Phone: Unlimited weekend calls to UK landlines
	TV: Not included
	Mobile: Not included

	It is best suited for:
	Bargain hunting web users looking for teh fastest cable broadband package along with a basic home phone call package

Customer Reviews

Add your own review of Virgin Media broadband...

Remember, the customer reviews below are subjective (and are not the opinions of ChooseISP.co.uk).

John from glasgow writes... 14/05/2008

"Since Virgin have taken over from NTL they've taken a flawfless service and ran it straight in to the ground. I live right beside an exchange so in theory I should be getting fairly close to 4Mb, I'm lucky to get 2 most days. Also lately at any point from 4-12 streaming any type of media results in the connection dropping and sometimes taking 15+ minutes to reconnect. Until they get their act together avoid Virgin."

Martin from London writes... 12/10/2007

"Signed up for Virgin Media XL Broadband 20Mb. I don't even get 1Mb most times, usually lower. The customer service is extremely poor and they are all based in India. There is no email based support, only 25p/min tech number."

Gareth Snow from Worthing writes... 03/10/2007

"We recently had broadband, telephone and also TV installed from Virgin Media and they were excellent. Really good value for money. Also we have Virgin Media's V+ service which is superb!"

S.J. from Manchester writes... 08/09/2007

"When Virgin Media was still Telewest it was great. Now the XL package is £37/month, with fair use policy introduced, the speeds are not consistent and the upload speed is ridiculous for todays isp's. The once free tech help is now 25p/min with 10p connection charge (to India!!). If I had a BT line I would try another broadband provider."

Jason Hines from Epsom writes... 12/08/2007

"So far so very good. I signed up to the VirginMedia 3 for £30 bundle in April and so far have been amazed. I had heard bad stories but took the risk as they offer a moneyback guarantee. Thankfully I never had to use it. I still find it amazing that I get all this for £30. Highly recommended."

Hazel Wykes from Birmingham writes... 11/08/2007

"We thought we'd give Virgin Media a try just to see how it compared but were so dissatified with it, that we changed back to BT. We are now on BT Total Broadband Option 3. Its top class, everything about it is excellent. It beats Virgin Media all round."