Virgin Media Broadband & Talk Bundle 1 Broadband Bundle

Review of Virgin Media Broadband & Talk Bundle 1

BEFORE Virgin got sucked into the pool of bad PR surrounding their haphazard takeover of NTL, they used to happily operate as a small but reliable ordinary broadband provider offering a handful of well-priced ADSL broadband and broadband-bundle packages.

Well, good news! They still offer it, and this Virgin Media Unlimited Broadband & Talk Bundle 1 is one of the best.

For a price that offers change from a twenty, you get speeds of up to 8Mb with unlimited downloads. You'll also benefit from a free wireless router and Virgin Media's very robust PCguard Total security suite.

The 'Talk' part of this Virgin Media package gives you unlimited anytime calls to all UK landlines.

As a special bonus, you'll also receive a free Virgin Media TV Kit (essentially a set-top box to receive Freeview) which you can keep for as long as you remain with this package for the minumum term.

And in other good news, Virgin's customer support has improved greatly over the last few months. So much so that the once-reviled cable broadband provider is now up for Best Consumer ISP at this year's ISPA internet awards. That's quite some come-back!

Remember though, to get this package you will have to take your line rental with Virgin Media, but the cost of this is identical to BT.

	Virgin Media Broadband & Talk Bundle 1 is currently offering FREE TV kit (set top box for Freeview) and a FREE wireless kit.

A little more detail

Broadband

			Special Note..	Any good?
Package Name:		Plan 2	-
Connection Type:		ADSL	-
Max Speed:		8Mb	-
Usage Limit:		Unlimited	Fair use policy applies
Hardware:		Wireless router	-
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 5 email addresses
Webspace Provided:		Yes	10MB of webspace
Domain Included:		No	-
Backup Dialup:		Yes	0845 dial backup
Consoles Supported:		All major consoles supported	-

Home Phone

Package Name:		Talk 1
UK Weekend Tariff:		Free to UK landlines
UK Evening Tariff:		Free to UK landlines
UK Peak Tariff:		Free to UK landlines
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:		£15
Installation:		Free
Minimum Contract:		12 months
Line Rental:		BT line required
Support:		25p per minute technical support

Actual User Ratings

At a Glance

Our Rating
Max Speed	8Mb
Usage Limit	Unlimited
Monthly Price	£19.99
Set Up Cost	£15.00
Min. Contract	12 months

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

	It is best suited for:
	Web surfers outside of the Virgin Media cable area who still want to enjoy Virgin's low priced, unlimited broadband as well as free anytime calls to UK landlines.

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."