Virgin Media Broadband Size XL (TV & Phone Bundle)

• Blisteringly fast (up to 20Mb) unlimited broadband
• No line rental required
• Free wireless router when you sign up online
• 28 day moneyback guarantee

Virgin Media broadband review: Broadband: XL (TV & Phone)

BEING the subtle and modest fellows that they are Virgin Media have chosen to call their mid-level broadband package 'XL broadband'.

With speeds way above many competitor's packages, though, plus a wealth of TV and phone options to bundle with, we reckon this time XL might be right on the mark.

Be Bundle Happy

XL broadband is available on its own or just with a Virgin Media phone line (see our Virgin media XL (+ phone) review) but getting the service in a bundle will save you hassle and could save you money too.

Scroll down to see the prices for all of the different bundle combinations or read on to decide on the best deal for you.

What will I get with Broadband XL?

Let's start off with the broadband. Virgin Media is now the UK's biggest internet service provider in the UK

Despite inheriting NTL's famously shaky cable network, reports of the Virgin Media 20Mb package are about average for a company of this size (some love it, some hate it and the ones who are just content say nothing!) and in general we hear very good things about the service's reliability.

Virgin Media's, once shamefully unreliable, but now quite good, technical support has also improved and will be free with your bundle.

20Mb broadband is an excellent speed, although as with all broadband this is an 'up to' speed, Virgin Media's cable network means that you'll stand a high chance of achieving those speeds.

Virgin Media also get a thumbs up for the unlimited downloads available, a great stress-saver especially if you're sharing your connection.

However, heavy users (e.g. games fanatics) should be aware that there is a fair use policy which trottles the top 5% of users. If you think that might affect you consider taking Virgin's 50Mb XL service which is truly unlimited.

Finally, you'll get a decent free wireless router and free installation when you order online.

Choose your Phone Deal

By taking a broadband bundle you'll change your line rental over to Virgin Media: at £11 a month it's 54p cheaper than BT's.

After that you can choose from three phone deals: the M package is free, the L package will cost you £3.45 extra a month while XL will be £7.95 more.

There's a simple reason for these price differences, the amount of inclusive UK landline calls available.

The M package has free calls on weekends, the L package will let you chat away on both evenings and weekends and with XL you're covered anytime.

When you do pay for calls to local and national UK landlines they'll be 6.36p a minute. Calls to mobiles are 15.68p in the day and 10.79p in the evening (expect when calling the 3 network, which is slightly more pricey).

You also get free voicemail, 141 (to conceal your number) and 1471 (last number callback) services. You can pay for extra services.

TV Freebies

Virgin Media offers cable TV which comes down the same fibre-optic cables as your broadband.

That means that there's no need for a dish (or as Virgin like to say: an 'unsightly' dish).

The smallest TV package - M - offers pretty much the channels available with Freeview so you'll need to trade up if you want extras such as Comedy Central and the Disney Channel.

Even with M, though, you'll get free catch up TV with iplayer, 4 OD and ITV player and you pay for TV on-demand (free with XL TV).

You get 65 channels with M+, 100 with L and 160 with XL.

You can also buy a V+ HD box, for a one-off cost of £75, which can store up to 80 hours of TV.

Like the Sky+ box you can also pause and rewind live TV and the seriously indecisive (or those who live with a large and argumentative family) can even record two channels and watch a third.

Extra Extras

One of the nice things about joining such a large company is the possibility of discounts other products within the brand.

Having Virgin broadband doesn't yet get you cheap flights but, for example, you can add mobile broadband with a freedom netbook to your bundle for around £6 a month (depending on the size of your bundle) and you'll also be able to enjoy reduced mobile phone tariffs.

All in all, the UK's biggest broadband provider also provides a good bundled service at competitive prices.

A little more detail...

Broadband		Special Note...
Package:	Size: XL	-
Connection:	Cable	-
Max Speed:	Up to 20Mb
Usage Limit:	Unlimited	Fair use policy applies
Totally Unlimited:	No
Hardware:	Wireless Router	-
Internet Security:	Included free	PCGuard Total package (which includes PCguard features as well as extra Anti-Spyware, Identify Theft Protection and Parental Control features)
Online Gaming:	All major consoles supported

Home Phone
Summary:	Optional choice of call plans Optional Virgin Media line rental
Choose a package option to see more details

TV
Summary:	Optional choice of Virgin TV
Choose a package option to see more details