Sky broadband vs Virgin Media broadband

Dan Howdle • April 3rd, 2025

Virgin Media once ruled supreme when it came to speed, but thanks to the rollout of Full Fibre by Openreach, Sky can now hold its own in this department too. So how can you choose between the two? Let's run through some of the key differences between Sky and Virgin broadband and see who comes out on top.

Key feature comparison

Here's a quick feature comparison on how Virgin Media and Sky stack up.

Broadband speed

Winner: Virgin Media

A big tick goes to Virgin on this one as they still provide just about the fastest widely available broadband speeds, although check first exactly what speeds you can get at your postcode. Otherwise it may be worth looking at Sky and their newly re-branded Full Fibre packages.

When it comes to speed, Sky advertises an average of 36Mbps and 61Mbps from Superfast 1 and 2, and also now offers four Full Fibre speeds of 75Mbps, 145Mbps, 500Mbps and 900Mbps.

These speeds are, by and large, on a par with other providers operating over the Openreach network. The availability of Openreach Full FIbre broadband will vary according to where you live. The network states that currently it extends to around two thirds of properties in the UK.

Virgin’s lowest advertised speed averages 132Mbps. Virgin uses its own infrastructure, rather than relying on the Openreach network, so it can offer a top speed faster than that of the other providers. On average, Virgin customers receive speeds very close to those advertised, and in many cases, somewhat faster. However, this is now also the case with customers choosing a Full Fibre service with Sky (or any other Full Fibre provider).

Virgin Media offers average speeds of 132Mbps, 264Mbps, 362Mbps, 516Mbps and 1130Gbps, known as 'Gig1'. In theory, Virgin also offers 'Gig2', with speeds in excess of 2000Mbps, but that's only available to a very limited number of properties at this time. All this puts Virgin Media ahead of the other providers for its top speed – even those offering Full Fibre, which usually has a top limit of 900Mbps.

Another important factor to consider is upload speeds. This gives an indication of how long it takes to upload a photo or send any other information to the web. Sky offers upload speeds of 20Mbps with its Superfast package, and for its Full Fibre packages, you'll see 17Mbps uploads with Full Fibre 75, 28Mbps from Full Fibre 150, 60Mbps with Full Fibre 500 and 100Mbps with Sky's Full Fibre Gigafast (900Mbps)..

Virgin's upload speeds differ slightly and while you may be getting fast download speeds, its uploads aren’t equally speedy. You get 20Mbps with M125, 25Mbps with M250, 36Mbps with M350, 52Mbps for M500, and to get the maximum of 104Mbps, you have to sign up to Gig1. These last two were recently doubled, so Virgin no longer lags behind the 100Mbps upload speed offered by Sky with its 900Mbps Gigafast package.

Packages

Winner: Virgin Media

With Sky’s Full Fibre packages available to the majority (about two thirds), there is little to choose between the two providers. Both offer a range of speeds to suit every household along with the option of a phone line with Virgin Media, and one bundled in with all Sky packages. However, with Sky demanding a 24-month contract and Virgin Media only locking you in for 18 months, Virgin Media wins here just for being that bit more consumer friendly.

Sky has five main broadband packages, all of which come on an 24-month contract. It offers Superfast, which comes with download speeds of around 61Mbps and also has four Full Fibre packages, named Full Fibre 75, Full Fibre 150, Full Fibre 500 and Full Fibre Gigafast, which offer 75Mbps, 145Mbps, 500Mbps and 900Mbps download speeds respectively. These are only available in areas where Openreach has rolled out its Full Fibre cables, however.

Like most other providers, Sky no longer advertises a standard broadband connection (ADSL) of 11Mbps – this is only offered to those few customers who cannot get any kind of fibre service at all at their address.

If you want a home phone service get one free with Sky on a pay as you go basis, with the option to add on calling packages. This is on any Sky package – even the Full Fibre ones, where you'll be provided with a digital phone line.

Virgin Media operates over its own network and so the speeds it offers are a little different from providers on the Openreach network – like Sky. Virgin’s packages start with M125 (averaging 132Mbps), M250 (averaging 264Mbps), 362Mbps on M350 service, 516Mbps on M500 and 1130Mbps on its Gig1 package. Gig2 is available in a small number of UK locations, which offers speeds of around 2Gbps, but is also, as you might imagine, quite expensive.

All Virgin Media packages come on either an 18-month contract.

You can choose broadband-only or broadband and phone deals. If you choose the latter, you will receive free weekend calls as standard. You can upgrade your phone package to include anytime calls and international calls as well. Virgin’s broadband and phone deals cost a few pounds more a month than its comparable broadband-only plans.

Customer service

Winner: Sky

When you are a big broadband provider you're always likely to have higher levels of complaints than others purely because you have a bigger customer base. However, it seems that Virgin Media does not do as well as it once did with customer service, with Sky beating it in every category in Ofcom’s latest research into customer service satisfaction.

Both providers do well, but Sky pips itin Ofcom’s most recent survey. The overall winner in terms of fewest complaints is Sky. Sky had just five complaints to Ofcom per 100,000 customers. That's ver low. Virgin Media had 12.

Virgin Media offers live chat online as well as a messenger text service, or you can phone customer services on 0345 454 1111 seven days a week. Sky customer service is also available seven days a week on 0333 7591 018. Both providers also offer a Community forum where you can find answer questions, and also run social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook where you can get in touch.

Router and technology

Winner: Virgin Media

Sky and Virgin are neck-and-neck for this one. Virgin Media just nudges ahead with its superior Hub 5, although this is only available to Gig1 customers or by special request from existing customers on decent speeds.

Whichever one of these you choose, you will be getting some top-notch kit. Unlike other providers, Sky offers everyone the same Sky Broadband Hub router to both fibre and full fibre customers. Virgin Media also offers the same Hub 3 router to all its customers except those who sign up for the Gig1 service; they will receive the latest Hub 5.

All Sky customers get a Sky Broadband Hub with their broadband package. It comes with four ethernet ports, 2.4GHz and 5GHz antennas, and will let you connect up to 64 devices at the same time. Sky Hubs are also designed to save energy and will automatically switch to low power mode when not in use. There is also a Sky Max Hub which offers Wi-Fi 6 and increased capability, albeit at an additional monthly cost.

Virgin supplies the Hub 3 to all its broadband customers regardless of the speed they choose. The only exception to this is Gig1 customers, who will be provided with the Hub 5, which operates on the latest WiFi 6 standard, meaning it can support even faster speeds and more devices. The Hub 4 was a prototype that came and quickly went during the early stages of rollout of its Gig1 service, while the Hub 5x, the most powerful of all Virgin's routers, comes only with Gig2.

Compare Virgin broadband

Extras

Winner: Sky

There is barely anything to differentiate these two on extras, but since Virgin no longer intends to offer its free public Wi-Fi hotspots, Sky wins with its thousands of free hotspots courtesy of The Cloud.

All Sky customers can enjoy the reassurance provided by the Sky Broadband Shield antivirus protection. This software lets you filter websites and customise your privacy settings into age categories. There is also a neat watershed feature that lets you set age rating restrictions depending on the time of day.

You can also use your internet on the move with the Sky WiFi app. This gives users free and unlimited wi-fi in thousands of popular places across the UK such as cafes and restaurants. It can be used on six registered devices. Many public places will already offer free Wi-Fi, but access to The Cloud hotspots gives you an added option where there is less availability.

Virgin Media is pretty similar when it comes to extras. You get free online protection with Virgin Media Web Safe, that keeps your home free from viruses and malware and also includes parental controls. For an additional layer of protection on individual devices, you can add Virgin Media Internet Security. Powered by McAfee.

Overall

Winner: Virgin Media

Sky and Virgin Media are very closely matched as broadband providers, with both offering top-quality routers, very fast speeds and online security packages. Virgin still offers the fastest download speed, however, averaging 1130Mbps with its Gig1 service (and 2Gbps to a handful of homes as it begins its rollout), and its Hub 5 router, although only available to Gig1 customers or through a requested upgrade, is superior to the Sky Broadband Hub.

When it comes to customer service however, Sky outdoes Virgin Media in all areas, which may be something worth considering when making your decision. Price wise, the providers are also equally matched, with Virgin on average just fractionally cheaper than Sky.

Ultimately your choice of provider is likely to come down to cost, and, if you want the absolute highest speeds, availability in your area.

Compare Virgin broadband