Two of the UK's biggest broadband names go head-to-head. EE brings Openreach full fibre, WiFi 7 hardware and mobile perks. Virgin Media counters with its own cable network, gigabit speeds from under £23 and a bundle ecosystem most rivals can't match. We break down every category so you can make the right call.
| EE | Virgin Media | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | £22.99/mo (Full Fibre 150) | £17.99/mo (M125/M250) |
| Top speed | 1,600Mb (Full Fibre 1.6Gb) | 2,000Mb (Gig2) |
| Contract length | 24 months | 24 months |
| Setup fee | £0 | £0 |
| Network | Openreach (FTTP) | Virgin cable (DOCSIS 3.1) |
| Price rise policy | £4/month from March 2027 | £4/month in April 2026 |
| TV add-on | Apple TV 4K bundle | Big bundles via Bigger, Biggest |
| Mobile perk | Up to 20GB extra data/month | O2 bundle discounts |
| Router included | Smart Hub 7 Plus (WiFi 7, dual-band); Smart Hub 7 Pro (WiFi 7, tri-band) on 1.6Gb | Hub 5 (WiFi 6) |
| Avg Ofcom complaints (Q4 2025) | 8/100k (above average) | 5/100k (best tier) |
| Availability | ~70% of UK homes (Openreach FTTP) | ~52% of UK homes (cable) |
Looking at the pricing screenshots, the picture is clear: Virgin Media is the cheaper option at most speed tiers, and sometimes by a meaningful margin.
At entry level, Virgin's M125 and M250 are both priced at £17.99/month — a quirk of their deals table that makes the M250 (244Mb average) an automatic choice over the M125 (152Mb). EE's equivalent Full Fibre 150 starts at £22.99/month, making it £5/month more expensive for broadly comparable speed.
The mid-tier tells a similar story. Virgin's M500 comes in at £20.99/month for 516Mb average. EE's Full Fibre 500 costs £24.99/month for 500Mb — again, roughly £4/month more.
Where things get genuinely interesting is gigabit territory. Virgin's Gig1 at £22.99/month for 1,130Mb average is one of the strongest value gigabit deals currently available from a major UK provider. EE's Full Fibre 900 — their closest equivalent — is £25.99/month. The speed difference is real: 1,130Mb vs 900Mb, with Virgin charging £3/month less.
At the very top, EE's Full Fibre 1.6Gb Premium comes in at £33.99/month (with a £175 Reward Card and 5GB mobile data boost included). Virgin's Gig2 at 2,000Mb costs £51.99/month — a significant jump that reflects both the headline speed and Virgin's positioning of Gig2 as a premium product.
One pricing note worth flagging: Both providers have announced or implemented £4/month annual rises. Virgin's April 2026 rise has already landed for existing customers. EE's £4/month rise is scheduled from March 2027 for new customers signing up now — so the headline prices you see today will be higher by year two.
Winner: Virgin Media. Cheaper at every comparable tier except the very top, and their Gig1 deal in particular is hard to beat on price-per-Mbps.
EE and Virgin Media take fundamentally different technical approaches, and both have genuine strengths.
EE runs on BT's Openreach full fibre (FTTP) network. Fibre runs all the way to your property, which means low latency (typically 8–15ms), very consistent speeds under load, and strong upload performance — around 110Mb upload on the Full Fibre 900 package. The 1.6Gb Premium tier is among the fastest speeds available from any Openreach provider, and upload speeds scale impressively at higher tiers.
Virgin Media uses its own coaxial cable network (DOCSIS 3.1), which delivers impressive download speeds — the Gig1 package averages 1,130Mb and Gig2 reaches 2,000Mb — but upload speeds lag behind. Typical upload on Gig1 is around 100Mb, and while that's adequate for most households, EE has a structural edge here if upload matters to you (remote working, content creation, video calls).
On reliability, the picture is more nuanced. Both networks perform well day-to-day, but they have different failure modes. Openreach outages tend to be localised and typically resolved quickly; Virgin's proprietary cable network means faster average fault resolution times historically, but shared bandwidth in densely populated areas can occasionally cause congestion during peak hours.
Winner: Draw, with caveats. EE wins on upload consistency and latency. Virgin wins on headline download speeds at comparable price points. For most households, both are more than adequate; the choice comes down to what you're prioritising.
This is a crucial difference — and it could make the decision for you before you even compare prices.
EE runs on the Openreach FTTP network, which currently passes around 70% of UK premises and is expanding rapidly. If you're in a town or city that's been upgraded to full fibre, EE is likely available. Rural and semi-rural areas have more variable coverage.
Virgin Media covers roughly 52% of UK homes on its proprietary cable network. Coverage is concentrated in urban and suburban areas where Virgin laid its original cable infrastructure. If you're not in a cabled area, Virgin simply isn't an option — no workaround, no availability date.
How to check: Use FibreCompare's postcode checker to see which providers are live at your address. Don't assume availability based on your neighbours or previous addresses — both networks have street-by-street variation.
Winner: EE, on pure reach. Their Openreach footprint covers significantly more of the UK.
Both providers operate on standard 24-month contracts for their main broadband packages.
EE's pricing includes £0 setup and no activation fee on most packages. They offer a speed guarantee — if your connection consistently falls below the promised minimum in the first 30 days, you can exit without penalty. Annual price rises are contractually permitted (the March 2027 £4/month increase applies to customers signing up now), but the current headline prices are fixed for the contract term beyond that.
Virgin Media similarly charges £0 setup on most packages. Their mid-contract price rise policy has attracted criticism — the April 2026 increase of £4/month has already been applied to eligible contracts. Virgin's cancellation process has historically attracted complaints (it's been raised in Which? assessments), and it's worth being aware that exit fees apply if you leave before your 24 months are up.
One advantage EE holds for existing EE mobile customers: if you hold an EE SIM or phone contract and add broadband, you receive up to 20GB extra mobile data per month and £20/month off your broadband bill. That's a material saving that makes EE genuinely competitive on effective price for that audience.
Winner: EE, narrowly — cleaner entry process, the mobile discount is genuinely valuable, and fewer complaints about the exit experience.
This category tells an interesting story — and the data has shifted considerably over the past 18 months.
EE was historically among the best-performing providers on Ofcom's complaints tables. That has changed. In Q2 and Q3 2025, EE was the most complained-about provider across broadband, landline and pay-TV services — the first time a single provider had topped all three categories simultaneously since 2023. Q4 2025 saw a partial improvement, with EE recording 8 complaints per 100,000 broadband customers (above the industry average of 7). The underlying Ofcom satisfaction data from the 2025 Comparing Customer Service report shows EE still leads on overall satisfaction scores — suggesting the complaints spike may be partly driven by specific friction points (faults, provisioning) rather than a wholesale service collapse. But it's a significant change from EE's previously clean record.
Virgin Media has been on the opposite trajectory. Historically one of the most complained-about providers, Virgin has improved dramatically. Q4 2025 Ofcom data shows Virgin at just 5 complaints per 100,000 broadband customers — joint best in the market alongside Plusnet, and well below the industry average. That's a remarkable turnaround. The caveat: Which? continues to rate Virgin below average on value for money and complaint handling satisfaction, and the 2025 annual Comparing Customer Service report (using 2024 data) still recorded Virgin below industry average on complaint handling — before the most recent improvements had fully fed through. Fault resolution speed is one area where Virgin performs relatively well historically.
Winner: Virgin Media on current Ofcom data, though EE retains a structural satisfaction advantage in some broader metrics. Both providers have work to do.
EE has invested seriously in its hardware proposition. All full fibre packages include a WiFi 7 router as standard — making EE the first major UK provider to do this across its entire range. Packages up to 1Gbps come with the Smart Hub 7 Plus (dual-band WiFi 7), while the 1.6Gb Premium package steps up to the Smart Hub 7 Pro (tri-band WiFi 7), which delivers additional capacity for the most demanding multi-device households. For larger homes, EE offers the WiFi Extender 7 Plus as part of its Premium add-on tier (£11/month extra), with the higher-spec WiFi Extender 7 Pro available alongside the Smart Hub 7 Pro on the Ultimate tier.
Virgin Media includes its Hub 5 router with most packages, a capable DOCSIS 3.1 hub with WiFi 6 support. It's a solid performer, particularly given the high download speeds it needs to handle on Gig1 and Gig2. For larger homes, Virgin offers the Intelligent WiFi Plus service with additional pods.
Winner: EE. WiFi 7 as standard across the entire range is a genuine differentiator — no other major UK provider does this. The dual-band Smart Hub 7 Plus is excellent for most households; the tri-band Smart Hub 7 Pro on the 1.6Gb package is among the best bundled routers available from any UK ISP.
EE TV is built around Apple TV 4K. Rather than Virgin's traditional set-top-box model, EE customers access live TV, catch-up and streaming services through the Apple TV app ecosystem. You can add Netflix to an EE Entertainment TV package — the Full Fibre 500 bundle with Netflix and 6 months' free Apple TV+ costs £42.99/month at current pricing. It's a modern, app-based approach that appeals to households already in the Apple ecosystem, but lacks the depth of channel lineup available on Virgin's platform.
Virgin Media TV is a more traditional and arguably more comprehensive TV product. Bigger and Biggest bundles include Sky Sports, Sky Cinema and Disney+ options, 100+ channels, and a Sky Sports/Netflix add-on capability. The M550 Entertainment and Netflix bundle with 342Mb broadband comes in at £32.99/month. For households who want a full cable TV experience, Virgin's content depth is hard to match from Openreach providers.
Winner: Virgin Media for breadth of TV content. EE wins on modern platform experience and Apple ecosystem integration. This category is genuinely dependent on what you want from your TV service.
"EE and Virgin Media represent two genuinely different value propositions — and that's what makes this comparison interesting. Virgin's Gig1 deal at under £23 a month is exceptional value, and their improved complaints record is a real positive. But EE's WiFi 7 router as standard, the mobile customer discount, and the Openreach reach advantage mean there are clear scenarios where EE is the better fit — particularly for existing EE mobile users or anyone outside Virgin's cable footprint. Neither is the wrong choice; it depends entirely on what your household actually needs."
— Geoff Pestell, CEO, FibreCompare
For most households who can get it, Virgin Media wins on price. The Gig1 deal in particular represents outstanding value, and the improvement in Virgin's Ofcom complaints performance removes one of the historic arguments against choosing them. If broadband-only cost is your primary consideration, Virgin is the stronger choice.
EE is the better fit in specific scenarios — most notably for existing EE mobile customers, where the combined discount and data boost change the economics significantly. EE's Openreach reach advantage and WiFi 7 hardware are genuine differentiators, and the breadth of FTTP coverage means EE remains the only option for many households.
The honest answer: check availability first, check whether you're an EE mobile customer second, then compare prices. For the majority of UK homes, Virgin's pricing will be the deciding factor. For EE mobile customers and those outside Virgin's footprint, EE makes compelling sense.
Is EE or Virgin Media cheaper? Virgin Media is cheaper at most comparable speed tiers. Their M250 (244Mb) starts at £17.99/month versus EE's Full Fibre 150 at £22.99/month. The gap narrows at gigabit speeds but Virgin's Gig1 at £22.99 remains cheaper than EE's Full Fibre 900 at £25.99.
Does EE or Virgin Media have faster broadband? Both offer gigabit and multi-gigabit speeds, but Virgin's top tier reaches 2,000Mb while EE's Full Fibre 1.6Gb Premium peaks at 1,600Mb. At mid-tier speeds, Virgin's Gig1 averages 1,130Mb versus EE's Full Fibre 900Mb, making Virgin faster at a comparable price.
Which has better customer service — EE or Virgin Media? This has reversed in the past 18 months. Virgin Media now records 5 complaints per 100,000 customers in Ofcom's Q4 2025 data — joint best in the market. EE has slipped to 8/100,000, above the industry average of 7. EE still leads on some broader satisfaction metrics, but Virgin's complaints trajectory is clearly improving.
Can I get Virgin Media where I live? Virgin Media covers around 52% of UK homes on its proprietary cable network, concentrated in urban and suburban areas. Use FibreCompare's postcode checker to confirm availability — don't assume based on your area generally, as coverage is street by street.
Is the EE broadband discount for mobile customers worth it? Yes — if you're an existing EE mobile customer, you receive up to 20GB extra mobile data per month and £20/month off your broadband bill. That reduction brings EE's effective pricing below Virgin Media at most tiers and makes EE the stronger commercial choice for that customer group.
Tags: EE broadband, Virgin Media broadband, broadband comparison, UK broadband 2026, gigabit broadband, full fibre broadband, cable broadband
