Virgin Media vs Sky

Thursday, April 5th 2012 by Dominic James

Read a full breakdown of Virgin Media vs Sky including broadband, TV, phone, bundles and coverage to help you choose the right provider.

In this guide we’ll be comparing Virgin Media vs Sky by looking at their broadband, TV and phone services, their bundles and their coverage to help you to make the most informed decision of which of these UK providers is best for you.

Sky and Virgin Media are leading providers of broadband, TV and phone services. Each offers a great range of digital TV deals, broadband packages of every shape and size and telephone services that help you to keep in touch cheaper than ever before.

Overview
Broadband
TV
Phone
Bundles
Coverage
Compare

Sky vs Virgin Media

Sky and Virgin Media offer their products individually or as part of money-saving bundles and both offer very fast broadband Internet access with uncapped download options. We'll take a look at each provider in detail with easy to read comparison tables.


Provider	Sky	Virgin Media
Broadband	Up to 76Mb	Up to 120Mb
TV Channels	Up to 427	Up to 225
HD Channels	Up to 66	Up to 38
Home Phone	Weekend Anytime	Weekend Evening & Weekend Anytime
Line Rental	£14.50	£14.99
Prices From	£7.50 per month	£4 per month

Broadband - Sky vs Virgin Media

Virgin is one of the most established Internet service providers in the UK with a pedigree going back to the earliest days of home web access. Sky came to the party much later but still has a lot to offer to UK Internet users.


Provider	Sky	Virgin Media
Download Speed	Up to 76Mb	Up to 120Mb
Monthly Allowance	Truly Unlimited	Unlimited
Fair Usage Policy	No	Yes
Traffic Shaping	No	Yes
Static IP	No	No
Type	Fibre Optic, LLU & ADSL	Fibre Optic, LLU & ADSL
Contract	12 Months	18 Months
Prices From	£7.50 per month	£4 per month

Compare Virgin & Sky

Virgin Broadband

All Virgin Media fibre optic broadband packages come with uncapped downloads as standard, and all customers get a free Virgin Media Super Hub wireless router. This is a combined broadband modem and wireless router which can support up to 20 wireless devices and up to 4 wired connections at any given time.

Depending upon the state of the Virgin fibre optic network in your area you will have up to three broadband speeds to choose from:

Up to 30Mbps
Up to 60Mbps
Up to 100Mbps

Virgin Media broadband isn’t truly unlimited as there are peak time fair usage figures that govern each package. Any user going over this figure on any given day will have their download speed reduced for a 5 hour period. Virgin Media also employs traffic management at peak times to reduce the speed of what they describe as “non-time sensitive” activities.

A real plus in Virgin’s favour is their status as the only fixed-line broadband provider in the UK that doesn’t require you to have a landline if you don’t want one.

Sky Broadband

The majority of Sky’s broadband customers access one of two ADSL packages over their phone lines. The basic package, Sky Broadband Lite, is included free with TV and phone bundles, although it is somewhat letdown by the paltry 2GB monthly usage allowance.

A much more complete offering is Sky Broadband Unlimited, which is a truly unlimited home broadband package with no download limits, traffic management or fair usage policy. The speed of Sky’s ADSL packages are limited by your location and the quality of your phone line.

There are also two fibre optic broadband packages from Sky. Both of which include an unlimited monthly usage allowance and free wireless router.

All unlimited broadband packages also include free and unlimited access to Wi-Fi at public hotspots that belong to The Cloud network.

Winner – Virgin Media

It is with respect to broadband that these two providers run such a close race. Sky includes truly unlimited downloads and unlimited public Wi-Fi access, while Virgin offers no public Wi-Fi and does employ some download restrictions.

But Virgin’s fair usage figures are incredibly generous and unlikely to trouble anyone but the heaviest broadband users. Couple this with the advanced design of the free Super Hub, Virgin’s clear lead in terms of speed and the option to take broadband without a phone line and the cable provider comes out on top.

Compare Virgin & Sky

Broadband
Max Download Speed	30Mb
Max Upload Speed	3Mb
Monthly Usage	Unlimited
Fair Usage	Yes
Traffic Shaping	No
Digital TV
TV Channels	109
SD Channels	103
HD Channels	6
3D Channels	0
Radio Channels	35
Home Phone
Daytime Calls	9.94
Evening Calls	9.94
Weekend Calls	Inclusive
Pricing
Monthly Cost	£13
Upfront Cost	Free
Contract Length	18 months
Line Rental p/m	£14.99
First Year Cost	£374.88
Lifetime Cost	£620.82

Order Online

Broadband
Max Download Speed	14Mb
Max Upload Speed	1.3Mb
Monthly Usage	2GB
Fair Usage	Yes
Traffic Shaping	No
Digital TV
TV Channels	299
SD Channels	291
HD Channels	8
3D Channels	0
Radio Channels	71
Home Phone
Daytime Calls	7.95
Evening Calls	7.95
Weekend Calls	Inclusive
Pricing
Monthly Cost	£10.75
Upfront Cost	Free
Contract Length	12 months
Line Rental p/m	£14.50
First Year Cost	£416.50
Lifetime Cost	£416.50

Order Online

Select a provider to compare

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Comments (40)

Alex

12th April 2012

Hey Dom, just a quick comment to say great post!

I'm one step closer to leaving Virgin Media for Sky.

Cheers!

sean

10th May 2012

Sky the "winner" on the phoneline?? oh dear. They dont even have their own engineers for that particular service

A bit vauge on many of the services but a good chart all the same.

300+ channels, many not in english, also no mention of on demand servies where virgin absolutely dominates.

2GB usage on Broadband shouldnt ever be metioned in any comprison of these 2 providers (it is only suitable for around 5% of broadband users) sky bb unlimited is £7.50 and most (nearly all) will have to pay it any way so the SKY prices in the chart are immeditely misleading.

"upto 14mbs" speed can vary between 0-14mbs depending on where you live from your exchange with sky where as cable is spot on for speeds you pay for

the tivo box is by far the most advanced box in the country and if you have a problem with the phone, bb or tv then virgin will fix it for free

if you are lucky enough to live in a cabled area then there is only 1 provider to go to and thats Virgin Media

I moved from a cabled area recently where i previously had the 50mb broadband from virgin with tivo. I am now a sky customer with a sky+HD box which is ancient compared to tivo, cant even compare the two, its embarressing how much better tivo is than a sky plus box. (im hoping sky respond very soon with a better box, 3 tuners on tivo, only 2 on sky)

I live in a "non cabled" area which is apparently 2.4 miles from my telephone exchange where my broadband cant go faster than 512 kbs with sky. Just so bad!

i actually want to move home as it is so shocking in the 21st century. lol

12th May 2012

Virgin wins on broadband and channels. Sky is quantity over quality.

Mark

18th May 2012

I was with NTL/Virgin for 9 years, only moved to Sky as it 50% cheaper, but the broadband is poor (1.6Mb, although is due to BT line), had to pay Sky protect to get an engineer out (£9.50 per month), only to find it was a problem at Sky's end (never fixed)!! Support is fairly poor (although from what I remember, Virgins wasn't much better.

I'm now seriously debating going back to Virgin after 2.5 years with Sky

25th May 2012

I don't use my home phone really but my free HD channels on my basic TV package are great and my broadband is really fast, Virgin Media all the way!!!

Les

2nd June 2012

You state that you need a phone line to get virgin broadband. This is not true as it is supplied through the fibre optic line.......broadband is available on its own?????

tom welsh

3rd August 2012

I've just moved to sky from virgin because I wanted a wi fi router which virgin wanted me to pay 75 pounds for . Well after 3 months of having sky I wish I had payed the 75 pounds . Moving to sky was the worst move I ever made . Every time I hear that advert believe in better I feel like putting my foot through the tv . Can't wait for year to be up I'm moving back to virgin

David

20th August 2012

I HATE SKY!!!!

After years (about 12) with NTL/VirginMedia, I had a bit of a disagreement with their 'customer service' - in India! A simple issue was blown out of all proportion due to their lack of English / ability to understand what I was trying to say. I wish I had stuck it out and called back after I'd calmed down... Instead, I phone Sky - BAD MISTAKE!!!

The problems...

1. A new phone line had to be installed. It is very badly installed and looks like my 9 year old did it. I phone to complain and in fact had to call on FIVE separate times and speak with 3 separate companies. This was along with numerous emails. NOTHING has been done despite each time being promised a resolution. I have now given up and will remove/repair the 'work'.

2. The ADSL router is VERY slow compared to fibre optic - I knew this before hand and was willing to take a 'slight' hit on this. Little did I know just how bad it would be! Very slow and frequently drops out all together.

3. The satellite signal had dropped out twice now - no TV service whatsoever.

Very, very, very unhappy and cannot wait for the next 9 months before moving back to VirginMedia!!!

Grrrrrrr

San

22nd August 2012

This makes my life so much better. Feel like changing to SKY now.
Just wish they had a bigger broadband usage in my area.

Ding

29th August 2012

Never ever thought I'd want to leave SKY, but after countless problems and over 5 engineers sent out to check why my internet keeps dropping I was told by the second support helpdesk that I needed to tell them that my broadbad wasn't working. ERMMMM confused... isn't internet and broadband the same thing. Anyway after losing the will to live I was told on my 100th call (not really 100th but feels like it) that maybe they should have been checking the router problems rather then continously testing the line..... again dumbfounded! Wouldn't these highly skilled technicians / engineers thought about indicating that this could be the case! even though by now I was extremly red faced and about to combust when asking them to replace the router in the first place.... still no avail... I am soooo upset with SKY and evertime I call to cancel, they bend over backwards to try and keep me. I am now paying half price line rental, 25% of TV and have unlimited broadband (which was never working anyway).... I find myself asking why I always let them talk me back into staying... (padded room and restrainsts) I think i'm going mad! I have now decided after I am no longer feeling suicidle that I will move to Virgin. The reviews above have kinda made me feel better about moving now. So thanks.
At my wits end with SKY... think wisely they'll only bend over backwards if you threaten to leave! otherwise you'll end up like me. Move while you still can. :(

colin

30th August 2012

I have 2 properties and use cable in 1 and sky in the other . There is no question for me it has to be Virgin everytime ( comparing tv only ) if my sky property was in a cabled area I'd switch immediatley. Sky quality and customer service is appaling. I'm about to cancel sky and go to free sat !!!!!

lynne

12th September 2012

Thanks for these comments....You can guess who i am going to stay with

K.T

13th September 2012

Went from Virgin to Sky as experienced poor customer service with Virgin over the phone & Sky were offering a great deal with free installation. When they came to install it, there were a number of issues, the men installing the TV was rude & the men installing the phone line even ruder. They hiked the price up with in a few months so the initial cheap deal ended up costing us more per month, we often experience interference with the TV during poor weather conditions. Needless to say we're going back to Virgin.

MsDale

22nd September 2012

Never been with Sky; but I am completely annoyed with customer service. Went online to see what I can get....then called the helpline to get "more help" as the website said. I was only told by the person that I can find out everything on their website so better look online!!!!!

And now reading all of your comments.... I am definitely staying with "Virgin"

N.C.

6th October 2012

I have just left sky for virgin cause I thought I was going to get a better deal - big mistake. I have 2 HD tv's and this is what drew me to virgin as their deal included a free HD box for a second room. What was the point when they do not have the number of channels that sky have on HD. We are big sports watchers in my household, I explained this to the salesperson and explained the reason for wanting a second HD box to be able to watch sport in both rooms on HD not once did he say that I would only be able to get SKY sports 1 & 2 on HD and would also have to pay for the pleasure, no HD for watching sky sports 3/4 and F1 I can't wait until my virgin contract is up in 1 years time to get my sky switched on again. I you are a sports watcher and like me enjoy watching your HD tv how it should be watched with HD programmes be careful what you wish for as virgin do not have the HD programming that sky have. channels like itv4 & universal HD will dissappear - also when installing my broadband i explained that my computer was at the top of the house and they needed to consider this when installing the router, he guy installing put the router behind the TV in a place that could not be futher away from my computer I am only getting the same speed on my compter that I got with sky, also & I am accepting that this is my own fault for not reading before signing, the form I signed stated that he had left my house how he found it - I vacumed the dust, pushed back the unit (which i also pulled out) and brushed up the mess he left outside.

p.s. I have never had any problems with sky customer service

laurs

10th October 2012

If I had my way SKY would never get another penny out of us. They are a disgrace! BUT...we do not live in a fibre optic area and since we are massive sports fans we cannot do without the Sports channels. MAJORLY not amused by this. SKY are a law into themselves and they shouldnt be allowed to get away with it.

Emma

12th October 2012

Well I must be a strange one. I have virgin phone and broadband but sky tv! I think it's the best way, sky have better tv, more HD channels and 3D (which is awesome) but virgins broadband is faster and you get the great deals on their mobile phones too!! Just for the record, I've never had a problem with sky customer services but virgins is disgusting!!! :)

Skinbackfusiliers

2nd November 2012

I have sky, £10 extra for HD, £10 extra for 3D. Talktalk for telephone with free slow broadband. Pay movies only have 2 channels that are HD. 3D has one channel some free, some pay, customer service is good. But reception iffy when it rains.

Virgin I've heard have HD for Free, 3D only pay movies, the tivo box has 3 channel you can record at same time or something. yes I've also heard not good for customer service.

Skinbackfusiliers

2nd November 2012

Watchdog had a moan at alot of the Virgin adverts, and the advert agency has banned most of them.

Sean

2nd November 2012

customer service is hugely over rated, anyone with half a brain can do nearly everything online these days. if you dont want to ring then send in a complaint email even, simple as that. Its the last thing i look at when deciding to join a company.

To just say virgins advert have "been banned" is a bit vauge. If you look at the ofcom reasoning behing pulling adverts they are very complimentary of virgin. The ads were pulled because Virgin said "bye bye to buffering" which is close to impossible ALL OF THE TIME. However ofcom say Virgin has the fastest Broadband in the UK which performs the best and most consistently but cannot use the phrase "bye bye to buffering". Thats why the adverts are now back on TV but just without that line.

How any company can charge for HD is beyond me. Its all filmed in HD anyway on those channels, SD shouldnt be an option. There is a reason why Sky charge £7.50 for broadband through a phone line and £20 for Fibre optic, because its faster and way more consistent overall. Virgin is 5 years ahead of anyone for broadband in the UK.

brian

12th November 2012

i had virgin 8 years they are really expensive, if you use your phone by accident you get stung, my broad band, medium tv, and phone bill, is 77 pounds, but use your phone once or twice it will be 95 to 100 pounds im telling you.... service is c*** im mean really c***, but im sure sky is the same...not enough hd channels.... but its england so we get mugged by these b***** every day and there's nothing we can do only get in line and march like a zombie onwards to the next person or company to only do the same and we'll always moan cus we are actually the idiots for subscribing to a lemon like society where tv and media dictates our lives. maybe we should f*** our tv's out the window and talk to each other instead. I mean, I dont even know who my neighbor is and ive lived here 10 years..

Fran

8th December 2012

We had sky. Had a huge quantity of channels but when our box broke we were told we had to buy a new one. We weren't happy with that and had received lots of phone calls and post from virgin promising that they could beat Sky on price. Plus we got the box for free! Skip ahead half a year. Our phone bills are HUGE. The selection of channels is absolutely pathetic and for this pitiful offering we pay MORE than Sky. The box often jams. Unlike with Sky, Virgin media doesn't have smart recording so if a program overruns your only option is to ask the box to record an extra 10 minutes, 30 minutes or some other pointless number. Programs seem to randomly start recording themselves. The youtube app doesn't seem to work most of the time and if a video can't be played it auto skips to the next available video, a very strange feature that has led to questionable or unwanted content loading in front of the family.

Needless to say once our year contract is up we will be going back to Sky/BT. The funny thing is that Sky never did take back their sky box like they said they would. It's still wrapped up in the garage.

adam

17th December 2012

Regarding customer service, both sky and virgin use foreign call centres, and both are guilty of poor service. Regarding equipment, there is no doubt the sky box is far superior to the useless virgin box. The only reason I stayed with virgin was because of the fibre optic internet - and now I can get that will sky fibre. I will NEVER go back to virgin.

Naz

17th December 2012

I took out a Virgin media bb, landline and tv all for £45.90 a month on a 12 month cotaract in November 2011. I moved after 6 months and asked Virgin if i could take my pakage with me no probes they said just a £10. instalation charge. Hurray I said to me self why I don't no. Comes November 2012 I get a bill for £65.90. I then rang customer service and asked what the F*** is this??? Your new bill they said for the remainning 6 months WHAT!! Yes sir we extended your contract for another 12 months when you moved. so am stuck with this company for a futher 6 months. one thing for sure I don't feel like a Virgin any more. They would get away with murder if they could. 21st century my A***!

BSiviter

3rd February 2013

One huge difference- sky has special customer service and support- such as different remotes for people with vision, dexterity or other problems and special support for disability... Virgin wont do ***anything*** with disability except that, if you get a letter from your doctor detailing your medical needs and condition, then and only then after you lay bare your complete medical history they offer you 24 hour responsiveness if your phone needs repair. wow. responsiveness. why does virgin need to invade your privacy to offer good service in only one narrow aspect of their service? they should spend less money on commercials and more on meeting their equality and diversity responsibility.

Gaurav

7th February 2013

Sky makes me cringe. i have been with cable now Virgin media for 18 years. They look after you with loyality discounts, The packaage is much cheaper Here is a list of why virgin is better than sky .

Free repair service
Multiroom is £5 cheaper per month
Advanced tivo box
Quality over quantity no channel fillers ie + 1hr
Superior broadband
Cheaper asian premium channels by £6 per month on Sky the asian collection is £18 and on virgin £12
ESPN Free with virgin XL and you do not have to pay £13 or so like on sky.
Free HD.
Do you now think SKY believe in Better?

martin deakin

8th February 2013

Used to have Virgin tv, infact had it since NTL days. Boxes were sluggish with infuriating problems..and lets be honest it aint cheap! Dropped the tv but kept the broadband as I think its great, phone calls are a rip off though...I have SKY tv and its better....

Soozypoo

11th February 2013

I currently have sky for my tv and virgin for phone and broadband between them im paying around 60 quid a month have had it this way for as long as i can remember at least 15 years lol,wanted to make a saving so thought putting them all together would be best,i called virgin they didnt want to know couldnt give me any offers even though i have been with them since it was diamond cable then ntl now virgin,i call sky and they offer me the unlimted bband 12.9-19.9mbps free for 6 mth then the 7.50 for the remaining 6 months my tv will stay the same at 26 quid a month but they will give me phone line rental for 2.50 a month for 12 months as i hardly ever use landline i thought this would make a saving compared to virgins £14.50 ,was a little sketchy about changing to asdl but they assure me they dont slow down like virgin put caps on at peak times so i agree to this,have a date for it all to be fitted,call today to cancel virgin and am now told that with my usage sky wont be able to handle it they say i am using over 94 gig of internet a month and i will be disappointed at having an old fashioned broadband service that will be slow and annoying,they also said i wouldnt be able to keep my landline number,yet sky told me i would,they offered me a tivo box free install etc and bump my broadband to 30mbps and will cost 42 a month i worked out with sky as they were adding on 5quid for anytime calls,even though i didnt ask for that i dont know if i had to take that for the opton of the low line rental,so for the first 6 months would cost me around 33 then the last 6 months would be around the same price as virgin at 40 a month,now i havent a clue what to do i have never experienced anything other than fibre optic broadband so dont want to be stuck in a contract with sky for 12 months if the internet is crap,having 2 teenagers and about 20 odd things connected to the internet would be more than my life is worth lol if they cant get online,virgin told me i would not be able to access internet with sky after 6pm and that there were complaints on watchdog the other week about this,i have people telling me sky all the way and then others saying we had both and defo virgin,arghhhh i dont know what to do,if i think honestly ,the main draw was the lower phone rental ,i have moaned for years about my sky signal freezing and going off if i have the slightest bit of rain with cable that would be solved?...wouldnt it lol

blade

23rd February 2013

I was a loyal Virgin customer for many years . So when we moved to our new house 5 years ago there was'nt a choice when it came to deciding who to join .Virgin was my choice and at first I was happy . Broadband was fast and the tv was ok .
Then we started having problems when the weather was bad ,loss of tv phone and internet . Strange I thought as this was supplied through fibre cable .
I work nights so usually use my internet in the early hours of the morning .Many times I came home in the early hours to find my internet dead .
I called Virgin and explained that I pay for a service , that service was to be connected to an internet connection 24 hours a day same as my tv and phone . The phone line is more important than the rest of the crap as I work far from home and Family members have health issues . If I hadnt been up at stupid o clock I would of never known that my services were down .Surely as a customer I should be informed of issues instead of chasing them up myself .
I managed to get a discount and some free stuff , but nothing would make me go back to Virgin .There answer was they would look into it lol
There internet router was the worst I have ever used . allways on the blink . Virgins answer turn it off and turn it on again pmsl . Engineers installation looked like a five year old installed it .

We have had sky now for over a year and have no complaints . Only once has the tv gone funny due to severe weather conditions . We both use the internet a lot . 2 lap tops pc and playstation all on the go and there has been no problems . I would notice on the playstation straight away with online gaming lag and there has never been any .I even done a speed test with a friend while chatting on my mobile to see if his virgin broadband was quicker than my sky (www.speedtest.net) .we both picked the same host to test at the same time . He should of beat me hands down with what he was paying for with virgin . but he didnt .
So to all you Virgin lovers out there .Im sorry you can keep paying your hard earned to Richard .He wont get another penny from me ever ever ever again :)

suzanne

25th February 2013

hi blade
reading what you put has definitely given me something to think about,i have no respect for virgin now,after trying to take up the offer they gave me after telling them i was moving to sky,I was told this offer was a 2 year deal,and I specifically said to her I cant sign up yet as I needed to know that I was still in time to cancel my sky installation

i then spent an hour on the phone to sky cancelling my new installation telling them what i had been told and i was concerned and didnt want to be signed up to a contract for 12-18months if my internet was useless,and then trying to convince me that wouldnt be the case and that I should report virgin to ofcom for the things they said,They finally agreed to cancel my installation and I rang virgin up the next day to take up their 'offer'

Spoke to a different person and I said regarding what I chatted about the other day we have come to a decision we would like to stay and move the tv to you with the L package the woman tapped away for a bit and said thats great that will comes to £52 per month...WHAT??? I said hang on a moment there that is £10 a month more than i was told yesterday AND £52 is the price i was given for the XL tv (this was said to be on a 3 month £10 discount so i could have either pack for £42 but to be aware the xl would go up after 3 months to £52) she also told me then ,that the free install was only based on if I had the XL tv pack,I was so angry i reread all the details to her that i had taken down the previous day and she said we have nothing of that price whatsoever,so i dont know where you got your information from and she then supposedly went to speak to a manager,she said the lowest we can do it for is £49 and that is by removing your call bar facility there will be no lower price,she then said so are we proceeding ...i basically told her i was not happy at being misled and that they have messed me over by convincing me not to go ahead with the sky install,doing so i have missed out on the offer given by sky,so I am still stuck as I am £60 quid a month for 20mb bband from virgin and a landline i prob use to make one call a month and my tv from sky,if id have gone to sky i would have been paying half of that for exactly the same! And if it hadnt been for virgin I would have been having it installed today,

It annoys me how they can give you all this info and the next time you call to take it up they react like you are trying to get one over on them and making it up,I have wrote to their complaints depart and told them my feelings on this,i have been with them about 18 years and never once complained to them until now lol

goscoobydoo

1st March 2013

Sounds to me like you two deserve the service you are getting. fiber optic by it's very nature is far superior to an aging copper telephony network, how you can possibly suggest it is faster is beyond me. If you have a technical issue with your connection then I suggest calling their technical helpline who are actually very helpful and can guide even the non-technical into curing a lot of problems. As I come from an IT profession I know that there is simply no comparison between the two services.

Bananatan!

20th March 2013

I am a student who works for sky part time, previous to this I worked for virgin media. Having had both service and knowing great in depth about both companies and the services that are available by both companies, I can say 100% that virgin TV does not compare in ye slightest with sky TV. The only thing Virgin had on sky was their in demand contact however sky now offer a great on demand service with 700+ movies, box sets and catch up services. The only thing on this Virgin has tgat is better is the music on demand but Sky have enough music channels that this is no issue.
Virgin advertise free HD and multiroom but when you work out te cost of te packages its just that it is bundles altogether, like for like services Sky works out cheaper.. Also virgin do not have the same amount of HD as sky can offer and ther second box does not record!
The XL tv package with virgin and the entertainment extra aste advised by virgin to be the same however with Virgin the number of TV channels is decreased.
Virgin unlimited calls are £8 and sky's are £5 (only £3 of a difference), with both you have unlimited landlines and with sky there's 20 international destinations and 0870 numbers. Line rental virgin-14.99 and sky-14.50.
I won't deny that virgin broadband is better/faster and was worried about moving from virgin to sky for this but being a student me and my flat mate use nb constantly and the sky BB is great! I actually had more issues with virgin!
Sky now offer Fiber BB which is just as good as virgin Fiber, taking away the only edge virgin had over sky.

Other things like the Anytime+ and Sky go which sky provide for free just make Sky all the more enjoyable!!

After being with Virgin my whole life I would never go back now! Take from this what you want.

tiago

1st April 2013

Hello.. I would like to know whats is the faster? ( Sky or virgin) To make trading betfair . The delay its very important for football. So if somebody knows can you help me.
Thank you a lot
Tiago

Dennis

1st April 2013

I woud like to add virgin does have anytime package which you can call anywhere including international mobile, 084 etc except premium numbers which is not advertised in their main page. As a matter of fact its quite difficult to find. For someone who call aboard regularly its much better than using their 2 pounds add on package. Hope this helps.

TequiLLa

5th April 2013

SKY THE BEST EVER VIRGIN GOES DOWNNN!!!!!

SKY INTERNET 4 EVER!!!!

SexyDex

6th April 2013

Sounds like you've had too much Tequilla, you have become delusional lol

BSiv

8th April 2013

Virgin doesn't make ANY reasonable adjustments... different remotes, defined CALL time or shorter call window as the law requires...why? "It's our policy"they say th a talk the whole point I by. The law says service provide r s should take disabled people at their word, but Virgin needs a signed GP Letter before they will p provide their ONE disability support.. trying to fix your phone within 24 hours. And for that, most GP S charge... Virgin needs to BE the responsive provider they keep telling us they are

YsoCool

12th April 2013

Completely agree with this review that Sky do offer a greater range of channels, however:

Many of the channels offered on both Sky and Virgin are simply repeats. Overall there is very little Quality/ Original material offered so I fail to see what I am missing out on with the extra channels Sky have to offer.
I would prefer to have a good internet connection on Virgin Media and view/ download programs I would like to watch rather than spend the evening shuffling through a vast array of channels with stupidly high amounts of adverts looking for something to watch.

Other commenters here have mentioned that the EPG on the Virgin boxes are slow. This definitely use to be the case however I personally feel the newer boxes have resolved this problem. Both the TiVo and V+ are competitive enough with Sky + in my opinion.
It's definitely fair to say that both Sky and Virgin have slow/ clunky interfaces when it comes to using the additional services though.

It is well known that Sky will not repair/ replace a faulty Set top box or Router once it is out of its 1 year warranty. This usually ends up in unfair charges/ bills. Virgin on the other hand will in most cases not charge if any equipment develops a fault.
Won't forget about the delays and constant lies from Sky call centre staff either when it comes to waiting for BT OpenReach engineers. Have had one fault with VM and an engineer was out within 48 hours to rectify it.

The network infrastructure from VM (although not flawless) is also known to be better than the comparable OpenReach fibre-optic network which still cannot offer the same speeds. The speeds/ ping times/ latency etc is "In most cases" also found to be much better on the VM network.

Both Sky and Virgin definitely have their flaws however having been with both providers I am definitely much happier with the service from VM.

Nick

22nd April 2013

I had virgin tv for years and have now switched to sky, it's beats virgin hands down as the Sky HD channels are almost double compared to virgins and my son spends time watching the Disney HD channel. The only thing with sky is the broadband so I stayed with my 120mb virgin broadband as it can't be matched by sky.
I've not noticed trouble with the satellite feed in bad weather either, I'm not sure if its down to luck or a good install.
One last thing I will say about the virgin home hub is the signal range is weak and it does need resetting from time to time.

GBX

30 days ago

I'll hold my hands up- I currently work for Virgin in customer care. Previously I worked for Sky (well an outsourced company on Sky's behalf). I'm leaving the company in a few weeks time so I can say whatever I want now!

Working for Sky we were told to get sales- it wasn't about looking after the customer, it was about selling a new product. You have a problem with your broadband- sorry to hear that, before I get you to technical support, would you like to buy a new TV box? And the next most important thing was getting you off the phone...

Now I work for Virgin. The money is about 30% more than what I got. And its like a whole new experience dealing with customers. Its about making sure a problem is sorted- spending time and checking everything each time you call. Sure we have targets- sell a few extras to a few customers- but at the end of the day I rarely have to try to upgrade people as they call anyway and if its the right thing to do I'll talk them through their options. If I think they should downgrade (for not using all channels calls etc) then I'll happily suggest that too. That said when I started working for Virgin things weren't quite as 'customer orientated'. It was about call turnover to a degree, which is now pretty much out the window completely. The service aspect has came on leaps and bounds, particularly in the past 12 months.

With regards to products, Sky do have more channels. Sky do provide better value for sports and movies and for chopping and changing what channels you subscribe to. However Virgin have the better TV box- Tivo is complex compared to Sky+, so maybe not for everyone, but its a beast in itself. It really depends what you watch on TV which differenciates these 2 firms.
For broadband its Virgin every time. I have Sky at home, and 2mbps is a luxury here! If I lived in a cabled area I'd get Virgin. I don't know that I would need to get the 60 or 120mb speeds, as I genuinely don't think most people would feel the benefits of these speeds, but the 30mb would be revolutionary to me!
For telephone, I don't really think theres much difference. Virgin have got the Unlimited Extra package now which is unlimited calls to landlines and mobiles and a few others, but I'm sure Sky will also have a similar package already if not in the near future. That said Virgin do have a new product launching pretty shortly which is awesome and which Sky could not replicate as it does not have the capabilities as they do not have a mobile network!

Price wise... its much of a muchness. Sky generally look cheaper- but really they're the same price. In my opinion you get more for your money with Virgin- much better broadband, better TV box etc, but if your after sky sports etc then Sky is possibly better. That said Virgin and Sky are both expensive compared to the likes of TalkTalk... always worth reading customer reviews before going to them though ;)

So for me I'd have to say its Virgin every time. Better customer service, better broadband and dependent on what you watch, better TV. Phone doesn't bother me too much as I use my mobile for everything.

And as an employee, Virgin are about 100 times better to their staff (in-house certainly, and from what I'm told outsourced also), and see customers as humans, not figures.

(Onwards and upwards for me hopefully now... away to work in a less customer facing role for a faceless multinational :D)


Provider	Sky	Virgin Media
Standard Channels	300+	75+
HD Channels	Up to 66	Up to 38
Digital Recorder	Sky+ HD box	TiVo box
Features	Record, Pause & Rewind	Record, Pause & Rewind
Apps	Sky Go	Virgin Media Player

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