It's easy changing your broadband provider between Shell Energy and Virgin Media. Find out how in our step-by-step guide.
Whether you're changing your broadband provider from Shell Energy to Virgin Media, or from Virgin Media to Shell Energy, it's a straightforward process. Start by letting us know in which direction you'd like to change your provider:
Are you switching from Shell Energy to Virgin Media, or from Virgin Media to Shell Energy?
You can follow the instructions below if you're switching from Shell Energy to Virgin Media Broadband.
Are you switching from Virgin Media to Shell Energy instead? Tap for instructions.
Step 1: Check your Shell Energy cancellation fee
To start with, check whether a cancellation fee will apply for ending your Shell Energy broadband service.
If you’re already outside the minimum term of your contract with Shell Energy, there will be no cancellation fees for ending your Shell Energy broadband service. You’ll simply pay for your usage of the Shell Energy broadband service up until the date that the service is cancelled.
If you’re still within the minimum term of your contract with Shell Energy (i.e. the initial 12 months, 18 months or 24 months you signed up for), an early exit fee will apply for ending your Shell Energy broadband service. This cancellation fee is plan-dependent and is between £6.50 and £18.50 per month. You may also need to pay a £15 cease charge when you end your Shell Energy Broadband service. You can get a quote for what this exit fee will be by calling Shell Energy customer services on 0330 094 5801. Alternatively, there’s more information on how to calculate it within our guide to cancelling Shell Energy.
If you have other services from Shell Energy like electricity and gas, these are separate from your Shell Energy broadband service. You’ll need to contact Shell Energy separately if you’d like to cancel these services at the same time.
Step 2: Order your Virgin Media Broadband service
To progress with your broadband switch from Shell Energy to Virgin Media, go to Virgin Media’s website to order your new Virgin Media broadband service.
For more information, select the type of broadband service you're planning to switch to on Virgin Media:
At present, Virgin Media offers a range of home broadband plans including the following:
| Service | Broadband & TV | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by RPI inflation plus 3.9%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
 M125 fibre broadband only
| 132Mbps average download | £22.99 per month No upfront fee 18 month contract | See deal |
M250 fibre broadband only
| 264Mbps average download | £25.99 per month No upfront fee 3 months free 18 month contract | See deal |
M125 Broadband + Flex
| 132Mbps average download 100+ channels | £27.99 per month plus £10.00 upfront 18 month contract | See deal |
M50 fibre broadband + phone
| 54Mbps average download | £28.00 per month No upfront fee 18 month contract | See deal |
M500 fibre broadband only
| 516Mbps average download | £29.99 per month No upfront fee 3 months free 18 month contract | See deal |
Gig1 fibre broadband only
| 1130Mbps average download | £34.99 per month No upfront fee 3 months free 18 month contract | See deal |
M350 fibre broadband only
| 362Mbps average download | £35.99 per month No upfront fee 18 month contract | See deal |
Bigger Combo Bundle
| 362Mbps average download 
| £39.99 per month No upfront fee 3 months free 18 month contract | See deal |
Bigger Sports Combo Bundle
| 516Mbps average download 
| £69.99 per month No upfront fee 18 month contract | See deal |
See all Virgin Media Broadband Deals →
During the online order process, Virgin Media will give you an expected download speed as well as a minimum guaranteed speed for your service. Both of these will be specific to your address. Virgin Media will also give you a go-live date for your new broadband service. To minimise any overlap in service, you should time the cancellation of your old Shell Energy broadband service so it ends on the date your new Virgin Media service starts.
If you'd like to keep your current home phone or landline number, remember to provide this phone number when ordering your broadband package from Virgin Media. As long as you do this, Virgin Media will arrange for your phone number to be moved over to their service. Note that Virgin Media doesn’t always provide a landline with their service so this will only be possible if your package includes a home phone service.
Once you've ordered your service from Virgin Media, remember to contact Shell Energy to cancel your old home broadband service. If you forget to contact Shell Energy, your old Shell Energy broadband service will continue to run and you'll continue paying the bill for both services at the same time.
Step 3: Plug in your Virgin Media Hub on the go-live date
In advance of your broadband service switching over, Virgin Media will send you a new Virgin Media Hub through the post. Most Virgin Media customers will receive a Hub 3 router. Alternatively, you’ll get a Hub 4 if you sign up to Gig1 fibre broadband.
On the go-live date for your Virgin Media broadband service, you can expect your broadband service to stop working for a couple of minutes. When this happens, it'll be time to plug in your new Virgin Media Hub. There'll be instructions inside the package on how you can set up the new Virgin Media Hub.
Your new Virgin Media Hub will initially be configured with a different Wi-Fi network name (SSID) and password. On all of the devices that were previously connected to your Shell Energy router, you'll therefore need to sign in again to the Wi-Fi network using the new details provided by Virgin Media. For instance, you may need to log in again on your laptop, tablet, smartphone, smart TV and other smart home devices.
Alternatively, if it's too much hassle setting up Wi-Fi again on all of your devices, you can log in to Virgin Media Hub administration screen to change the Wi-Fi network details back to what you had before on Shell Energy.
If you’re using a Wi-Fi repeater or a mesh networking solution such as BT Whole Home Wi-Fi or Google Nest Wi-Fi, you’ll need to set it up again at this point to work with your new Virgin Media Hub.
Step 4: Return or recycle your old Shell Energy router
Once your Virgin Media broadband service goes live, you should ensure your old Shell Energy broadband service has been cancelled. You’ll receive a final bill from Shell Energy following the cancellation, which will reflect your usage of their service up until cancellation.
After the cancellation of your Shell Energy Broadband service, you’ll need to return your old router to Shell. If you don’t return your router at the end of your contract, an additional charge of £35 will be added to your final bill.
Start your switch from Shell Energy to Virgin Media →
More Information
Please see the Virgin Media website for more information about switching to their broadband service.
You can follow the instructions below if you're switching from Virgin Media to Shell Energy Broadband.
Are you switching from Shell Energy to Virgin Media instead? Tap for instructions.
Step 1: Check your Virgin Media cancellation fee
To start with, check whether a cancellation fee will apply for ending your Virgin Media broadband service.
If you’re already outside the minimum term of your contract with Virgin Media, there will be no cancellation fees for ending your Virgin Media broadband service. You’ll simply pay for your usage of the Virgin Media broadband service up until the date that the service is cancelled.
If you’re still within the minimum term of your contract with Virgin Media (i.e. the initial 12 months, 18 months or 24 months you signed up for), an early exit fee will apply for ending your Virgin Media broadband service. This early cancellation fee will depend on your Virgin Media plan and what products you have. However, you can expect it to be in the region of £30.54 to £50.46 per remaining month on your contract (capped at a maximum of £240 across all of your Virgin Media products). You can get a quote for what this exit fee will be by calling Virgin Media customer services on 0345 454 1111. Alternatively, there’s more information on how to calculate it within our guide to cancelling Virgin Media.
If you’re unsure when your Virgin Media service comes to an end, log in to your Virgin Media online account and go to My Bills followed by View Contract. Alternatively, this information should also be listed on your bills from Virgin Media.
If you also want to cancel other Virgin Media services like TV and mobile, you should tell them you’d like to do this when talking to them on the phone.
Step 2: Order your Shell Energy Broadband service
To progress with your broadband switch from Virgin Media to Shell Energy, go to Shell Energy’s website to order your new Shell Energy broadband service.
For more information, select the type of broadband service you're planning to switch to on Shell Energy:
At present, Shell Energy offers a range of home broadband plans including the following:
| Service | Download Speed | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No price plans could be found matching this criteria. | |||
See all Shell Energy Broadband Deals →
During the online order process, Shell Energy will give you an expected download speed as well as a minimum guaranteed speed for your service. Both of these will be specific to your address. Shell Energy will also give you a go-live date for your new broadband service. To minimise any overlap in service, you should time the cancellation of your old Virgin Media broadband service so it ends on the date your new Shell Energy service starts.
If you'd like to keep your current home phone or landline number, remember to provide this phone number when ordering your broadband package from Shell Energy. As long as you do this, Shell Energy will arrange for your phone number to be moved over to their service.
Once you've ordered your service from Shell Energy, remember to contact Virgin Media to cancel your old home broadband service. If you forget to contact Virgin Media, your old Virgin Media broadband service will continue to run and you'll continue paying the bill for both services at the same time.
Step 3: Plug in your Technicolor router on the go-live date
In advance of your broadband service switching over, Shell Energy will send you a new Technicolor router through the post.
On the go-live date for your Shell Energy broadband service, you can expect your broadband service to stop working for a couple of minutes. When this happens, it'll be time to plug in your new Technicolor router. There'll be instructions inside the package on how you can set up the new Technicolor router.
Your new Technicolor router will initially be configured with a different Wi-Fi network name (SSID) and password. On all of the devices that were previously connected to your Virgin Media router, you'll therefore need to sign in again to the Wi-Fi network using the new details provided by Shell Energy. For instance, you may need to log in again on your laptop, tablet, smartphone, smart TV and other smart home devices.
Alternatively, if it's too much hassle setting up Wi-Fi again on all of your devices, you can log in to Technicolor router administration screen to change the Wi-Fi network details back to what you had before on Virgin Media.
If you’re using a Wi-Fi repeater or a mesh networking solution such as BT Whole Home Wi-Fi or Google Nest Wi-Fi, you’ll need to set it up again at this point to work with your new Technicolor router.
Step 4: Return or recycle your old Virgin Media router
Once your Shell Energy broadband service goes live, you should ensure your old Virgin Media broadband service has been cancelled. You’ll receive a final bill from Virgin Media following the cancellation, which will reflect your usage of their service up until cancellation.
Once you’ve changed your broadband service to Shell Energy, you’ll need to return your old Virgin Media equipment. This inclues your Virgin Media Hub, along with your Virgin TV set-top box if you have one.
If you’re using a Virgin Media email address, this will be closed 90 days after you cancel your Virgin Media broadband service. It isn’t possible to keep your email address after cancelling your service. Email addresses provided by Virgin Media may end in @virginmedia.com, @blueyonder.co.uk, @ntlworld.com or @virgin.net.
We'd typically recommend signing up for a free email provider instead (such as Gmail or Outlook.com). These free email services aren’t linked to your broadband provider so you can easily change your broadband service again in the future with a lot less hassle.
Start your switch from Virgin Media to Shell Energy →
More Information
Please see the Shell Energy website for more information about switching to their broadband service.
Alternatively, for further information, read our in-depth guides to switching broadband provider or cancelling your home broadband service in the UK.
Andy said:
VM to Plusnet: “Step 3: Plug in your Plusnet router on the go-live date”
Plug the Plusnet router into what? Don’t they need to install the thing it gets plugged into, first?
Ken replied:
Hi Andy,
Thanks for your comment. Do you have an Openreach master socket (for fibre), or an Openreach modem/ONT (for full fibre)? If not, this will be installed by an engineer during their visit to your home. You’ll then be able to plug in your Plusnet Hub router into that.
Ken
Peter Stanley said:
Does Sky use underground fibre cable or fibre via the Openreach poles? I am currently with Virgin Media.
Ken replied:
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your comment. Sky uses the Openreach network. This can be delivered either via an underground duct or an overhead pole, depending on what is normally used in your area (e.g. if your neighbours have their telephone line delivered on a pole, the fibre optic cable will also come from that pole).
Hope this helps,
Ken
Andy said:
The easy switching wasn’t so easy for me. I was out of contract and switched from TalkTalk to Vodafone, I selected keep my old number and it said they would contact TalkTalk so I didn’t have to do anything. It to the date when Vodafone installed, that went fine. I hadn’t heard anything from TalkTalk about leaving so I rang them, Vodafone hadn’t informed them but oddly now my landline number is same for Vodafone as it is for TalkTalk so how that happens who knows. Anyway, now I have to pay an extra month to TalkTalk for a notice period. So if doing a switch I would always ring your current providor and tell them you are leaving.