It's easy changing your broadband provider between Virgin Media and EE. Find out how in our step-by-step guide.
Whether you're changing your broadband provider from Virgin Media to EE, or from EE to Virgin Media, it's a straightforward process. Start by letting us know in which direction you'd like to change your provider:
Are you switching from Virgin Media to EE, or from EE to Virgin Media?
You can follow the instructions below if you're switching from Virgin Media to EE Broadband.
Are you switching from EE 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 EE Broadband service
To progress with your broadband switch from Virgin Media to EE, go to EE’s website to order your new EE broadband service.
For more information, select the type of broadband service you're planning to switch to on EE:
At present, EE offers a range of home broadband plans including the following:
| Service | Average Speed | Contract Length | Upfront Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 EE Fibre | 36Mbps download | 24 month contract | £0 | £24/month |
EE Standard | 10Mbps download | 24 month contract | £10 | £24/month |
EE Fibre Plus | 67Mbps download | 24 month contract | £0 | £27/month |
EE Fibre Max 100 | 145Mbps download | 24 month contract | £0 | £32/month |
EE Fibre Max 500 | 500Mbps download | 24 month contract | £0 | £40.50/month |
EE Full Fibre Max 900 | 900Mbps download | 24 month contract | £0 | £50/month |
During the online order process, EE 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. EE 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 EE 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 EE. As long as you do this, EE will arrange for your phone number to be moved over to their service. Note that EE’s fibre broadband plans don’t currently include a home phone service. You’ll need to pay a little bit extra if you’d like to add a landline service to EE broadband.
Once you've ordered your service from EE, 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 EE Smart Hub on the go-live date
In advance of your broadband service switching over, EE will send you a new EE Smart Hub through the post. The exact router or hub you recieve from EE will depend on the plan you choose. Customers choosing ADSL will get the Bright Box 1 and customers choosing Fibre will get the EE Smart Hub. Customers with EE Smart Wi-Fi will get a EE Smart Wi-Fi Router and Disc.
On the go-live date for your EE 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 EE Smart Hub. There'll be instructions inside the package on how you can set up the new EE Smart Hub.
Your new EE Smart 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 Virgin Media router, you'll therefore need to sign in again to the Wi-Fi network using the new details provided by EE. 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 EE Smart Hub 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 EE Smart Hub.
Step 4: Return or recycle your old Virgin Media router
Once your EE 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 EE, 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 EE →
More Information
Please see the EE website for more information about switching to their broadband service.
You can follow the instructions below if you're switching from EE to Virgin Media Broadband.
Are you switching from Virgin Media to EE instead? Tap for instructions.
Step 1: Check your EE cancellation fee
To start with, check whether a cancellation fee will apply for ending your EE broadband service.
If you’re already outside the minimum term of your contract with EE, there will be no cancellation fees for ending your EE broadband service. You’ll simply pay for your usage of the EE broadband service up until the date that the service is cancelled.
If you’re still within the minimum term of your contract with EE (i.e. the initial 12 months, 18 months or 24 months you signed up for), an early exit fee will apply for ending your EE broadband service. This is typically around 25-35% of the remaining monthly charges for the rest of your minimum term. You can get a quote for what this exit fee will be by calling EE customer services on 0800 079 8586. Alternatively, there’s more information on how to calculate it within our guide to cancelling EE.
If you have an EE Pay Monthly mobile contract, you’ll lose your 5GB or 20GB mobile data boost when cancelling your EE broadband service.
Step 2: Order your Virgin Media Broadband service
To progress with your broadband switch from EE 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 | Television | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 M100 Fibre Broadband Only | 108Mbps average download | No TV | £26/month for 18 months |
M50 Fibre Broadband + Weekend Calls | 54Mbps average download | No TV | £28/month for 18 months plus £35 upfront |
M200 Fibre Broadband Only | 213Mbps average download | No TV | £30/month for 18 months |
Big Bundle | 213Mbps average download | 100+ channels Mixit TV | £33/month for 18 months plus £35 upfront |
M350 Fibre Broadband Only | 362Mbps average download | No TV | £34/month for 18 months |
Big Bundle + Drama & Docs | 213Mbps average download |  Mixit TV + Drama Pick | £37.99/month for 18 months plus £35 upfront |
M500 Fibre Broadband + Weekend Calls | 516Mbps average download | No TV | £44/month for 18 months plus £35 upfront |
Bigger Bundle | 108Mbps average download |  Maxit TV | £57/month for 18 months plus £35 upfront |
Gig1 Fibre Broadband Only | 1130Mbps average download | No TV | £60/month for 18 months plus £35 upfront |
Bigger + Sports | 516Mbps average download |  Maxit TV + Sky Sports | £65/month for 18 months plus £35 upfront |
Biggest TV Bundle | 108Mbps average download |   Maxit TV + Sky Sports + Sky Cinema + Netflix | £87/month for 18 months plus £35 upfront |
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 EE 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 EE to cancel your old home broadband service. If you forget to contact EE, your old EE 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 EE 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 EE.
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 EE router
Once your Virgin Media broadband service goes live, you should ensure your old EE broadband service has been cancelled. You’ll receive a final bill from EE following the cancellation, which will reflect your usage of their service up until cancellation.
You can decide what you’d like to do with your old EE broadband hub (you can either keep it, return it or recycle it as you like). However, you should ensure it’s disposed of responsibly to reduce needless electronic waste. If you have an EE TV set-top box, this will need to be returned to EE within 30 days or you’ll be charged £175.
Start your switch from EE to Virgin Media →
More Information
Please see the Virgin Media 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.
Ken said:
I’m with TalkTalk, I’m about to switch to virgins fibre (they’ve just dug up the road so a different cable), my question…if I switch back to TalkTalk or BT at the end of the 18 months will I need to pay to be reconnected back onto the old copper cable?
Ken replied:
Hi Ken,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, there might be an additional reconnection fee when you move back to BT/TalkTalk after 18 months. Having said that, if you’re willing to shop around the Openreach providers (e.g. BT, EE, Plusnet, Shell, TalkTalk, Vodafone, etc), you should normally be able to find a provider that offers you free reconnection 🙂
Hope this helps,
Ken
Fed Up said:
SSE, now OVO, are going to talktalk, including unlimited copper broadband (NOT fibre). I went to SSE from O2 decade ago because I didn’t want to be switched to the sky buyer, and deliberately didn’t switch to anything to do with sky, talktalk or any flavour of BT, hidden or upfront incarnations of said.
Now, I’ve got the gist of switching, and apparently you don’t have to talk to your current provider. The issue is, do I have to chase SSE to send the router back once switched? Or will the switchee organise a return bag to be send from SSE for that too? I’m currenlty favouring shell energy fast broadband.
I’m also getting fed up of having my service providers disappear from under me so that I end up switched for nearly all utilities, except water which I’d love to switch to another provider for and save a lot of money.
No double Shell will sell of their broadband too, and for non-cable it will just be bt in many various forms and sky, seeing as they have been discussing buying talktalk.
So much for privatisation leading to choice and market competition.
ChocolateKittyKatt said:
Evening.
I don’t suppose you know about the landline?
In that! BT currently provide my broadband AND landline, I’m looking preferably at just broadband only (no landline)
Browsing TopCashBack to switch, Sky say that their monthly price includes line rental – so my approach is that the line remains but i don’t fork out an extra £200/pa for the line as i’ll pay my monthly broadband fee only to Sky
What i want to check is that i don’t have to then pay BT for the landline on top of the sky broadband
Ken replied:
Hi there,
The landline (i.e. the physical connection) will be switched together with your broadband service. With regards to the home phone service (which is sometimes also called the ‘landline’), this is included on Sky and on a number of other providers. Some providers (e.g. BT and EE) charge extra for the home phone service. Regardless, whichever provider you choose, there’s no need to pay a separate a line rental fee to a different company.
Hope this helps,
Ken