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 Standard | 10Mbps download | 18 month contract | £10 | £21.50/month |
EE Fibre | 36Mbps download | 18 month contract | £0 | £26/month |
EE Fibre Plus | 67Mbps download | 18 month contract | £0 | £30/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 | Average Speed | Contract Length | Upfront Price | Monthly Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 M50 Fibre + Phone | 54Mbps download | 18 month contract | £35 | £28/month |
M100 Fibre + Phone | 108Mbps download | 18 month contract | £35 | £34/month |
M200 Fibre + Phone | 213Mbps download | 18 month contract | £35 | £40/month |
M350 Fibre + Phone | 362Mbps download | 18 month contract | £35 | £46/month |
M500 Fibre + Phone | 516Mbps download | 18 month contract | £35 | £52/month |
Gig1 Fibre | 1104Mbps download | 18 month contract | £35 | £64/month |
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.
Geoff said:
Having come to the end of my 2 year contract with BT, being a Vodafone mobile customer and having been offered a very good deal to transfer the full fibre broadband and landline to them, I went ahaead and placed an order with Vodafone. They sent a new router and told me to swap it for the old BT one on 14th December 2020, so that I would be connected on that day. I checked the day before to ensure that the connection would be going ahead. On 14th December alas the connection did not take place. I phoned Vodafone every day in the next 4 days being repeatedly assured that the connection would soon happen. Meanwhile the landline went dead. On 18th December I looked at the Vodafone customer forum page and was shocked to see that others had suffered the same problem even waiting up to 10 days without progress to connection. Having received an email from BT informing me that the broadband service would not end until 22nd December, I contacted them and asked to keep the broadband and landline with them and set up a new contract. They assured me that the broadband would not be disconnected and so I swapped the router back to the BT one again and the internet connection was restored. What a relief. NO!! On 22nd December the broadband WAS disconnected. BT apologised and assured me it would be reconnected on 24th. It wasn’t. Then they said it would happen on 31st. It didn’t. It still hasn’t been reconnected. No landline since 14th December. No broadband since 22nd December. Countless hours waiting on the phone almost daily in lengthy queues. A complete disaster.
Mark replied:
Ofcom state that service providers must follow the rules which state that any “loss of service” must not exceed one working day “if technically possible”. Providers will have to compensate you if problems continue beyond this.
Geoff Roberts replied:
Thank you for your response. Despite being assured verbally and by email by BT that we would be able to keep our old telephone number, when we did eventually get the landline connected again we were given a new number. The old phones didn’t work and we were told that we would need adapters or new digital phones. First the sent the wrong adapter. Then the wrong phone, then only one adapter instead of the four promised. Then the router needed changing because we had been given halo. Daily lengthy phone calls were needed to get things sorted out. We were told that we would receive compensation after two weeks. Instead we were billed an extra £50 for equipment that was supposed to be free. This has now been credited but we have only been given a paltry £10 compensation.
Xen Gladstone said:
We live in a house with a complicated and very fragile mesh system. I have been sent the new router which is a technicolour router and have therefore no idea which of the providers I am potentially switching to as it isn’t listed on your website or in any of the accompanying documents.
With the country on the verge of another lockdown and the risk of no internet over Christmas if installation goes wrong, I am very reluctant to do anything at the moment, as the risk massively outweighs the return right now. Is it possible to speak to a techncian to get some proper guidance? Your video is all well and good for a normal sized residence but with the number of boards and wires we have this is not that straightforward. Also as a large house with multiple users and devices I would very much like to ensure transition is seemless in terms of passwords etc., all staying current and don’t know how to log into the router to do this.