By Virgin Media’s M250 Fibre Broadband starts from £25.99/month and gives you an average download speed of 264Mbps.
In the UK, Virgin Media currently offers M250 fibre broadband from £25.99 per month. On this plan, you’ll get an average download speed of 264Mbps which is about four times faster than the UK’s average broadband connection. This will allow you to stream 4K (ultra-HD) video on up to 10 devices at the same time. You’ll also get an average upload speed of 25Mbps on M250 fibre broadband.
In this article, we’ll review Virgin Media’s M250 fibre broadband, including the speeds available and how it compares to the other plans from Virgin Media. We’ll also look at the best M250 fibre broadband deals and how you can check the availability of the service in your area.
| Plans From: | £25.99 per month |
|---|---|
| Contract Length: | 18 months |
| Download Speed: | 264Mbps average download |
| Upload Speed: | 25Mbps average upload |
| Other Features: |
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| Coverage: | Virgin Media network areas Check your postcode here |
Contents
What is M250 Fibre Broadband?
In the UK, Virgin Media’s M250 fibre broadband is one of their most popular plans for busy households. It offers an average download speed of 264Mbps, making it around twice as fast as the M125 fibre broadband plan. You’ll also benefit from an average upload speed of 25Mbps on the plan.
If you’re using M250 fibre broadband, you’ll be able to stream ultra-HD video on up to 10 devices at the same time in your home (or 50 devices if you’re only streaming in HD quality). Alternatively, a HD-quality film will take about 2 minutes to download. The latest console game (e.g. for your Xbox or PlayStation) will take about 25 minutes to download.
M200 Fibre Broadband
Virgin Media previously offered a M200 Fibre Broadband plan, with average download speeds of 213Mbps and average upload speeds of 20Mbps. This was replaced by M250 Fibre Broadband on the 1st November 2022. Both new and existing M200 customers will get an upgrade to M250 Fibre Broadband at no extra cost.
M125 Fibre vs M250 Fibre Broadband
For most UK households, M125 fibre broadband already provides speeds that are fast enough for everyday use.
For instance, you’ll be able to stream ultra-HD video on up to five devices at the same time on M125 (or 25 devices when you stream in HD quality). On M250 broadband, this increases up to 10 devices streaming in ultra-HD quality and up to 50 devices when streaming in HD. However, the vast majority of households will not be using that many devices at the same time so the extra speeds are unlikely to make a major difference in everyday use.
Similarly, it will take around 4 minutes to download a film on M125 broadband, reducing to 2 minutes if you have M250 broadband. For the latest console game, it’ll take around 45 minutes to download on M125 fibre, versus 22 minutes on M250 fibre. For lots of households, this time saving may not make that much of a difference so you can save some money by getting the cheaper M125 plan instead.
Where it can sometimes make sense to upgrade to M250 broadband is if you’re looking to get an O2 mobile SIM card together with your broadband plan. You’ll also get Volt customer benefits such as Intelligent WiFi Plus with the Superstrong WiFi Guarantee. At present, you’ll pay £35.99 per month for Volt M250 broadband, plus an O2 SIM card with 10GB data per month.
The following table shows a side-by-side comparison between M125 and M250 broadband:
| M125 Fibre Broadband | M250 Fibre Broadband | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|
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| Monthly Price: | £22.99 per month | £25.99 per month | |
| Monthly Price (with O2 SIM & Volt benefits): |
£33.99 per month | £35.99 per month | |
| Monthly Price (with TV): | £27.99 per month | £70.99 per month | |
| Download Speed (average): | 132Mbps | 264Mbps | |
| Upload Speed (average): | 20Mbps | 25Mbps | |
| Simultaneous Devices | |||
| General Browsing: | 100+ devices | 100+ devices | |
| Online Music & Radio: | 100+ devices | 100+ devices | |
| Online Gaming: | 45 devices | 90 devices | |
| Video Call (HD): | 45 devices | 90 devices | |
| Video Streaming (HD): |
25 devices | 50 devices | |
| Video Streaming (4K) | 5 devices | 10 devices | |
| Estimated Download Time | |||
| Music Album: | 5 seconds | 3 seconds | |
| Movie (2 hours long): |
4 minutes (HD) 20 minutes (Ultra HD) |
2 minutes (HD) 10 minutes (Ultra HD) |
|
| PC & Console Game Download: | 45 minutes | 22 minutes | |
| More Information | |||
| Further Information: | Virgin Media M125 Plans | Virgin Media M250 Plans | |
Both the M125 and M250 fibre broadband plans come with Virgin Media’s Hub 3 router. This device connects to the Virgin Media network and produces a Wi-Fi network from it that your other devices are able to connect to. The Hub 3 router supports Wi-Fi 5 technology (802.11ac) and has an Intelligent WiFi feature for automatic channel optimisation.
M250 Fibre Broadband Plans
At present, you can get Virgin Media’s M250 fibre broadband only for only £25.99 per month. This is available on an 18-month contract. There's also a £0 upfront fee for set-up and installation.
The following table shows Virgin Media’s best M250 fibre broadband deals:
| Service | Broadband & TV | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by RPI inflation plus 3.9%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
 M250 fibre broadband only
| 264Mbps average download | £25.99 per month No upfront fee 3 months free 18 month contract | See deal |
M250 fibre broadband + phone
| 264Mbps average download | £35.99 per month No upfront fee 18 month contract | See deal |
Volt M250 fibre broadband + phone + O2 SIM
| 264Mbps average download | £35.99 per month No upfront fee £29.99 for 3 months 18 month contract | See deal |
If you choose the Volt M250 fibre broadband plan, you’ll get an O2 SIM card with 10GB data per month included (worth £12 per month). You’ll also get the Volt customer benefits, including Intelligent WiFi Plus with the Superstrong WiFi Guarantee (worth £8 per month).
If you’d like to add Virgin Media’s TV service to your plan, you can choose one of the following deals:
| Service | Broadband & TV | Monthly Cost (will rise each April by RPI inflation plus 3.9%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Bigger Movies Combo Volt Bundle
| 264Mbps average download  
| £70.99 per month No upfront fee £10 for 3 months 18 month contract | See deal |
Alternatively, you can add the Virgin Media Stream box to any M250 fibre broadband plan for a one-off activation fee of £35 and no monthly fees.
You can see a full list of M250 fibre broadband deals on the Virgin Media website.
Alternatives to M250 Fibre
The most widely available plans on BT, Sky and TalkTalk offer average download speeds of about 67Mbps (about one-quarter the speed of M250 Fibre). For a closer comparison, you should therefore compare these deals to the M125 fibre plan.
If you’re living at an address with access to full fibre (FTTP) broadband (approximately 25% of UK homes), you’ll have access to a wider range of full fibre plans on other providers.
The following table shows a side-by-side comparison of Virgin Media’s M250 plan to comparable full fibre plans from other providers:
| Service | Download Speed | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
M250 Fibre Broadband Only | 264Mbps average download | £25.99 per month No upfront fee £80 bill credit 18 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by RPI inflation plus 3.9% | See deal |
 Sky Full Fibre 150 | 150Mbps average download | £27.00 per month plus £5.00 upfront 24 month contract Monthly cost may rise during contract | See deal |
 Full Fibre 150 | 152Mbps average download | £29.00 per month No upfront fee 18 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by £3 | See deal |
 Full Fibre 300 | 300Mbps average download | £29.00 per month No upfront fee 24 month contract Monthly cost may rise during contract | See deal |
 Full Fibre 200 | 200Mbps average download | £29.50 per month No upfront fee 24 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by £3 | See deal |
 Full Fibre 100 | 150Mbps average download | £29.99 per month No upfront fee £50 reward card 24 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by £3 | See deal |
 EE Full Fibre 150 | 150Mbps average download | £29.99 per month No upfront fee 24 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by £3 | See deal |
 Full Fibre 300 | 300Mbps average download | £29.99 per month No upfront fee 24 month contract Monthly cost will rise each April by £3 | See deal |
For more information, compare broadband deals or see the best full fibre (FTTP) broadband plans in the UK.
Coverage & Availability
Virgin Media uses their own cable-based network which is available in around 53% of UK homes.
If you’d like M250 broadband, you’ll need to be living in the Virgin Media network area. An engineer visit will also be required to set up the connection in your home, unless you’ve already been connected to the Virgin Media network in the past.
To see whether Virgin Media is available at your address, enter your postcode on their website:
Check Virgin Media Availability (virginmedia.com) →
Unlike most other fibre broadband providers (such as BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone), Virgin Media does not use the Openreach network to deliver their service. For this reason, the coverage area and download speeds available on Virgin Media are very different to those on rival providers.
Switching to Virgin Media
If you’re currently using another broadband provider, it’s easy switching your service to Virgin Media.
Start by ordering your new Virgin Media package online. You can keep your current home phone or landline number if you provide this to Virgin Media when you sign up.
When you place your Virgin Media M250 order online, you’ll be given a choice of possible installation dates. Usually, a Virgin Media engineer will need to come round to install the service in your home. However, if your home has previously been connected to the Virgin Media network, it might be possible to install it yourself using a QuickStart kit.
You’ll need to tell your old provider that you’re moving to Virgin Media and that you’d like to cancel your old service with them. For step-by-step instructions, please select your current broadband provider below:
Switch to Virgin Media
Your step-by-step guide to switching
For more information, see our full guide to switching broadband provider in the UK.
More Information
For more information about M250 fibre broadband, see the official Virgin Media website.
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