The short answer: three ways in
Your address usually decides which of three routes you get:
- QuickStart self-install. A kit arrives and you plug it in, with no drilling. It's only offered at homes that have had Virgin Media before, and never on full fibre.
- An engineer install on cable. Virgin Media's original network is hybrid fibre-coax: fibre to a street cabinet, then a coaxial cable, which Virgin Media calls its TV cable, into your home. A never-connected home needs an engineer to bring that cable in.
- An engineer install on full fibre, with fibre all the way into the home.
Virgin Media's installation page says only a Virgin Media line will connect its WiFi Hub, so a BT or Openreach socket makes no difference: what counts is whether there's a Virgin Media socket, or whether one can be fitted. Our guide to how Virgin Media's network differs from Openreach explains the two kinds of line. Checked against Virgin Media's pages and terms on 25 and 27 October 2026.
Which installation will you get?
Virgin Media decides when you order, checking whether your address is "Virgin Media-ready", meaning it has had Virgin Media before. If so, you're offered QuickStart. Where both its cable network and its full fibre reach your street, it says it confirms which you'll get at the installation step of checkout. That screen decides your Hub, TV box options and whether you can self-install.
You can still ask for an engineer. If you qualify for QuickStart, an engineer visit costs extra; if QuickStart isn't offered, it doesn't. Virgin Media's pages disagree on other one-off costs (its installation page mentions an activation fee; the legal notes on its TV and full-fibre pages say there are no mandatory setup fees), so go by the cost breakdown at checkout. One-off costs go on your first bill. Customers with accessibility needs can choose an engineer to install Virgin TV, Virgin Media says.
QuickStart: what arrives and what to check
The box holds the WiFi Hub (your router), any TV box and phone cable you ordered, and labelled cables, often six. Guides are in Virgin Media's Connect app and online.
Check your socket before the box arrives. Virgin Media says your home should suit QuickStart if its wall socket is firmly fixed to the wall, no more than 3 metres from where the Hub and TV box will sit, and showing its silver connectors. Its home phone help says sockets in homes cabled long ago may be marked NTL or Telewest. If a QuickStart pack has been sent but you can't find a Virgin Media wall socket, its help page says to get in touch; where a new socket is needed, an engineer fits it.
Delivery, collection and your go-live date
Kits come by Yodel, to an address where an adult can sign or to one of more than 6,000 Yodel stores for Click and Collect. Virgin Media's help page says the pack can arrive within three working days on the UK mainland, or four in Northern Ireland, on a day you pick. Its installation page gives a fastest average of 4 days, and up to 14 if it must first close someone else's account at the property, such as a previous occupant's.
New customers' accounts switch on automatically two days after delivery or collection, unless you finish setting up sooner; for existing customers upgrading kit it's six days.
Setting up: the order and the timings
Set up the Hub first, then any TV box, then home phone. Virgin Media's installation page gives typical times of 30 minutes for the Hub, 10 for a TV box and 5 for the phone, much of it waiting while the kit configures itself, and says the hands-on part of all three is 10 to 20 minutes. Its TV help page puts a TV box at 15 to 30 minutes, including start-up. Once the Hub has connected, allow up to half an hour for the connection to settle. Which cable goes where, and what to try if the Hub won't connect, is in our step-by-step self-install guide.
Engineer install on cable: booking the visit
Virgin Media's help page says you pick the day and timeslot for an engineer when you order. If you qualify for QuickStart but pay for an engineer instead, its installation page describes it differently: you choose a date at checkout and Virgin Media contacts you soon afterwards to agree a time. To move the appointment, sign in to My Virgin Media and choose another date.
How soon? You're offered the earliest slot at checkout: Virgin Media says that's usually between the next working day and a week later at an address that has had its service, and up to 14 days at one that hasn't. Our guide to how long broadband installation takes compares other providers.
If your home has never had Virgin Media
Virgin Media describes what can happen before the main visit:
- An outside check. An engineer checks the outside cabling is ready. You don't need to be home.
- Outside work. This normally means digging the pavement or road, then taking the cable through your garden or driveway. Virgin Media says it tries to put everything back, and discusses options first where surfaces like patterned concrete or cobblestones can't be restored exactly.
- Permits. Local authority permission, traffic permits or parking restrictions can hold things up.
Where extra work might be needed, Virgin Media's terms say it gives a provisional activation date, and no compensation is paid if that moves to a different confirmed date. Ask which kind of date you have. If anything is damaged, see damage caused during a broadband installation.
Flats and rented homes
A block of flats may already be set up, with cabling from each flat back to a main terminal in a communal area. If your flat or rented home hasn't had Virgin Media before, Virgin Media says you need permission from the landlord (or, in flats, neighbours), and it tells you when you book. Engineers may also drill small holes to route the cable, so check that with your landlord too. Our guide to broadband for renters covers asking for permission.
On the day: what the engineer does
Virgin Media's help pages describe a cable visit like this:
- Someone over 18 must be in for the whole slot, or the install can't be completed.
- The engineer arrives in a Virgin Media van, carrying ID and all the kit and cabling.
- They run cables from the box on the outside of the house to the places you've chosen for broadband, TV and phone, fitting cable wall points and, if needed, a new wall socket.
- They set up home phone if ordered, check everything works and show you the key features.
Virgin Media says the visit usually takes between 30 minutes and 2 hours, depending on the services.
Decide where things go before the engineer arrives
The wall points decide where the Hub and TV box can sit. Virgin Media's advice is to stand the Hub upright, in the open, lights facing the room, at least a metre from fish tanks and from electronics that interfere, such as baby monitors, cordless phones and wireless speakers. With TV, an Ethernet cable links the TV box to the Hub, so keep them within reach of each other.
Expecting a weak far room? Virgin Media's WiFi Max add-on, which can include WiFi Pods (plug-in mesh units), can only be ordered once broadband is active, so it won't come with the installation. Pods are normally self-installed; Virgin Media says a technician can set one up if you can't check its lights. See how Virgin Media WiFi Pods work.
Full fibre installs
Virgin Media sells full fibre built by nexfibre and, ISPreview reported in January 2026, is also adding XGS-PON, a full-fibre standard (see XGS-PON explained), alongside its own cable network, aiming to finish that upgrade by 2028. In October 2026 Virgin Media O2 said about 7 million XGS-PON premises could get its Gig2 package.
Virgin Media says its engineers set up full fibre: you choose a date and time when you order, and it gets in touch to confirm. Its network guide says the fibre arrives underground or on overhead poles, is brought indoors through a small hole, and then either terminates on an outside wall or connects straight to Virgin Media's equipment.
Gig2, the Hub and which network you're on
The package name no longer tells you the network. On 27 October 2026 Virgin Media O2 announced Gig2, its 2Gbps package, over its cable network for the first time, in 18 locations including Manchester, Newcastle and Oxford, with most of the cable network to follow in 2027. On cable, it says, uploads can't match downloads.
Virgin Media's Hub page lists the Hub 5x as its XGS-PON Hub, with one 10Gbps and three 1Gbps Ethernet ports, and the Hub 5 as a DOCSIS 3.1 Hub (DOCSIS is the cable network's standard), with one 2.5Gbps and three 1Gbps ports. No page we read says which Hub Gig2 on cable uses. So if you order Gig2, ask whether you'll be on cable or full fibre and which Hub is coming: that also decides whether QuickStart is possible.
One visit or two?
Full-fibre installs have often taken two appointments: one to bring fibre to the property, another to fit equipment inside. In October 2025 Virgin Media O2 announced a Single Visit Install doing both at once, then live across nexfibre's 2.4 million locations and due to spread, while many other installs still took two. We couldn't find a later update, so ask how many visits you need and whether you must be in for each. Virgin Media gives no length for a full-fibre visit; the 30 minutes to 2 hours is for cable.
Is a separate fibre box fitted?
Many full-fibre lines end in an ONT (optical network terminal), a small box between the fibre and your router: see what an ONT is. The Virgin Media pages we could read don't say whether one is fitted on its full fibre. ISPreview said in January 2026 that moving a customer onto XGS-PON needs an engineer visit, replacing old kit with a new ONT or optical modem. Ask the engineer what they've fitted and what must stay plugged in. For full-fibre installs generally, see what to expect from a full fibre installation.
TV and phone on full fibre
The legal notes on Virgin Media's TV and full-fibre pages say the Virgin TV 360 box isn't available with full fibre. The full-fibre page says you can add TV but doesn't name the box, so ask which one you'd get. On phone, that page contradicts itself: its FAQ says a digital home phone can be added at checkout, its legal notes that home phone isn't currently available with full fibre. If you need a landline, confirm at checkout that one is included. To compare TV bundles, see broadband and TV deals.
What's fitted, and what's yours
After a cable install you'd normally have, going by Virgin Media's kit pages:
Item | What it does | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
Virgin Media wall socket and cable wall points | Where the cable comes into each room you chose | A new socket is fitted during the visit if needed |
White coaxial isolator cable | Links your Virgin Media kit to the network | The red-banded end goes into the wall socket |
WiFi Hub | Your router: Wi-Fi and Ethernet | On cable, a DOCSIS Hub such as the Hub 5; the Hub 5x is the XGS-PON full-fibre Hub |
TV box kit (if ordered) | HDMI cable, power supply, Ethernet cable to the Hub | Non-Stream boxes also come with a connector cable and splitter |
Phone cable (if ordered) | Connects your handset | It plugs into the Hub, not the wall |
- Wi-Fi details are on a label on the Hub and, on the Hub 5 and 5x, a removable card.
- The kit isn't yours. Virgin Media says its equipment remains its property. Return replaced kit if asked, or you may be charged.
- Lights: see what your broadband hub lights mean.
Once online, test over a wired connection with our broadband speed test and note the result and date as a day-one record.
Your home phone on installation day
Virgin Media broadband doesn't need a phone line. Its home phone runs on its own network, so you need one of its sockets, and the phone plugs into the Hub once the Hub is set up.
- Keeping your number. Virgin Media says the number switch starts once services are active and can take up to 10 days; with an engineer install, the engineer makes sure it has switched. If it hasn't moved within 24 hours of activation, you might be entitled to compensation. See keeping your landline number when you switch.
- Alarms and pendants. Virgin Media's digital home phone doesn't work in a power cut, and nor do telecare or pendant alarms on the line. It asks alarm owners to check with the device's provider that it works with digital voice, and offers a free emergency backup line to people who rely on a landline or have no mobile. See telecare alarms and digital landlines.
Before you book: what to ask Virgin Media
Note the answers, with the date and any chat reference.
- Is my home QuickStart-ready? If not, is that because it has never had Virgin Media, or because of the socket?
- Will I be on cable or full fibre, and which Hub will I get? (For Gig2 this matters: it's now sold on both.)
- Is outside work or a permit needed? Is my date confirmed or provisional?
- For full fibre: how many visits, and must I be in for each?
- Where will the cable come in, and will you drill or dig? (Point out block paving or new lawns.)
- Do I need a landlord's or neighbours' permission?
- What one-off costs are on my order?
- Can I keep my number, and which TV box will work on my connection?
If the installation is late or nobody turns up
Virgin Media is in Ofcom's voluntary automatic compensation scheme. Its help page gives these amounts, matching the April 2026 rates ISPreview reported:
- £6.46 a day if your services aren't installed on the promised day, until they are
- £32.31 if an engineer doesn't turn up on the promised day, or cancels with less than 24 hours' notice.
Credits are automatic, and its switching page says installation compensation appears on your first bill. The fine print:
- QuickStart: delivery of the kit counts as the installation date; if there's no service after it arrives, report a loss of service. A credit applies if the kit isn't delivered by the agreed date and you tell Virgin Media.
- Provisional dates and permits: no credit if a provisional date changes, and time waiting for third-party permits is deducted.
- Nobody home: no credit until the rescheduled appointment, and Virgin Media may pass on costs from delays you cause.
- Covered: broadband and home phone, not TV. A delay to both services on one order earns one payment, not two; a missed appointment is credited separately.
Our guide to automatic compensation explains the scheme, and getting online while you wait for installation covers stop-gaps. If a complaint isn't resolved, one first raised on or after 8 April 2026 can go to an independent ADR (alternative dispute resolution) scheme after six weeks (eight for earlier complaints), or straight away with a deadlock letter: see how to complain about your broadband provider.
Switching to Virgin Media, or moving in
Switching at the same address. Virgin Media supports One Touch Switch, Ofcom's switching process, so you deal only with Virgin Media and your current provider must send you the switching information, including any early-termination charges. Our guide to switching broadband providers covers the rules. Virgin Media's switch page adds two exceptions:
- If it can't find your account, you'll need to contact your current provider to cancel. A recent bill with your account number helps the match.
- TV is different. One Touch Switch covers broadband and home phone; some providers cancel TV when your broadband moves, others need you to cancel it separately.
Moving home. Virgin Media says you can arrange installation up to 60 days before you move in. Existing customers should read moving home with Virgin Media.
Before ordering, see what else reaches the address: browse fibre broadband deals, Virgin Media's plans on our Virgin Media broadband deals page, or compare deals at your postcode. We show deals through a partner's comparison widget; Virgin Media handles the order and the installation.
Virgin Media installation FAQs
Can I install Virgin Media broadband myself?
Yes, if your home has had Virgin Media before and you're on its cable network. Virgin Media checks this when you order and, if you qualify, sends a QuickStart kit to plug in yourself, with no drilling. It says the hands-on part takes about 10 to 20 minutes for broadband, TV and phone. QuickStart isn't offered on full fibre, and homes never connected need an engineer.
How long does a Virgin Media engineer installation take?
Virgin Media says an engineer install usually takes between 30 minutes and 2 hours, depending on which services are being installed. That figure is for its cable network. The pages we checked don't give a time for full-fibre visits, and some full-fibre installs still need two appointments, so ask when you book. Someone over 18 must be home for the whole slot.
Can I use QuickStart for Virgin Media full fibre?
No. Virgin Media's legal notes rule QuickStart out on full fibre, and limit it to addresses it can already serve that have had its services before. Full fibre is set up by Virgin Media's engineers: you pick an installation date and time when you order, and Virgin Media then gets in touch to confirm the details.
Is Virgin Media Gig2 always full fibre?
Not any more. Gig2, Virgin Media's 2Gbps package, was sold on full fibre, but on 27 October 2026 Virgin Media O2 announced it over its cable network in 18 locations, with most of the cable network to follow in 2027. On cable, uploads aren't as fast as downloads. Ask which network you'll be on, as it decides the Hub and how you're installed.
What happens if Virgin Media misses my installation date?
Virgin Media's help page says it credits £6.46 a day if services aren't installed on the promised day, and £32.31 if an engineer doesn't turn up or cancels with under 24 hours' notice; the two can both apply. It says these credits are automatic, and they match the April 2026 rates. There's no credit if a provisional date moves, if nobody over 18 was home, or for TV.
