Virgin Media down latest — How to contact broadband provider after outage & are you due compensation? (2023)

What's the best broadband provider in my area?

To find out the best broadband provider in your area, use one of the tools on a price comparison site, such asUSwitch.

They'll check your postcode and work out which provider will give you the top speed. It will also show you the range of speeds that you can expect in your area.

You can use mobile data if your broadband is down

If your home broadband is down, you can always use your smart device as a hotspot.

This will let your computer, TV or games console connect to your phone’s mobile data.

However, make sure to be careful with your usage, as it is very easy to run out of mobile data if you are on a contract.

Best broadband provider UK: At a glance

• Best overall:Virgin Media Broadband, 362mb, £21pm (first 6 months)
• Best broadband provider for price:Utility Warehouse, 35mb, from £21.60pm
• Best budget broadband provider:Now, 63mb, £22pm
• Best broadband provider for deals:Shop Three’s broadband deals
• Best broadband provider for speed:Hyperoptic, 500mb (ultrafast), £30pm (£19 activation)
• Best fibre broadband provider:Vodafone, up to 910mb with full fibre 100, £22pm

All recommendations within this article are informed by expert editorial opinion. If you click on a link in this story we may earn affiliate revenue.

What do the lights mean on my Virgin Media router?

This all depends on what type of router you have.

For example, with a Hub 3 device, a flashing red light means your device is on but your WiFi connection is not working.

You can see examples of more lights and what they mean on the Virgin Media website.

How can I cut my bill?

If you think yourbillsare too high and want to drive them down, the first thing to do is find out what the cheapest deal on the market is.

You can use this rate as a bargaining tool to get a better offer from your provider.

Get in contact with your provider to see if they can match this rate - if not, you might want to switch instead.

Sites likeMoneySuperMarketandUswitchall help you customise your search based on price, speed and provider.

This should make it easier to decide whether to renew your contract or move to another provider.

Some users dealing with connection issues

Some users are complaining of connection issues on social media today.

One said: "#virginmedia Just been knocked offline twice in the last 10 minutes. Again?"

Whist a second added: "Nothing is working now at the moment. On the phone to one of your advisors now as we speak."

A third moaned: "Seriously @virginmedia!! This is getting ridiculous. Internet constantly dropping! How are we supposed to work from home with this shambles."

How can I contact Virgin Media?

There are several ways to get in touch with Virgin Media.

See Virgin Media’scontact pagefor how to get in touch with the network provider.

You can also speak to the firm via its live chat service.

If you still want to complain to Virgin Media about an issue with your connection, you can via phone, post or online.

What’s the best broadband provider in my area?

To find out the best broadband provider in your area, use one of the tools on a price comparison site, such asUSwitch.

They’ll check your postcode and work out which provider will give you the top speed. It will also show you the range of speeds that you can expect in your area.

Users frustration grows

Virgin Media users are venting their frustration on social media this morning after waking up to continued issues.

One social media user said: “Virgin Media are atrocious no Internet for the last 8hrs. £70 per month for this nonsense. Will you be crediting our accounts for services lost?”

A second said: “No internet, no phone data, phone numbers 150 & 789 both had messages saying the staff were all busy.”

How do I check the Virgin Media service status in my area?

Virgin Media has a dedicated web page where you can find out if there are any problems in your area.

You can visit the My Virgin service update website to check for yourself.

To find out if there are problems in your area, just enter your postcode.

Do you ever face broadband issues?

With millions working from home, broadband has become a crucial part of all our lives.

Do you often face issues with your internet?

Virgin Mediais part of theAutomatic Compensation Scheme

Virgin Mediais part of theAutomatic Compensation Scheme, which means it will pay back users for downtime on its services in the form of bill credit even if the issues are not reported.

Virgin will pay its users £9.33 per full day of its broadband services being inaccessible, however, the compensation only begins after an outage lasts two full days, so, for yesterday’s issues, it is unlikely Virgin will compensate its users.

Virgin Media claimed yesterday that issues had been resolved, so this scheme may not apply.

Some users still complaining of outages

Despite user complaints falling massively throughout the day, a number of users are still reporting outages.

One Virgin Media customer took to Twitter to write: "Amazingly it lasted till 4pm before going down today".

While another added: "Our WiFi has been down since Tuesday, why isn't it fixed yet?! Please help".

What's the difference between megabits and megabytes?

One important thing to look out for is the difference between megabits and megabytes.

Internet speeds are often described in megabits per second (Mbps), or just megabits (Mb).

Meanwhile, file sizes are often described in megabytes (MB).

One megabyte is equal to eight megabits.

So if you had 100Mbps internet speed, you would be downloading 12.5MB every second.

Which means a 500MB file would take 40 seconds to download – not five seconds.

Richard Branson’s rocket firm Virgin Orbit files for bankruptcy

Sir Richard Branson’s hopes for space travel from the UK have crashed down to earth.

His rocket firmVirgin Orbithas filed for bankruptcy in the US after failing to raise the crucial extra finance it needed to survive.

The company is based in California and is 75 per cent-owned byBranson’s Virgin Group.

It has struggled since the failure in January of its ambitious bid to launch a first satellite from UK soil.

The firm’s LauncherOne rocket was carried into the upper atmosphere on a modified jumbo jet, which took off from Cornwall.

The firm suspended all operations in March amid pressure on its finances.

Last week, it revealed 675 job cuts — more than four-fifths of its workforce — as its search for a cash lifeline continued.

Which areas were affected?

Most major cities, including London, Manchester and Birmingham have been hit with broadband outages over the last two days.

Virgin Media has resolved almost all of the issues, with complaints falling from over 20,000 to just under 200.

How to test your internet speed

But arguably the most popular is Speedtest.net by Ookla (a US data firm), which you can findhere.

You can also download the app here:

It tests your speeds in a number of ways using local servers, giving you a fairly accurate representation of your real-world download speeds.

Remember that if you're testing on mobile, make sure you're connected to WiFi to test the broadband speed. Otherwise, you'll be checking your mobile speeds instead.

So are you getting the right speeds?

Check with your internet provider, log into your broadband account or take a look at your bill to find details of your package.

A simple search should tell you what speed you're getting.

You can use mobile data if your broadband is down

If your home broadband is down, you can always use your smart device as a hotspot.

This will let your computer, TV or games console connect to your phone’s mobile data.

However, make sure to be careful with your usage, as it is very easy to run out of mobile data if you are on a contract.

Is Virgin Media's website back up?

Following Virgin Media's mass outages yesterday, the brand's website also faced serious issues.

However, Virgin's website is now back up and running at full capacity.

There are several ways to get in touch with Virgin Media.

See Virgin Media’scontact pagefor how to get in touch with the network provider.

You can also speak to the firm via its live chat service.

If you still want to complain to Virgin Media about an issue with your connection, you can via phone, post or online.

What do the lights mean on my Virgin Media router?

This all depends on what type of router you have.

For example, with a Hub 3 device, a flashing red light means your device is on but your WiFi connection is not working.

You can see examples of more lights and what they mean on the Virgin Media website.

How many complaints are currently being reported?

Virgin Media has resolved most of the problems Brits have reported over the last two days, but the number of complaints is still above baseline.

According to DownDetector, there were 196 complaints at 1:45pm this afternoon, with the baseline for that time being 32 reports.

Yesterday, complaints soared above 20,000 as thousands were left without a broadband connection.

Best UK broadband providers ranked

With Virgin Media’s broadband back up and running, we look at the highest-rated UK internet providers in 2023.

According to Which? Zen Internet is the highest rated by customers, with a whopping 81% customer score.

Virgin Media did not fare much better with a customer score of just 54%.

Users frustration grows

Virgin Media users are venting their frustration on social media this morning after waking up to continued issues.

One social media user said: “Virgin Media are atrocious no Internet for the last 8hrs. £70 per month for this nonsense. Will you be crediting our accounts for services lost?”

A second said: “No internet, no phone data, phone numbers 150 & 789 both had messages saying the staff were all busy.”