I have been a customer with Virgin Media for a while with the Medium Broadband package. However I visited my local 3 store and they have a deal where for £25 a month sim only deal, I can get 2000 voice minutes, 5000 texts and best of all Unlimited all you can eat Internet which supports tethering which is great because I can use the net on my Mac and laptop while using my iPhone as a modem. All this has made me wonder if I should go for that deal and just cancel my subscription with Virgin Media. I am around £20 a month for my Virgin Media bill. Anyone think this is a good idea or would I be best just keeping my Virgin Media package and forgetting about 3?

Please advise.

Why would you want to switch from a fixed line broadband which gives you reliable speeds to a 3G connection from a mobile phone?

What type of speeds do you get on Virigin? are they that bad that you're considering going for a non broadband company? What about data, how much do you normally use? If you rarely use the internet then it might make sense.

But bear in mind that most broadband packages include line rental for your landline as well so you'd probably end up getting rid of your landline as well if you cancel your broadband/have to pay for a landline for about £15pm anyway.

I don't have a landline with my broadband anyway as its cable. I am really disappointed with the speeds I am getting with Virgin Media plus its restricted to just my home where with the 3 One Plan, I can use unlimited internet anywhere. I download a lot of music and videos.

Ok, but the first thing you have to do is buy a 3 pay as you go sim and use it to test the coverage in your area. You might be getting worse speeds.

And bear in mind that a 3g connection is not a suitable replacement for fixed line broadband. Yes its unlimited but it will be unstable, speeds will vary, ping will be high and you may fond that at peak times the connection could be worse than virgin.

Test it first. But I would not recommend it to replace fixed line broadband. It can compliment it well though.

I used to have mobile Internet with 3 and the coverage I got was excellent. However the contract finished and I was looking for something with unlimited data. The only reason I would get rid of Virgin Media is to save money.

I'm on Three and we use our iPhones to connect to our laptop and it works perfectly fine, for example I can watch 1080p YouTube videos without any loading times, just click on it and it plays, Infact it's faster than my parents broadband, they get only 3-6mpbs, I can get 8-10mbps on my phone. But we do have a very strong signal so that's where we're really lucky.

As said it could be an option but get a pay as you go sim first to check your signal etc where you'll be using the net the most

Dont get me wrong. Im not saying dont do it. Just you need to be aware that a 3g network can never truly replace a fixed line connection. You'll get drop outs and unreliable speeds sometimes and you need to be near to a uncontested mast to be ok most of the time.

It can be an option though, especially if you have an iphone 5 as it will be able to support faster speeds and a lower ping.

Just make sure you test it before commiting

Sounds more like you need to change your package with Virgin.
That or, no offence, it seems like your expectations are unreasonable.

You would be surprised chap, i use mine everyday and very very rarely is it abit slow on youtube, browsing is never a problem but id say maybe 2 times out of 10 that youtube loads alittle slow, but for the most part its fantastic here.

I do believe im near a Three mast too, so that maybe why mine is so reliable.

I also have amazing three coverage around most areas i go, but i'm not sure i could give up my FTTC.

I guess you dont have anything to lose though in trying it.

Aha, dont worry. I regularly get above 15-20mbps pretty much all day on Three. But that's me and an uncongested mast. Depending on the location, phone, time, the op could have totally different results

And like I said its not as reliable as fixed line broadband and so unless he cant get more than 3meg to his house he should go for it, otherwise then it has to he a carefully thought out decision.

Test it first

You cannot deny that the VM speeds of 20mb is no where near 20mb.

I can't comment firsthand due to not living in a Virgin area.

But people I know with Virgin all seem to be extremely pleased with the service, a number of them swear by it.
And what I've read about their service suggests the speeds are generally very close to what the package quotes.

What speeds are you getting then? Because you may struggle to get anywhere near 20mbps on a 3g connection

The best I've seen is 1 and a half mbps. I even got a Virgin media engineer to check my internet connection for me but he found no fault and he tested the speed and it registered at 20mbps yet when I download from the likes of Apple update, I only get speeds of between 1mbps and 1 and a half mbps. I've also heard that Virgin Media cap the speeds.

Ok, like I said unless you are constantly getting under 3mbps on virign there wasn't much point but you either need to switch to a better broadband package/provider (try this to see of you can get better speeds first). Or go with Three.

Still recommend you test it first. Just dont complain when your mast goes down for a weekend or something. Like I said its not reliable as fixed line

I've already tested 3 in my area as I used to have 3 mobile broadband and I get a good reception for 3G.

I get 105mbps on a 100 package. I'd call Virgin and see what's what if you are not getting the speeds advertised.


If you are a gamer or anything requiring low latency then 3G is not the way. Even that Three has some of the best speeds and latency in a UK network it varies quite a bit by location, even which antenna on a mast you are connecting to.
If you only need it for streaming or web surfing then yes it's fine, but generally cable will be the better solution at home.

Yep like lucan and i said, consider an alternative fixed line package/provider before going for a 3g connection. It'll be much better if you use the internet for the things mentioned above.

Only if you cant get a speeds boost on your fixed line would I consider three.

Fortunately, I'm not a gamer. I only use the internet for browsing, downloading/streaming video/movies and downloading music.

Are you connecting to the Superhub via wifi or Ethernet? Or have you tried it resently over Ethernet to check speeds?

I am connected to the VM Superhub via wifi. I haven't tried connecting my ethernet cable from the superhub to my Mac but I'll try that tomorrow and see if that makes a difference.

I would be calling VM, I have their 100mb package and I pretty much consistently get 100mb.

Also, if you have any of their services then they do a discount on their SIM only deal as well.

As for replacing broadband with 3G, that really depends on your usage. My dad who probably uses a 100MB a month wouldn't have an issue, I use over 100GB a month so probably not going to be suitable.