You don’t have to struggle to find the best Virgin Media router for your internet needs. Without the right information, it can be difficult to find a replacement router for Virgin Media internet at home, so we’ve gathered all the information for you.
We are not selling you anything, we are here to help you with information – that’s it.
Adding confusion to a subject that is already technical is the fact that there is so much conflicting information available. Our goal is to help you find the best Virgin Media router by digging a little deeper into the question.
Table of Contents
- What’s Wrong With My Virgin Media Router?
- Boosting your Virgin Media Hub setup
- How do I put my virgin router into modem mode? (Hub 3 or Hub 4)
- Let’s Compare Virgin Media Super Hub
- TalkTalk Wi-Fi Hub
- Virgin Media Hub
- Putting the finishing touches on
- FAQ
What’s Wrong With My Virgin Media Router?
When you are connected to your WiFi, you probably experience very slow internet speeds. In terms of basic internet usage, the Virgin Media SuperHub that came with your installation is a great device, but it is getting a little old.
An old model can no longer achieve reasonable speeds because newer devices like smartphones and gaming consoles need far more bandwidth to work properly. This means that older Virgin Media routers aren’t up to scratch. Even users with lightning-fast internet connections are discovering that their devices can’t take advantage of the increased internet overhead despite having incredible connection speeds.
Gig1 Fibre connections are typically tested over WiFi by new users. Many customers complain online about how they are able to achieve close to 1Gbps with an Ethernet cable, but 300Mbps with WiFi, which is effectively a third of what they should be getting. How come?
Virgin Media’s router is usually the culprit, unfortunately. Despite their excellent ability to connect you to the internet and allow you to get online, these devices lack advanced features such as QoS (Quality of Service), VLANs, and network segmentation.
If your router only supports an older WiFi standard then you will not reach full speeds, so check what kind of WiFi your router supports. Below are the current standards from newest to oldest.
- 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6)
- 802.11aj
- 802.11ah
- 802.11ad
- 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5)
- 802.11n
- 802.11g
- 802.11a
- 802.11b
For the vast majority of users who use standard packages, brand new WiFi standards are not necessary. There are, however, some upgrades needed for users expecting gigabit speeds over their WiFi networks, with upgrading their router to WiFi 6 being the most obvious.
Boosting your Virgin Media Hub setup
However, you should keep in mind that this might not be the ultimate solution to your internet speed problem, especially if you have many people using your internet connection simultaneously.
It is crucial to be able to control all aspects of your WiFi network if you want to make the most of your internet connection, as certain applications and protocols use more bandwidth than others.
If you decide on getting a standalone WiFi router, then all you will need to do is disable the onboard WiFi of your internet router, and connect your new WiFi router to your Virgin Media Hub. Once your Virgin Media router is in modem mode, you can disable its WiFi functionality.
Essentially, your router will still be able to connect to the internet, but your flashy new WiFi router will handle all WiFi operations.
What is the procedure for putting my Virgin router into modem mode? It includes Super Hub 1, 2, and 2AC.
You will need an Ethernet cable to connect the Super Hub 1, 2, or 2ac to your computer.
- Type in 192.168.0.1 into the address bar of your favourite internet browser
- If you need to find the password for your login then you should find that it is printed on the bottom of the Hub
- Modem Mode can be found inside the Super Hub Settings section
- Select Enable Modem Mode
- Select Yes to continue. The Super Hub will reboot and activate Modem Mode
- The Hub’s IP address changes from 192.168.0.1 when in Modem Mode, so once you change to Modem Mode you will need to use 192.168.100.1.
How do I put my virgin router into modem mode? (Hub 3 or Hub 4)
Connect the Hub to your computer with an Ethernet cable before proceeding.
- Put 192.168.0.1 into the address bar of your web browser.
- You can find the password at the bottom of the hub.
- Modem Mode can be found on the left of the screen.
- Make sure that the Enable Modem Mode option is selected.
- Click on Apply to save your changes.
- The Hub’s IP address changes from 192.168.0.1 when in Modem Mode, so once you. change to Modem Mode you will need to use 192.168.100.1.
Let’s Compare Virgin Media Super Hub
Many people end up going with a secondary WiFi router that they connect to their Virgin Hub, but what about other providers? How do the routers from these companies compare to the stock devices and wireless routers used with Virgin?
Sky Broadband Hub
If you are considering a change of provider for the hardware then look at the features provided below. Sky Broadband Hub is now included with all broadband packages offered by Sky.
Here are a few of its features.
- VDSL2/ADSL 2+
- Smart channel selection
- WiFi Smart scan
- Support for Dual-band WiFi
- Gigabit Ethernet ports x 4
- VoIP call support
- 64 Devices supported simultaneously
If you’re changing primarily for hardware, then it’s not worth changing from Virgin Media for these features.
We recommend getting a purpose-built WiFi router such as the ones mentioned in our article through our Amazon Affiliate links. (We receive a small commission when you purchase through our links.)
TalkTalk Wi-Fi Hub
Like Virgin and Sky Broadband, TalkTalk also offers a decent router, but the WiFi is serviceable, but you are better off using a dedicated router.
Support for wireless technologies
- Wi-Fi 300 + 867 Mbps Security, 2.4GHz (802.11a/b/g/n) & 5GHz (802.11 b/g/n), 2 x 2 antenna array
- Connections that support WEP/WPA/WPA2, and WPS
- Power supply built-in
- AV2 powerline standard (up to 1Gbps)
- One Gigabit Ethernet port
- The ability to pass power through
TalkTalk has only designed and tested this router specifically for its own network. This means that their router cannot be used by customers of other Internet service providers.
Virgin Media Hub
In addition to Virgin’s Hubs, we have also seen that they are excellent. Even though Hub 4 and Hub 5 are available, many people still use their original Super Hub 3.0 units from a few years ago.
You should instead run your Hub in bridge mode while allowing another WiFi router to handle all the addressing and traffic control of your wireless network, just as the other ISPs we have mentioned above.
Putting the finishing touches on
With our suggestions above, you can easily find the best router for Virgin Media.
It really isn’t that expensive to get yourself a world-class WiFi network at home. Your internet at home will be much better after you replace your Virgin Media router.
It is possible to manage things like bandwidth monitoring and other important things if there are many users on your network, and will give you a much better internet experience.
Considering how cheap internet routers are, you really have nothing to lose by trying out something new.
