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BT Infinity vs Virgin Media 100Mb broadband

Our Broadband Expert says...

The past year has seen significant advances in the world of superfast broadband, but the two biggest names in the next generation broadband game are Virgin Media (www.Virginmedia.com) and BT broadband (www.BT.com).

BT also offers up to 100Mb broadband via fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology, but delivers upload speeds that BT claims are 50% faster than Virgin Media's.

BT is busy rolling out its BT Infinity fibre optic network, making its up to 40Mb broadband available to 10 million homes by 2012, and to two-thirds of UK homes and businesses by 2014. It also has plans to double the speed of its 40Mb connection to up to 80Mb in 2012.

Virgin Media's 50Mb broadband package is available to half of the UK population, and Virgin Media aim to complete roll-out of its 100Mb broadband service in 2012. In addition, Virgin Media is planning to double the speed of its up to 10Mb and 30Mb connections, and increase its 50Mb and 100Mb broadband to 120Mb making it, once again, the fastest commercially available broadband provider on the market. The speed upgrade should be complete by mid-2013.

These packages are perfect for families and large households who all want to get online at the same time and really make the most of the internet.

Download speeds

The obvious reason to upgrade to a fibre optic broadband package is the superfast speeds on offer. As well as the headline speeds advertised by your provider, you also need to think about the actual speeds you will receive.

BT is using fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) technology for the majority of its new network, which runs fibre optic cables to streetside telephone cabinets but uses copper wires from there to your home. Because of this, you might still experience some slow down in speeds - BT says that customers on its up to 40Mb packages will get a minimum download speed of 15Mb.

But around 25% of BT’s network will be made up of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections, where cables will be run direct to homes and businesses, offering speeds of up to 100Mb.

On the other hand, Virgin Media’s network uses high speed coaxial cables throughout, which the provider says will give you a better online experience. All customers on its 50Mb or 100Mb packages have the potential to reach their top speed - no matter where they live - and according to Ofcom, Virgin Media's 50Mb customers enjoyed impressive average speeds of between 47.7 and 49Mb in May 2011.

Upload speeds

It’s not just download speeds that have benefited from the superfast boost; Virgin Media and BT Infinity’s fastest packages offer upload speeds as fast as 10Mb and 15Mb respectively.

Download allowance

If you're after a superfast broadband package, then you'll need a generous download allowance that lets you really make the most of your new connection.

BT offers two download allowances on its Infinity 40Mb packages;either a 40GB monthly limit, or unlimited downloads, subject to a fair usage policy. Its 100Mb package comes with an unlimited usage allowance only.

Both Virgin Media’s 100Mb and 50Mb packages offer unlimited downloads - with traffic management only applied to peer-to-peer downloads at peak times.

Broadband without a landline

Although BT’s Infinity packages offer fibre optic connections, you'll still have to pay line rental in order to get online. At the moment, Virgin Media is the only provider to offer broadband no landline packages.

Availability

BT has been undertaking what it claims is one of the fastest fibre network roll-outs in the world, and it plans to have 10 million homes and businesses connected by the end of the year, rising to two-thirds of the UK by 2014.

Find out whether or not you can sign-up to BT Infinity now at www.BT.com/Infinity.

Virgin Media says that its 100Mb broadband network roll-out will be complete by mid-2012.

Find out if 100Mb broadband is available where you live at www.Virginmedia.com/100 or read our Virgin Media 100Mb broadband roll-out guide.

Even if you can’t get the 100Mb package yet, you may still able to sign-up to the provider’s 50Mb service.

Cost

BT edges it when it comes to cost, offering its Infinity Option 1 package for just £20 a month - or less if you also take a calls package. You will also have to pay line rental on top, which currently costs £14.60 a month if you pay by direct debit.

But remember that this package does come with a set download limit of 40GB, which you might exceed if you spend a lot of time online or have a large household.

Although you can save yourself money by taking a cable broadband package and ditching your landline, Virgin Media’s standalone broadband packages aren’t cheap - the 100Mb package costs £45 a month without a phone line or £35 if you choose to take a Virgin Media landline for an extra £13.90 a month.

Its 50Mb package costs £35 a month without a landline, or £25 with the cost of line rental on top. But you can often take advantage of special offers and promotional deals that cut the cost of your connection.

NB Best buy tables are always current.

Examples in the text of the article are correct at time of publication.

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