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Virgin Media O2 UK Officially Launches HUB 5 Broadband Router UPDATE3

Wednesday, Oct 20th, 2021 (9:26 am) - Score 111,912
Virgin-Media-O2-Hub-5-Router

Broadband ISP Virgin Media UK (VMO2) has today followed yesterday’s information leak by officially unveiling their new Hub 5 router, which features faster wireless network speeds via Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), improved security (e.g. WPA3 encryption) and a 2.5Gbps speed LAN (Ethernet) port. Best of all, for many, it’s a free upgrade.

Word of the new router in town leaked out yesterday after a number of Virgin Media’s customers, including those with the older Hub 3 (TG2492S/CE) units, were invited to upgrade to a Hub 5at no extra cost” (here). The customer emails came as somewhat of a surprise because the operator’s DOCSIS 3.1 supporting Hub 4 (TG3492LG-VMB) router had only launched fairly recently – in 2019 – to support their latest gigabit packages.

Nevertheless, many had been expecting a new DOCSIS 3.1 router to launch at some point, particularly given the operator’s recent 2.2Gbps speed trials (here), and now it has come to pass. Unlike the Hub 4, the new Hub 5 is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic and adds WiFi 6 technology to help “boost network efficiency and connected devices’ battery life“.

As part of a phased roll-out, Virgin Media will offer the Hub 5 to existing customers first at no extra cost. As per yesterday’s news, eligible customers are already being contacted via an invite-only style campaign (so far this seems to include those with older Hub 3 routers) and given the option of upgrading ahead of a wider launch in 2022.

What’s New in Hub 5?

At the time of writing, we’re still trying to get details on the full spec sheet and model code. But so far the operator has confirmed that the new Hub 5 adds Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), WPA3 encryption, 1 x 2.5Gbps LAN port and 3 x 1Gbps LAN ports. On the back you’ll also find a WPS button, 2 x phone ports, 1 x power connector + button and 1 x coax connector,

Jeff Dodds, Chief Operating Officer at VMO2, said:

“At Virgin Media O2 we don’t stand still and are constantly working to give our customers the latest and most innovative technology to suit their digital needs now and in the future.

We are excited to give our existing customers first access to the Hub 5, powered by WiFi 6 technology, which will provide even faster WiFi speeds and help unleash the full potential of new devices from next-gen games consoles to the newest smartphones in their homes.”

Aside from the obvious improvements to WiFi coverage and performance, one other benefit that customers might see when replacing an older Hub with the Hub 5 is in areas that suffer from high utilisations (i.e. where local lines are being heavily used / congested). Both the Hub 4 and 5 can bond more channels together than earlier kit, which can help to tackle such issues (provided VMO2 supports such a change in your area).

Check out the back (read) side view below.

Virgin-Media-O2-Hub-5-Rear-View

UPDATE 10:28am

We’ve had a few more details through, which happily confirms that the new device is not using the Intel Puma chipset, but rather a Broadcom chip. Many will be very pleased to see that.

Additional Hub 5 Specs

Broadband – DOCSIS3.1/3.0 Broadcom 3390S

WiFi:
5 x Antennae
4 x 4 MiMo 5Ghz Broadcom 6715
3 x 3 MiMo 2.4Ghz Broadcom 6710
WiFi 6

Ethernet:
1 x 2.5Gbps Broadcom 54991EL
3 x 1Gbps Broadcom 3390S

UPDATE 22nd Oct 2021

Some readers have been asking us whether modem-only mode is supported on the new Hub 5, and we’ve been told that it does. After a router restart, the customer needs to use the IP 192.168.100.1 to access the Hub’s interface, which is different to the 192.168.0.1 used in normal mode.

UPDATE 25th October 2021

Some of our readers have started to receive the new Hub 5, and it is reported to have a model code of F3896LG-VMB, with the manufacturer being listed as Sagemcom. We note that Sagemcom do make a DOCSIS 3.1 compatible router called the Sagemcom F@st 3896, but some specs don’t quite match (e.g. the 3896 has a 4×4 setup on 2.4GHz WiFi, while VMO2 states 3×3 for that band). More details of the original device.

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Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and .
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Comments
184 Responses
  1. Avatar photo Karl Betts says:

    Ok so how do we get one ?

    1. Mark-Jackson Mark Jackson says:

      Currently, it’s invite only, until some time in 2022.

    2. Avatar photo Adam says:

      You sit and wait for Virgin to play their own lottery

    3. Avatar photo Karl Betts says:

      That’s about right why we pay for a speed we don’t fully get !

    4. Avatar photo Matt says:

      Sounds about right I inquired today only to be told that there inviting in stages so don’t hold your breath as thay did this with hub 4 and I waited ages for that only now to find out there’s a hub 5 there pushing my patience

    5. Avatar photo Ben says:

      I spoke to webchat about this upgrade after also seeing it on Hotukdeals.

      Their response (I think they were an offshore customer service rep and took a while to get back to me so I think they must have asked a manager)

      “ Thank you for patiently waiting Benjamin at this moment the Hub 5 is on pilot team that will launch on 25 of October so once it was launch we will check your account here so you can get this new hub. Is there anything else the I can assist you with?”

      Interesting…

    6. Avatar photo Steven says:

      I spoke to someone today from their tech support and they will only be giving these to people with 1gig connections

    7. Avatar photo Tyeth Gundry says:

      Here is the signup page:
      https://www.virginmedia.com/offers/hub5

    8. Avatar photo Artur says:

      Not true, having one delivered this afternoon. Will comment more when arrieved

    9. Avatar photo Roland says:

      Wasted for new hub5 for 2 weeks. I used to have hub3. Got an email from virgin media1st week in December. Yes I pay my virgin, been with them almost decade. There is difference between 3 and 5 in speed. With 3 I was receiving around 80% of speed what I was paying for. Now looks 100%. However I’ve noticed buffering while watching movies on Netflix or Disney. I’ve been told they will start rolling out new hub 5 next year 2022. An early release for hub 3 owners was and is to find out properly if they are reliable. I wasn’t ask to return hub 3 yet in case yhey will have to recall them back. I hope my comment was helpful.

  2. Avatar photo anonymous says:

    I don’t see why for the first month of a press release they cant send them out based on people asking for one or filling out a web form for one. Then everyone after that is done on a phased approach.

    That keeps customers happy. The power users/most interested users test it first.

    1. Avatar photo Aqx says:

      Because limited stock most likely.

  3. Avatar photo Jon says:

    I take it this is only for docsis 3.1 enabled areas then since no mention of docsis 3.0 or does it support both until all areas have been updated

    1. Avatar photo AQX says:

      Docsis 3.1 is backwards compatible with 3.0 so anyone in either a 1Gb or 600Mb area can get it, just depends on their requirements for eligibility.

    2. Avatar photo VMO2 says:

      All 3.1 modems support 3.0.

    3. Avatar photo Chris C says:

      It has to support both, as VM cut corners on their docsis upgrade, only the downstream is 3.1 hence the super limited upload speeds.

      Personally if I wasnt part of the invite, I would expect a discount. Invite only on a commercial service?

      If I sign up to VM (which I am considering due to lack of FTTP here, I will insist on a hub5 as part of the signup, else no new customer for them), sadly I expect existing customers under contract wont have the same leverage.

  4. Avatar photo Ig Og says:

    £££ triple digit a month no doubt.

    1. Avatar photo David sobis says:

      £1000 for 2.5gbit virgin that’s how much they charge because they are a rip off that’s why I left them .greed simples .

    2. Avatar photo VMO2 says:

      Life is too short to be so bitter, guys.

    3. Avatar photo David sobis says:

      No it’s not virgin media will be left in dust if gullible customers of vm 02 realise that there broadband a rip off even if your rich 5g and 6g plug and play is there future if virgin not careful they go the same way as Thomas cook ect bankrupt .

    4. Avatar photo Mark says:

      Dude, shut the hell up. 5G and 6G will never replace fixed line technology for the simple matter of reliability and consistency! Try doing a packet loss test on 5G VS full fibre and you’ll see the difference!

    5. Avatar photo John says:

      You what? Have your even used 5G?

      I get zero packet loss on 5G. Certainly no more than my 550Mb full fibre connection.

      I didn’t get packet loss on 4G LTE either.

      I agree that 5G is unlikely to replace fixed line broadband but it has nothing to do with packet loss.

      It’s latency and jitter that impact most wireless protocols.

    6. Avatar photo MikeyMole says:

      Grumpy David strikes back!

      I can’t WAIT to have virgin take my money for this 😀

      2.2Gbps mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

    7. Avatar photo EAMON says:

      I’ve got the new HUB 5 and with it upgraded to the 1Gbps broadband from 350Mbps – £38.00 to £44.50 a month – no new contract and I needed to add baby TV for out 6 month old (£5 on its own) So not expensive really when standard FTTC 80/20 lines are going for £30 a month!

      Just wanted to confirm that I haev mine in Modem mode so that does work and it a decent step up from the HUB 3

      One problem I did have was during the upgrade I still had to pay for the HUB 4 as the system won’t confirm the HUB 5 is compatible with their 1Gbps speeds! Got it credited after speaking to custmer care though as I pointed them to an article that states teh HUB 5 is ready for the 2.2Gbps speeds that were tested and it has a 2.5Gbps Lan/Wan port so this is obviousl a mistake. I chalked this down to internal admin as it’s aboviously going to be capable being the next gen WiFi 6 model for rollout next ear.

  5. Avatar photo Peter says:

    My guess is this will become the norm in 2022 after they switch the entire network to Docsis 3.1 then they’ll launch their 2.2Gb package.

    But that 2.5Gb port will come in so handy be able to make use of the full speed of the 1.1Gb connection especially if you want to use your own network kit.

    1. Avatar photo James says:

      Let’s hope it actually has modem mode!

    2. Avatar photo NeilM says:

      I thought LAN 1 was the port for Modem mode? Maybe it’s any port on the new model.

      It is a shame the rest of the ports weren’t 2.5Gbps. It’s a start, though.

    3. Avatar photo Peter says:

      NeilM I’m sure it works with any port on the hub 3 and 4, VM has confirmed that it does in fact support modem mode.

    4. Avatar photo David Wheatley says:

      @NeilM The Hub 4 actually supports multiple ports in modem mode, so long as they are plugged in BEFORE setting modem mode to on and rebooting. This lets you aggregate 2x 1 Gbps Ethernet ports in a high quality switch or router.

    5. Avatar photo Charles M says:

      You can use multiple ports after you put into modem only mode.

      Actually to be fair multiple ports will actually work in regular mode to one of the routers that supports round robin.

    6. Avatar photo Matt says:

      I think people are failing to see that most equiment we own atm have only one gbps ports

    7. Avatar photo Peter says:

      Speak for yourself @Matt! Some of us want to use our own equipment and have Multi gigabit equipment

    8. Avatar photo HD says:

      Do you have any more info on how to aggregate multiple ports on a hub 4 in modem mode? What protocol is it using?

  6. Avatar photo dave jones says:

    Maybe they are planning on giving all of these customers a superhub 5 by the end of next year so that they can switch off doscis 3.0 and just use 3.1. This would also mean that all their customers would have 802.11ax and no more complaints about latency due to intel puma chipset. WPA3 support would be good for marketing purposes too. Virgin won’t need to release a new superhub until they switch over to fttp as there is no replacement for 802.11ax in development and this router can cope with 2Gbps+ broadband so this could be their last non-fttp superhub.

    1. Avatar photo Rich says:

      Certainly for now when Vermin say FTTP they mean RFoG or, FTTP subject to most of the limitations of copper.

      GPON or XSGPON will come much later as it’s more important to them to have a unified national product stack than it is to compete on a local level, hence you have areas with gigabit up and down for £40 a month where Vermin still try to sell 500mbit down 35mbit up for £56/m.

    2. Avatar photo VMO2 says:

      They’ve about 5.5 million broadband customers. They aren’t going to be able to source 5.5 million Hub 5s and even if they could they wouldn’t want to pay all that in one year and wouldn’t want to write off a load of 3.0 equipment they upgraded not that long ago.

    3. Avatar photo John says:

      When Virgin say FTTP they mean FTTP.
      It’s Fibre to the Premises. It’s FTTP.

      I could see some fibre snob saying something like only point-to-point fibre is the gold standard.
      I really don’t understand this fake FTTP nonsense.

      You know that RFOG is capable of delivering considerably more bandwidth than GPON?

      What makes GPON qualify as FTTP but not RFOG?
      Is EPON good enough to be called FTTP for you?

      I think their network is currently rubbish and left at the 1st opportunity, but it’s very much FTTP on my wall.

      Take the Virgin chip off your shoulder.

    4. Avatar photo MikeyMole says:

      If they do what you have described I will be ONE HAPPY CHAPPY!

  7. Avatar photo Buggerlugz says:

    Guess still being on DOCSYS 3 means I won’t be getting one then?

    1. Avatar photo Brian says:

      Every customer will be able to receive gig 1 by end of the year. The move away from the puma chipset is long over due, nearly all BB issues are down to connectivity , hub 3 in modem mode with a decent 3rd party router generally are happy

  8. Avatar photo Pezza says:

    Ooh the first ISP router with WiFi 6 and a 2.5GB WAN port, nice.

    1. Avatar photo Iain says:

      Ah, are they the first retail ISP with WiFi 6? That’s sweet. WiFi 6 gives much better speeds (in the real world, not just labs).

    2. Avatar photo anonymous says:

      It is, but they’ll take so long to roll it out to everyone that others will get there first 🙂

    3. Avatar photo sebbb says:

      They are in the UK maybe. Not in Europe.

  9. Avatar photo Terra Nova says:

    lol at everyone asking when can i get mine.

    have you all got 2.5gig VM? no? Then you don’t need one. b-but puma cpu bad. yep and yet your internet still works doesn’t it ?

    1. Avatar photo Goat says:

      Apply that logic to other things in life and see what you end up with.

      It just works, great.

    2. Avatar photo Peter says:

      But VM does offer 1.1Gb connection so can make use of that with the 2.5Gb port.thats an extra 200Mb

    3. Avatar photo anonymous says:

      @Terra Nova

      What a load of badly informed tosh you spout there.

      Firstly, the HUB5 helps anyone on DocSIS 3.0 too as it can use 32 downstream bonded channels instead of the Hub 3.0 24 channels. This means better bandwidth availability, particularly in more congested areas and helps everyone in that area spread the load.

      Secondly, the HUb4 for 1GB users cannot do the full speed download via the LAN ports unless people start aggregating LAN connections and the HUB5 can do it from one port and give like circa 200mbps extra speed over a HUB4 LAN port being connected.

      Thirdly, for a lot of people the extra WIFI AX support over the AC support on the HUB 3.0

      Fourthly, the router has better WIFI security with WPA3 support. Again for people who have WPA3 capable devices. Previous hubs were WPA/WPA2.

      And lastly, no PUMA chipset that dogged the Hub 3.0 and Hub 4.0 meaning inherit Intel Puma design latency issues gone.

      So, in short, a number of valid reasons why people want an upgrade to HUB5 now…

    4. Avatar photo Buggerlugz says:

      Who’s got a 2.5gb motherboard/network card anyways?

    5. Avatar photo Dom says:

      @Buggerlugz
      Me.? Most half decent new motherboards include 2.5G networking.
      I got midrange ASUS B550 motherboard and yes it does have it.

    6. Avatar photo Matt says:

      You have to have 6 ax equipment to use ax6 WiFi

    7. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Bit condescending isn’t it, depends what you want the Internet for. Yes the puma chip is bad and if you are into gaming then no the Internet does not work properly because of the bad connection and latency from the puma chip, so why do you blame people for wanting the hub 5 hopefully with the upload speed going to 100 plus.

  10. Avatar photo Ol'Blue says:

    I’ve only just received an invitation email to receive the Hub 4.0 …

    1. Avatar photo John says:

      If you want the Hub 5 then don’t take the Hub 4.

      They want to replace as much DOCSIS 3.0 kit as they can and will prioritize the older models.

  11. Avatar photo Ronnie says:

    Im still running the same white hub3 which i was given as part of a trial for new hardware back in 2015. Wouldn’t mind an upgrade to Hub 5

  12. Avatar photo Robin says:

    I currently have my SH4 in modem mode with two Lan ports bonded, works nicely

    1. Avatar photo anonymous says:

      Trouble is that is not easy for a number of people. Your router needs to support LAN aggregation to properly use bonded ports (a lot of people using 3rd party router don’t) and also the VM hub itself has to support it. Oh, and you use two ports up.

      I’d rather one port, though admittedly, your own router would have to support a 2.5gbs WAN port too.

    2. Avatar photo Matt says:

      How did you do that dose hub 4 support link aggregation? And how have you set that up?

    3. Avatar photo Matt says:

      My 3rd party router supports 2.5gbps port allready and link aggregation but I take it virgin hub 4 dose not support this?

  13. Avatar photo anonymous says:

    Just out of interest, where are the lights on this HUb5? On the top?
    The front panel is fabric.

  14. Avatar photo Dick says:

    I am still on VM Superhub 2ac..
    Any chance of getting this upgrade?

    1. Avatar photo Brian says:

      Hub 2ac is better than hub 3 imo but unless invited to upgrade for free will come with a 35 quid activation fee

    2. Avatar photo Peter says:

      SH2ac here as well, luckily not been forced onto the SH3 so hoping to jump to SH5 now 😀

    3. Avatar photo Dickm says:

      Also on Hub 2ac, but in modem mode.
      Hub 5 due to arrive today as free upgrade.
      Will add comments tomorrow

  15. Avatar photo Karl Betts says:

    Does anyone know if the 1 x 2.5Gbps Broadcom 54991EL port is the modem only port yet ?

    1. Avatar photo John says:

      Likely any port, as it is with the Hub 4.

      Just make sure to connect to the port before enabling modem mode.

  16. Avatar photo anonymous says:

    Its on port 4 which USED to be the port for modem only (HUB3 changed to any port).

    To support a future speed tier abover 1GB it probably is the WAN port when modem only.

  17. Avatar photo ThatTechGuy says:

    And just like all the previous hubs it’ll be barely fit for purpose, everyone do yourselves a favour and buy your own router and put the sh*t Virgin hub into modem mode.

    1. Avatar photo MikeyMole says:

      Hopefully this router will actually be worthy of the line speed.

      But for Hub 3/4… I can’t disagree. I use pfsense and dedicated wifi APs, and it works a dream though.

  18. Avatar photo drevilbob says:

    Called them about it to see if I be added to the testing list but was refused, apparently it’s only being given to engineers at this point in time *Bull*

  19. Avatar photo Rich Branston says:

    “At Virgin Media O2 we don’t stand still and are constantly working to give our customers the latest and most innovative technology to suit their digital needs now and in the future.”

    (Dual-stack) IPv6 any year now.

    1. Avatar photo MikeyMole says:

      What’s so good about IPV6? Substantively how will it change the average users experience?

    2. Avatar photo 6in4 says:

      I’d settle for ability to run 6in4 tunnel without throttling.

    3. Avatar photo Rich Branston says:

      @MikeyMole
      No more NAT restrictions playing games, communicating in games or using services like video calling at home. More reliable and secure than UPnP and more user-friendly than manual port forwarding.

    4. Avatar photo Graham says:

      I did not think IPv6 is the same as WI-FI_6. WHAT DO YOU THINK. 🙂 Explain, please?

    5. Avatar photo Rich Branston says:

      @ Graham
      It has nothing to do with WiFi 6.

      Compare the quote with VM’s very long-delayed rollout of IPv6.

    6. Avatar photo MikeyMole says:

      Nah I don’t buy it. IP4 is fine for pretty much everything and most people don’t know what port forwarding is let alone how to do it.

      And reliability? How is it more reliable?

    7. Avatar photo sebbb says:

      @MikeyMole maybe you need to look outside your own backyard and remember that IPv4s are terminated and new ISPs won’t have enough (and remember of course that this is an enthusiast/above-average-users website). Example: Sky in Italy launched their greenfield ISP last year. They couldn’t get enough IPv4s for everyone, their transport network is going to use MAP-T, meaning IPv6 only. IPv4 is an overlay service on that (so as of now only OpenWRT in the world supports it) and will share one v4 address every 16 customers. This means there’s no p2p possible because not all 65536 ports are for you to use and you cannot open them as you like. Therefore, the only way I have to establish a p2p connection to home in Italy is via IPv6. But most and foremost, why do we have to use “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” here? Because that works great as we know, yeah.

  20. Avatar photo Goody two shoes says:

    I have it on good authority that these devices aren’t even supported internally in VMO2 so they certainly shouldn’t be shipping them to customers. It might work, and it might get you good speeds, but customer service won’t have a scooby doo and you won’t be able to use any of the remote management features that are coming (already available in other markets like Netherlands, Switzerland, etc)

    1. Avatar photo Rich Branston says:

      What exactly do these remote management features allow the home-user or VM to do?

    2. Avatar photo Winston Smith says:

      ‘…but customer service won’t have a scooby doo’. Are you implying that it’s usually otherwise?

  21. Avatar photo JitteryPinger says:

    Finally they drop Intel, looks like a promising step forward.

  22. Avatar photo Dave says:

    Excellent. A regular shaped modem that’ll fit in my comms cabinet. Looking forward to this upgrade.

  23. Avatar photo Sean Smith says:

    Slightly annoying… On the 12th Oct I upgraded to 1gig and just got the hub4… I might be waiting a while to get the hub5

    1. Avatar photo Danny says:

      I would recommend getting your own WiFi mesh system that is AX WiFi capable

    2. Avatar photo Sean Smith says:

      I need the 2.5Gb port really. And since a router with this port costs a good chunk id rather just get the free option from VM02.

      The VM02 router is more than meeting my needs.

      I have no need for a mesh wifi system for gods sake.

  24. Avatar photo Andrew says:

    Can the hub 5 be put into modem mode like you can with the hub4?

    1. Avatar photo JP says:

      I would immagine so, its unlike any of the cable operators across the world to not included a bridge mode.

      However all could be about to change, but would be a bad move for Virgin, specially for the Gig1 service and its pro users.

  25. Avatar photo Ryan Arbuckle says:

    I had nothing but issues going from Hub 3 to 4 – Lost all faith in Virgin.

    Happily on BT FTTP 500 with RT-AX88U 🙂

  26. Avatar photo zzing says:

    Curious if this is a play to light up DOCSIS 3.1 on upload too? The asymmetry of Virgin’s speeds leaves a bit to be desired.

    1. Avatar photo Buggerlugz says:

      A bit? Its appalling.

    2. Avatar photo anonymous says:

      Yes. 3.0 channels can be gotten rid of and the spectrum used for 3.1.

  27. Avatar photo Jack Manfred says:

    Why does the front look a soundbar?

    1. Avatar photo anonymous says:

      Ventilation.

    2. Avatar photo Rich Branston says:

      The apparent (still only low-res, limited angle photos) use of a fairly dense fabric mesh isn’t going to encourage good airflow and you can see open ventilation ports on at least one side, probably both.

      I think it’s an attempt to fit aesthetically with smart speakers and the like. Perhaps hoping users don’t hide the router behind other equipment, reducing WiFi signal strength. I think it’s much uglier than the Hub 4, the mesh only covering the front does little to disguise the overall appearance.

      But if it’s functional, most would be willing to put up with the eye-sore. Or put it in modem mode, hide it and use their own WiFi router in full view.

  28. Avatar photo Graham says:

    Their Lan side is only 1GB, so go buy an honor Mesh Router that supports WI-FI_6 at 3000Mbps for about £40, or even two or three of them to extend the range with true mesh technology.

    Supports 3Gb throughput, ready now and no extra monthly cost predicted to pay for a kit that you will never own. The good thing is if you do decide to change provider you take the mesh devices with you and keep your SSID available so you don’t have to reconfigure all your devices to connect to the available wifi.

    be in control, don’t let them dictate to you what you can have. 1GB internet connection is miles away for the majority.

    1. Avatar photo AQX says:

      1Gb is at 85% network coverage of Virgin with them planning on doing 100% network coverage by the end of this year, which so far seems to be possible.
      Not really far out as you say it is, and if you ever speak to Virgin they recommend you buy alternative boosters/mesh kits and only buy the Plume pod stuff they offer if you can’t afford to fork out for a decent mesh kit.
      And considering its £5 for all 3 of their pod things when they’re around £99+ from Plume. That’s a good little deal.

    2. Avatar photo AQX says:

      editing: some of retentions will say to get pods as will customer services&faults but personally I’ve been told a handful of times about buying kit off Amazon

  29. Avatar photo David sobis says:

    You lot wanna look at virgin media 02 on trust pilot are rubbish and overpriced they are on reviews all you lot are virgin media shills or sheep I’m entitled to my own opinion so many gullible sheep still thinks vm02 best isp in the uk psml

    (My experience with virgin )
    That’s why I left them because they greedy and rubbish I had loads out outages when I was with them and when I downgraded from m500 I was on a upselling discount standard price £62 to £20 that’s a £42 discount for 18 months to m350 for £14 I was told it be on my old contract ending 21/07/22 but I found they on a new 18 month contract without me knowing so I rang up and cancelled saying your very crafty and deceitful so no edf as I was in a 14 day cooling off period . I’m just waiting for a cheque as I cancelled 30 day in 29/08/21 and disconnection date was 28/09/21. So it’s been nearly 3 weeks so I’m waiting for cheque now . Also I’m now using a 4g home broadband router now plug and play as no 5g in my postcode yet . I won’t be going back to virgin media 02 even if was free . Twice bitten twice shy never again .

    (This is one review of trust pilot not mine on trust pilot

    Huge exit fees for left months. I incurred an exit fee of £235 when I was moving. I would not have re-entered a contract after my initial 12 months ended as I knew I was moving home but the telesales person when I was signing (now 18 months not 12 months btw) said early termination fees were small. I made a complaint when I contacted them to say I was cancelling. As they record calls I asked to have it reviewed as I believe that I have mis-sold. I’ve called them three times since the 25/9 with no joy. Customer service is garbage. Today 20/10 I’ve just paid the bill and vowed that I will never use them again.

    I’ve used different broadband providers in past and always left with good terms. Not this time.

    Just read the Virgin response. I obviously knew that there would be a cancellation fee, my complaint was that I don’t remember it being explained that they would be so high. When I complained and asked to hear the original recording of the telesales call to confirm that I had been mis-sold to, I’ve heard absolutely nothing in nearly a month when I was initially told it would take up 7 days. Bunch of shysters – you’ve mugged me once and that’s enough. Never again.

    1. Avatar photo David sobis says:

      I’m not trolling either I just despise greedy isps like virgin media 02 I exspect this sort of think in USA like AT&T and Verizon ripping people off cable tv or broadband but not uk

      I just had rubbish and felt ripped off by virgin media hence why I despise them .

    2. Avatar photo anonymous says:

      No-one cares.

      Blowing off steam on one article is fair enough. Banging on and on about it each and every time the company is mentioned here is trolling.

      It’s business, not personal. If you are so thin skinned that you take it so personally counselling is an option.

    3. Avatar photo David sobis says:

      More bs drive from anonymous just another virgin shill move on . Mug

    4. Avatar photo anonymous says:

      Everything was factual. Get a grip and move on yourself, David. You’re behaving like you’ve just been dumped by someone you were besotted with and are bitter and twisted over it.

    5. Avatar photo John says:

      There you are David. I was wondering when you were going to pop up on this Virgin story.
      Give it a rest man. Nobody cares. You have a huge chip on your shoulder.

      It’s not healthy David 🙂 get some fresh air and let it go.

    6. Avatar photo Sunny says:

      issue is… VM DO have the best speeds that are most widely available for many … if its price wars then Hyperoptic, Gigaclear, KCOM and Community Fibre… ALLLLL offer same faster or similar speeds for WAYYYYYYY less… and a few of those EVEN offer 1gb down 1gb UP… YES UP speed is 1GB too… but do they deploy in your area NO… they will only deploy to NEW block of flats or apartments sites… my sister lived in a docklands isle in london… new block of apartments … all have access to 1GB up 1GB down if they wanted the speed.

  30. Avatar photo Steven Brown says:

    Good to see this a free upgrade, those of us who recently moved and paid an upfront cost to move to m1000 should be sent these first imo. Also just to add, virgin has been spot on for me.

  31. Avatar photo anonymous says:

    Although I was victim of the single thread download speed in 2017 (and that time browsers downloaded single thread) because of EOL CMTS kit, and I left because VM couldn’t give a fix date; VM did actually upgrade the whole CMTS to new kit over night within 6 months (it affected whole area).

    Whilst I agree that VM Customer Service is really terrible, my actual service generally has been excellent speeds at all times. I guess I am in a lucky area, even though it has high take-up of VM services because FTTC is so rubbish for most due to odd placement of BT green cabinets away from houses.

    I agree their services are way overpriced though post contract. I get fed up with retentions haggling every 12 or 18 months.

    And I agree their upstream speeds are just terrible too right now.

    But my speeds generally exceed stated download speed by around 30mbs and my billing is correct every month.

  32. Avatar photo CliveC says:

    Hope they have a version with business firmware to replace the Hitron. Maybe they will if they want to get rid of DOCSIS 3.0 devices.

  33. Avatar photo William Oneill says:

    Its got to be better than the hub 4 we have had nothing but trouble with it dropping the WiFi signal you could be sat next to it still not a WiFi signal he have had it in every room no change its been factory reset untold amount of times anything connected by ethernet is fine easier just to turn the WiFi off on the mobile phone I wouldn’t mind but there’s only two of us in the house let’s wait and see that’s my rant over

  34. Avatar photo Sunny says:

    I JUST got a 1GB VM installation today in Chigwell area, even I didn’t get the hub 5 spoke with the engineer thoroughly and he told me they haven’t even got hold of the HUB5 themselves yet…srtill within my 14 days, I should threaten to cancle unless i get the HUb 5 lol

  35. Avatar photo Marcin says:

    I’m receiving this router on Tuesday!

    1. Avatar photo Sunny says:

      how’d you rangle that?

  36. Avatar photo Johnpob says:

    It would be nice to know when in modem mode which lab port is active, seems a waste to disable the 2.5gbe

    1. Avatar photo JamesO says:

      I can confirm my Hub5 in modem mode uses port 4 (2.5gbe port), so that’s a plus.

    2. Avatar photo Karl Betts says:

      Well it would be a bit useless if it didn’t work like that !

  37. Avatar photo Jordan says:

    Huge information right here, spoke to the technicians on the virgin media site and they told me this hub5 is available to order on November 1st, i got a screenshot if needed!

    1. Avatar photo Sam says:

      Let’s see the screenshot

    2. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Good news, is that for everyone and I would like to see the screenshot please

    3. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Hmmm interesting, thank you for that, I might contact them myself now.

    4. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Well this was the response I got this morning, pretty much what I thought I would get actually.
      Hi, Peter! Thank you so much for reaching out to us and I am sorry that you got misinformed.

      As you know, the hub 5 is not yet available for you to get since this is still in a testing or pilot phase.

      As of 19th of October 2021, we have sent out emails to pre-selected customers to partake on our Pilot Phase and we are now waiting to consolidate the number of customers pre-selected to send their responses if they agree or not to partake and then we will be sending them the hub 5.

    5. Avatar photo Sam says:

      I’ve spoken to virginmedia. They said its invite only but I can register my interest which I’ve done.

  38. Avatar photo pip says:

    i get mine on tuesday, was surprised to find a virgin msg in my email that wasnt info on why prices were going up, thought it was fake tbh but here we are

    1. Avatar photo Matt says:

      Good luck it being any different buy your own virgin suck for routers also we only judt got hub 4 how eco of them

    2. Avatar photo Matt says:

      Why advertise a new router that you can’t get bore

  39. Avatar photo Mart says:

    Had anybody been able to order it today as Posted is in the screenshot ?

    1. Avatar photo Pip says:

      Sigh… I knew it was too good to be true, they sent me out the hub 4 today….

    2. Avatar photo Matt says:

      Yayyyyy another pile of s

  40. Avatar photo Matt says:

    I upgraded my broadband speed to Gig1 with Volt benefits and this morning took delivery of a Hub 4.

    Disappointed.

  41. Avatar photo Simon Holmes says:

    Hi all,

    Does anyone have a network switch connected to a Hub 4.0 that has QoS to help manage bandwidth between devices? I can’t tell whether or not this would work with a hub 4.0. The reviews that I have read suggest that sometimes a router QoS can override a switch QoS, making that feature redundant. e.g., here https://www.pcguide.com/reviews/best-gigabit-switch-for-home-network/
    Also, for the Hub 5.0, do we know the upload speed?
    Thanks

  42. Avatar photo Tyeth Gundry says:

    After 3hrs to VM after a hub5/4 I was about ready to hunt Branson down an embed my hub3 in his cranium. (They wouldnt accept fault, even after seeing router erroneously return modem mode during the call then back to normal, then accepting but claiming they couldnt replace it no matter what – no hub4 either as incompatible with streaming box)

    Instead after calming a little I found the trials site and stumbled to virginmedia.com/offers/befirst (tv streaming box trial that is stopping me get a gig) and then had the good sense to change the end bit to hub5 and what do you know it lets you fill in a form… Let the floodgates open:
    https://www.virginmedia.com/offers/hub5/

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Wow how the hell did you find this, I have filled it In so will see what happens, see if I get the email for the delivery on the 26th.
      Thank you so much.

    2. Avatar photo Dean Mason says:

      Oh, crikey. We can’t find that page

      Maybe the link you clicked is broken or you typed in the wrong address. Perhaps the page doesn’t exist any more. Or maybe it’s just a glitch in the matrix.

    3. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      I got onto last night and hopefully ordered it, says I will get my email confirmation in upto 14 days, but can’t get onto it now though?

  43. Avatar photo M says:

    Yeah a few of us managed to get order confirmation before vm knobbled it I have 3 pods as well which supposedly won’t work as yet but I’ll worry about that if I do receive the hub 5 not confident though

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Yeah I’m not confident either, but we can only hope, but still not had confirmation email yet

  44. Avatar photo M says:

    If we get an email I wouldn’t think it would be until the day before

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      I got a txt from virgin this morning saying they are sending me a pre paid returns pack to return there kit, nothing about the hub 5 though so I’m hoping it’s in the same package. But at least we now know that some kind of order got through to them. Hopefully you get your txt

  45. Avatar photo M says:

    I had one about my superpod but I would be surprised to get anything hub 5 related so soon

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Huh, yeah come to think about it I bet that’s what this is for, iv just had the new pods set up and they will want the old ones back

  46. Avatar photo Matt says:

    Has anyone successfully managed to get a Hub 5 through customer care/retentions at all or is it only invite only via email? Still on a Hub 3 here and would certainly like an upgrade along with all of the other Hub 3 users suffering…!

  47. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

    So slight update, I got my returns package, and it was for my router not my old WiFi pods. So I rang virgin and I used the leaving virgin extension, and said if I send my router back in this returns package I will have no router, he said I am down for the hub 5 but for some reason the agent couldn’t finalise the order, so the agent I talked to today said he has emailed him to do it again. So I still don’t know if I will get one or not?

    1. Avatar photo M says:

      Typical vm they don’t have a clue hopefully I will hear something from Tuesday next week

    2. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Fingers crossed you will hear something

  48. Avatar photo M says:

    We live in hope Peter cheers you too

  49. Avatar photo M says:

    Your heard anything mate ?

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Nope not yet, might give em another ring see what’s what

    2. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      I take it you haven’t either?

  50. Avatar photo Mark says:

    Any updates on the new Hub 5. Has anyone actually got one in the flesh and given it a whirl?

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      The guy I spoke to at virgin said I was the only one his ever heard of being allocated one? So must be pretty rare. But I still haven’t got one, don’t think I will at this rate

  51. Avatar photo M says:

    No nothing and they said nobody on the 1gb has been offered it and I don’t know anybody who has received it whatever we filled in Looks like It went in to cyberspace agh well hopefully next year

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Yeah it does look like the order didn’t go through properly, still they said a more extensive rollout in 2022 so hopefully not long to wait.

    2. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      I had an engineer round today and we talked about hub 5, he rang someone and asked when we were getting the hub in this area, Lincolnshire, he was told in March next year, they are binning the hub4 and hub 3 and are going onto the hub 5,so hopefully not to long to wait for the hub5. But who knows??

  52. Avatar photo M says:

    A load more invites have been sent out today and a senior mod did say nobody will get a hub5 unless they are invited which I’m presuming they was referring to the link we filled out as well

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      I think the stumbling block is for me there are no hub5 in this area at all, the engineer said he has just come back from 3 weeks in london where they are starting to roll them out down there, but it’s just sit and waiting again.

  53. Avatar photo M says:

    I would of thought they are all in a warehouse to be sent out anywhere in the country they won’t be on the engineers vans just yet so location shouldn’t be a problem

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Yes you are most probably right, but if we don’t hear anything soon then I think it’s just waiting for our area’s to be allocated, it’s still quite early in the hub 5s life. But I do wish they would bloody hurry up lol.

  54. Avatar photo M says:

    Well my delivery was today which I think is going to come and go agh well maybe next year

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Bummer, I think mine is tomorrow but had no further communication with them about it so I won’t be getting it either, still it was worth a try, hopefully early next year then for both of us

  55. Avatar photo Derek says:

    Yeeeeehaaaa ,,,,,,, My Virgin Hub 5 just arrived. :))))))))

  56. Avatar photo Jonathan says:

    Mine was due yesterday, after been told they was no more supply my customer services, then said they was and it’s definitely been delivered no such luck whatsoever. I have been told anyone with WiFi Pods won’t he sent a hub 4 as the WiFi Pods don’t work yet with the hub 5.

    Now here’s the thing, I trialled the WiFi Pods hence why I have the pods, they was work in my area in August and October and speeds was rubbish so to rule out the hub 3 been at fault which I also trialed they decided to send me the hub 4.

    After having the hub 4 for a few days speed was still no better and issues pairing the pods so I left them unpaired and put the hub in modem mode used my own router.

    A few days after that got the email to order a hub 5 so ordered the hub 6 26 days ok, selected the delivery date on 24th November. On asking last week why wasn’t the order showing in my orders I was told it won’t as the ‘back end team’ are sorting it.

    Anyway 2 days into it coming I asked them do you have a tracking number to be bow told no supply and won’t be getting it, then another person told me the actual delivery date was the date is get confirmation email, then from someone else telling me it’s definitely coming.

    Well never arrived and the excuse from community forums was because I have the WiFi Pods, even though they are unpaired and not currently used but I didn’t pair them knowning a hub 5 was supposed to come yesterday and knew they wasn’t compatible yet.

    So been penalised for trialing the WiFi Pods and having them stopped me getting the hub 5 delivered which is ridiculous.

    Be interesting to see if anyone with WiFi Pods have had the hub 5 delivered as I feel it’s another fob the customer off story again.

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      iv been getting frustrated with them saying it’s on order then they couldn’t process it so did it again and still not arrived, think I’m just gonna sit quietly and wait now, sick of ringing them up, and I have the WiFi pods as well?

  57. Avatar photo M says:

    Same here I have 3 pods too the lad who posted the link said vm told him too wait for a text of yodel they are delayed so who knows

  58. Avatar photo Jake says:

    Endless excuses given from them no wonder their is too 3 for complaints

  59. Avatar photo Derek says:

    Guess Virgin are too stingy to make new software for the settings in the Hub 5.
    They are the same as the Hub 3.
    Welcome to the Hub 3 ,, Hub 3 Status etc, etc.
    WiFi range and speed are as good as my Asus RT-AC87U , certainly better than the Hub 3.
    Max latency seems to be a bit lower than the Hub 3 on my Broadband Quality Monitor , will soon find out for sure as it gets to peak usage time.
    Fingers crossed ,, it seems like it might be worth the wait to get it. 🙂

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Let’s hope it’s everything we need, keep us posted on how it performs please

  60. Avatar photo Derek says:

    You can see where I changed over the Hubs.
    The large spikes up to midnight, was me downloading some large files.
    After midnight I changed the hub over to modem mode only.

    https://imgur.com/a/zclCpDc

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      It will be interesting to see how it performs in next couple of weeks, I’m in a high utilisation area, no other isp only through the phone lines. So I’m hoping it will help with my latency.

  61. Avatar photo M says:

    Yeah just had it verified if you have pods you will not be offered the hub 5 as it doesn’t work with it but next it will when next year is another question

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Damn, they actually talked me into getting the pods, I wasn’t that bothered lol, bad timing I guess, still I think we would have to wait till next year anyway cos we didn’t get a proper invite. It might not be all its cracked upto be anyway, look at the hub 4, that was supposed to be the all singing all dancing hub of the future? Now there getting rid of it, trouble is just how long have we got too wait might be a couple of years yet.

    2. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      They will have to make the pods work with hub5 sooner or later otherwise they will have to bin the pods as well.

  62. Avatar photo Sara says:

    Got my invite today via email, thank you very much virgin, get it on the 14th Dec. 😉

    1. Avatar photo Peter Smith says:

      Nice, are you on hub 3 or hub 4

    2. Avatar photo Jonathan says:

      Invites mean nothing I now know 5 people who got invites with no WiFi Pods, have hub 3 and hub 4 not one 1 gig and received nothing

  63. Avatar photo Robbie says:

    Received a Hub 5 plugged it in disconnected my hub 3 and it does not work 4 calls to virgin and they are sending an engineer out, asked could I reconnect my Hub 3 as we both work from home plugged the 3 back in and its working fine so will be interesting to see what the engineer does to make it work.We are in Liverpool

  64. Avatar photo Tony says:

    Received an invite for a hub 5 from virgin 2 weeks ago and hub arrived last week. Plugged in and connected without an issue we live in Liverpool

  65. Avatar photo Anna says:

    My HUB 5 is supposed to be arriving on 17th December. I’m in South London/Surrey borders. I’m not savvy with this stuff but am hoping some of my TP Link AV2000 Powerline extenders will work/connect with it as well as being able to plug in my cables to log cabin and 2 dead spots in the house (Just a bit concerned the connection ports may not be the same). Ultimately, on reading up on this hub that it’s the speeds and less interference that customers benefit from and not the spread of the WIFI but I’ll keep you all posted.

  66. Avatar photo Jay says:

    There seems to a lot of faulty hub 5 routers. Received mine last week and already had it replaced on Saturday for another hub 5. Engineer said seems to be a faulty batch.
    After he left, same reboot issues started again on the newer hub 5.
    Log shows same critical error message “Cable Modem Reboot from SNMP”. As of writing this so far since this morning it has rebooted 15 times!

  67. Avatar photo Alan R says:

    Hi. In modem mode on the hub 5 will the ethernet port 4 with 2.4gb be available? The reason I ask is when u put hub 4 into modem mode ONLY port one is used as the rest will not pass through Internet. Looking at Hub 5 port 4 is 2.4gb so if goes the same way as hub 4 when put in modem mode then we would loose 2.4gb connection which would be crazy. Hope this os not the case.

    1. Avatar photo Derek Millar says:

      Yes ,, you use the 2.5Gbps port when in modem mode.

  68. Avatar photo Smiggo says:

    I’m currently on the 1gig contract with a hub 4. I had the option to upgrade the hub on the my virgin site so I agreed to do that, it doesn’t say that I will get a hub 5 but i assume I will.

  69. Avatar photo Stephen kelly says:

    I received the new hub 5 last year after a failure on installing it was replaced .
    Unfortunately now that I am trying to fine tune the settings you are unable to apply any port forwarding rules on this router as it is locked out, there is however approx 30 rules that have been prepopulated by my synology nas on my network.
    I been advised via the forums to swith to modem mode and buy my own router ???

  70. Avatar photo Dickm says:

    Surely the ‘new’ VM Hub 5 is obsolete, thus they are offering free upgrades.
    Hub 5 is WiFi 6 NOT WiFi 6E..??
    To get the WiFi 6E I will have to be in modem mode anyway to my Netgear equipment..
    My phone has WiFi 6E a Pixel 6
    Perhaps we should wait for a VM Hub 6 with WiFi 6E..??

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