Can I just have the TV with Virgin media and take the broadband with another company?

[craigpw]

Hello

I had a visit yesterday from a representative of Hey Broadband. He came in, checked the speed of my router and mentioned the speed was about 75MB/s. This turned out to be the upload speed. I'm happy with the speeds I'm getting from Virgin.

When I mentioned that I was in a contract with Virgin Media (VM) until Jan 2026, and I would particularly like to keep the TV and landline phone service as it is, he said that 'this didn't matter, we will pay off the broadband part directly to VM and you will receive a reduction in your VM bill to reflect that you won't be taking your broadband with them'. He seemed to indicate that they would also provide the landline phone service and I can keep my existing number.

What I'm asking is that surely I can't just continue to have the TV with VM and pay my landline and broadband costs to Hey Broadband (which looks to be cheaper). My understanding is that I would need to have the broadband with VM in order to take the TV service. Another concern I have is that I currently receive some promotional discounts which may be lost if any adjustments are made to my account.

Please can you clarify this for me as I may need to cancel the installation if my thinking is correct.

Many thanks

[japitts]

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@craigpw wrote:

My understanding is that I would need to have the broadband with VM in order to take the TV service

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This is correct. VM's TV services require VM home broadband.

[craigpw]

Many thanks japitts. It is what I thought but the guy said that he's signed up several people that morning who have VM.

Looks like I'll need to cancel the installation.

[japitts]

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@craigpw wrote:

the guy said that he's signed up several people that morning who have VM.

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If those users try to use VM-TV with a non-VM broadband connection, they're in for a shock! At that point, I doubt the salesman will be anywhere to be found.....

[Roger_Gooner]

This isn't the first time we've heard of salesmen from Hey!Broadband telling porkies to get new business.

[Tudor]

The answer is No, but it needs qualifying. If you have one broadband connection it is certainly No. You can, if you use your own router with the VM Hub in modem mode, have another broadband connection as well. So the answer in this case is Yes. Good for redundancy if you work from home and totally depend on the internet.

[nodrogd]

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@Roger_Gooner wrote:

This isn't the first time we've heard of salesmen from Hey!Broadband telling porkies to get new business.

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No, it's not. They have given me the same c**p on the doorstep. Also told me I would have to move away from VM eventually as they could not upgrade to full fibre. Put them right on both points. They have been down the street numerous times since, but I've never had another visit. I wonder why? 🤔

[craigpw]

Many thanks for all your responses. I think they were doing the rounds on Friday was that my address can now get full fibre from BT/Sky/EE etc and they thought they were under threat. 

It's also good to highlight this to other members of the community who may find themselves in a similar situation.