Last checked: 18 August 2026
Gig2 is roughly twice as fast as Gig1 — but that doesn't mean it will feel twice as fast
Virgin Media Gig1 already delivers around gigabit-class broadband and is far beyond the requirements of ordinary streaming, browsing, video calls and online gaming.
Gig2 pushes Virgin into genuine multi-gigabit territory and, more importantly for some users, opens the door to much faster uploads on Virgin's newer Full Fibre network.
Gig1 is more widely available. Gig2 requires eligible Virgin Full Fibre coverage, so check the address before spending time comparing them.
Virgin Media Gig1 vs Gig2: quick comparison
Gig1
~1.13Gbps- About 1,130Mbps average download
- About 104Mbps average upload
- Available across more of Virgin's footprint
- WiFi Max included
- Excellent for huge downloads
- More than enough for most heavy households
Gig2
~2Gbps- Around 2Gbps headline download performance
- Around 200Mbps standard upload
- Optional symmetrical upload upgrade
- XGS-PON Full Fibre
- Hub 5x in eligible Gig2 areas
- Designed for multi-gigabit demand
| Feature | Gig1 | Gig2 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download speed | ~1,130Mbps | ~2,000Mbps+ | Gig2 |
| Standard upload | ~104Mbps | ~200Mbps | Gig2 |
| Optional symmetrical upload | No equivalent 2Gbps option | Available on qualifying Gig2 Full Fibre | Gig2 |
| Availability | More widely available | Eligible Full Fibre areas only | Gig1 |
| WiFi Max | Included | Included | Draw |
| Ordinary streaming | Massive headroom | Massive headroom | Draw |
| Huge downloads | Extremely fast | Roughly twice the capacity | Gig2 |
| Value for most households | Usually stronger | More specialist | Gig1 |
How much faster is Gig2 than Gig1?
On headline bandwidth, roughly twice as fast.
Gig1 sits at around 1.13Gbps while Gig2 is a roughly 2Gbps-class service.
That difference can be enormous when an application can actually use all of the available connection.
Examples include:
- Downloading very large games
- Downloading huge video projects
- Restoring large cloud backups
- Moving data from fast remote servers
- Several heavy users downloading simultaneously
But this does not mean ordinary internet use becomes twice as responsive.
A web page that needs a fraction of a second to transfer its data does not suddenly become meaningfully different because the broadband line moves from 1Gbps to 2Gbps.
A single 4K video stream also requires only a small fraction of either package.
Gig1 vs Gig2 upload speed
This can be more important than the download comparison.
Gig1 currently provides around 104Mbps average upload speed.
Gig2's standard upload is around 200Mbps.
Virgin also currently offers Gig2 customers on eligible Full Fibre connections the option to boost upload speed so that it matches the approximately 2Gbps download performance.
Virgin currently charges £6 per month for that symmetrical upload upgrade.
Gig1 upload is enough for...
- Normal cloud storage
- Video calls
- Online gaming
- Uploading ordinary photos and video
- Home working
- Most household backups
Gig2 symmetrical upload is useful for...
- Very large video projects
- Professional cloud workflows
- Huge NAS backups
- Regular multi-gigabyte uploads
- Content-production workflows
- Users moving enormous files in both directions
Is Gig2 available everywhere Gig1 is?
No.
Gig1 is Virgin's most widely available gigabit-class service.
Gig2 requires eligible newer Full Fibre coverage using Virgin's XGS-PON architecture.
That means many addresses can order Gig1 but cannot currently order Gig2.
So before deciding whether Gig2 is worth the money, confirm that it actually exists at your postcode.
Your postcode determines whether Gig1 is the ceiling or Gig2 Full Fibre is available.
Gig1 vs Gig2 network technology
The speed difference is only part of the story.
Virgin's newer Gig2 footprint uses XGS-PON Fibre to the Premises.
Fibre therefore reaches the property on those connections.
Gig1 has broader availability and can be delivered across more of Virgin's existing network estate.
This is why Gig2 should be viewed as a newer Full Fibre proposition rather than simply another speed slider sitting above Gig1.
Why does XGS-PON matter?
XGS-PON has substantially greater multi-gigabit capacity and supports Virgin's much stronger symmetrical upload proposition.
It also gives Virgin more room to increase speeds in future without relying on exactly the same underlying technology as its established cable network.
That said, none of that makes a good Gig1 connection suddenly inadequate.
A stable 1.13Gbps home broadband line remains an enormous amount of consumer bandwidth.
Do Gig1 and Gig2 use different Virgin Hubs?
Potentially, because Virgin uses different hardware with different network types.
Gig2 Full Fibre is associated with Virgin's Hub 5x, which supports XGS-PON and has a 10Gbps Ethernet port.
Gig1 is widely delivered using Virgin's established Hub hardware, including Hub 5 where appropriate.
The key distinction is not simply that one router is “better”.
The hardware reflects the underlying network.
Our dedicated Virgin Media Hub 5 vs Hub 5x comparison explains why their Wi-Fi specifications are far more similar than many people expect.
Will Gig2 give you better Wi-Fi than Gig1?
Not automatically.
This is one of the most important points in the comparison.
Your broadband line speed measures the capacity delivered to the Hub.
Your Wi-Fi speed depends on:
- Router placement
- Distance from the Hub
- Walls and floors
- Wireless interference
- The device's own Wi-Fi hardware
- How many devices share the wireless network
Both Gig1 and Gig2 currently include Virgin's WiFi Max proposition.
Virgin's guarantee targets at least 30Mbps in eligible rooms and can provide up to three WiFi Pods where required under the qualifying process.
Check WiFi Max and Pods before upgrading from an already extremely fast Gig1 line.
Gig1 vs Gig2 for gaming
Gig2 is not twice as good for online gaming.
Once an online game is running, it generally consumes only a small amount of bandwidth compared with either Virgin package.
More important factors are:
- Latency
- Packet loss
- Jitter
- Connection stability
- Local Wi-Fi quality
- Whether the console or PC uses Ethernet
Where the faster package can matter is downloading the game itself.
Modern games and updates can be enormous, and this is precisely the kind of workload capable of benefiting from multi-gigabit bandwidth when the download server and local hardware can keep up.
Gig1 vs Gig2 for huge downloads
This is one of the clearest Gig2 use cases.
Gig1
Already extremely fastA well-connected device can download large games, applications and media files at speeds that would have seemed extraordinary on older broadband.
For most households, waiting for downloads becomes a relatively minor inconvenience.
Gig2
Built for extreme transfersWhere the server, network and device can all keep up, Gig2 gives roughly twice Gig1's total headline download capacity.
That becomes meaningful when moving hundreds of gigabytes regularly.
The catch is that the source also needs to send the data fast enough.
A 2Gbps broadband line cannot force a remote games platform, cloud provider or website to deliver 2Gbps to your device.
What about several people downloading at once?
This is another situation where Gig2 can make more sense.
Imagine a household where:
- One person downloads a 150GB game
- Another works with large cloud files
- Several televisions stream 4K content
- Other devices run backups
- Multiple PCs are active simultaneously
Gig1 still has enough total bandwidth for an enormous amount of activity.
Gig2 simply gives the household even more shared capacity before users begin competing with one another.
For an ordinary family, that extra reserve is mostly unnecessary.
For an unusually heavy technology household, it becomes more credible.
Gig1 vs Gig2 for working from home
Ordinary home working does not justify Gig2.
Email, cloud documents, Teams, Zoom and web applications require nowhere near 1Gbps, never mind 2Gbps.
Gig2 becomes interesting when “working from home” actually means transferring enormous professional datasets.
Normal remote work
Email, calls, browser applications, documents, cloud software and occasional file transfers.
Gig1 is already excessiveProfessional data workflow
RAW video, production files, huge backups, remote editing, server data and regular multi-gigabyte transfers.
Gig2 can make senseAgain, the upload side can be more important than the headline download difference.
Can your devices actually use Gig2?
This is where many Gig2 buyers can hit a bottleneck.
A conventional 1Gbps Ethernet port cannot carry a full 2Gbps internet connection to one device.
To exceed gigabit speed on one wired computer, you need faster networking hardware.
That can include:
- 2.5Gbps Ethernet
- 5Gbps Ethernet
- 10Gbps Ethernet
- Suitable Ethernet cabling
- A sufficiently fast PC or storage device
Hub 5x's 10Gbps Ethernet interface gives the router plenty of capacity.
The question is whether the device on the other end also has multi-gigabit networking.
Can Wi-Fi exceed 1Gbps?
Under good conditions, modern Wi-Fi can deliver very high speeds to suitable devices.
But real wireless performance depends on distance, interference, client capability and network conditions.
For predictable multi-gigabit use, wired networking remains the clearer route.
Is Gig2 worth paying more than Gig1?
For most people, no.
Not because Gig2 is a poor product.
It is because Gig1 is already extraordinarily fast.
The incremental value therefore depends on whether you can identify an actual workload that Gig1 does not handle well enough.
Virgin's promotional broadband pricing changes regularly and can vary by postcode, so we keep live deal tracking on our dedicated Virgin Media Broadband Deals 2026 page rather than hard-coding a volatile price comparison here.
The decision becomes easier if the price difference is small.
It becomes much harder to justify if Gig2 costs substantially more each month.
What about the Gig2 symmetrical upload upgrade?
This is one place where Gig2 can justify a premium much more convincingly.
Virgin currently offers eligible Gig2 customers an optional upload upgrade for around £6 per month that raises upload speed from roughly 200Mbps to approximately 2Gbps.
That is a tenfold increase over Gig2's standard upload and dramatically above Gig1's roughly 104Mbps average.
For someone who uploads enormous files every day, the value can be obvious.
For a typical household, it will probably go almost entirely unused.
Who should choose Gig1 and who should choose Gig2?
Choose Gig1 if...
- You want extremely fast broadband
- You regularly download large games
- Several people use the network heavily
- You want gigabit-class performance without paying for 2Gbps
- Gig2 is not available at your address
- You do not have multi-gigabit networking equipment
Choose Gig2 if...
- You regularly move enormous files
- Several very heavy users share the home
- You have 2.5GbE or faster networking hardware
- You value XGS-PON Full Fibre
- You need much faster uploads
- You can make use of the symmetrical upload upgrade
Is Gig1 enough for a large family?
Yes, for virtually any normal definition of a large family.
A 1.13Gbps broadband service has enough capacity for many simultaneous streams, gaming devices, calls, downloads and connected devices.
The argument for Gig2 therefore needs to go beyond “we have lots of people in the house”.
It is more convincing when several of those people are simultaneously performing unusually bandwidth-heavy tasks.
Is Gig2 future-proof?
It certainly provides substantial headroom.
XGS-PON also gives Virgin a network platform built for multi-gigabit services.
But buying unused bandwidth today solely because you might need it years from now is not always economical.
Broadband products continue to evolve.
If Gig1 handles everything today, you can potentially upgrade later when a genuine need emerges.
Virgin Media Gig1 vs Gig2 verdict
Gig1 wins for most homes. Gig2 wins for a small group of users who can actually exploit it.
Gig2 is objectively the more capable broadband product.
It offers around twice the download capacity, stronger standard uploads, XGS-PON Full Fibre and an optional symmetrical multi-gigabit upload service.
But broadband value is not decided by specifications alone.
Gig1 already gives you approximately 1.13Gbps download performance.
That is enough bandwidth for an enormous household workload.
Streaming does not need Gig2.
Ordinary gaming does not need Gig2.
Normal home working does not need Gig2.
Even heavy family use will usually fit comfortably inside Gig1.
Gig2 becomes genuinely compelling when you can point at something specific:
- Huge daily downloads
- Several extreme users
- Professional file workflows
- Multi-gigabit PCs or networking
- Huge uploads
- A desire for symmetrical 2Gbps-class service
For most households, we would choose Gig1 and keep the money.
For advanced users with the hardware and workloads to exploit it, Gig2 is a genuine upgrade rather than marketing excess.
The symmetrical upload option is arguably Gig2's most interesting differentiator because it changes the connection in a way that some professionals can feel immediately.
Check Gig1 and Gig2 availability at your address
Gig2 is limited to eligible Full Fibre areas, while Gig1 reaches much more of Virgin's network. Check your postcode before deciding.
Check Virgin gigabit broadbandVirgin Media Gig1 vs Gig2 FAQs
What is the difference between Virgin Media Gig1 and Gig2?
Gig1 delivers around 1.13Gbps average download and 104Mbps upload, while Gig2 is an approximately 2Gbps Full Fibre service with around 200Mbps standard upload and an optional symmetrical upload upgrade.
Is Gig2 twice as fast as Gig1?
In headline download capacity, it is roughly twice as fast. That does not mean normal websites, streaming or online games will feel twice as fast because those activities generally use far less than Gig1's available bandwidth.
How fast is Virgin Gig1?
Virgin currently advertises Gig1 at around 1,130Mbps average download and 104Mbps average upload.
How fast is Virgin Gig2?
Virgin markets Gig2 as an approximately 2Gbps-class Full Fibre broadband service. Some current Virgin offer pages list an average around 2,130Mbps.
What is the Gig2 upload speed?
Gig2 currently has around 200Mbps standard upload. Eligible customers can add a symmetrical upload upgrade that raises upload performance to roughly 2Gbps.
How much is the Virgin Gig2 symmetrical upload upgrade?
Virgin currently advertises the optional symmetrical Gig2 upload upgrade at £6 per month.
Is Gig2 available everywhere?
No. Gig2 requires eligible XGS-PON Full Fibre coverage and has more limited availability than Gig1.
Does Gig2 use Hub 5x?
Virgin says customers taking or upgrading to Gig2 on eligible Full Fibre connections receive Hub 5x, which supports XGS-PON and includes a 10Gbps Ethernet port.
Is Gig2 better for gaming?
It can download very large games faster, but actual online gaming performance depends much more heavily on latency, packet loss, stability and the quality of your wired or wireless connection.
Is Gig1 enough for gaming?
Yes. Gig1 provides vastly more bandwidth than online gameplay requires and is already excellent for downloading large games and updates.
Is Gig1 enough for a family?
Yes. Approximately 1.13Gbps provides enormous shared capacity and is more than sufficient for the overwhelming majority of family households.
Do Gig1 and Gig2 include WiFi Max?
Virgin currently includes WiFi Max with both Gig1 and Gig2, subject to the current eligibility and guarantee terms.
Will Gig2 fix bad Wi-Fi?
Not necessarily. Weak Wi-Fi is often caused by distance, walls, interference or device limitations rather than insufficient broadband line speed.
Do I need 2.5Gb Ethernet for Gig2?
You need networking faster than ordinary 1Gbps Ethernet if you want a single wired device to exceed gigabit speed. Suitable 2.5GbE or faster hardware is therefore important for exploiting Gig2 fully.
Is Virgin Media Gig2 worth it?
It is worth considering for users with multi-gigabit networking, huge file transfers, extremely busy households or a need for much faster uploads. For most homes, Gig1 already provides more than enough bandwidth.
How Switchking compared Gig1 and Gig2
This is a research-based comparison using current Virgin Media product, network and technical information rather than a claim that Switchking has conducted controlled laboratory testing of both broadband services.
We compared:
- Headline download speed
- Upload speed
- Optional symmetrical upload
- Availability
- XGS-PON Full Fibre
- Hub hardware
- WiFi Max
- Large downloads
- Gaming
- Home working
- Multi-gigabit Ethernet
- Household demand
- Value relative to actual usage
Sources and further information
- Virgin Media Gig1 and Gig2 broadband
- Virgin Media Full Fibre broadband
- Virgin Media Full Fibre and XGS-PON guide
- Virgin Media postcode checker
- Virgin Media WiFi Max
- Switchking Virgin Media Broadband Review 2026
- Switchking Virgin Media Broadband Deals 2026
- Switchking Virgin Media Hub 5 vs Hub 5x
- Switchking Virgin Media Deals for Existing Customers 2026
