Irish and British customers are familiar with Virgin Media, an internet services provider that is known for its association with charismatic business investor and millionaire, Sir Richard Branson. Virgin Media was launched in 2007 and it still is one of the most popular options in the UK and Ireland, thanks in great part to the blazing fast speeds of the service. Virgin Media’s routers provide top quality, ensuring a stable connection and a variety of features that will improve your online security. With options like Web Safe and F-Secure Safe, you can make your connection safer, which is particularly important when you access sensitive information and online banking. Virgin Media also notifies you if a website is deemed as malicious, preventing you from accessing it.
While these are great features that will help you to defend your data from online attacks, if you really want to enjoy your Virgin Media service without concerns, you need a VPN that protects you from eavesdropping and other threats. A VPN encrypts all the data between your device and the VPN server you connect to. This means that even if someone managed to intercept your connection, they won’t be able to see what you do online because all that they will see is encrypted data that can’t be read. ISPs are known for monitoring their customer’s traffic so if you want to prevent Virgin Media from tracking the websites that you visit and your communications, a VPN is the way to go. Given that the GCHQ, one of the worst enemies to privacy is based in the UK, it is important to take measures to protect your personal information, your conversations and everything else.
Another benefit of using a VPN is that your IP address is disguised and you can connect to servers in other locations, which can help you to bypass censorship and unlock content that is not available in your country. Furthermore, you will be able to bypass the filters that ISPs in the UK apply due to local legislation. Virgin Media is not the exception and as a result, you will find that many websites featuring adult content and copyrighted material, are usually blocked. In some cases, even websites that don’t belong to the categories previously mentioned are affected. A VPN is the most effective and practical solution to bypass these blocks, the. This technology will also give you the possibility of accessing streaming platforms that are not available in your location.
Setting up a VPN on Virgin Media
One thing to keep in mind is that Virgin Media has implemented certain restrictions on its routers, which may prevent you from setting up a VPN. Many Virgin Media customers experience issues when they try to connect to their VPN service, because the router is capable of stopping VPn traffic. Thankfully, there are some steps that you can follow to avoid issues and run a VPN successfully with Virgin Media. Here is what you can do.
- After connecting to your VM router, open the browser and in the address bar, type 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1. This will give you access to Virgin Media’s settings.
- Now you will need to enter your password and username, which would be “Admin” (username) and “changeme” (password), unless you changed them in the control panel. This information is available on the back of the device.
- In the control panel, select “Advanced Settings”, which is located at the bottom right corner of the browser. Click “Yes” to access them
- Under Security, select “Firewall”. The following boxes need to be checked: “PPTP Pass-Through”, “IPSec Pass-Through”and “Multicast Pass-Through” boxes. Then select “Apply” to save the settings. It is possible that you also need to disable Virus safe option in “Websafe” before you can use the VPN.
Best VPN services for Virgin Media
ExpressVPN
Good speeds are essential to enjoy streaming and online gaming seamlessly. While VPN services can slow down your connection due to the encryption applied, a high quality service like ExpressVPN, allows you to enjoy fast performance. There is no noticeable loss of speed and the customer support is excellent. In addition, the provider doesn’t keep logs of your online traffic and it currently has servers in over 90 countries.
PureVPN
PureVPN is perfect for customers who want wide global coverage and fast performance. This Hong Kong-based provider has over 700 servers in 141 countries, so you can always find a server that is right for your needs. PureVPN even offers helpful tips that will allow Virgin Media customers to overcome the issues caused by the default router settings so that they can run the VPN without hassle. In addition, they don’t keep logs of your online activities.
NordVPN
NordVPN has become the preferred solution for customers who want a high level of privacy and anonymity. Since the provider is based in Panama, where there are no mandatory data retention laws, it can offer a zero logs policy. NordVPN has servers in over 50 countries and it offers a good variety of options for Virgin Media customers. With features like Tor over VPN and double VPN encryption, you can boost the security of your connection.
Private Internet Access
If you are looking for an affordable and effective VPN service, consider setting up a subscription with PIA. When you opt for the annual plan, the price per month is just $3.33 and you get access to over 3200 servers in 25 countries. They cover popular locations like United States and United Kingdom and the speed and security of the service is very good. PIA is another provider that doesn’t log your online traffic.