Virgin Media Super Hub out now, is 'fastest in UK'

Virgin Media's spangly new 'Super Hub' has arrived at last, with the provider boasting that its new router is the fastest in the UK.

The Hub, which Virgin Media teased earlier in the month, allows simultaneous access to both its 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels, and has four Gigabit Ethernet ports.

Virgin Media boasts that the new box, which is suitably decorated with blue LEDs, has outpaced competing devices from BT, Sky and TalkTalk. There's a graph below showing the results of those tests, though the red-hued media moguls say it hasn't yet tested the new router against BT's recently-revealed Home Hub 4. Those tests will take place over the coming weeks, apparently.

How do I get it?

The bad news is that current customers won't get the updated box for free. New customers signing up for up-to-60MB and up-to-100MB will be offered the new super-de-dooper-Super Hub, but existing customers on or upgrading to those same speeds will need to pay a £50 installation fee.

That's "to ensure they get the best in-home set up", which sounds rather suspect to me, as I would imagine that installing the new Hub is as simple as plugging it in. I've asked exactly what the Virgin Media engineers will do during that installation process, and I'll update this story if I get an answer.

It's about time that Virgin Media offered an upgrade to its current Hub, which CNET UK Editor Jason Jenkins called, "Rubbish." Are you happy with your Virgin Media service, or should it be better? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.