The broadband is delivered via Virgin’s dependable and secure independent cable network, so you should check if you can access this to get the deal. However, with this network, the free quality Wifi Hub, the fast average download speeds, and upload speeds of 20Mbps, you can count on excellent performance. This means if you want to game, stream in UHD, and download all at once on several devices, your needs will easily be met.
If you’re on O2 you can also access additional perks and benefits including free WiFi booster pods for your home, speed upgrades, discounts, and more.
As well as checking your eligibility for the deal, you should also note that the offer on this Virgin Media broadband deal is set to expire on April 30, so act now if you want to make the most of it.
One of the main appeals is its wide choice of broadband speeds, which can cater to the online requirements of most households and businesses. What’s more, it recently launched a new gigabit-speed ‘Gig2’ package that gives breathtakingly quick symmetrical speeds of 2Gbps. This has again made it one of the fastest widely available broadband providers in the UK.
It also has a fantastic broadband and TV bundle offering which has different options to suit all needs. For instance, you can get basic channel packages that you can access via its streaming TV service. Or there’s the popular ‘TV 360’ set-top box that can allow you to pause, record and rewind all your favourite shows. In addition, you can get access to Sky’s movie and sports channels, as well as all the top streaming apps, though this does add to your monthly costs.
Where Virgin isn’t perhaps doing as well as it should be is its customer services. It was recently marked as the worst-performing provider by Ofcom in terms of customer complaints and how it handles them. Moreover, its Trustpilot score of just 1.6/5 leaves a lot to be desired.
If you think Virgin Media might not be the right broadband provider for you, head over to our best broadband deals guide to see what else is out there. Alternatively, we can tell you what broadband deals are on offer in your location if you enter your postcode into our widget below.
On top of all this, you don’t need to pay any upfront costs, the postage and packaging on your tech is free, and you get a bonus £50 BT Reward Card when you’ve successfully signed up. This card can be used at any retailers that take Mastercard online or over the phone, and will also be activated via email once your new broadband connection is working.
This broadband deal is perfect for any small to medium-sized properties with multiple users and high online demands thanks to its 150Mbps average download speeds and Openreach reliability. For added peace of mind, it also has a 100Mbps ‘Stay Fast Guarantee’ in place, meaning your average download speeds should never dip below this level.
To be eligible for this deal you must be able to access BT’s ‘Full Fibre‘ network, but you can check this when you click through and start the sign-up process. This offer is set to expire on April 25 so make sure to get in quick.
As our featured BT broadband deal demonstrates, the company can offer some great prices on ultrafast speeds and has packages with average download speeds to suit every house or business in the country. Whether it’s cheap, entry-level ADSL broadband tariffs, through its to fibre and top ‘Full Fibre 900’ package, which gives mighty average download speeds of 900Mbps.
As we’ve alluded to above, it’s also known for the quality and security of its broadband network and the fact it offers ‘Stay Fast Guarantees’ to ensure you don’t see any major drops in your broadband’s performance. Its customer services are of a similar level of quality and you can get support across everything from dedicated phone lines, to email, apps, and online help centres.
BT is also known for its broadband and TV bundles, which you can custom-build to suit your viewing preferences. These packages cover everything from movie channels to sports, general entertainment and just the free-to-air channels. These do add more to your monthly bills, but it’s one of the company’s biggest selling points beyond its broadband.
However, as we pointed out in our featured deal, you do need to be able to access BT’s network to make the most of its services. Also, when there aren’t promotional deals, BT can be expensive. So to see what else is out there on the broadband market, be sure to check out our guide to the best broadband deals.
You can also use the widget below to see what deals you can get in your location. All you need to do is enter your postcode and we’ll do the rest.
While Turtle Beach excels in and is famous for its prowess in the audio department, the brand also has numerous controllers on offer – and now they’ve expanded into the racing simulation market. Branded as the VelocityOne series of equipment, their flightdeck, flightstick, rudder, and control system are now joined by a racing wheel and pedals fit for any and all modern racing games on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.
However, $650 / £630 (about AU$950) is a hefty price tag when you consider other options such as the more reasonably priced Logitech G920/3, or the astoundingly expensive – but widely considered to be the best racing wheel on the market – Logitech G Pro.
I’ve spent a while putting the Turtle Beach VelocityOne Race Wheel and Pedals through its paces in a variety of games, from F1 23 to EA WRC and Euro Truck Simulator 2 to find out if the peripheral brand is onto a pole position, or whether it’s the black-and-white flag for their first outing.
Design & features
(Image credit: Future/Ford James)
The VelocityOne Race features a D-shaped wheel with six face buttons, a directional stick for menu navigation, four dials, two buttons on the back, and four paddles. Turtle Beach hasn’t tried to reinvent the wheel here, nor did they need to. The innovation comes in the form of the wheelbase, which is essentially a screen used for the ‘Race Management Display’ (RMD).
During setup and outside of races, this is an ingenious way to allow the user to tweak wheel and pedal settings without having to use an extra program on PC. On Xbox Series X, Series S, or Xbox One, it gives players an added level of customization you wouldn’t find otherwise, as you can adjust sensitivity settings, button mappings, and the like, most of which are usually off-limits to those on console.
When you’re racing is when it properly comes alive though, as it displays all manner of race info in supported games, such as your speed, current gear, lap times and delta, tire wear, and more. However, this comes with a big caveat: currently, no games support this functionality on Xbox, and getting it up and running on PC requires the SimHub third-party software.
While it’s neat and looks impressive, its functionality is also limited, as your game of choice will likely display all of that information on the heads-up display (HUD), meaning you don’t have to not look away from the screen while hurtling down the track at ridiculous speeds. So, the display is, sadly, more of a gimmick than anything.
(Image credit: Future/Ford James)
Speaking of gimmicks, you can attach a button box to the wheelbase that sticks out of the right-hand side. This sports four buttons, four switches, and three dials, along with the engine start and a button to turn the device off, and an extra switch with a red plastic cover to ensure you don’t knock it by mistake.
The problem is, outside of the hardcore sim racing games such as iRacing, dials and latched switches aren’t ideal for most functions you’d need. Take F1 23, for example; there are far more functions in that game than there are assignable buttons on the VelocityOne because toggleable switches and dials aren’t a good match for the game.
The shell of the button box itself also feels quite plasticky and tacky, and while the switches do feel clicky and tactile, it doesn’t redeem the cheap quality of the surroundings. This carries over to the fabric and stitching on the wheel, as it feels a little spongy; if you squeeze and rotate it, you can feel it move in your grip. If you isolated the VelocityOne Race wheel and compared it directly to the Logitech G923, the latter has none of these issues and you’d likely assume the Turtle Beach offering is the one at less than half the price of the other.
Onto the pedals and there is one huge design flaw that makes it essentially unusable out of the box for anyone playing at a desk as opposed to a wheel stand or proper sim rig: the USB connector to link it to the wheelbase protrudes directly out of the back of the pedalbase.
This means that you cannot put the pedals against a wall or you’ll damage the cable, and putting it against a wall is essential because, despite the inclusion of some sticky pads to place on the bottom of the pedalbase, it slides along the floor when you engage the gas or brake pedals with any force.
To hark back to the Logitech G923 again, the cable here goes under the pedals through a groove and is connected via a port in an indent in the bottom, so this issue doesn’t occur. I fixed this problem with the VelocityOne pedals by placing two wooden blocks on either side of the USB, but it feels like something that should have been caught in the product’s design phase.
Performance
(Image credit: Future/Ford James)
When it comes to performance, the VelocityOne performs well with only a few minor bugbears present. For example, one tiny frustration is that when you’re not in a race, the RMD displays the position of the wheel, and my review model always rests one notch to the left, so it isn’t truly straight. This isn’t a big deal thanks to the deadzone, but it’s noticeable enough to be annoying.
Another issue with the pedals is that the front of the pedalbase isn’t weighted anywhere near enough. Again, this won’t be as much of a problem for those with a wheel stand or a full rig, but sat in a chair with the pedals below your desk means braking firmly will usually flip the base up, making it impossible to brake or accelerate quickly with any consistency. My solution was to place two 6.6lbs / 3kg dumbbells on either side of the base and avoid knocking them off with my feet.
(Image credit: Future/Ford James)
Perhaps the biggest issue, albeit not one exclusive to the VelocityOne, is the lack of games on PC with native support. However, this product has an alarmingly small number of games supported out of the box, with only two – EA Sports WRC and Forza Motorsport – offering plug-and-play. The official compatibility list confirms every other game requires mapping the controls yourself, and that often doesn’t work exactly as it should.
In Euro Truck Simulator 2 for instance, the VelocityOne wouldn’t recognize the lower paddles at all. There were also instances in every game where the connection would be lost, forcing an auto-pause, before randomly reconnecting after 10 seconds or so, making it impossible to play using this wheel in any online race in fear of it happening again.
The one thing this wheel has in its favor is the fact it’s direct drive, as opposed to gear-driven or belt-driven like the oft-recommended Logitech G923 and other cheaper alternatives. This means the VelocityOne is more responsive and much more akin to driving a real racing car thanks to the torque on offer, but if you’re after a direct drive wheel specifically, you can get much better products, such as the Simagic Alpha Mini or one of Moza’s many products, a few of which are still cheaper than this.
Should I buy the Turtle Beach VelocityOne Race wheel and pedal set?
(Image credit: Future/Ford James)
The VelocityOne is a tough one to fully recommend. While it certainly works (most of the time), this product is unfortunately about double the price it should be – certainly when comparing it to its competitors. Generally, the performance is good, but it’s no better than a wheel you can get for half the price, which makes it tough to endorse.
The Race Management Display is cool but is still ultimately a gimmick, and while the fact it sports direct drive may be a selling point to some, it doesn’t do enough to compete in my eyes. If you’re a beginner looking to dive into simracing for the first time, the Logitech G29 or G923 is a better fit and much easier to point you towards. If you’re looking to upgrade from that to direct drive, then you might find better mileage in products such as the Moza R5 or Fanatec GT DD Pro.
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
How we tested the Turtle Beach VelocityOne Race Wheel and Pedals
I spent around five days using the VelocityOne in a variety of driving games on PC, including F1 23, Euro Truck Simulator 2, EA Sports WRC, and Forza Motorsport. I used it clamped on a desk with the wheels below. I also A-B tested the VelocityOne by returning to my other wheel, the Logitech G923, regularly to compare the two.
With these broadband speeds, it’s a fantastic choice for small to medium households with three to four active broadband users. The connection will allow you to play games online, stream on several devices in UHD, and use cloud storage all at the same time. This offer is also boosted by Vodafone’s excellent ‘WiFi Hub’, which works to optimise your broadband connection.
You even get a landline included in the deal and Vodafone promises to fix this offer price until April 2025. You may also be offered the opportunity to upgrade to a ‘Pro II’ broadband package, which is priced at £40 a month. This will give you a more powerful router, dedicated support and automatic 4G backup should you suffer a broadband outage.
This offer expires on April 3, so you’ll need to be quick if you want to make the most of it. Another consideration is that you’ll only be able to get this fibre broadband deal if you can access Vodafone’s fibre network – although you can check this when you look to sign up. Lastly, if you have a Full Fibre connection at your property, you might be offered the ‘Full Fibre’ version of this deal, which offers slightly faster download speeds.
Why should I choose Vodafone Broadband?
Vodafone is now one of the UK’s best broadband providers, but we aren’t surprised by this, as it has plenty to offer customers.
As you can see from the deal above, it has some great value packages available and it’s even won awards for its affordability. What’s more, these range from slower fibre speeds, through to ultrafast Full Fibre options, which ultimately can suit the online needs of pretty much every household or business.
It’s current selection of packages includes:
– Fibre 1 – 38Mbps
– Fibre 2 – 67Mbps (a Full Fibre version is also available)
– Fibre 100 – 100Mbps
– Fibre 200 – 200Mbps
– Fibre 500 – 500Mbps
– Fibre 900 – 910Mbps
As we also mentioned in our featured deal, Vodafone can also offer phone lines, mobile phone services and upgrades to its ‘Pro II’ tariffs that come with a wealth of extras. On certain deals, you can also get Apple TV 4K with 4K Dolby Vision.
Vodafone also offers a quick and easy switching service if you’re moving to its broadband from a provider that uses the same network.
Where Vodafone might fall down for some consumers is that its broadband and TV offering isn’t as strong as providers like Sky and Virgin Media. Plus, it does receive some criticism for its customer services – according to its Trustpilot scores – although these are largely positive.
So if you still want to shop around or you just want to see how Vodafone measures up against the competition, just enter your postcode into our widget below. We’ll then bring up all the best broadband deals in your area.
