Virgin Media customers must act now as broadband firm issues fresh email alert

Virgin Media has sent out a new email alert to UK households, advising them on how to improve their broadband speeds if they're not up to par. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) suggests a simple trick that can provide immediate improvements and only takes a minute.

As straightforward as it sounds, just turning your router off and back on again can significantly enhance your connection.

"If you find your broadband is unusually sluggish, the first port of call should be to power cycle your Virgin Media Hub in other words, the classic "turn it off and on again" method," Virgin explained in a message seen by the Express.

"It might seem simplistic, but power cycling your Hub (especially if it hasn't been done in some time) can help to clear the Hub's memory and CPU of older and no longer needed data and processing."

So, how do you reboot your hub and how long does it take?

Restarting your internet hub is quite straightforward. On the back of the black box that Virgin provides for your Wi-Fi is a switch.

Turn it off and wait for at least 10 seconds - or a minute if you can spare it.

While waiting, Virgin advises checking your equipment for any faulty or damaged cables, which could disrupt your network and slow down your internet speed. Also, ensure your cables are securely connected to the hub (finger-tight is sufficient, don't over-tighten as this could damage the connector).

Once the time has passed, turn your router back on again.

It's worth noting that it can take a while for everything to reboot and start working again - up to 10 minutes - so make sure you don't need the web, are waiting for an important email or need to make a video call to the office.

Once you've restarted your network, things should feel a lot more stable but if you still aren't getting the speeds you think you're paying for it's worth checking you don't have Wi-Fi issues.

The easiest way to find out if Virgin is letting you down or if you have issues around the home is to run a quick speed test - Google and Ookla both offer this service for free - using a wireless connection and write down the result.

Next, get your laptop and plug it directly into the router using an Ethernet cable. Run the same speed test and if things are much faster you know it's your wireless connection that's poor rather than the actual broadband coming in through the walls.

There are plenty of things to try to make your Wi-Fi better including making sure your router isn't blocked, keeping it away from mirrors and avoiding placing near baby monitors, microwaves and even fish tanks.