Virgin Media Web Safe Setup Guide
How to set up Virgin Media Web Safe parental controls on your Virgin Media broadband connection.
Overview
Virgin Media Web Safe is a free content filtering service available to all Virgin Media broadband customers. It works at the network level, filtering content for every device connected to your home broadband without any software installation. Web Safe is managed through the My Virgin Media account portal and can be combined with per-device settings via the Virgin Media Hub.
Enabling Web Safe in My Virgin Media
Sign in to My Virgin Media at my.virginmedia.com. Go to 'My Settings' and select 'Web Safe'. Toggle the service on and choose your preferred filtering level. You will be asked to set a security PIN to protect the settings. Changes take effect across your network within a few minutes. Note that the Hub must be in router mode (not modem mode) for Web Safe to work correctly.
Web Safe is managed at my.virginmedia.com and can be activated in just a few minutes.
Content Categories and Filtering Options
Web Safe offers two modes. Kid Safe blocks adult content, gambling, violence, and material likely to be harmful to children — it is the recommended setting for families with children. No Adult blocks only adult and pornographic content, with fewer restrictions on other categories. You can also add specific sites to a custom blocked or allowed list on top of the selected mode.
Choose Kid Safe for households with children under 16 — it provides the broadest content protection.
Custom Rules and Allowed Sites
Within the Web Safe settings on My Virgin Media, you can manually block additional sites or whitelist sites that have been incorrectly blocked. This is managed through the 'Manage blocked and allowed sites' section. Adding or removing sites takes effect across all devices on the network without needing to make any changes on individual devices.
Custom rules give you fine-grained control over which sites are accessible, beyond the preset categories.
Virgin Media Hub Settings
The Virgin Media Hub router has its own parental controls section accessible at 192.168.0.1. From there, you can set access schedules to restrict internet use at specific times, and manage which devices can connect to the network. These Hub-level controls complement Web Safe rather than replacing it — Web Safe filters content, while Hub settings control when and which devices can connect.
Use Hub scheduling alongside Web Safe to enforce bedtime internet rules for your child's devices.
O2 Family and Managing Kids' Profiles
Virgin Media Mobile (powered by O2) offers O2 Family controls for mobile devices on its network. O2 Family allows you to set content filters for each mobile SIM on the account, restrict purchases, and view usage. Manage it through the My O2 app. This is separate from Web Safe and applies when your child's device is using mobile data rather than home Wi-Fi.
Set up O2 Family controls in the My O2 app to cover your child when they are away from home Wi-Fi on their mobile.
This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Resources
Was this page helpful?
Last reviewed: 2026-04-08