I'm with Virgin and I'm currently on 120mb speed.
Depending on what speed your on, you'll be able to get a Superhub (Virgin's answer to modem & router) for free. I think it's 30mb+ then you'll get a Superhub.
So obviously I have a Superhub, the wireless signal is shocking but generally I use Cat6 cable for all my machines etc and it's as fast as you'll need it.
The Superhub has an awful habit of just 'dropping out' (this is a known issue) and will take a good 15-20minutes to come back online.
However, the Superhub has a "Modem Only Mode" that allows you to turn it into a modem and then attach your own router. This allows for the use of a decent router with decent range and the chance to put some nice
DD-WRT firmware on it to make it even better.
For a router, I'd massively recommend any Cisco Linksys router - but mostly this one
Cisco Linksys WAG320N
Can't go wrong with Superhub in modem only mode and a Cisco router attached to it
Any questions let me know.