A friend has finally given in to techology and decided to buy a computer, and she has asked for my help in setting up a Broadband service. As she uses Virgin TV and telephone service, this has thrown me completely as all my experience is with the old-fashioned BT type service. After a quick look at the Virgin website, I can't find a single word of help on this topic.  There must be a straightforward article somewhere with all the necessary info, so I thought I'd consult the Techlore oracles. Help me please!

My main queries are about how the service works, and she'lll need any hardware (that isn't part of Virgin's package). 

Thanks for reading this.