Very poor BQM & bad pings: Utilisation Fault?

[cje85]

Hi,

Recently my BQM graphs have been looking really bad, and i'm noticing my connection is unstable in the evening. Things like WiFi calling, video chats and gaming are being ruined by unstable pings.

Are the forum team able to check utilisation levels in the area, or check for any other problems? VM had an issue with high utilisation a few years ago in this area and this is starting to feel very similar. 

Here are my most recent BQMs (although there's at least 6 weeks worth of awful graphs I could post) along with modem stats.

Downstream bonded channels

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) SNR (dB) Modulation Channel ID

1	227000000	2	38	256 qam	12
2	139000000	4.5	38	256 qam	1
3	147000000	4	38	256 qam	2
4	155000000	3.7	38	256 qam	3
5	163000000	3.4	38	256 qam	4
6	171000000	3.4	38	256 qam	5
7	179000000	3.2	38	256 qam	6
8	187000000	3	38	256 qam	7
9	195000000	2.7	38	256 qam	8
10	203000000	2.5	38	256 qam	9
11	211000000	2.4	38	256 qam	10
12	219000000	2.2	38	256 qam	11
13	235000000	1.7	38	256 qam	13
14	243000000	1.5	38	256 qam	14
15	251000000	1.2	38	256 qam	15
16	259000000	1.5	38	256 qam	16
17	267000000	1.7	38	256 qam	17
18	275000000	1.7	38	256 qam	18
19	283000000	2	38	256 qam	19
20	291000000	2.4	38	256 qam	20
21	299000000	3.2	38	256 qam	21
22	307000000	3.9	38	256 qam	22
23	315000000	4.1	38	256 qam	23
24	323000000	4	38	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

Channel Locked Status RxMER (dB) Pre RS Errors Post RS Errors

1	Locked	38.6	121	13
2	Locked	38.9	122	0
3	Locked	38.6	202	0
4	Locked	38.6	147	1
5	Locked	38.6	138	0
6	Locked	38.6	161	13
7	Locked	38.9	143	0
8	Locked	38.9	133	0
9	Locked	38.9	92	0
10	Locked	38.9	145	0
11	Locked	38.9	140	0
12	Locked	38.6	88	0
13	Locked	38.6	99	35
14	Locked	38.6	149	34
15	Locked	38.9	154	0
16	Locked	38.6	198	0
17	Locked	38.6	153	0
18	Locked	38.9	195	33
19	Locked	38.9	168	0
20	Locked	38.9	142	1
21	Locked	38.6	179	0
22	Locked	38.6	119	0
23	Locked	38.9	136	0
24	Locked	38.6	133	0

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) Symbol Rate (ksps) Modulation Channel ID
1 30100000 47.5 5120 64 qam 4
2 23600000 47 5120 64 qam 5
3 36600000 47.5 5120 64 qam 3
4 43100000 47 5120 64 qam 2
5 49600000 47.5 5120 64 qam 1

Upstream bonded channels
Channel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts
1 ATDMA 0 0 0 0
2 ATDMA 0 0 0 0
3 ATDMA 0 0 1 0
4 ATDMA 0 0 0 0
5 ATDMA 0 0 0 0

A ping test showing unstable pings:

Pinging 1.1.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=97ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=27ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=256ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=385ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=252ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=27ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=27ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=44ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=188ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=103ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=55ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=75ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=32ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=336ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=240ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=29ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=52
Reply from 1.1.1.1: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=52

[risc19]

Yeah, looks like utilisation to me.

[sayekm]

The yellow on BQM looks very similar to mine. Openreach offer a max 35Mbs in this area so any active resident switched to Virgin. 

But its solid reliable connection and Virgin offer heavy discounts at renewal to keep everyone in a very crowed small fish bowl

[Adduxi]

Yes, classic signs of overutilisation.  Only VM can advise for certain, but if it is, fixes can take some time.

[Daniel_Et]

Hi @cje85, thank you for your post.

We're sorry to hear about the problems you're experiencing 😔

I've taken a look on our side, but I cannot see any issues in the area that could be causing this. 

How have things been since you posted? Advice on how to fix internet problems can be found here.

Please pop back to us at your earliest convenience and we'll do our very best to help.

Regards,

Daniel

[cje85]

Unfortunately that page isn't really any help as the poor connection quality is affecting ethernet too, not just WiFi.

Like others I suspect this is a utilisation issue, probably on the upstream. it has all the hallmarks of the high utilisation problems i've experienced in the past (and there have been a lot in this area).

Here is today's graph:

Here's a speed test, as you can see the upload isn't very good for a 50Mb service, which is why I think this is most likely upstream utilisation.

I'm regretting re-contracting for another 18 months just before this problem started, but at least I got a good price. 

[legacy1]

2023 and VM still have not fix overutilisation problem when it happens😞

I wish BQM would ping timeout at like 200ms to show packet loss because late is late no good if its late!  

[Steven_L]

Thanks for coming back to us cje85. I can see that you have been able to get a technician visit booked in.

Please let us know how the visit goes and I hope that they can get your issues fully resolved.

Kind Regards,

Steven_L

[cje85]

I haven't booked a technician? Other than this post I haven't had any contact with VM and certainly haven't booked a technician.  

[John_GS]

Morning @cje85 

Thanks for coming back to the thread. I've ran further checks and there was an issue with the SNR (signal to noise ratio) on the upstream over the last few days, however, checking today, this is now back in spec. I do hope things have improved for you as a result. If not, please pop the hub in router mode for us and leave for a day or two as we need to run further checks.

Best wishes.