Hi All - Superhub / DNS / DHCP problems VMDG480

[essjayar]

Ok, before I start with my current problem, a little history...

I've been with Virgin for a long time. In the whole, their service has been very good, and I'm going back to Cabletel / NTLWorld / Virgin Media (this is in South Wales). To put things in perspective, originally, the internet service was not "cable" or "fibre optic (to the cabinet)" but actually the old 56k and before that 33.3k modems, run over the telephone lines. Yep - been online quite a while

I actually have Virgins Telephone / TV XL / Broadband XL (30mb) services, plus 3 mobiles... and did plan on upgrading to HD or even Tivo. After all, if you've been with a company this long, and have this many services, you should be entitled to *something*... anyone can see that the money/profit is in the long term. Sky and Virgin have long fought it out over getting NEW customers - not that there can be many left, and a quick look at current deals, even when you add in hidden costs... the infamous "when taken with a Virgin Telephone Package" or "3 Months...", probably shows you how much existing customers end up paying.

I've accepted this to some extent, and phoning to complain will normally get you some kind of deal even if you are in contract, or an amazing deal if you are OUT of contract, threatening to leave, and go via the infamous Retentions dept lol.

Anyway - back to the current problem.

After going  through the pain of getting a new package IXL everything), discovering that XL can mean 2 things to 2 different people (i.e. XL 20mb, XL 30mb), and being peeved off at eventually having to pay EXTRA again, for the 30mn, when I'd assumed XL *was* 30mb, as per the website ads. But that's in the past to some extent. 

I've also tried as hard as possible to avoid the customer helplines. You'll usually either get the Scotland or Indian help centers. And it seems to me they follow some kind of script to deal with problems. When you do eventually get through all this - turn it off, turn it on, try this, try that - they do eventually get to the root of the problem. Which is usually the catch--all escape of "we'll schedule an engineer"..

ARRGHHH - no thanks! it's a pain waiting in, they usually just replace the modem, or find out it's a problem with oversubscribing or something in your area.

After all, who really needs 50mb or 100mb broadband? It's pretty obvious lol :-) but they shouldn't advertise this kind of service without mentioning traffic shaping etc and they shouldn't offer it in an area where it will impact EXISTING subscribers, on anything from 10mb and up, since I think I'm right in assuming the old 5mb, 4mb, 2mb, 1mb .... services are long gone.

So - phoning customer services is a last resort for me. This 30mb forum is pretty quiet, compared to the others, but I'll try.

The problem (back on topic!) is the SuperHub Modem/Router will not issue a DNS / DHCP address. It simply says "refused" or "unavailable" or something.

At the moment I'm running on my old Ambit 256 modem, with my own Tp-Link router attached for wifi. This seems to be limited to 20mb or less.

How it still works, no idea. Virgin never want the old modems back, so I have a box of the things, luckily it worked, as the only other route online would be to tether my mobvile! You forget how much you rely on broadband until it's gone... and it should be treated like any other essential service.

So the VMDG480 appears to be blocked. It's the only solution I can think of, blocked via it's MAC address. I haven't downloaded anything much lately, though Steam was reinstalled and had to download all my old games.

Ok, before I start with my current problem, a little history...

I've been with Virgin for a long time. In the whole, their service has been very good, and I'm going back to Cabletel / NTLWorld / Virgin Media (this is in South Wales). To put things in perspective, originally, the internet service was not "cable" or "fibre optic (to the cabinet)" but actually the old 56k and before that 33.3k modems, run over the telephone lines. Yep - been online quite a while

I actually have Virgins Telephone / TV XL / Broadband XL (30mb) services, plus 3 mobiles... and did plan on upgrading to HD or even Tivo. After all, if you've been with a company this long, and have this many services, you should be entitled to *something*... anyone can see that the money/profit is in the long term. Sky and Virgin have long fought it out over getting NEW customers - not that there can be many left, and a quick look at current deals, even when you add in hidden costs... the infamous "when taken with a Virgin Telephone Package" or "3 Months...", probably shows you how much existing customers end up paying.

I've accepted this to some extent, and phoning to complain will normally get you some kind of deal even if you are in contract, or an amazing deal if you are OUT of contract, threatening to leave, and go via the infamous Retentions dept lol.

Anyway - back to the current problem.

After going  through the pain of getting a new package IXL everything), discovering that XL can mean 2 things to 2 different people (i.e. XL 20mb, XL 30mb), and being peeved off at eventually having to pay EXTRA again, for the 30mn, when I'd assumed XL *was* 30mb, as per the website ads. But that's in the past to some extent. 

I've also tried as hard as possible to avoid the customer helplines. You'll usually either get the Scotland or Indian help centers. And it seems to me they follow some kind of script to deal with problems. When you do eventually get through all this - turn it off, turn it on, try this, try that - they do eventually get to the root of the problem. Which is usually the catch--all escape of "we'll schedule an engineer"..

ARRGHHH - no thanks! it's a pain waiting in, they usually just replace the modem, or find out it's a problem with oversubscribing or something in your area.

After all, who really needs 50mb or 100mb broadband? It's pretty obvious lol :-) but they shouldn't advertise this kind of service without mentioning traffic shaping etc and they shouldn't offer it in an area where it will impact EXISTING subscribers, on anything from 10mb and up, since I think I'm right in assuming the old 5mb, 4mb, 2mb, 1mb .... services are long                                                                                   gone.

So - phoning customer services is a last resort for me. This 30mb forum is pretty quiet, compared to the others, but I'll try.

The problem (back on topic!) is the SuperHub Modem/Router will not issue a DNS / DHCP address. It simply says "refused" or "unavailable" or something.

At the moment I'm running on my old Ambit 256 modem, with my own Tp-Link router attached for wifi. This seems to be limited to 20mb or less.

How it still works, no idea. Virgin never want the old modems back, so I have a box of the things, luckily it worked, as the only other route online would be to tether my mobvile! You forget how much you rely on broadband until it's gone... and it should be treated like any other essential service.

So the VMDG480 appears to be blocked. It's the only solution I can think of, blocked via it's MAC address. I haven't downloaded anything much lately, though Steam was reinstalled and had to download all my old games.

If I have to post hard data, trace routers, modem logs, ping tests, etc, I will. Just can't be bothered right now. It would mean losing my existing "setup",,, 

What I can say is I've tried the VMDG480 on another computer. I've tried it in modem-mode, completely bypassing the router part. I've reset it. I've turned it and the computer on in turn, I've left it unplugged overnight, reset via the WPS button, reset via the "hole", loaded old saved settings back to the modem, In other words, anything I can try with modem, I have lol.

So it's ont the cable into the home - i'm online now! - it's not the computer, tried the modem elsewhere, same result  So it means the modem? But how can it "just go" like that, as in about 1200 -0100 last  night. 

So, Virgin, can you simply sent out a new modem? I really don't wanna phone support. As I've said, you get bounced from dept to dept, country to country, and right now can't face it.

Can a modem be blocked remotely? Can that block be removed?

Is the previous router/hub enough for 30mb? Still have one of those, too.

Can I input DNS etc details directly? Auto domain name services aren't running, hence the problems. and error messages... I CAN connect to the router settings, but the router won't connect to the WAN.

So I've rambled on long enough lol. All I need to know is if a 480 superhub can be remotely disconnected, if so -why - and how do I fix it?

If I HAVE to phone helpline hell I will tomorrow. If you need the data from the hub I'll have to disconnect everything i'm running on, put the old lot back together, and run all the logs etc. Who knows? It might magically have fixed itself. Sometimes there's a dip in the service or somg glitch and it is Christmas after all...

PS Anyone else who'se had similiar problems please feel free to tell me how you fixed it.

If it's just to **bleep** the super-hub I'm almost on your side. But truth be told, 3 or 4 problems in god knows how many years (10?) - each relating to modem changes - is pretty good going. I  usually stick up for Virgin, there IS a vocal minority who skew servey results etc (after all, who phones in to say thank you, everythings working well? lol),

You have a bigger problem on the horizon Virgin... and thats the big BT Fibre rollout.

I'd never choose a sky package, old tech, ISP run thru BT, no real catch-up service, real cable broadband... Your bigger problem seems to be recouping massive invesments in buying up every cable co. around - and you've had no real competition except Sky for TV (sattelite? blah!) (BT coppper? double blah!). Until now.

Sorry for the length...

Good job guys n gals, it's only when problems occur I get the chance to moan - but in a nice way, I hope!

PS. One other problem... last bill was either a tenner or a tenner refund, something also obviously wrong there, but not your problem

[greyhairbadger]

Hi essjayar,

I don't work for Virgin, but I wondered if I could offer some advice?

Wow. That is one lengthy post.

Forgive me, but I got a little lost whilst reading through it. Can I ask you to clarify what your problem is?

Is it:

• The Superhub will not connect to the Virgin network? Network status will be 'Denied' under 'Connectivity' within the Superhub configuration pages (A consequence of this is that the Superhub will not be allocated an I.P address by the DHCP server of the CMTS).

• Your network nodes are not acquiring I.P addresses from the Superhub?

If the former, then it is likely that the Superhub has not yet been activated against your account. You will need to ring customer services to get it activated.

If the latter, then you probably have a network misconfiguration problem somewhere, or the Superhub may be faulty.

Phil.

[kwikbreaks]

Kudos added for reading all the post.

[AMWSmith]

I think this is simply that the Superhub has not been activated by Virgin Media.

Set up your Superhub ready for use and call 08009539500

Thay may ask for the MAC address. It's located on the lable on the back of the superhub.

Have your account number to hand as well.

[essjayar]

Don't worry, this is much shorter lol.

In the end I just kept using the old modem, attached to my own rooter (limited to 20mb though).

After about a week, thought I'd try the superhub, and it worked fine.

One of those things.

Now I miss the range of my own router (superhub is famously useless in the wifi dept). It means superhub in modem mode, but the router might be a limiting factor for the full 30mb. Would ethernet 10/100 or whatever be enough, or would the router need 1gbps ports.

PS it's this router: http://www.tp-link.com/mx/products/productDetails.asp?pmodel=TL-WR642G

(dont ask me how you get 108mbs on wireless G... but the range is awesome)

PPS the comments regardning it not being activated yet lol. I've been using it for months How come it de-activated then?

[greyhairbadger]

(dont ask me how you get 108mbs on wireless G... but the range is awesome)

Manufacturer-specific extensions to the wireless 'g' standards laid down by the IEEE. These were very popular a while ago, and notorious for being utterly incompatible between manufacturers, and even between devices from the same manufacturer.

It means superhub in modem mode, but the router might be a limiting factor for the full 30mb. Would ethernet 10/100 or whatever be enough, or would the router need 1gbps ports.

the 100Mbps available from the fast ethernet ports on the router is plenty for the maximum 30Mbps available from your internet connection.

If you connect a computer directly to the Superhub in bridge mode (cable modem) mode, then do you see your full 30Mbps? If so, the issue certainly lies with your router. If not, then you have an issue with your connection and/or Superhub that may need investigating by a Virgin Media technician.

Assuming a router problem:

Do you get your full 30Mbps with a wired connection to the router? If yes, then your problem is to do with your wireless connection speed. If not, then you may have an issue with your routers performance at routing WAN to LAN.

Either way, you may find yourself needing a new router to max out your Internet connection.

PPS the comments regardning it not being activated yet lol. I've been using it for months. How come it de-activated then?

Not a clue. It may be that it was de-activated, maybe you had some other problem with your connection. Your original post was a little hard to decipher, and I don't remember you mentioning that it had been activated for a while, apologies if I missed it. My suggestion to get it activated was just a guess, based on the most common problems people have with their Superhubs.

[essjayar]

Yeah, I do ramble... sorry!

No the superhubs fine. 2 comps wired via enet and a couple of mobiles and a android pad connect via  wireless.. Oh, also a NAS drive on there via enet.

Speeds no problem. Range is. You've got to admit that, an external aerial of some kind would have been much better - and stuff the aesthetics.

But different needs for different people, some will just use the one connection. The only bugbear was 30mb was only achievable on the Superhub not the hub/router before it. This was contradicted and counter-claimed over the phone, but in the end it worked. Should be good for up to 50 - as far as 100?

Without getting too technical, what is the actual total bandwidth of a virgin fibre cable, how much is taken up by TV, Broadband, Telephone - often wonder this - and are they exceeding in keeping demand under control. Like I first stated, been with them for years, but with all the HD channels and Tivos adding to the load... is it just better compression, load balancing, etc or replacing entire cables etc.

[AMWSmith]

The reason I suggested activation was the simple fact that you said your AMbit was working fine and as far as I know there can only be ONE mac address per account.

[greyhairbadger]

Without getting too technical, what is the actual total bandwidth of a virgin fibre cable, how much is taken up by TV, Broadband, Telephone - often wonder this - and are they exceeding in keeping demand under control.

I really don't know. This question would be far better answered by someone more intelligent than me. I would suggest that the fibre-optic cable itself is unlikely to be the source of bandwidth limitations. I have no idea what the maximum theoretical bandwidth that could be carried by fibre-optic cable, but I would be willing to bet it is many orders of magnitude greater than that it currently carries.

I suspect (and again, I am very happy to be corrected here) that the bulk of the traffic is T.V, followed by Internet traffic, with telephone contributing only a negligable amount.

My understanding is that much of the bandwidth limitation experienced by users is associated with bottlenecks at the CMTS, and it is here that Virgin are expending a lot of resource looking to upgrade and expand to alleviate load.

This is all just my uninformed opinion. Hopefully someone who actually knows what they are talking about will pop in here to explain.

Phil.