Modem replaced by Superhub - Now got problems inc. Slow Downspeed [ Edited ]

[Nton_Andy]

My Modem packed up the other week (and in my opinion took my wireless router with it).

VM were pretty good when I managed to get through to someone and they despatched a "Superhub".

A few days later I installed it, activated it over the phone and was then... initially underwhelmed then dissapointed and frustrated.

My issues:

 * Download speed is terrible ~0.3Mbps compared to a supposed 10Mbps service

 * Wired switch connection speed appears to be 10Mbps

 * Administration interface is painfully slow at best, often unavailable

I've spent a couple of days fiddling and Googling trying to get the best out of it.  I'm now posting this to record my issues and see if anyone can offer any advice or support?

In terms of the Admin Interface I've found I'm best connecting using Chrome (which I installed just for that purpose).  I think I managed to connect once or twice using one of the others (IE or FF) but by the time a page would load it would tell me my connection had timed out.  Connecting via Chrome typically takes 20-30s for the login page to load then that or a bit more for any page therin.

In terms of the wired connection speed my NIC detects the port as 10 Full Duplex. If I try to force it any higher it fails to connect.  Is that really all the unit can do?

I did initially configure wireless access, until in the course of my investigating my various other issues I decided I was probably safer on a wired connection for now.

Download speed - I have tried running it in Modem mode and Router mode.  Neither gave me 'proper' speed.  Interestingly those speed test sites that I can get to work (another gripe is that not all websites seem to work correctly but I can't prove thats the Superhub) detect the upload speed as being about right and only the download speed as being well below par.

I have tried a couple of pin hole resets.  I haven't tried a factory reset through the Admin Interface (prolly try that shortly but I'm not going to hold my breath).  Numerous powerings off and on with big waits at each stage (minute plus) and disconnections of power supply.

Overall this has damaged my already fragile opinion of VM.  The fact the customer service was actually reasonable (though I wish they would publish a 'normal' land line number too so that I can ring that for free from my mobile) and the fact that it does actually give me some sort of connection means I'm currently merely resigned to a miserable few weeks of troubleshooting and poor performance before I consider anything more serious (like moving service).

Edit: Meant to include this lot as requested on one of the sticky threads...

Combined download speed of 2 downloads from gamershell.com 60KB/Sec (32+28)

Tracert to BBC site
(Can't work out how to copy results if you do it from the Superhub's tool)
C:\>tracert www.bbc.co.uk

Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.244.70]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    10 ms    11 ms     9 ms  cpc1-nrte25-2-0-gw.8-4.cable.virginmedia.com [86.21.40.1]
  2     9 ms    32 ms     7 ms  nrth-core-2b-ae2-2562.network.virginmedia.net [213.106.254.97]
  3    46 ms    59 ms    10 ms  nrth-bb-1b-ae8-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.159.209]
  4    16 ms     9 ms    11 ms  tele-ic-4-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.174.18]
  5    12 ms    11 ms     9 ms  pos6-1.rt0.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.239.237]
  6     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  7     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  8     9 ms    13 ms    11 ms  ae0.er01.telhc.bbc.co.uk [132.185.254.109]
  9    14 ms    14 ms    13 ms  132.185.255.148
 10    12 ms    27 ms    20 ms  bbc-vip115.telhc.bbc.co.uk [212.58.244.70]

Trace complete.

Downstream and Upstream Power Levels and Downstream SNR/RxMER
(Hopefully that's this info...)
Downstream Channels
Lock Status Channel ID Frequency Modulation Rx Power SNR Pre RS Errors Post RS Errors
Locked 80 467000000 Hz QAM256 -3.8 dBmV 41.6 dB 24270 0
Locked 76 435000000 Hz QAM256 -2.9 dBmV 42.3 dB 4436 0
Locked 77 443000000 Hz QAM256 -2.8 dBmV 42.5 dB 5461 0
Locked 78 451000000 Hz QAM256 -2.6 dBmV 42.5 dB 6355 0
Locked 79 459000000 Hz QAM256 -2.6 dBmV 42.6 dB 7476 13
Unlocked Unknown 0 Hz Unknown  0.0 dBmV  0.0 dB Unknown Unknown
Unlocked Unknown 0 Hz Unknown  0.0 dBmV  0.0 dB Unknown Unknown
Unlocked Unknown 0 Hz Unknown  0.0 dBmV  0.0 dB Unknown Unknown

Upstream Channels
Lock Status Channel ID Frequency Modulation Tx Power Mode Channel Bandwidth Symbol Rate
Locked 49 45800000 Hz ATDMA 45.0 dBmV 16QAM 6400000 20480 Kbits/sec
Unlocked 0 0 Hz Unknown  0.0 dBmV Unknown Unknown 0 Kbits/sec
Unlocked 0 0 Hz Unknown  0.0 dBmV Unknown Unknown 0 Kbits/sec
Unlocked 0 0 Hz Unknown  0.0 dBmV Unknown Unknown 0 Kbits/sec

[legacy1]

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Nton_Andy wrote:

My Modem packed up the other week (and in my opinion took my wireless router with it).

---

So you can't access your router settings on the LAN?

Try another NIC or PC.

[Nton_Andy]

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legacy1 wrote:

So you can't access your router settings on the LAN?

Try another NIC or PC.

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I didn't think I'd said that I couldn't access my router settings on LAN.  I thought I had implied that I could, by virtue of the fact I said I was only connecting using a wired connection and that I was providing response times I was getting (and information only obtainable from the router admin pages).

However I have tried another machine, a slightly more modern one (Dell Latitude D620 running Windows 7) and that did yield some interesting results:

a) LAN speed detected and running at 1Gbps

b) Download speed test recorded full speed

c) Admin pages responded much faster (after slow connection to login page)

So at this point it's looking like some, possibly all of my issues relate to my laptop.  That's good for VM in a way, but still not good for me.  I'm still not happy as my machine was working quite happily with my old modem & router setup. 

I shall keep fiddling and see what I can see.  Buying a new laptop in order to use my VM broadband properly is not an option though.

[adacom]

on the older laptop have a look at the network card drivers - go to the card site rather than use windows update - what OS is on that laptop - vista can give problems with some wifi cards and the super hub - have a look here if its vista

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Wireless/Wireless-Issues-with-Virgin-Media-Hub-Vista/td-p/277179

you should not need a new laptop - at worst a usb dongle or a replacement internal wifi card should solve it - have you tried the old laptop wired to check the speed to confirm the problem is the wifi on that laptop

[Nton_Andy]

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adacom wrote:

... have you tried the old laptop wired to check the speed to confirm the problem is the wifi on that laptop

---

Someone else who seems to have failed to read my posts.  As I said in my original post and attempted to clarify in my second post I am only connecting in a wired fashion.

*  *  *

Discussing this issue with one of my colleagues they offered the insightful observation that all my symptoms smacked of a NIC autonegociation failure, ie a mis-match in speed & duplex between my laptop and the router.  I could have kicked myself, as I know enough to have been able to think of that for myself.

So adacom you do mention one good idea, to check to see if there are any later or better drivers for my NIC.  However on a nearly ten year old laptop I suspect I'm flat out of luck.  Therefore bizarely I may actually get better speed over a wireless connection (in contrast it would seem with many Superhub users).

Question: Does anyone know if it is possible to force the port speed & duplex on the Superhub?

[Nton_Andy]

Alas the Superhub does not appear to support WEP and my laptop can't manage WPA.

On the upside forcing my NIC to 10Mbps/Half Duplex does give greatly improved internet connectivity, though obviously my LAN speed is now worse than my potential download speed.

I'm going to have a hunt for a PCMCIA WLAN card as that's looking like my best option if I can't find a way to force a port on teh Superhub to 100/Full.

[Doctor9fan]

In order to use wep you have to set the superhub to Upto 54Mbps, found under advanced settings>wireless>, have checked this myself & wep does become available.

Hth,