Unstable connection making online gaming impossible

[ScottyTooHotty]

Good evening Virgin Media Team

I've been with Virgin Media since the very beginning as I was with NTL for years and then got migrated over when you took over. So I have been very happy with your service for an extremely long time yet as of November/December time, this all changed.

All of a sudden I was unable to play my xbox online with a stable connection, lag was everywhere. I rely on my connection to actually 'host' private competitive matches so this is a very big inconvenience for me and it's been going on now for around 2/3 months.

Nothing had changed with our connection, but a major issue with packet loss and jitter came out of the blue. So I checked the status in my area first off, and there happened to be an issue with the TV in my area. I thought that maybe it may have affected my broadband too. So I left it be until this issue was reported as fixed. But nothing changed. So I gave your customer service line a call, despite the fact that it took me half an hour to actually get through to anybody, the chap I spoke to was very helpful. He tested our equipment from his end but couldn't find any faults what so ever. I suggested that maybe it could be our modem as we were still using a 6 or 7 year old NTL modem. So he agreed to send me a brand new super hub which I could install and hopefully this would fix my problem.

So the hub arrives and I connect it up and get everything back up and running. Everything is working as should be, but the connection was still the same. I was unable to play online gaming, let alone host games. So I make a few changes to the hub that I thought could fix the issue. I change the channel from auto on to a channel that I've checked is free in the area. Still the problem persists. So another call to your team is made. Again I get a half hour wait before speaking to somebody, and again he tells me there is nothing wrong. He does suggest changing the 802.11 mode from Up to 300Mbps to Up to 145Mbps, due to the fact that older devices were disconnecting from the network regularly. This fixed this issue, but still the lag, packet loss and jitter were there. I even forked out for a £70 network booster and placing it almost next to the xbox, but this was just a waste of money as this too didn't work.

So now I'm totally out of ideas. I've read through your FAQs and have run the appropriate tests that it suggested (the results of which I'll post in a moment). Just as I was about to post my results, I stumble across this thread, which describes perfectly what I'm experiencing. Could you please find out what is wrong, and fix it as soon as possible!

Here's my different test results:

Upload/Download Streams

Startup Procedure Procedure Status Comment Acquire Downstream Channel 299000000 Hz Locked Connectivity State OK Operational Boot State OK Operational Configuration File OK Security Enabled BPI+

Downstream Channels Lock Status Modulation Channel ID Max Raw Bit Rate Frequency Power SNR Docsis/EuroDocsis locked Locked QAM256 226 55616000 Kbits/sec 299000000 Hz 7.0 dBmV 42.7 dB Hybrid Locked QAM256 225 55616000 Kbits/sec 291000000 Hz 7.2 dBmV 42.7 dB Hybrid Locked QAM256 227 55616000 Kbits/sec 307000000 Hz 6.6 dBmV 42.6 dB Hybrid Locked QAM256 228 55616000 Kbits/sec 315000000 Hz 5.9 dBmV 41.8 dB Hybrid Unlocked Unknown 0 0 Ksym/sec 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV 0.0 dB Unknown Unlocked Unknown 0 0 Ksym/sec 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV 0.0 dB Unknown Unlocked Unknown 0 0 Ksym/sec 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV 0.0 dB Unknown Unlocked Unknown 0 0 Ksym/sec 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV 0.0 dB Unknown

Upstream Channels Lock Status Modulation Channel ID Max Raw Bit Rate Frequency Power Locked ATDMA 3 20480 Kbits/sec 45800000 Hz 37.0 dBmV Unlocked Unknown 0 0 Ksym/sec 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV Unlocked Unknown 0 0 Ksym/sec 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV Unlocked Unknown 0 0 Ksym/sec 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV

Primary Downstream Service Flow Downstream(0) SFID 10356 Max Traffic Rate 10242000 bps Max Traffic Burst 3044 bytes Mix Traffic Rate 0 bps

Primary Upstream Service Flow Upstream(0) SFID 10355 Max Traffic Rate 1040000 bps Max Traffic Burst 8160 bytes Mix Traffic Rate 0 bps Max Concatenated Burst 8160 bytes Scheduling Type Best Effort

Current System Time:Thu Feb 09 18:50:10 2012

Tracert

Tracing route to bbc.co.uk [212.58.241.131]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    39 ms    49 ms    10 ms  10.27.140.1

  2   137 ms     8 ms    25 ms  cmbg-core-1a-ae2-1189.network.virginmedia.net [80.1.203.21]

  3    10 ms    11 ms    38 ms  popl-bb-1a-ae2-0.network.virginmedia.net [212.43.163.141]

  4    57 ms   105 ms    11 ms  nrth-bb-1b-as3-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.172.13]

  5    13 ms    30 ms    14 ms  nrth-tmr-2-ae6-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.159.34]

  6    38 ms    76 ms    34 ms  tele-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.184.2]

  7    13 ms    17 ms    77 ms  pos6-1.rt0.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.239.237]

  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.

  9    51 ms    42 ms    56 ms  ae1.er01.rbsov.bbc.co.uk [132.185.254.46]

 10    82 ms   196 ms    56 ms  132.185.254.142

 11    49 ms    14 ms    51 ms  virtual-vip-231.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.241.131]

Downloading from Gamershell.com

545KB+730KB = 1275KB*8 = 10200Kb

I ran all these tests using a wired connection to the superhub with all other computers/laptops/game consoles, switched off. Usually the most that will be connected at 1 time will be 1 PC with a wired connection, 1 laptop on a wireless connection and 1 xbox 360 on a wireless connection. For years this has worked fine with no problems and the 10Mb d/l and 1Mb u/l being shared across the 3 equally.

PLEASE HELP!

[Rachael_J]

Hi ScottyTooHotty,

Sorry to hear that you are experiencing an issue. I have picked this up and I am currently investigating. As soon as we can provide an update we will update the thread.

[lambsubstitute]

Has there been any resolve to this issue as i am still having the same issues and have been since early january. I ahve tried numerous roots to resolve including taking a very close look at the router config, and only using wired connection to the router. Similare tests have been run as above but using differnt addresses with the same result.

This problem is making my life a misery as i work from home a lot and cant hold a stable remote connection.

[Jen_A]

Hi ScottyTooHotty,

There is an upstream utilisation issue affecting your connection. Our networking team are working to rectify this.

The reference for this is: F001833732 

We shall keep you informed of any updates and thank you for your continued patience in this matter.

[ScottyTooHotty]

I like to think I'm a patient man, but this is kind of taking the biscuit now. It's been just over 3 weeks since you 'found' the fault, and it's still not fixed. Not only am I paying for a service that you're not delivering but my online gaming subscription of £70 a year has also taken a significant hit. I've been unable to play online for almost 6 months since this problem started and I'm really sick and tired of it now. Can I please at least have an update on this issue, including what needs to be done, why it hasn't been done yet, and why it's taking so long?

Many thanks

[Anudeep_B]

Hi ScottyTooHotty,

I have checked the reference number, F001833732 , and the estimated fix date is 02/05/2012 (although this may be subject to change).

Resolving high utilisation issues requires resegmenting the network to alleviate the load. This can be a lengthy process, but please be assured the work will take place, just maybe not as quickly as you would like. 

We're very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused.

[ScottyTooHotty]

Thank you for the reply. I still find it very hard to believe that it takes 10 weeks (and that's only from when you 'found' the fault) to actually fix the issue. What am I supposed to do in the mean time?? I actually had no internet what so ever after 19:30 last night, it's ridiculous and a joke! My double speed upgrade is due to happen before this is estimated to be fixed. I would rather your used your resources to fix my internet before upgrading it.