Forum Discussion

spirit2674

Up to speed

12 days ago

Worthwhile to Pursue An Engineer/Technician Visit?

Hi folks.

Just posting to ask if it is worthwhile to pursue a possible engineer/technician visit to my home.

Introductory Info

Some basic introductory info about my setup is:

M350 package.
Hub 5.
Hub being run in router mode.
Wired setup to my single device. (Presently, I only connect to a desktop computer.)

I have had a good run of connection performance since my last problem with VM, which was back in 2023 (and which got sorted).

Problem

My download speeds and general internet performance have been really lacking today.

In particular, simple tasks like web page loading have been taking a very long time.

Tests

I have run some tests, and have been a little disconcerted at the results.

Here are the test results.

Test 1. Speed Test via SpeedTest.net

I ran a “classic” speed test at https://www.speedtest.net.

Here is the result (23/05/2025):

The result is disappointing, given that I am on the M350 package.

Test 2. Speed Test via Fast.com

I ran another fairly rudimentary speed test at https://www.fast.com.

Here is the result (23/05/2025):

Again, the result is disappointing, given that I am on the M350 package.

Test 3. Speed Test via SamKnows.com/RealSpeed

I ran a SamKnows “real speed” test at: https://www.samknows.com/realspeed/

Here is the result (23/05/2025):

The result is disconcerting.

There is a very large disparity between speed to my router/hub, versus speed to my device.

Test 4. BQM (Broadband Quality Monitor) Snapshots

Here is the result for 22/05/2025:

Also, here is a link to my live and ongoing snapshot:

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/d57ddb32ce73f6c17be094e3b7602e5e1af7945d

The result is disconcerting.

There are some instances of packet loss, and some instances of latency creeping up.

Test 5. VM Telephone Service-Status Check

I called the VM service status check number (0800 561 0061).

The automated telephone system reported no problems in my area.

Test 6. VM Web/Online Service-Status Check

I ran a service status check via my account page.

I believe this is the same check that can be performed without actually logging a VM account. The publicly available check page is here:

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/check/status

Here is the result:

i.e., the result came back with an indication that there is an “intermittent signal in my area”.

I was invited to check back in circa 22 hours, with the potential option of taking-up a technician visit.

packet loss

POOR CONNECTION QUALITY

13 Replies

spirit2674
Up to speed
12 days ago
Hi again folks.
Just thought I'd follow-up with my final set of tests/diagnostics, this time from my Hub 5.

Test 7. Hub Diagnostics Review (Status, Downstream, Upstream, Configuration, Network Log)
I went into the Hub 5’s administration link (http://192.168.0.1), selected “Check Router Status” (no login required this way), then checked the following tabs/pages:
(7.1.) Status
(7.2.) Downstream
(7.3.) Upstream
(7.4.) Configuration
(7.7.) Network Log

7.1. Status

7.2. Downstream

7.3. Upstream

7.4. Configuration

7.5. Network Log

Conclusion
Thank you very much to anyone who has made it through my long posts.
I hope some of the details presented have been informative.
All things considered, my basic question is this: is it worthwhile for me to pursue a technician/engineer visit in this case?
Thanks so much for any feedback or opinions.
Client62
Alessandro Volta
12 days ago
The Samknows Realspeed test is the interesting one.

The speed at the Hub is correct, at the computer the Upstream speed is ok too, but at the computer the Downstream speed is low.

What is the connection between the VM Hub and the computer, is it a direct cable or is it a via Power Line Adaptors (PLAs)?

If it is direct cable - reboot the computer into Safe Mode and see if the Samknows Realspeed test improves - if it does perhaps a Norton or similar anti virus packages are degrading the performance.

If it is via PLAs these could be limiting the speed.
- spirit2674
  Up to speed
  12 days ago
  Hi there Client62.
  Thanks so much for your feedback -- I appreciate that very much.
  
  Direct Cable Connection; Potential AV Issues; Possibility of Testing While In Safe Mode
  Ah, yes, I should have stated that the connection from my Hub to my desktop computer is via a Cat 7 network/ethernet cable, which, as far as I am aware, is "over the necessary spec" to get the job done reliably.
  To be more exact, I have been using a "1aTTack.de" brand 1.0 metre CAT 7 network/ethernet cable for some time (multiple years), with great results. From my Amazon order history, the exact cable I bought (years ago) is still available here.
  In regards to the potential for an AV (antivirus, or similar) to be an issue, I had not considered that. Thank you for drawing that to my attention. Thankfully though, I don't actually run an AV, and I certainly don't run Norton! So, I suppose a suite of this nature can be ruled-out as a factor.
  If I get some time later, I'll try the process of rebooting into safe-mode, then running the SamKnows RealSpeed test again, to check for any differences in performance. Many thanks for that suggestion.
  
  Today's Performance Has Improved A Little
  Strangely, today's performance is a little bit better. Web browsing performance feels much more snappy today, and pages seem to be loading properly this time.
  Here are today's tests/diagnostics, all of which are a bit better, but still not quite where I'd like the results to be for an M350 broadband service:
  
  Speed Tests:
  At 270 MBps, I'm still below where I'd like to be.
  
  Again, at 250MBps, I'm below where I'd like to be.
  
  The SamKnows identified speed disparity (Hub versus device [a desktop computer]) is still present, sadly.
  
  BQM (Broadband Quality Monitor):
  The packet loss and latency spikes seem to have calmed down a little. The connection was performing very poorly at around 10pm to midnight last night, but seems to have settled down a little. I feel there is still room for improvement in regards to the "latency spikes" however.
  
  VM Web/Online Service-Status Check
  No problems identified on this check today.
  
  Comments
  Overall, it looks like the connection is a bit more stable today. The only thing I undertook was a power off/on reset of my hub last night after a spell of very poor connection performance last night. Outside that, all hardware is the same, and everything is seated the same. It's a strange situation!
  - Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    11 days ago
    I don't think this issue is the external connection to the VM Hub ( we can see that is OK ) or the network cable to the computer ( that is maintaining a 1Gb/s connection ).
    
    I strongly suspect the computer is not drawing download data fast enough.
spirit2674
Up to speed
5 days ago
Hi folks.
I just thought I'd leave a reply to the thread using the "reply" button at the bottom, instead of using the "reply" button that is nested in the last visible post.
The reason is that large swathes of posts seem to be invisible to me (and presumably others), after they have been made.
When I click on the thread title from the Speed subforum, I get an incomplete thread, with many posts missing.
Hopefully, this particular post shows up properly.
This new post is really a reply to both Client62 and VM's Alex. I hope it is useful.

All things considered, I feel there are two ongoing problems regarding my connection quality.

Problem 1: My Device's (My Desktop Computer's) Connection Quality Does Appear To Be Inhibited Under Standard Windows Running Conditions
As requested/advised by Client62 (thanks again!), I have now run the SamKnows RealSpeed test in Windows Safe Mode.
As Client62 predicted, the test came back with zero speed disparity over the Hub versus my single connected device (a desktop computer).
Here is a screenshot, taken on 28/05/2025:

When using Windows 10 as standard, while I do not feel that I run any very obvious culprits that may degrade connection performance, I could perhaps, tentatively speculate the following might be factors:
Very old install of Windows 10.
Comodo Internet Firewall.
VPN application installed, albeit inactive and unused most of the time.

So, this problem is certainly something I need to solve myself, via my own research.

Problem 2: Packet Loss Still Occurring
In addition, I am still getting what I feel are unacceptable instances of packet loss on a daily basis now. It is negatively impacting my workflow and productivity, as there are moments when I have zero connectivity to the internet.
Here is a Broadband Quality Monitor snapshot from yesterday (28/05/2025):
As you can see, I had some bad moments at around 0200hrs and 2100hrs on 28/05/2025.
I am hopeful that I can get a VM-side fix process started, perhaps with an engineer visit as part of that. On the off-chance that this thread is being monitored by a VM forum colleague, I would be very grateful if they could start the ball rolling with that.
Thanks again for reading my post folks, and thank you very much for all the very useful guidance posts I have received from various parties.
- Daniel_Et
  Forum Team
  3 days ago
  Hi spirit2674, thank you for your reply.
  
  We can see you're currently being impacted by an area outage, which has an estimated end date of tomorrow at 9am.
  
  If, by any chance, you're still no further forward by then and the fix time hasn't been updated on the service status checker, please pop back to us on here.
  
  Regards,
  Daniel
spirit2674
Up to speed
3 days ago
Hi there @Daniel_Et , thanks so much for posting -- I really appreciate your input.
Ah, yes, my connection experienced quite a bad outage last night.
It was problematic from a productivity standpoint.
Here is my Broadband Quality Monitor (BQM) snapshot for the past 24 hours (31/05/2025 to 01/06/2025):
As you can see, the outage was from circa 2200 to 0200.
My internet seems to be functional again thankfully. (Whatever fix has been implemented appears to be ahead of schedule in its effectiveness, so many thanks for that.)
For completeness, here is a screenshot record of the recognition of a broadband issue in my area (screenshotted on 01/06/2025):

I'm hopeful that my connection stabilises over the next week, and that the instances of outages and packet loss diminish to zero.
Of course, if I have any further problems, I will post back!
Thanks again and all the best.