HelloI have an issue where my 2.4GHz WiFi connections grind to a halt and become unusable.Ethernet and 5GHz are fine, speedy in fact and have no issues.As far as I can tell the issue arises when our phones (iPhone 13 and 13 Pro) switch over to a 2.4 connection. Doesn't seem to happen to my Mac Book but maybe that is better at keeping the 5GHz connection?I have a Hub 3 and have 2.4 & 5 both switched on with everything set to Auto / Enable Channel Optimization - I believe it has to be set like this for my plug in Virgin issued WiFi booster to work properly.The greyed out channel on 2.4 shows Channel 6, I assume this is the channel it's using even though I can't manually change it. I have a Sonos system with various speakers, that is set to Channel 1.Is poor 2.4 speed a known issue with Hub 3 and anything I can do to help fix it? I'm trying to get VM on the case but need to try again tomorrow on their chat so thought I'd ask here in the meantime. And I'm talking very slow, like a single simple page will take minutes to load, videos in YT / FB etc won't load. Cheers

Thanks for coming back to us philnumbers, have you been able to check for issues with the WiFi pod turned off as you mentioned earlier in the thread? We can then determine if the pod is causing the issues that you're experiencing. Kind Regards, Steven_L

2.4GHz WiFi grinds to a halt / unusable | Virgin Media Community

legacy1
Alessandro Volta
6 months ago
VM don't give you a good wifi connection you can ask for a new hub or get your own router with 1Gb ports with better wifi support and have hub in modem mode
Client62
Alessandro Volta
6 months ago
Do remember that a the 2.4GHz band is typically going to show a max of 50Mb/s on a direct connection to the VM Hub with a VM Pod in the process ( Hub 3 >>> VM Pod >>> iPhone ) the speed is halved to about 25Mb/s.
Many devices do not work well with Smart Wi-Fi enable, some not at all. Auto Channels on the Hub 3 tends to produce random glitches on the WI-Fi during channel changes.

Not having VM Pods was a choice we made in favour of our Hub 3 having stable fixed channel Wi-Fi.
- philnumbers
  Tuning in
  6 months ago
  Thanks Client62 but unfortunately I’m not talking about 25Mb/s, it feels like 0.25Mb/s when it slows down.
  I don’t *think* it’s only when connected to the Pod either as that is in the opposite side of the house to where we often have issues. But I don’t know how I can tell what my phone has chosen to connect to?
  I could switch it off for a while to test to see if the issue goes away, but it is providing a connection to a couple of things that I want to use.
Client62
Alessandro Volta
6 months ago
VM Pods are just Wi-Fi Repeaters, it must be located where there is a good signal from the Hub to repeat,
if a VM Pod is placed too far from the VM Hub the result can be a large area where the signal is good, but the bandwidth is little or nothing. Placement is very critical for all forms of Wi-Fi Repeater.

When you see very poor performance does that also go with low signal level on the iPhone ?

If it does it may be the iPhone has connected to the VM Pod and stayed with it despite the VM Hub being closer, it is the iPhone that chooses which Wi-Fi service to use ( not the Hub or Pod ).

From the iPhone app store install a free Wi-Fi Analyser app. These can show the WI-Fi signals in the house and which Wi-Fi signal is being used.
- Adduxi
  Very Insightful Person
  6 months ago
  The only “proper” working wifi scanner for iOS, due to security, is the Airport Utility.
Sephiroth
Alessandro Volta
6 months ago
philnumbers wrote:
Hello
I have an issue where my 2.4GHz WiFi connections grind to a halt and become unusable.
<SNIP>
The greyed out channel on 2.4 shows Channel 6, I assume this is the channel it's using even though I can't manually change it. I have a Sonos system with various speakers, that is set to Channel 1.
<SNIP>
Cheers
The Hub cannot be broadcasting on both Channel 6 & Channel 1.
Putting that aside, channel congestion (6) is a possibility, either from your speaker system if running, or from neighbours. That said, channel optimisation on the Hub should put you onto a different channel.
What’s it like with the speakers inoperative? Or at non-peak times?
- Adduxi
  Very Insightful Person
  6 months ago
  Of course the Intelligent WiFi could be flipping between Channel 1 and 6 ….. 😂

philnumbers

Tuning in

6 months ago

“When you see very poor performance does that also go with low signal level on the iPhone ?”

No, it often shows full WiFi signal.

“The Hub cannot be broadcasting on both Channel 6 & Channel 1.”

Yeah the Hub I think is on 6.

My Sonos speaker system which creates its own mesh network called SonosNet, on I think 2.4GHz, is set to Channel 1.

Sephiroth
Alessandro Volta
6 months ago
OK - got it. The Sonos system is on a separate WiFi that does not go through your Hub.
That leaves neighbouring contention (which the “intelligent WiFi” should deal with, or it needs some hands-on expertise and rigorous experimentation.
- Adduxi
  Very Insightful Person
  6 months ago
  However with 2 separate WiFi systems in close proximity there will be some contention perhaps? I’m still not convinced the Intelligent WiFi / Pods are not an issue.

Ashleigh_C

Forum Team

5 months ago

Hi there philnumbers

Thank you so much for your post and welcome to the community forums, it's great to have you here.

I am so sorry that you have faced an issue with your connection and thank you again for posting. I have taken a look on our side and I cannot see any issues that would be causing this. Can you post your Hub status and logs? How to do this;
• Please go to http://192.168.0.1 (or http://192.168.100.1 - if in modem mode),
• Don't log in, click on 'router status'
• Copy/paste the data from each of the tabs as text into a 'REPLY' as opposed to 'QUICK REPLY'. Please do not include your MAC address.
Also, set up a 'Broadband Quality Monitor'. This will monitor the state of your connection and record any network dropouts etc
Give it a while to gather data and then click 'Share Live graph' and paste the 'Direct Link' into the forum

philnumbers

Tuning in

5 months ago

Hi @Ashleigh_C thanks for the reply. As requested below, I've deleted any MAC addresses.

Worth noting is that it is ONLY the 2.4GHz connected devices that slow down and when they are running slow any wired devices / computers are fine and as far as I can tell any 5GHz connected devices too.

(I have tried to contact Virgin via phone and web chat, web chat switched me to WhatsApp but then never actually contacted me through it).

Acquired Downstream Channel (Hz)	227000000	Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel (Hz)	49600000	Locked
Provisioning State	Online

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	227000000	2.4	38	256 qam	12
2	235000000	2.2	38	256 qam	13
3	243000000	2.4	38	256 qam	14
4	251000000	2.2	40	256 qam	15
5	259000000	2.2	40	256 qam	16
6	267000000	2.2	38	256 qam	17
7	275000000	2.2	40	256 qam	18
8	283000000	2.4	38	256 qam	19
9	291000000	2.4	38	256 qam	20
10	299000000	2.5	38	256 qam	21
11	307000000	2.2	38	256 qam	22
12	315000000	2.2	40	256 qam	23
13	323000000	2.2	38	256 qam	24
14	331000000	2.2	40	256 qam	25
15	339000000	2	38	256 qam	26
16	347000000	1.7	38	256 qam	27
17	355000000	1.2	38	256 qam	28
18	363000000	0.9	38	256 qam	29
19	371000000	0.5	38	256 qam	30
20	379000000	0.2	38	256 qam	31
21	387000000	0	38	256 qam	32
22	395000000	0	38	256 qam	33
23	403000000	-0.5	38	256 qam	34
24	411000000	-0.7	38	256 qam	35

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	38.9	70
2	Locked	38.9	86
3	Locked	38.6	89
4	Locked	40.3	118
5	Locked	40.3	106
6	Locked	38.9	119
7	Locked	40.3	113
8	Locked	38.9	99
9	Locked	38.6	110
10	Locked	38.9	100
11	Locked	38.9	106
12	Locked	40.3	109
13	Locked	38.9	120
14	Locked	40.3	81
15	Locked	38.6	84
16	Locked	38.6	101
17	Locked	38.9	156
18	Locked	38.9	189
19	Locked	38.6	286
20	Locked	38.6	276
21	Locked	38.9	563
22	Locked	38.6	633
23	Locked	38.6	815
24	Locked	38.9	949

Upstream bonded channels

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) Symbol Rate (ksps) Modulation Channel ID

1	49600000	45.5	5120	64 qam	1
2	23599932	44.5	5120	64 qam	5
3	30100000	44.8	5120	64 qam	4
4	36600000	45	5120	64 qam	3
5	43100000	45.3	5120	64 qam	2

Sephiroth
Alessandro Volta
6 months ago
There is no contention between Channel 1 & Channel 6.
Sephiroth
Alessandro Volta
5 months ago
philnumbers wrote:
<SNIP>
I have a Hub 3 and have 2.4 & 5 both switched on with everything set to Auto / Enable Channel Optimization - I believe it has to be set like this for my plug in Virgin issued WiFi booster to work properly.
<SNIP>

I should have noticed this earlier. Your modem stats and BQM have no bearing on the matter - especially as you've confirmed it's a 2.4GHz wireless problem.
Presumably, your devices would only be on the 2.4GHz channel when working off the (wretched) pod. And there's you problem. The (wretched) pod isn't working properly - assuming the degradation occurs when you are in close proximity to the (wretched) pod.
What do you think?
philnumbers
Tuning in
5 months ago
So I'm back home now and have tried with the WiFi Pod turned off and have still had the slow down issues.
I've also tried leaving the Pod on and then turning it off once the slowdown happens - the connection on the phone doesn't get interrupted and it doesn't speed up after switching off the Pod.
- Matthew_ML
  Forum Team
  5 months ago
  Hey philnumbers, thank you for reaching out and I am sorry to hear this.
  
  I've run some tests and the connection is looking great on our end, how has it been over the last few days?
  - philnumbers
    Tuning in
    4 months ago
    Overall it's mostly fine but still had a couple of instances of it slowing down so having to switch off WiFi on the phone and use 4G. Reconnecting to WiFi a while later and it works again.
philnumbers
Tuning in
4 months ago
No, I haven't set up a monitor yet because tbh I don't feel like I should have to. I'm paying for a service which doesn't appear to be working properly, it would be nice if Virgin looked into fixing it for me / replacing equipment if it isn't working properly rather than me having to contact them via a forum, I couldn't get through by phone or online / WhatsApp chat.
I'll reluctantly try and set one up now.
- Carley_S
  Forum Team
  4 months ago
  This would be very useful for us to investigate this further as we cannot see any issues at our side that might be causing your concern.
  
  Once you've set this up, please post the live link and we can check this in real time to see if there is any further we can support with.
philnumbers
Tuning in
4 months ago
I've given up and bought a TP-Link Deco Mesh system, Hub 3 is now in Modem mode.
Only been running for 24hrs but initial impressions seems to be that all my wireless issues have gone away.
Here you go though, I've just set this up to monitor what I think it the right address
https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/6e5c90cc937133e989ffe1fdc8ef394f5a8ce4f2

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2.4GHz WiFi grinds to a halt / unusable

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