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wordswords's avatar
wordswords
Tuning in
3 years ago
Solved

Can't wait for the HUB 5 on my 10Gb/sec home network

Virgin Media's currently available hub/router/modems only offer up to 1 gigabit internet access due to the hardware, and often less than that, even though their 1GIG broadband package offers 1100mbps/sec download speed on average. I actually get more like 900mbits/sec out of the current hardware, with the hub in modem mode. I don't know if this is affected by the VM network contention in my local area.

I contacted them today and asked if I could get an upgrade to VM Hub 5, which is the latest hub/router/modem and has a 2.5Gb/s network port, allowing you to access the full 1100mbps connection you are paying for.

They said 'no' as it's in closed trials, but that it was in the process of being rolled out to all 1Gb customers, so I'll get it eventually.

When that actually happens I will finally start to have a use for my expensive and complex 10Gb/sec home network equipment. At the moment everything is capped at 1Gb/sec speeds, because the VM Hub 4 port is only 1Gb/sec (silly design in my opinion). Also the hardware can't really handle anything above 900mbits/sec in practice for me, even in modem mode.


It's just annoying that they didn't roll out HUB 5 when internet speeds got above 1000mbp/s. I guess they want to give extra bandwidth to their 'free wifi' service or something.

This article explains how to use Miktrotik router's connection bonding to bond two 1Gb/sec ports on the HUB 4 to extract >1gbit/sec speeds from it:
https://tech.msh100.uk/virgin/networking/2020/10/17/virgin-media-greater-than-gbit/

I actually have a Miktrotik router that I'm using at the moment, but I don't want to go down this path as it is complicated and would also cost me quite a lot of CPU usage on my 10Gb/sec router, which is quite underpowered as it is.

I just want VM to roll out the HUB 5 as soon as possible.

  • wordswords's avatar
    wordswords
    3 years ago

    I bit the bullet, and used my existing Miktrotik router to bond two 1gb/sec ports to enable >1gb/sec speeds as per the article above.

    I am getting just above 1000mb/sec speeds now, which is great, and shows the bonding is working and my 10GB/sec network infrastructure is doing what it should. I presume that the mismatch between the expected average speed of 1100mb/sec and what I'm getting is a result of local VM network contention or other things I can't do much about.

    This type of connection bonding uses the Linux kernel's balance-rr mode, which is load balancing per connection using round-robin. So for a single connection it will still cap at 1gb/sec but for multiple simultaneous connections, not just from the local machine but anywhere on the network, it will balance those out between the two network ports. That is why the graph shows multiple outgoing connections going over 1000mb/sec in aggregate bandwidth.

    https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1657247318392829455

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  • wordswords's avatar
    wordswords
    Tuning in
    3 years ago

    I bit the bullet, and used my existing Miktrotik router to bond two 1gb/sec ports to enable >1gb/sec speeds as per the article above.

    I am getting just above 1000mb/sec speeds now, which is great, and shows the bonding is working and my 10GB/sec network infrastructure is doing what it should. I presume that the mismatch between the expected average speed of 1100mb/sec and what I'm getting is a result of local VM network contention or other things I can't do much about.

    This type of connection bonding uses the Linux kernel's balance-rr mode, which is load balancing per connection using round-robin. So for a single connection it will still cap at 1gb/sec but for multiple simultaneous connections, not just from the local machine but anywhere on the network, it will balance those out between the two network ports. That is why the graph shows multiple outgoing connections going over 1000mb/sec in aggregate bandwidth.

    https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1657247318392829455

    • Guybrush85's avatar
      Guybrush85
      Rising star
      3 years ago

      For what it's worth, this is a hub 5 on a gig connection into an Asus router (2.5G port) and the speed test performed directly from the router.

      Results will vary depending on the time of day and which server I use (Exa Networks seems to be pretty good most of the time).

      • Anonymous's avatar
        Anonymous
        3 years ago

        I find it embarrassing that with all of VM 1gbps boasting they still ONLY supply a measly 50-75mbps Upload speed!

        I mentioned previously of B4RN who supplied 900mbps UP and down at a cost similar to virgins lower tier offerings.

        Of course all this 'speed' is useless without the Customer Service to back it up

        5G will be a game changer, plug it in - boom, rapid 

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    2 years ago

    The fellow will need a diesel generator to keep all this network gear running during a power cut !

  • big-luap's avatar
    big-luap
    Superfast
    2 years ago

    Dont hold your breath if you get a HUB 5, killed 2 in just 4 days each. well just the 2.5 port worked for 4 days then a day of wobbles, then a day of nearly 500 dropouts, online for a max of 11 seconds, Today after a firmware update nothing.  the 1 gig ports are still working.