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phoenixvdp's avatar
phoenixvdp
Tuning in
7 months ago

Intermittent Connectivity Issues on Virgin Media Hub 5 Potentially Caused by DNS

Hey there,

I've been experiencing intermittent connectivity issues that seem to stem from DNS resolution on my Virgin Media Hub 5. Here's a summary of the problem and troubleshooting steps:

The Issue:

  • Since September 24th (around 11pm) Intermittently losing access to services such as web browsing, Discord, and other external internet services.
  • However, I could still stay connected to a specific game server hosted by another Virgin Media customer (port 7120).
  • Flip side: When hosting this same game server on my own connection, other Virgin Media users could stay connected even when I lost access to the rest of the internet, but users from non-Virgin Media ISPs were disconnected.

Troubleshooting Done:

  1. Network Logs: Reviewing the router logs, there were multiple instances of T3 timeouts, sync timing synchronization failures, and power-related reset events. These pointed to potential modem or signal issues.
  2. I've had everything changed, all internal wiring and hardware, inside and outside sockets, drop cable and exchange box, none of which resolved the issue.
  3. Modem Mode: I placed the Virgin Media Hub 5 into modem mode and connected it to my own router (Asus RT-AX92U), to have more control over the network and configuration.
  4. Changed DNS Provider: Switched from Virgin Media’s default DNS to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1).

Resolution:

  • Since switching the DNS provider to Cloudflare, the issues seem to have stopped completely. I suspect the Virgin Media DNS was the root cause of the intermittent connectivity.

Request:

Could this issue be linked to DNS provision from Virgin Media? I'd like to report this as a possible DNS resolution problem affecting some users. If others are facing similar issues, I recommend trying a different DNS provider such as Cloudflare or Google DNS.

4 Replies

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  • legacy1's avatar
    legacy1
    Alessandro Volta
    7 months ago

    VM will look at this go...they solved it next...

    VM DNS is not for everyone change when needed change is allowed. 

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    7 months ago

    In Router mode Hub 5 has been seen to intercept all DNS queries redirecting them to VM's DS
    and to timeout some encrypted DNS queries, use of Hub 5 in Modem mode avoids this.

    Use NSLOOKUP to test the VM DNS and see if it returns the same IPs as a Public DNS.

    • Carley_S's avatar
      Carley_S
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
      7 months ago

      Hi phoenixvdp 

      Welcome to the community forums

      Sorry to hear you've ongoing issues with your connectivity that engineers haven't been able to support with. 

      Were you able to try the steps that Client62 offered through a test on NSLOOKUP?

  • phoenixvdp's avatar
    phoenixvdp
    Tuning in
    7 months ago

    Guess I was too optimistic as the issues returned again during the night.

    this does seem to be a DNS issue though, see my description about the game server being hosted on another VM customers line and me still being able to connect to it even when all other internet traffic stopped working.

    i have 5 days left before my service disconnection goes through the system and I switch to another provider, I really don’t want to as I’ve been a customer for 18 years over multiple addresses, but this issue isn’t something I can work around.

    The engineers have been out and exhausted there options, what else can I do?