Forum Discussion

Fedup01's avatar
Fedup01
On our wavelength
4 months ago

New Router - No reliable service or gone.

Hi, I recently had the router replaced, after the old one of about 4 years ago, had developed a constant red light. It was changed about a 2 weeks ago for another hub 3. 

Over the last 2 weeks we have had drops outs, and these are getting more frequeny and much longer, now lasting for hours at a time.  Sometimes the next day we do go back to full service at 250 down and 25 up.  But it can randomly dive to nothing, and stay there, or some other level inbetween. However the key factor is that the upload stream, tends to go to zero and stay there.

This total absence of upstream leads to failure to log in to most sites. It is also throwing us out of services, including those used for work. If it happens when you are making a purchase, it also creates issues and uncertaintly about what was purchased. The Hotmail and google goto security alerts, and lock you out the accounts until you verify the odd behavior is you.

The cable TV is also dropping out. Diagnostics says there is an issue and the router is logging constant problems by the minute with SYNC, time out and other issues. We also loose the phone line as well for hours at a time, which is a concern.

I was hoping this was a new teething problem but it is now happening every day randomly. I've looked at the cable connections and tried different ones, and this is happening across devices and computers. 

To clarify, it will at times return back to 250 down and 25 up. But it then randomly dives down and mostly goes to zero up, rendering it useless.

14 Replies

  • Tudor's avatar
    Tudor
    Very Insightful Person

    Please provide some diagnostics:

    Set up a Broadband Quality Monitor (BQM), get your WAN IP address from http://whatsmyip.com then use http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/monitors.html

     

    If in router mode (when not using your own router) run the VM approved speed test from htps://samknows.com/realspeed

     

    Provide a full set of stats and log from the hub:

     

    Open a web browser and go to 192.168.0.1 router mode or 192.168.100.1 modem mode

    • Click on the “> Check router status” button
    • Click on the “Downstream” tab, copy the text and paste into your reply, do not take a screen shot
    • Click on the “Upstream” tab, copy the text and paste into your reply
    • Click on the “Networking” tab, copy the text and paste into your reply.
      • Do NOT post photos or screen shots they will be rejected as they contain MAC addresses. The board software will automatically change MAC addresses to **:** if done as above.

    Lastly if the downstream T3 errors are high, say lots of numbers greater than 50, 1) power off the hub, 2) after 1 minute power on the hub 3) after 2 hours take another set of stats. This can show how quickly the errors are occurring and indicate if there is noise ingress present.

  • Hi Fedup01 👋 Welcome back to the community forum! Thanks for posting to let us know about these issues with your replacement router - so sorry to hear about them!

    We'd need to take a closer look at the account to run some diagnostics and identify where the issue is. We can then arrange another replacement hub or an engineers appointment to get things sorted. I will send you a PM to confirm a few account details to do this. You can find it in your Inbox ✉ in the top right corner of the page.  We can then return to this public thread with another update when possible. Thank you for your patience in the meantime! 🌞

  • Fedup01's avatar
    Fedup01
    On our wavelength

    My sincere apologies, I've been caught up in family illness.

    My brother took everything apart and put it back together. It has been mostly working ok in terms of phone and internet. Far better than before. Although the TV box is still constantly saying fault on the Virgin diagnostics, whereas that never happened before the router box was changed.

    I have an e-mail saying by coincidence that the TV box needs uprating and to call in. So I will do that in due course, and maybe that will solve the TV box issue for some reason. 

    My brother noted how we had the same issues when my partner and I moved in to the property 6 years ago. He said he recalls we were told then, that it can take some time for the new box to fit into the system. I am not in all honestly sure if that is true. But it does seem stable now in terms of up and down stream, (with a few drop outs here and there). 

    My brother, does have some concern that the problem might be in the white cables, which run from the wall socket into the router itself. They were moved about in the changeover. He has re-coiled those, and wire tired them as they were before. He thinks it might be a fault in one of them, and that that was also a guess he made in 2018. 

    I'll come back if we have issues again, or after the TV box is replaced. Thanks for the help. Sorry again for the delay in getting back. I did use some of the links above, and it was interesting to see. Take care.

    • Tom_W1's avatar
      Tom_W1
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team

      Hi Fedup01 thanks for your reply, so sorry to hear that - our thoughts are with you at this time.

      We do hope this is resolved for you now, but do you still require any further help since your post to us on Thursday morning?

      Many thanks

  • Fedup01's avatar
    Fedup01
    On our wavelength

    Hi, we have the exact same problem again. An essentially total loss of internet service in any real sense, since yesterday evening. The download is mostly zero, and fails the tests speed tests consistently, in that it can't connect or finish the test its so bad. The download rate is between 5 and 40 at most. As a result we are being kicked out of e-mail services and amazon and ocado time out and go to authenticating runs for suspicious activity. The uploading a 3 minute video time is about 45 minutes as a single file. So we are moving kb/s not mb/s.

    The service status dashboard currently states:--

    "Intermittent signal in your area. We’re looking into it. Check back here after 22 hours, and if there’s still an issue we’ll help you book an engineer." (dated today 02:45). 

    So, I hope this will lead to it coming back again. My sister in law said, the last time this happened it was corroded connections at the local junction box, which floods in wet weather!!!

    • jbrennand's avatar
      jbrennand
      Very Insightful Person

      Have you checked first for any “known network faults in your location - Look in 2 places 
      1) Try the “check service,”Area status webpage (https://www.virginmedia.com/help/service-status)

      2) Then also Try the “free & automated” Service Status number - 0800 561 0061 - which usually gives the most up to date info. and tells you of more local issues and fix estimates, down to street cab/ postcode level.
      The "compensation "timer" can also be started on this number if appropriate.\

      If nothing is reported there - post up connection data as per this..

      -----------------------------------------

      In your browser’s URL type in 192.168.0.1  if in router mode or 192.168.100.1 if in modem mode.     No need to log in - just click on the “Router Status” icon/text at bottom-middle (Hub3/4/5) or top/right (SH’s) - of the Login page.

           Then… Navigate to these “data pages” and just copy/paste the normal  “Formatted Text” (not images) 3 FULL sets of data onto here – 2 tables from the Downstream, 2 from the Upstream, &  the Network Logs pages.  Don't worry too much about the formatting it can be easily read & DON’T include personal data or MAC addresses - blank them out - if you copy/paste the data, the board software will do this for you (you may need to click the "submit" button again). If character limits are “exceeded” - just do two posts

      Also, If you haven’t already, set up a free, secure and “offlsite”  - “Broadband Quality Monitor” to continually monitor the state of your connection and record any true network dropouts , latency issues, packet drops, etc - it will thus allow you to differentiate between those and simple wifi dropouts.  It does it 24/7/365 and it keeps a visual record of any/all of your network disconnections, useful data to have to match to the Network logs (in your Hub settings) and also in discussions with VM - note it will take a few hours to start seeing a sensible picture - post up the “link” to the “share live graph”.  Click the lower link (Share Live Graph) then, click generate. Copy the text in the Direct Link box, beware, there may be more text than you can see.  On here click the Link icon (2 links chain to the left of the camera icon) In the URL box paste the link you copied and then click OK
       https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality

  • Fedup01's avatar
    Fedup01
    On our wavelength

    At the moment simply logging in here and posting a single reply is proving beyond this. I'll try going through things again tomorrow, but I don't have time this evening, and will need to get up early to address some of these problems unfortunately, that come with next to zero upload.

    The router is listing by the minute: RCS partial service. Sync time error. No range response. 

    This started with the replacement router than replaced the one that got a red light after 5 years but was otherwise ok. This was drops in and out and is now on an off of about 36 hours. 

    A lot bounces like this, so this might not get there. There is zero upload for most of the time on speed checkers, such that they won't or can't complete any tests anyway.

  • Fedup01's avatar
    Fedup01
    On our wavelength

    Hi again. Sorry if that came off short above, was writing quick while it was showing connection. The router appeared to crash at 3:50 a.m. All the front lights were red and everything in the house was reporting lost connection to wifi and no such network. It is come back on now at 4:00 at standard 280/25. 

    At the moment neither the password on the unit base or the one we use will access the hub itself.

    At the moment the TV cable box is disconnected, as i decided to pull the plug on it, as the diagnostic kept finding a problem with the TV, even when it was fine with router and phone. But, I would guess that is coincidental. But you never can tell. Thanks for the help so far.

  • Fedup01's avatar
    Fedup01
    On our wavelength

    Ok. So, I have full broad band service back this morning. The phone is also working normally again. I am signed into the hub router right now. I had to use the base given number, and not my own one as was used before. I didn't think of that yesterday.

    All seems well. However, I still do not have the TV box connected to the hub right now. Hopefully that will be fine too.

    • Carley_S's avatar
      Carley_S
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team

      Thank you for letting us know Fedup01 

      Glad this is all resolved for you now. 

      Please do let us know if you've any further issues with the TV service once this is connected and we can investigate this further for you if needed. 

  • Fedup01's avatar
    Fedup01
    On our wavelength

    We are having the same problem again. The provision is unstable, and can zero for seconds or reduce suddenly or totally. Its causing problems with the computer and servies. My bank cancelled a card, for suspicious activty and froze the account. And we ordered the same book and same shopping order, because of errors coming out of the upload dropping to zero. Family can't play online, because of the random and total drop outs and work documents are being bounced for time out on upload. 

    I don't have the TV box connected at all, as its not worked since the new hub 3 was put in. If this is our side i am not sure what it is. My brothers have already nuked both computer to factory settings in case it was a virus, after the bank stopped the card. But, they don't think there is anything wrong in that sense. 

    It will randomly return to full service, but its total, partial and "micro" drops out. 

    I have power cuts in the area today so am having to go to a family house. So will look tomorrow. I am hoping this is local issues and that they will end soon, but this does follow on the replacement of the hub 3, and we had no issues for years, before that changeover.

    • Robert_P's avatar
      Robert_P
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team

      Sorry to hear of the connection issues experienced since the Hub was replaced, there were some issues over the weekend and into Monday with the network as a whole but we have been advised these have been resolved.

       

      From checking the average speeds over the last few days we can see the drops in both download and upload and they don't seem to have improved since we were advised the outage was resolved. I will send you a Private Message, please keep an eye out in the top right when signed into the forums for the envelope. This is where you will be able to find my Private Message and be able to respond.

  • Fedup01's avatar
    Fedup01
    On our wavelength

    Its so bad, I have had to work at my brothers house. Phone, TV, Interent are all effecitvely useless and the interent is a clear liability and risk. I will look at it again when I can, but i don't have time to use third party apps to survey it, in the next few days.

    • jbrennand's avatar
      jbrennand
      Very Insightful Person

      Post up the data I asked for 10 days ago on here... it will be informative of any connection issues.

      Also I dont think you have said, but are your issues only evident on wifi connections or do you see them at the same times on devices connected on ethernet cables?    If you don't know, can you check on one to help diagnose whether it is just a wifi connection issue or it could be network connection/Hub related?