Issues with websites not loading and FFXIV not launching since "network improvements in your area"

[Fallke]

Yesterday I had network improvements scheduled, midnight to 8am, and since I have been having some issues.

Certain websites aren't loading.

Certain video games won't play.

Currently, eu.finalfantasyxiv.com won't load. Completely times out. I can't log in to play Final Fantasy XIV. Instagram won't load. Virgin Media's own webchat tab won't load. Twitter is spotty. As far as I can see, all other websites are fine.

This is on two separate computers. Both are wired. Mobile phones connected to wi-fi can't load the websites, as soon as I disconnect wi-fi and use phone data the websites load.

I have called twice, and to say that the staff by phone have no idea what's happening is an understatement. I have confirmed Web Safe is disabled. I have disabled all firewalls on the router and computers. I have factory reset the Hub 3.0 four times, powered it on and off again, and run trace routes (log below). Every single member of staff has disconnected the call or transferred me to someone else with no warning (presumably so they don't have to deal with it), and to say that I am getting frustrated is an understatement.

Again, this began after network improvements in my area.

Trace route logs below:

Final Fantasy XIV website:

tracert eu.finalfantasyxiv.com

Tracing route to eu.finalfantasyxiv.com [124.150.157.254]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     4 ms     4 ms     4 ms  192.168.0.1

  2    14 ms    11 ms    11 ms  10.53.33.245

  3    14 ms     *        *     brad-core-2a-xe-830-0.network.virginmedia.net [81.97.81.57]

  4     *        *        *     Request timed out.

  5    23 ms     *        *     86.85-254-62.static.virginmediabusiness.co.uk [62.254.85.86]

  6    32 ms     *       36 ms  ae-8.a02.londen12.uk.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.66.101]

  7     *       29 ms    24 ms  ae-0.r21.londen12.uk.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.214]

  8     *      111 ms     *     ae-13.r25.asbnva02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.2.111]

  9     *        *        *     Request timed out.

 10     *        *      261 ms  ae-12.r31.tokyjp05.jp.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.3.192]

 11   256 ms     *        *     ae-3.r01.tokyjp08.jp.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.133]

 12     *      267 ms     *     ae-1.a00.tokyjp08.jp.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.6.105]

 13     *        *        *     Request timed out.

 14   258 ms   257 ms   268 ms  219.117.144.66

 15   257 ms   256 ms   256 ms  219.117.144.53

 16     *        *        *     Request timed out.

 17   256 ms   257 ms     *     219.117.147.174

 18     *      256 ms     *     124.150.157.254

 19     *        *      257 ms  124.150.157.254

Twitter:

tracert www.twitter.com

Tracing route to twitter.com [104.244.42.193]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 5 ms 5 ms 4 ms 192.168.0.1
2 14 ms 11 ms 11 ms 10.53.33.245
3 13 ms 22 ms 18 ms brad-core-2b-xe-830-0.network.virginmedia.net [81.97.81.109]
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 24 ms 24 ms 21 ms 86.85-254-62.static.virginmediabusiness.co.uk [62.254.85.86]
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 23 ms 21 ms 26 ms uk-lon03a-ri2-ae-5-0.aorta.net [84.116.135.42]
9 23 ms 23 ms 27 ms xe-3-0-1.pao1-cr2.twttr.com [199.16.159.190]
10 22 ms 22 ms 22 ms 104.244.42.193

Instagram:

www.instagram.com

Tracing route to z-p42-instagram.c10r.instagram.com [157.240.225.174]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 5 ms 5 ms 4 ms 192.168.0.1
2 14 ms 18 ms 11 ms 10.53.33.245
3 14 ms * 14 ms brad-core-2a-xe-830-0.network.virginmedia.net [81.97.81.57]
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * 14 ms 15 ms tcma5-ic-1-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.174.181]
6 * * 17 ms ae73.pr02.man2.tfbnw.net [157.240.80.26]
7 15 ms 16 ms * po102.psw02.man2.tfbnw.net [129.134.98.115]
8 14 ms 14 ms * 173.252.67.61
9 16 ms * * instagram-p42-shv-01-man2.fbcdn.net [157.240.225.174]
10 19 ms 15 ms 13 ms instagram-p42-shv-01-man2.fbcdn.net [157.240.225.174]

If anyone has any suggestions I'd be very grateful.

[SP89]

VM sent me an email earlier this week advising that they'd be doing maintenance in my area (area 14) today, Friday 8th July 2022, from midnight until 8am but that we'd be "back up and running by 6PM". The reference from the bottom of the email was 'C04453_D001'.

Roll on to now, gone 9PM, and the connection is still experiencing extreme packet loss, often >40% when pinging some big sites like Facebook or Twitter (whereas usually the results are 0% packet loss).

I had dropouts when I first moved to Gig1 (https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/Gig1-frequent-drop-outs/m-p/4821419) - the only thing that's changed in my setup since then is that I now use an Asus RT-AX89X router which has been absolutely fine since I got it. This seems like it's not actual dropouts as there's no errors or warnings being reported in the hub log.

The only way I've been able to use the internet reliably today is hotspotting through my phone, and I'm in an area that can barely manage 1 bar of 4G signal and often drops to 3G. Prior to midnight, the connection had experienced very few (if any) issues all the way back to the resolution of the dropouts when I first moved to Gig1.

Multiple times today, I've rebooted the hub, router, laptop / other devices, cleared DNS caches, tried wired connection, etc. all to no avail. The email says "This should improve your connection so you can carry on enjoying the things you love most", and yet it has done the complete opposite of this and broken something which was working perfectly fine.

[SP89]

For reference, these are the current stats

3.0 Downstream channels
Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) SNR (dB) Modulation Channel ID

1	139000000	9.3	37.4	QAM256	1
2	147000000	8.7	37.6	QAM256	2
3	155000000	8.2	37.4	QAM256	3
4	163000000	7.8	37.4	QAM256	4
5	171000000	7.6	37.4	QAM256	5
6	179000000	7.4	37.6	QAM256	6
7	187000000	7.6	37.4	QAM256	7
8	195000000	7.1	37.6	QAM256	8
9	203000000	7	37.4	QAM256	9
10	211000000	6.7	37.4	QAM256	10
11	219000000	6.7	37.6	QAM256	11
12	227000000	6.4	37.6	QAM256	12
13	235000000	6.3	37.4	QAM256	13
14	243000000	6.2	37.4	QAM256	14
15	251000000	5.9	37.4	QAM256	15
16	259000000	5.7	37.6	QAM256	16
17	267000000	5.5	37.6	QAM256	17
18	275000000	5.9	37.6	QAM256	18
19	283000000	6.7	37.6	QAM256	19
20	291000000	7.3	37.6	QAM256	20
21	299000000	7.3	38.6	QAM256	21
22	307000000	6.8	38.6	QAM256	22
23	315000000	6.5	38.6	QAM256	23
24	323000000	6.2	38.6	QAM256	24
25	331000000	6.3	38.6	QAM256	25
26	339000000	6.1	38.6	QAM256	26
27	347000000	5.9	38.6	QAM256	27
28	355000000	6.2	39	QAM256	28
29	363000000	5.9	38.6	QAM256	29
30	371000000	5.5	38.6	QAM256	30
31	379000000	5.3	38.6	QAM256	31

3.0 Downstream channels

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

1	Locked	37.355988	0	0
2	Locked	37.636276	7	0
3	Locked	37.355988	0	0
4	Locked	37.355988	0	0
5	Locked	37.355988	0	0
6	Locked	37.636276	0	0
7	Locked	37.355988	0	0
8	Locked	37.636276	0	0
9	Locked	37.355988	0	0
10	Locked	37.355988	7	0
11	Locked	37.636276	0	0
12	Locked	37.636276	0	0
13	Locked	37.355988	3	0
14	Locked	37.355988	0	0
15	Locked	37.355988	9	0
16	Locked	37.636276	3	0
17	Locked	37.636276	3	0
18	Locked	37.636276	2	0
19	Locked	37.636276	0	0
20	Locked	37.636276	8	0
21	Locked	38.605377	0	0
22	Locked	38.605377	0	0
23	Locked	38.605377	0	0
24	Locked	38.605377	0	0
25	Locked	38.605377	3	0
26	Locked	38.605377	0	0
27	Locked	38.605377	0	0
28	Locked	38.983261	0	0
29	Locked	38.605377	3	0
30	Locked	38.605377	0	0
31	Locked	38.605377	3	0

3.1 Downstream channels

Channel Channel Width (MHz) FFT Type Number of Active Subcarriers Modulation (Active Profile) First Active Subcarrier (Hz)

159

96

4K

1880

QAM1024

392

3.1 Downstream channels

Channel ID Lock Status RxMER Data (dB) PLC Power (dBmV) Correcteds (Active Profile) Uncorrectables (Active Profile)

159

Locked

41

6.2

7127930

0

[Anonymous]

Hey there, I'm getting the exact same issue, right down to the service in my area at that time, and especially with staff hanging up on me when they get confused and don't know how to fix the fault. I've got a thread open with the same details.

You in the South Yorkshire area? Just so I can get an idea if it's an area thing or if it's a UK thing.

[Fallke]

Hiya

Yeah, I'm in South Yorkshire area between Wakefield and Sheffield.

[newapollo]

Hi @Fallke 

Have you checked to see if the network issues have been resolved or if they are still ongoing?

Have you looked at Check service status at the top of the page? You can also a run a test on your equipment from there.

If nothing is showing  you could also try the  Service Status number  0800 561 0061.  This often gives details of more local issues down to postcode level.

Both should offer an estimated resolution date and time

[Anonymous]

Barnsley then? Glad to know I'm not going insane. You're not alone bud, exact same issue. Must be a Virgin Media thing that they'll need to resolve on their end. Nothing we can do but wait.

[Anonymous]

@newapollo, I'm seemingly in the same area as the original poster with the exact same issue, and the Service Status says there's no issues in our area. We've both run tests on our PC's, and reset our routers.

[Fallke]

They were resolved at 8am yesterday.

I've run tests on my equipment which come back with a different result each time (Hub not connected properly, we found an issue with 5 wireless devices, etc). Usually comes back with no issues.

Rang service status number and that hasn't identified an issue.

Looks like someone else has the same problem as me and they live in the same town, so... I think it's not my end.

[Fallke]

Yeah Barnsley. I'm glad it isn't just me!