Packet loss and how to get help

[rockhyrax]

Since the weekend, I'm having serious problems with my broadband connection.  It can connect to the Internet but the connection is so poor, I can't even get to a website to test speed, and the TV box cannot connect via the hub.  (This is using a wired connection.)

Pinging google.com shows 70-80% packet loss.

I have left the hub switched off for some hours, and factory reset it - no difference.

I'm not sure whether the problem is with the hub or the cable to the hub.  (There are no outages in the area, and although outages and intermittent connections are frequent, they never last this long.)

Does anyone know how I can get Virgin to look into the problem, perhaps starting by running a few tests from their end?  I've tried all sorts of routes in the Kafkaesque Support pages, but can't find a way to log a call.

[lotharmat · Accepted solution]

You're not in or near Wigan are you?


There seems to have been a glut of posts from people in that area with massive packet loss!

If you call 0800 561 0061 are there any issues listed?

If not:

Can you post your Hub status and logs?
Someone should be spot if there is a problem
Navigate 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'. The forum software will remove the MAC addresses for you (you will likely need to click the 'post' button again).

Also, set up a 'Broadband Quality Monitor'. This will monitor the state of your connection and record any network dropouts etc - You can do this at ThinkBroadband (https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality)
Give it a while to gather data and then click 'Share Live graph' and paste the 'Direct Link' into the forum!

[rockhyrax]

Thanks for the detailed answer, Wise Owl!

I finally found the time to try these things out.  I compiled the output from those tabs all in one place, as I've been switching back and forth between routers.  It's at the bottom.  The only thing the log contains is the lost MDD timeout messages.  

I set up a ThinkBroadband monitor, and it appears to show 100% packet loss.  (I assume that's what all red means.)  So I thought, OK, what happens if I try to ping from my other network (via the Internet)?  Perfect replies.  Good news - it shows something is working.  So just for a laugh, I tried pinging my other router from the Virgin one (this is all via the Internet), but the other router isn't set up to reply, and if it ain't broke, I'm not going to try and tinker with it.

Now the strange but nice thing: my Virgin router seems happy again.  Not only can it ping pingable addresses, but I can even use it for browsing.  Still getting the MDD timeout messages, but maybe they're always there.  I'm hoping all the failed attempts to ping caused some system to reset some connection and this doesn't turn out to be an intermittent problem.  At least I know what to try first if it happens again... 😉

Information
-----------
Cable Modem	EuroDOCSIS 3.0 Compliant
Serial Number	xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Boot Code Version	PSPU-Boot 1.0.20.1391
Software Version	V2.01.15
Hardware Version	1.03
CA Key	Installed


Status
------
Cable Modem Status
Item	Status	Comments
Acquired Downstream Channel (Hz)	186750000	Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel (Hz)	32600000	Success
Provisioning State	OK	Operational


Upstream
--------
 	US-1	US-2	US-3	US-4
Channel Type	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Channel ID	11	9	10	12
Frequency (Hz)	32600000	46200000	39400000	25800000
Ranging Status	Success	Success	Success	Success
Modulation	64QAM	32QAM	32QAM	64QAM
Symbol Rate (Sym/sec)	5120000	5120000	5120000	5120000
Mini-Slot Size	2	2	2	2
Power Level (dBmV)	50.25	50.00	50.75	51.00
T1 Timeouts	0	0	0	0
T2 Timeouts	0	0	0	0
T3 Timeouts	5	1	0	3
T4 Timeouts	0	0	0	0


Upstream Burst
--------------
 	Req
(1)	Init Maint
(3)	Per Maint
(4)	Adv Short
(9)	Adv Long
(10)	Adv UGS
(11)
Modulation Type	16QAM	QPSK	16QAM	64QAM	64QAM	16QAM
Differential Encoding	OFF	OFF	OFF	OFF	OFF	OFF
Preamble Length	56	640	384	104	104	104
Preamble Value Offset	652	0	0	716	716	716
FEC Error Correction (T)	0	5	5	10	16	5
FEC Codeword Information Bytes (K)	16	34	34	81	223	86
Maximum Burst Size	0	0	0	3	255	255
Guard Time Size	8	48	48	8	8	8
Last Codeword Length	Fixed	Fixed	Fixed	Shortened	Shortened	Shortened
Scrambler On/Off	ON	ON	ON	ON	ON	ON


General Configuration
---------------------
Network Access	Allowed
Maximum Number of CPEs	1
Baseline Privacy	Enabled
DOCSIS Mode	EuroDOCSIS 3.0
Config File
Primary Downstream Service Flow
SFID	61340
Max Traffic Rate	117000047 bps
Max Traffic Burst	42600 bytes
Min Traffic Rate	0 bps
Primary Upstream Service Flow
SFID	61339
Max Traffic Rate	10500047 bps
Max Traffic Burst	16320 bytes
Min Traffic Rate	0 bps
Max Concatenated Burst	16320 bytes
Scheduling Type	Best Effort


Network Log
-----------
First Time	Last Time	Priority	Error Number	Description
11/09/2021 20:22:04 GMT	11/09/2021 20:22:04 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:22:04 GMT	11/09/2021 20:22:04 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:21:53 GMT	11/09/2021 20:21:53 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:21:42 GMT	11/09/2021 20:21:42 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:21:42 GMT	11/09/2021 20:21:42 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:21:34 GMT	11/09/2021 20:21:34 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:21:26 GMT	11/09/2021 20:21:26 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:21:12 GMT	11/09/2021 20:21:12 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:20:58 GMT	11/09/2021 20:20:58 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:20:34 GMT	11/09/2021 20:20:34 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:20:14 GMT	11/09/2021 20:20:14 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:20:12 GMT	11/09/2021 20:20:12 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:20:08 GMT	11/09/2021 20:20:08 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:19:56 GMT	11/09/2021 20:19:56 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:19:54 GMT	11/09/2021 20:19:54 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
11/09/2021 20:19:52 GMT	11/09/2021 20:19:52 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout

[Molly_G]

Hey @rockhyrax,

Many thanks for your recent post and sorry to hear of the issues you've been having.

How have things been since your latest post? Let us know if you're in need of further assistance and we'll be happy to take a look into things.

Kind regards,