Ping, packet loss and Latency all over the place. Can we get some info please!

[CloudchaserXI]

Started 2 days ago - I'm assuming this is Covid 19 related? If it is PLEASE confirm Virgin.

380Meg fibre, all networked - pc direct to Hub 3.

All of a sudden: massive lag spikes, interruption, packet loss.

I have tried Modem mode. Tried to reset router. 

Software version

: 9.1.1811.401

Log below:

20/03/2020 20:32:56	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
20/03/2020 20:32:3	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
20/03/2020 19:53:3	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
20/03/2020 04:16:13	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
20/03/2020 02:44:21	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
18/03/2020 23:24:8	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
18/03/2020 22:15:12	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
18/03/2020 20:50:23	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
18/03/2020 18:58:29	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
18/03/2020 18:58:14	Warning!	LAN login FAILED : Incorrect Username / Password / ConnectionType;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/03/2020 12:32:22	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/03/2020 11:42:44	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-rtsxxl35016u+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/03/2020 11:42:44	Error	DHCP REBIND WARNING - Field invalid in response;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/03/2020 10:53:4	Error	DHCP RENEW sent - No response for IPv4;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/03/2020 10:24:27	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/03/2020 10:03:26	Error	DHCP RENEW sent - No response for IPv4;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/03/2020 09:52:42	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/03/2020 09:09:24	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/03/2020 08:24:10	Error	DHCP RENEW sent - No response for IPv4;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/03/2020 05:48:57	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

PING google.com (216.58.210.238): 64 data bytes
72 bytes from 216.58.210.238: seq=0 ttl=55 time=20.000 ms
72 bytes from 216.58.210.238: seq=1 ttl=55 time=10.000 ms
72 bytes from 216.58.210.238: seq=2 ttl=55 time=4500.000 ms
--- google.com ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 40% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 10.000/1510.000/4500.000 ms

[AlteranAncient]

Hey there - BR1 resident over here! I reported issues nearly a week ago over here, and my plea has totally fallen on deaf ears. Got a "senior" engineer to visit early in the week and had my 4th Hub 3 installed - my second replacement in about 6 months, and either all of the Hub 3 units are faulty, or none of them are.

Looking at how many people in this forum seem to be having problems and are in the BR Postcode area, I'm starting to imagine it's not just my street's cabinet to blame, but more of a chance that Virgin's network is oversubscribed in this area and not up to the task. The Bromley area originally an NTL area and a lot of the wiring and equipment in this area has been grandfathered from the NTL days and into Virgin's core network.

Gaming has always been a bit of a gamble on this connection, but in the last two weeks, VOIP services like Discord have started to stutter and most of the people I speak to on 150/151 don't seem to have a clue about "packet loss" or why it might be a serious problem for someone.

I'm completely at my wits end now, and once this is all over, I will seriously consider jumping ship. BT might not be able to give me 350Mbps, but if I can get a stable 50, I'll be happy.

[CloudchaserXI]

They are over subscribed.

My engineer said they were doing upgrades to the area. 

How long that takes remains to be seen!

[bubosh1]

Hey, im from the BR3 area and we are also experiencing this high ping/packet loss for the past week, its at the point where most games are unplayable due to high ping and its very frustrating.

When i called VM they told me it was due to my old router and that my problem will be fixed if i got the new hub 3, now i find this post and i doubt this will be fixed with a new hub.

[CloudchaserXI]

Right you are. 

We've eliminated:

New hub.

New router. 

Technician visit

Basically he confirmed to me it's congestion on the network and if we don't see improvement on the 31st it's likely to be here until the end of this or they manage upgrades, which given current situation is unlikely. 

Single player games it is. And a very unpleasant working environment. 

We may be able to get reimbursed at the end of this so I would recommend keeping a broadband quality monitor running throughout. 

[williambonomo]

For sure it's an infra limitation but so why can't they be just honest and say, well we do have limitations and we'll work on it. Why do they just keep saying [REMOVED] blaming the services/games servers, our devices etc... Why do they keep treating us like kids?

 [MOD EDIT: Inappropriate language removed, please review the Forum Guidelines]

[davidc01]

I managed to get through to someone from Virgin on the phone last night, and the answer is that a vast majority of their technical support was outsourced overseas years ago. Those countries are now in total lock down and so there is no one technical answering the phones.
The person I spoke to said he worked in disconnections/sales normally. He said if you were lucky you might get put through to someone who used to work in tech support before it was outsourced, but in general, no one was trained in it.
As a result, I imagine the network engineers in this country are beyond overstretched right now.

My personal plan is to go buy sim cards from all the major networks and try each one until I find a 4G connection with latency that can support my working from home (my current vodafone one can't)... and yesterday my Virgin internet connection was the worst it had been all week.... so I feel pretty helpless right now.

[Luke28]

Hi William, I am a field technician for VM.

If you send me your Postcode Via PM I can check your local node to see if there is a traffic issue in your area, similar to what the technician has done for Cloudchaser. The check service status isn't the most reliable tool for this as is requires traffic to reach certain threshold for x% of the day before it logs it as a network fault. However it could be sat close to this threshold causing slowdown for yourself, especially if you're gaming or using a secure server connection you will be more affected by this than the majority of people.

[CloudchaserXI]

Luke, the hero, finally enters the scene!

So assuming his network is at the same capacity level as mine - it's crests the threshold and is logged as a "fault", is it then safe to assume once logged the repair booked is then try alleviate the pressure on the system? I.e. the repair on the 31st is essentially to bring the usage percentage in the area down? 

[Luke28]

If they have opened a ticket for high utilisation then the work needed to increase capacity in that node will get booked. It can often be pushed back further than estimated fix date depending on other factors though so the best thing to do if youve been given a ticket number or anything of the sort is to just check the day after if it should have been closed

[CloudchaserXI]

Brilliant - Fingers crossed for the 31st then.

You're about to get a few post codes I'd imagine. Appreciate you getting involved!