Virgin Media Community

[hammic]

For the last few nights I have experienced slow upload speeds.  I first noticed this when gaming, so performed a speed test which is when I noticed the 10Mbps upload speed - I am on the 200Mbps package and normally see slightly over 20Mbps upload speeds from speed tests.

Phoned up support tonight, who told me to reboot the modem, put the modem mode, then finally pinhole reset it - all of which did nothing to improve the upload speed.

I repeated the test on my mobile phone, several wired desktop computers and a laptop - the upload speed is consistent, regardless of device or connection.

I did notice that my upstream power levels for all four channels seem high - 48.3 - 48.8dBmv.  I highlighted this to the advisor on the phone, but I might as well have been talking to a brick wall as he seemed to think that both the power levels and upload speeds were perfect.

[hammic]

 Downstream bonded channels

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) SNR (dB) Modulation Channel ID

1	259000000	0.5	38	256 qam	16
2	251000000	-0.2	37	256 qam	15
3	267000000	0.2	38	256 qam	17
4	275000000	0.2	38	256 qam	18
5	283000000	-0.5	38	256 qam	19
6	291000000	0.4	38	256 qam	20
7	299000000	1	38	256 qam	21
8	307000000	1.5	38	256 qam	22
9	315000000	1.9	38	256 qam	23
10	323000000	1.9	38	256 qam	24
11	331000000	1.7	38	256 qam	25
12	339000000	2	38	256 qam	26
13	347000000	1.9	38	256 qam	27
14	355000000	2.2	38	256 qam	28
15	363000000	1.9	38	256 qam	29
16	371000000	2	38	256 qam	30
17	379000000	1.5	38	256 qam	31
18	387000000	1.7	38	256 qam	32
19	395000000	1	38	256 qam	33
20	403000000	0.5	38	256 qam	34
21	411000000	-0.2	37	256 qam	35
22	419000000	-0.7	38	256 qam	36
23	523000000	-0.4	38	256 qam	37
24	531000000	0	38	256 qam	38

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	38.6	7827	1804
2	Locked	37.6	4929	3539
3	Locked	38.6	3614	231
4	Locked	38.6	2069	1
5	Locked	38.6	1915	11
6	Locked	38.9	337	0
7	Locked	38.6	330	4
8	Locked	38.6	213	0
9	Locked	38.6	207	0
10	Locked	38.9	177	18
11	Locked	38.9	190	13
12	Locked	38.6	197	0
13	Locked	38.6	192	0
14	Locked	38.6	1503	26
15	Locked	38.9	160	0
16	Locked	38.9	137	0
17	Locked	38.9	136	12
18	Locked	38.6	152	0
19	Locked	38.6	171	0
20	Locked	38.6	174	0
21	Locked	37.6	165	0
22	Locked	38.6	166	0
23	Locked	38.6	121	0
24	Locked	38.6	240	40

Upstream bonded channels

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) Symbol Rate (ksps) Modulation Channel ID

1	25800000	48.8	5120	32 qam	6
2	46200000	48.8	5120	64 qam	3
3	39400000	48.5	5120	32 qam	4
4	32600000	48.3	5120	32 qam	5

Upstream bonded channels

Channel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts

1	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
2	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	0	0

General Configuration

Network access	Allowed
Maximum Number of CPEs	1
Baseline Privacy	Enabled
DOCSIS Mode	Docsis30
Config file	cmreg-vmdg505-bbt060-b.cm

Primary Downstream Service Flow

SFID	319638
Max Traffic Rate	230000061
Max Traffic Burst	42600
Min Traffic Rate	0

Primary Upstream Service Flow

SFID	319637
Max Traffic Rate	22000061
Max Traffic Burst	42600
Min Traffic Rate	0
Max Concatenated Burst	42600
Scheduling Type	BestEffort

[Laurie_C]

Hi hammic,

Thanks for getting in touch, and a very warm welcome back to the Community Forum! I am sorry that you're having some problems with slow speeds.

I've been able to locate your account using your Forum Details, and I'm afraid that I can't see any issues from our end. Everything looks to be within specification, and there aren't any known issues or outages in your area. How are things looking at the moment? Are you still having problems?

Kind regards,

Laurie

[hammic]

Hi Laurie_C,

I am experiencing the same issue tonight, roughly 10.7Mbps upload speed at best.  My suspicions are that this could be a utilisation problem in the area, or perhaps I'm being capped for some reason? I shall try and test every hour or so during the next few evenings and see roughly when the speed starts to decrease, if at all.

Failing this to be a utilisation or capping issue, what else would cause the slow upload speed across all devices regardless of connection?

[hammic]

Cable Modem StatusItem Status Comments

Acquired Downstream Channel (Hz)	259000000	Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel (Hz)	25800000	Locked
Provisioning State	Online

Downstream bonded channels

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) SNR (dB) Modulation Channel ID

1	259000000	0.7	38	256 qam	16
2	139000000	4	38	256 qam	1
3	147000000	3.5	38	256 qam	2
4	155000000	3.5	38	256 qam	3
5	163000000	3.5	38	256 qam	4
6	171000000	3.5	38	256 qam	5
7	179000000	3.2	38	256 qam	6
8	187000000	3	38	256 qam	7
9	195000000	2.7	38	256 qam	8
10	203000000	2.4	38	256 qam	9
11	211000000	2	38	256 qam	10
12	219000000	1.7	38	256 qam	11
13	227000000	1.5	38	256 qam	12
14	235000000	0.9	38	256 qam	13
15	243000000	0.5	38	256 qam	14
16	251000000	0	38	256 qam	15
17	267000000	0.4	38	256 qam	17
18	275000000	0.4	38	256 qam	18
19	283000000	-0.2	38	256 qam	19
20	291000000	0.5	38	256 qam	20
21	299000000	1.2	38	256 qam	21
22	307000000	1.7	38	256 qam	22
23	315000000	2	38	256 qam	23
24	323000000	2	38	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	38.6	234	126
2	Locked	38.9	6582	562
3	Locked	38.9	3087	174
4	Locked	38.6	3528	126
5	Locked	38.6	3304	58
6	Locked	38.6	836	92
7	Locked	38.9	243	36
8	Locked	38.9	199	46
9	Locked	38.9	3085	53
10	Locked	38.6	6878	80
11	Locked	38.9	6409	24
12	Locked	38.9	2810	209
13	Locked	38.6	1397	163
14	Locked	38.6	2842	5841
15	Locked	38.6	1077	170
16	Locked	38.6	390	213
17	Locked	38.9	681	0
18	Locked	38.9	4715	758
19	Locked	38.6	4786	2525
20	Locked	38.6	3178	33
21	Locked	38.6	2622	3
22	Locked	38.9	466	0
23	Locked	38.9	90	0
24	Locked	38.9	62	0

Upstream bonded channels

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) Symbol Rate (ksps) Modulation Channel ID

1	25800000	48.8	5120	32 qam	6
2	39400000	48.5	5120	32 qam	4
3	46200000	48.5	5120	64 qam	3
4	32600000	48.3	5120	32 qam	5

Upstream bonded channels

Channel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts

1	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
2	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	0	0

General Configuration

Network access	Allowed
Maximum Number of CPEs	1
Baseline Privacy	Enabled
DOCSIS Mode	Docsis30
Config file	cmreg-vmdg505-bbt060-b.cm

Primary Downstream Service Flow

SFID	324624
Max Traffic Rate	230000061
Max Traffic Burst	42600
Min Traffic Rate	0

Primary Upstream Service Flow

SFID	324623
Max Traffic Rate	22000061
Max Traffic Burst	42600
Min Traffic Rate	0
Max Concatenated Burst	42600
Scheduling Type	BestEffort

[hammic]

So last night at about 7pm I lost my internet and the SuperHub 3 restarted itself.  Frustrated and convinced that this is related to my high upstream power levels, I contacted support.  After speaking for 20 minutes, the line conveniently disconnected.  I rang retentions who again put me through to tech support, who then eventually arranged an engineer's appointment for me on Monday.

I want the engineer to inspect the line and levels and tell me if they are in spec or not.  If so, then why am I getting slow upload speeds every day after around 7:30pm? My own suspicion is utilisation, but until the power levels are sorted I won't be convinced.

[Andrew-G]

Downstream errors and erratic upstream modulation suggest a line quality problem rather than over-utilisation.  Upstream power levels aren't at values from which we can draw any conclusions.

If you want to check for over-utilisation, then setup a BQM over at https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality that'll show what's going on with your VM connection.  Post a LINK to a LIVE, SHARED graph here and we'll see what's happening (so no screenshots, and not the address link to your logged in view).  Usually needs to run for 24 hours before we can draw reasonable conclusions, but the live graph will continuously update so you can post the link immediately.

[Ayisha_B]

Hi @hammic

Thanks for the update. The technician will be able to look into this for you and hopefully get it sorted.

Let us know how the visit goes. 

[hammic]

With the engineer agreeing with me that my upstream signal levels were borderline and that any fluctuation might have been enough to knock my signals out of spec and briefly take me offline.  With some tweaks and/or moving my cable around in the street cabinet, my upstream levels are more satisfactory and my connection does indeed appear to be more stable.

Something that the technician has logged, is there are sometimes glitches maybe a couple times of day.  These might have knocked me offline, as we both agreed they were sometimes roughly the same time my SH3 rebooted of it's own accord.  I don't know whether anything will come of this, but at least it should now be logged.

Sadly my upload speeds are still roughly half at peak times, so this still remains a mystery.  This can and does affect my online gaming, so it's something I aim to have looked into and fixed.  How I go about this from here, I don't quite know.  I'd appreciate any pointers in this regard.

[Tom_F]

Hi hammic, thanks for keeping us updated. 

Checking things today everything appears to be fine, I appreciate that's not been the case for you though. Can you please post up some recent hub stats so we can get a better idea of what's going on following the visit?

You can also set up a free “Broadband Quality Monitor” to continually monitor the state of your connection and record any network dropouts. It does it 24/7 and it keeps a visual record of any/all of your network issues https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality

Tom