Constant WiFi dropouts

[mk_swlondon]

For the past few weeks my broadband connection has been very unstable, very frequent connection drops. Often with the green light flashing on the router, but not always (not for shorter dropouts). Cables of course checked, hub restarted etc. Mostly affecting WiFi, though the ethernet connected TV also quite often alerts.

The connection is also noticeably very slow now - this is what I got just now sitting right next to the router.

 I have to work from home a lot, however that is now getting impossible, and it keeps breaking Alexa and the routines for smart bulbs etc.

Sadly no point asking any close neighbours as I can see that everyone has by now switched to other providers... it's not a good sign.

But I cannot believe that this is something internal to cabling in my house. Connection was reasonably ok for me the past few months and nothing has changed from my side. 

Any other thoughts, settings to try, before I give up on VM? 

This is what the router log shows (the MDD Timeout pops up constantly, every minute). 

Time Priority Description

28/08/2023 13:47:28 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:47:28 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:46:55 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:46:55 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:46:49 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:46:48 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:46:39 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:46:39 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:44:28 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:44:28 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:43:21 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

28/08/2023 13:43:20 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[mk_swlondon]

To add, around the time of a longer disconnection, I also got the following critical error:

Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=********;CMTS-MAC=*******;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[jbrennand]

Do a quick check for known faults first - call 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

Then, post up full stats as per this..

________________________

In your browser’s URL box type in http://192.168.0.1 (or http://192.168.100.1 - if in modem mode) (DONT click these links) - and hit return. 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

[mk_swlondon]

Hello, 

Thanks for your response. 

The status number and status page don't have any info about outages, I have to check them quite frequently (But they rarely do, even if I know of other customers in the area having issues).

I will have a look at the Broadband quality monitor too. 

These are the complete router logs, I hope they are readable (as mentioned, at the time of a longer 25 min outage earlier today  there were also T4 Timeout messages) 

Downstream bonded channels
Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) SNR (dB) Modulation Channel ID
1 234750000 -12.7 34 256 qam 13
2 138750000 -8.5 34 256 qam 1
3 146750000 -9.4 29 256 qam 2
4 154750000 -11 27 256 qam 3
5 162750000 -11.7 28 256 qam 4
6 170750000 -11.2 31 256 qam 5
7 178750000 -10.7 33 256 qam 6
8 186750000 -10.7 34 256 qam 7
9 194750000 -10.5 34 256 qam 8
10 202750000 -10.5 35 256 qam 9
11 210750000 -10.7 24 256 qam 10
12 242750000 -13.3 34 256 qam 14
13 250750000 -13.5 34 256 qam 15
14 258750000 -13.4 34 256 qam 16
15 266750000 -12.5 34 256 qam 17
16 274750000 -11.4 35 256 qam 18
17 282750000 -10.5 36 256 qam 19
18 290750000 -10.7 36 256 qam 20
19 298750000 -11.2 35 256 qam 21
20 306750000 -12.2 35 256 qam 22
21 314750000 -12.7 34 256 qam 23
22 322750000 -12.5 34 256 qam 24

Downstream bonded channels
Channel Locked Status RxMER (dB) Pre RS Errors Post RS Errors
1 Locked 34.9 10942495 82779
2 Locked 34.4 1133278 255640
3 Locked 29.9 254577291 851171
4 Locked 27.7 197705736 62344723
5 Locked 28.6 242431106 2964115
6 Locked 31.4 51364020 60398734
7 Locked 33 63375462 17969518
8 Locked 34.3 59571888 235651
9 Locked 34.9 54867611 229534
10 Locked 35.7 5661813 160832
11 Locked 24.6 21058581 8784850
12 Locked 34.4 11763372 116066
13 Locked 34.4 7819859 122240
14 Locked 34.3 5255253 78603
15 Locked 34.9 1265700 60447
16 Locked 35.7 218775 61795
17 Locked 36.6 126254 44222
18 Locked 36.3 128312 30898
19 Locked 35.5 394811 35636
20 Locked 35 1475225 35517
21 Locked 34.9 1833607 36275
22 Locked 34.9 1227297 44817

Upstream bonded channels
Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) Symbol Rate (ksps) Modulation Channel ID
1 49599922 52.8 5120 64 qam 7

Upstream bonded channels
Channel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts
1 ATDMA 0 0 4 0

Network Log
Time Priority Description
28/08/2023 17:22:6 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:22:4 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:18:37 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:18:36 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:16:31 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:16:31 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:12:0 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:11:58 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:10:32 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:10:31 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:10:29 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:10:28 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:10:13 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:10:12 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:09:38 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:09:36 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:09:27 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:09:27 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:08:22 Warning! RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/08/2023 17:08:20 Warning! Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[jbrennand]

Dreadful stats - a contender for worst of the year ! ... post up the BQM ASAP -  a VM person should help soon.

[Client62]

The Downstream Power levels are far too low & well out of the preferred range. 

Check for a fault in your street via 0800 561 0061 - if not you need an engineer to fix.

Signal Level Checks

Via http://192.168.0.1/ connect to the Hub, do not login in, scroll down to "Check router status"

Using the Hub's "Check router status" tabs check the Downstream and Upstream power levels are in spec.

Downstream Power Levels of -7 to +7 dBmV are preferred, +10dBmV is the max acceptable, with a SNR of 33dB or higher across all DOCSIS 3.0 channels. Rising error counts across many channels is a current service noise fault.

Upstream Power Levels of 35 to 49 dBmV are preferred, with QAM 64 Modulation mode across four to six DOCSIS 3.0 channels.  Seeing QAM 32/16 is a current service noise fault.

[Adri_G]

Hi, mk_swlondon.
Thank you for posting on our help forums and welcome back to the community.

We're sorry to hear of the slow speeds and drop-outs you've been experiencing recently, that's far from the service we expect you to get and of course not what we want for our customers. 

We'd love to assist you, from what you've posted above we understand the issues need to be investigated further so to do this I will send you a private message here.

Please, check the top right-hand side of our page to find a little white envelope.
Click on this and you'll see my message.

[mk_swlondon]

Hello and thank you all for your helpful responses. 

Magically last night after I set up the BQM things suddenly improved, fewer errors in the network logs, and no dropouts that I noticed this morning. The Upstream and downstream power levels are still the same though, outside recommended ranges, so I'm not convinced it is permanently resolved (it has previously temporarily improved but then the issue came back with a vengeance).

I've responded to Adri with the details.