Hub 3 drop outs make remote desktop working impossible. What should I do?

[L_J_M]

I have an intermittent wifi drop out problem with my Hub 3 that makes remote desktop working impossible.

Drop outs are a pain - I can fix them by turning off my laptop's wifi, then instantly turning it back on. However, when working on a client's remote desktop, every drop out means I have to go through the whole remote desktop login process with 2 factor authentication, which effectively kills what I was doing at the time of the drop out (usually a Teams video call).

This is an intermittent drop out problem - when the connection works, it's really fast and I've no complaints.

To get to the bottom of the problem, I've done the following steps:

----------

(1) Reset the Hub 3.

First thing that was done. And has been done multiple times. Doesn't seem to do anything.

----------

(2) Update all drivers, firmware, etc.

Windows totally up-to-date. Firmware on my Dell laptop totally up-to-date, including getting the Dell service people to check them.

----------

(3) Check the network quality.

I registered with Think Broadband's Network Quality Monitor. Here's a typical result:

All very good. (The red line was me switching the Hub 3 off then on again, so ignore.)

----------

(4) Check the wifi connectivity.

To make sure I wasn't getting any problems with neighbours' signals, I forced the Hub 3 to only use 5 GHz and made my laptop wifi card only go for 5 GHz. I also switched to channel 52 (I know) to make sure I wasn't clashing with anyone. I'm not clashing as can be seen from inSSIDer:

----------

(5) Check out the Hub 3's wifi and at the same time check it's Ethernet connections.

To narrow down the problem, I connected a old Lenovo laptop via Ethernet cable into the Hub 3. Still keeping the Hub 3 and Dell laptop wifi limited to 5GHz, my network looked like this:

I then got both Dell and Lenovo laptops to run a series of pings over a number of hours whilst I kept a record of drop outs. The pings were to (1) Loopback (127.0.0.1), effectively checking each laptop's own network card, (2) the Hub 3 (192.168.0.1) and (3) the outside internet (www.google.com). Each group of three pings was a single ping with a 200ms timout limit. There was a 2 second delay between each group of pings.

Here is a typical table of results, with the numbers showing 100% packet loss during a 5 minute period:

So, (apart from the strange loopback and router packet loss to the Lenovo through a cable), my main concern was when I was having Teams calls that kept dropping out around 1136, 1152, 1201 to 1209. Note that during these times, the Lenovo was *successfully* pinging the outside world via the Hub 3 proving that my VirginMedia connection was operating. My problem was my up-to-date Dell wifi card connected via an uncluttered 5 GHz channel to a Hub 3.

----------

(6) What now?

I've read on this forum that it's popular for Hub 3 owners to put it into 'modem mode', basically removing its wifi functionality, then connecting a third party wifi router. This is meant to speed wifi up and remove/reduce dropouts.

So what should I do?

   (a) put the Hub 3 into modem mode and buy a new wifi router?

   (b) get VirginMedia to send me a new Hub 3? Hub 4? Hub 5?

[Adduxi]

Disable the Smart Optimisations on the Hubs WiFi. This may help. 

[L_J_M]

I've done that. The hub can only work on 5 GHz at channel 52. Everything else, wifi-wise, is disabled.

[Adduxi]

Does the Dell have a Killer NIC?  I’ve sheen threads here about that NIC giving issues?  Can you test in Windows Safe Mode with Networking? 
Failing that you can try your own WiFi solution as I have been doing for many years with VM. I’ve always used the Hubs in modem mode.

[L_J_M]

The Dell has a Killer Wireless-n/a/ac 1435 Wireless Network Adapter. I have a service contract with Dell and I got them to check I had the latest drivers and firmware for this.
Also, before all these tests, I used the Killer Control Center to give the highest priority to Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Center.
I haven't tried Safe Mode, but I'm not sure what difference that would make.

[jbrennand]

Is it running Dell's SmartByte in the background? If it is - disable it.

[L_J_M]

I have a Dell XPS 13 9380 laptop. I don't think I've got SmartByte running as I can't find anywhere in Task Manager under: Processes, Performance, App History, Startup, Users, Details, Services.

[Kain_W]

Hi L_J_M,

Thanks for posting and welcome back to the community!

Sorry to hear you're facing issues with dropouts.

From checking our services, I can see some readings that will need to be further addressed.

I've dropped you a PM to discuss further. 

Thanks,

[legacy1]

If the BQM show fine any oddness you find will likely not fix the problem

Use hub in modem mode and get your own router with 1Gb ports

[L_J_M]

Hi legacy1

I could put the Hub3 in modem mode and connect a different router to handle the wifi, without any difficulty.

However, I think that lets VirginMedia off the hook too easily. Part of my contract with them is the supply of the Hub3. If it's not going to work consistently, then I would want a reduction in my rental or a replacement Hub3 that's known to work, or an upgrade to Hub4 or Hub5.

This forum has many posters complaining of Hub3 intermittent drop outs, going back years. VirginMedia should replace the Hub3 with routers that work.