on 28-10-2021 22:37
Hi all,
I hope someone will be able to help me with this. I firstly have to say that I am, overall, impressed with the connection, and despite the issues, it's probably the best overall that I've had while living at this address (particularly given that our local BT cabinet has been indefinitely passed over for FTTC).
However the one thing that's preventing me from giving it a perfect rating is the intermittent connectivity issues I appear to be having. I was reluctant to report it given that it is intermittent and difficult to replicate, however on the days that it occurs it can be quite frustrating especially if I'm trying to e.g. play an online game.
My current setup is a Hub 3 in Modem-only mode using an Asus RT-AX82U as a router. What often happens is that I get a "No Unicast maintenance opportunities received: T4 Timeout" error message in the logs (or sometimes a B-INIT-RNG failure) and at this time the connection drops out, the light on the Hub goes to green and it goes into ranging, before reconnecting. This can happen once a day or, often enough, multiple times in the same day.
However it will then be completely fine and more or less rock solid for days or even weeks afterwards, before causing problems again. The day of the week seems random. more often than not it's a Sunday, but it's happened today (Thursday) too for example.
I'll have to continue this message as apparently there's a 20k character limit, but I will give my stats in the next post.
on 28-10-2021 22:39
Here's yesterday's BQM:
And here's today's:
I'm currently on the M500 service, here's my stats.
Acquired Downstream Channel (Hz) | 331000000 | Locked |
Ranged Upstream Channel (Hz) | 46200012 | Locked |
Provisioning State | Online |
Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) SNR (dB) Modulation Channel ID
1 | 331000000 | 12 | 40 | 256 qam | 25 |
2 | 251000000 | 13.5 | 40 | 256 qam | 15 |
3 | 259000000 | 13.5 | 40 | 256 qam | 16 |
4 | 267000000 | 13.4 | 40 | 256 qam | 17 |
5 | 275000000 | 13.1 | 40 | 256 qam | 18 |
6 | 283000000 | 13 | 40 | 256 qam | 19 |
7 | 291000000 | 12.8 | 40 | 256 qam | 20 |
8 | 299000000 | 12.5 | 40 | 256 qam | 21 |
9 | 307000000 | 13 | 40 | 256 qam | 22 |
10 | 315000000 | 13.1 | 40 | 256 qam | 23 |
11 | 323000000 | 12.4 | 40 | 256 qam | 24 |
12 | 339000000 | 12.9 | 40 | 256 qam | 26 |
13 | 347000000 | 13 | 40 | 256 qam | 27 |
14 | 355000000 | 12.4 | 40 | 256 qam | 28 |
15 | 363000000 | 12 | 40 | 256 qam | 29 |
16 | 371000000 | 11.9 | 40 | 256 qam | 30 |
17 | 379000000 | 11.5 | 40 | 256 qam | 31 |
18 | 387000000 | 11.8 | 40 | 256 qam | 32 |
19 | 491000000 | 10.3 | 40 | 256 qam | 33 |
20 | 499000000 | 9.6 | 40 | 256 qam | 34 |
21 | 507000000 | 9.5 | 40 | 256 qam | 35 |
22 | 515000000 | 9.9 | 40 | 256 qam | 36 |
23 | 523000000 | 9.6 | 40 | 256 qam | 37 |
24 | 531000000 | 9.1 | 40 | 256 qam | 38 |
Channel Locked Status RxMER (dB) Pre RS Errors Post RS Errors
1 | Locked | 40.3 | 0 | 0 |
2 | Locked | 40.9 | 5 | 0 |
3 | Locked | 40.9 | 5 | 0 |
4 | Locked | 40.9 | 4 | 0 |
5 | Locked | 40.9 | 6 | 0 |
6 | Locked | 40.9 | 5 | 0 |
7 | Locked | 40.9 | 12 | 0 |
8 | Locked | 40.3 | 0 | 0 |
9 | Locked | 40.3 | 4 | 0 |
10 | Locked | 40.3 | 6 | 0 |
11 | Locked | 40.9 | 0 | 0 |
12 | Locked | 40.9 | 6 | 0 |
13 | Locked | 40.9 | 4 | 0 |
14 | Locked | 40.3 | 5 | 0 |
15 | Locked | 40.9 | 4 | 0 |
16 | Locked | 40.9 | 4 | 0 |
17 | Locked | 40.9 | 6 | 0 |
18 | Locked | 40.3 | 0 | 0 |
19 | Locked | 40.3 | 0 | 0 |
20 | Locked | 40.3 | 0 | 0 |
21 | Locked | 40.9 | 7 | 0 |
22 | Locked | 40.9 | 11 | 0 |
23 | Locked | 40.9 | 5 | 0 |
24 | Locked | 40.3 | 0 | 0 |
Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) Symbol Rate (ksps) Modulation Channel ID
1 | 46200012 | 35.8 | 5120 | 64 qam | 1 |
2 | 25799971 | 34.3 | 5120 | 64 qam | 4 |
3 | 32599959 | 35.8 | 5120 | 64 qam | 3 |
4 | 39399998 | 35.8 | 5120 | 64 qam | 2 |
Channel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts
1 | ATDMA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2 | ATDMA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3 | ATDMA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
4 | ATDMA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
on 28-10-2021 22:40
And my network log:
Time Priority Description
28/10/2021 22:12:14 | critical | No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 22:11:42 | Warning! | B-INIT-RNG Failure - Retries exceeded;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 22:09:43 | critical | No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 22:09:41 | Warning! | B-INIT-RNG Failure - Retries exceeded;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 22:08:3 | critical | No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 22:06:48 | critical | 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; |
28/10/2021 21:52:6 | critical | No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 21:51:5 | critical | 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; |
28/10/2021 21:49:5 | critical | No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 21:49:5 | critical | Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 21:49:5 | critical | Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 21:33:37 | critical | No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 21:32:4 | critical | 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; |
28/10/2021 19:49:12 | critical | No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
28/10/2021 19:48:2 | critical | 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; |
28/10/2021 12:43:23 | critical | No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
27/10/2021 17:59:10 | notice | DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt053+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
27/10/2021 17:59:10 | Error | DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
25/10/2021 04:59:39 | critical | No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
24/10/2021 23:10:13 | notice | DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt053+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; |
I haven't contacted support about this on the phone, as I thought it would be easier to give more detailed information on the forums (despite that word every technician hates to hear: 'intermittent').
But if anyone could either provide any assistance or point me in the right direction I would be very grateful, as I have to admit, it's becoming increasingly annoying over time.
on 28-10-2021 23:45
Downstream power levels are too high and Upstream a tad too low. VM will need to send a technician to sort it out.
I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media. Learn more
Have I helped? Click Mark as Helpful Answer or use Kudos to say thanks
on 29-10-2021 00:04
I see, thanks for your prompt response! That's actually a relief as at least there's something concrete to go on (I know more about DSL than DOCSIS so don't always know how to interpret the numbers)
That being the case, I'll await response from the forum team to investigate on their end. Cheers 🙂
on 01-11-2021 10:08
Just posting so this isn't forgotten about, and also because problems are ongoing again this morning:
Is there anyone from the VM Forum Team who can either investigate or contact me with regard to arranging an engineer visit as advised?
Or am I better off calling up customer services? My only concern is that in the latter case, the graphs and modem logs wouldn't be as readily accessible.
on 01-11-2021 13:18
on 01-11-2021 17:21
Hi Krentz.
Thank you for your post 🙂
I am so sorry to hear you are having intermittent service issues.
I have managed to locate your account and can see you are currently affected by an SNR outage, these outages will affect your broadband and tv, cause the service to be slower, and may cause drops. The estimated fix is 08 NOV 2021 11:55
Zoie
on 01-11-2021 19:31
Hi Zoie, thanks for checking this, I appreciate your help.
Have these SNR outages also occurred in the past? As this is not strictly a new issue - I don't have records of BQM's going back for several months unfortunately but here is one from the 7th September for example:
It's an insidious one because we can go for consecutive days with normal connectivity and then issues suddenly reoccur again. It seemed quite severe in early September but by the middle of the month, it stabilised. With the exception of 03/10 the connection was basically fine for the entire month, however problems started reoccurring again around 28/10 and again today.
I understand there are a lot of variables at play, but this can be quite disruptive when it occurs (especially during a working day).
Do I simply have to wait until 08/11 and monitor the situation? And are Adduxi's observations regarding my power levels accurate? If so, then would this also not be something a technician would need to address directly, independently of the SNR issue?
on 01-11-2021 20:13