Intermittent dropouts

[phs1df]

I get intermittent whole house dropouts about 1-6 times a day. They are momentary, but disruptive. Virgin hub 3.0 stays active.

Anything I can do? Or is it a whole area thing? Called 150 numerous times.

[jbrennand · Accepted solution]

Firstly... Are the issues only evident on wifi connections or do you see them at the same times on devices connected on ethernet cables? If you don't know, can you check - this will help diagnose whether it is just a wifi issue or it could be network connection related?

What are the various Hub lights showing/doing when this happens?

To check for known faults - as well as trying the “check service,” Area status webpage" (link at top right of this forum), also try 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 down to postcode level.

[phs1df]

Hi John

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Most of the intermittent dropouts are brief, possibly for a few seconds but occasionally as long for about a minute.  I am confident that these events do not affect our one computer which is connected via an ethernet cable.  Occasional major faults do affect our ethernet-connected machine and then the Hub lights come on and it resets over several minutes.

The virgin 3.0 hub is wired to a TP link router which feeds all our other devices. When there is a dropout, all the other devices are affected. I do not notice any problem with the router or Hub, all the lights are on and indicate that it is functioning normally.  It is possible that I miss a fault light on the Hub, but there is one, it recovers quickly.

Often, the dropout is so fast that anything that can reconnect does so. Indeed, I often only know that something has happened for the programs I am running but cannot reconnect to a remote device.

We have gadget rescue.  After they guy set things up, it all work beautifully for about a week.  Should I contact them again?

I have rang 150 on countless occasions in the past because the drop-outs keep happening. Their automated system acknowledges that we are having intermittent faults and the system seeks to rectify these. But the remedy does not last long. These dropouts occur perhaps 1 to 3 times a day.

I called your suggested number, there are no local issues, but I did call several hours after the event.

Thank you for your advice – much appreciated

David

[jbrennand]

What TP-Link "router" model is it?

Do you have the Hub in modem mode? Have you tried a new Cat6a ethernet cable to connect it to the Hub

It does sound like a wifi only issue but in the meantime can you do this...
______________________________

First switch the Hub off for 5 minutes AND unplug it from the mains. Whilst it's off, do a quick check that all of your coax cable connections are in nice and "finger" tight - at the Hub and wall box and also at any connectors etc. Ensure there are no “unterminated cable loose ends or loose wires on the connectors . Disconnect all the connections and reconnect to be sure. Also check that the internal wiring is ok with no kinking or chaffing, check that all looks good with the outside cabling and wall box. Then switch it on again and leave 5 minutes

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” (as per instructions on the TB website) when it starts to develop.

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality

[Tom_F]

Hi phs1df, thanks for posting.

Sorry for any connection issues you've experienced lately. I've taken a look into this today using your forum info, and I think there may be more to this than general WiFi issues.

When running checks you only have one upstream channel, I'm not a an expert on the networking side of things but I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to be like that so we'll need to arrange a visit from an engineer to check things over for you. 

Please get back to me via PM and we'll get that sorted.

Tom

[phs1df]

Thank you for your help.

Today I disconnected the Hub and checked all the connections.  All seemed OK.  All were firmly replaced.  I did not check the box outside the house (slightly inaccessible).

But the broadband went down again at 11:20 am.  The hub at first seemed fine, the normal solid white light.  But the TP Link AC1750 Router which is connected via an ethernet cable to the Hub showed an error. No devices in the house could access the internet.  The computer connected via an ethernet cable directly to the Hub also went down.  I tried connecting directly to the VM… connection (rather than the TP link connections) but no access to Internet here either.  After a few minutes, the Hub showed the green wifi symbol indicating a restart (?).

We get one of these major crashes a day typically.  The system is back to normal after about 5 minutes.

The short dropouts occur several times a day and largely go unnoticed.

I have registered with TB and tried to use the Create a Monitor feature.  A blank monitor is created but nothing ever appears on it.  There is some info on the need to allow pings.  I logged into the Hub but the set-up guide instructions don’t correspond to what I see.  I found the ping folder and there was nothing to indicate that pings were disallowed.

Please can we arrange an engineer visit.  This seems impossible to do via VM - I can never get a person.

Sorry - what is PM?!  Can you provide a direct telephone number and I will call tomorrow afternoon.

David

[Gareth_L]

Hello phs1df

A PM "private Message" is what we use to pass security or discuss any account specifics

Would you like me to arrange for a engineer to come out to look at the connection 

Its a lot easier than calling us 

Gareth_L

[phs1df]

Hi Gareth

Thank you for your helpful message.

Yes, PLEASE could you arrange for a engineer to come out to look at the connection.

I assume you will contact me outside this forum?  I don't know how to send you a private message.

Thanks

David

[Jodi_S]

Hi phs1df,

Apologies for the delay with getting back to you. We have looked at your account this morning, and can see that you have already called in and booked a technician to attend. How did the visit go?

Is the issue now resolved or are you still experiencing issues?

Please let us know so we can assist you further.

Kind regards Jodi. 

[phs1df]

Hi Jodi

No, I haven't booked a technician.  I haven't been able to.  Some nice and helpful people on this forum have offered to arrange for an engineer visit but nothing has happened.

This is extremely frustrating.

David