Networking Issues

[johndm]

So I have a hub 3, and when first installed 18 months ago had dropouts when using Wi-Fi calling on my mobile. I solved this by adding two wireless access points, one upstairs and one downstairs, then turning Wi-Fi off on the hub 3.

My home network has now grown and I now have over 100 connected devices. 
All my computers, cctv and AV equipment are connected with Ethernet, so my two access points connect with Wi-Fi to 3 mobiles, 3 tablets, and all my smart switches, plugs, lamps, bulbs. 
Recently I’ve had to power cycle my hub as my BroadLink stuff all stopped working, a week or so later all my Tapo plugs lost connection, and yesterday I had problems with my CALEX bulbs, some stopped working but not all, and they would not reprogram to my network without another hub 3 power cycle. My two TP link access points are set to power cycle monthly and seem to be fine, so could it be there are just too many signals for the hub to handle?

Would a better Virgin hub and dedicated repeaters or mesh system work better?

[jbrennand]

I suspect the poundland router is under strain with 100 connected devices - particularly when many of them are in simultaneous use.

Have you considered getting a good quality wireless router and connecting it to the Hub put into modem mode

[johndm]

I have fast speed wireless access points upstairs and downstairs to get a strong signal all around the house and to share the Wi-Fi load, and Wi-Fi on the hub is turned off so it is receiving everything via Ethernet 

[jbrennand]

Could be something has gone faulty but .....

How many ethernet connected devices do you typically have running at any one time?

What BB package are you on and what activities are the devices doing? Any high demand uses - eg 4k Netflix screening ? These typically need ~20Mbps each - so can soon use up the bandwidth - other activities are less of course - but 1080 HD streaming is 3-5 Mbps - other things less though.

[johndm]

I have a 500 connection which usually reads 550 with Speedtest 

I do stream 4k but for instance when my smart bulbs started misbehaving yesterday everything was running 100%, and no AV equipment was in use, just computer mobiles and tablets connected along with all the smart plugs etc, no heavy demands on network.

I spent 2 hours trying to reconnect the misbehaving bulbs but they were having none of it despite everything else working just fine.

After a hub 3 power cycle they reconnected first time.

I did not power cycle the access points only the hub

[jbrennand]

Lets have a look at the Hub's connection data - can you do this procedure...
______________________________________________________________

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. On the first page up dont login [there should be no need to login if you have done so before unless you have the New Hub4 when you do] just click on the “router status” icon/text at bottom-middle (Hub3) or top/right (SH’s) of the Login page and then just copy/paste the normal “Formatted Text” (not images) 3 FULL sets of data onto here – 2 pages from the Downstream, 2 from the Upstream, & the Network Logs page. 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

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

[johndm]

Refresh data

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	203000000	2.2	38	256 qam	9
2	139000000	4.1	38	256 qam	1
3	147000000	3.7	40	256 qam	2
4	155000000	3.4	38	256 qam	3
5	163000000	3.2	38	256 qam	4
6	171000000	3	38	256 qam	5
7	179000000	3	38	256 qam	6
8	187000000	2.7	38	256 qam	7
9	195000000	2.5	40	256 qam	8
10	211000000	2.2	38	256 qam	10
11	219000000	2.2	38	256 qam	11
12	227000000	2	38	256 qam	12
13	235000000	1.9	38	256 qam	13
14	243000000	1.2	38	256 qam	14
15	251000000	0.2	38	256 qam	15
16	259000000	0	38	256 qam	16
17	267000000	0.7	38	256 qam	17
18	275000000	1	38	256 qam	18
19	283000000	1.4	38	256 qam	19
20	291000000	1.7	40	256 qam	20
21	299000000	2	38	256 qam	21
22	307000000	2.4	38	256 qam	22
23	315000000	2.5	38	256 qam	23
24	323000000	2.7	38	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	38.6	41	0
2	Locked	38.6	15	0
3	Locked	40.3	46	0
4	Locked	38.9	38	0
5	Locked	38.9	42	0
6	Locked	38.9	40	0
7	Locked	38.9	51	0
8	Locked	38.9	35	0
9	Locked	40.3	32	0
10	Locked	38.6	31	0
11	Locked	38.9	24	0
12	Locked	38.9	38	0
13	Locked	38.9	32	0
14	Locked	38.9	30	0
15	Locked	38.9	76	0
16	Locked	38.6	72	0
17	Locked	38.9	57	0
18	Locked	38.9	44	0
19	Locked	38.9	46	0
20	Locked	40.3	36	0
21	Locked	38.9	53	0
22	Locked	38.9	55	0
23	Locked	38.9	85	0
24	Locked	38.9	67	0

[johndm]

Refresh data

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	60300107	47.3	5120	64 qam	1
2	39400000	44.8	5120	64 qam	4
3	53700000	46.5	5120	64 qam	2
4	46200000	45.8	5120	64 qam	3

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

[johndm]

Network Log

Time Priority Description

18/01/2022 14:34:46	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
15/01/2022 22:34:38	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
15/01/2022 02:54:50	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/01/2022 17:45:13	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/01/2022 23:32:14	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/01/2022 23:31:53	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/01/2022 23:31:52	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/01/2022 23:30:39	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/01/2022 23:30:37	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/01/2022 23:30:35	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/01/2022 23:29:27	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/01/2022 23:29:24	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/01/2022 12:42:18	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
10/01/2022 02:43:50	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
09/01/2022 21:47:51	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
09/01/2022 13:27:59	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
06/01/2022 13:14:7	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
06/01/2022 09:47:51	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
04/01/2022 21:10:6	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
04/01/2022 21:09:59	Warning!	Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[jbrennand]

All data spot on - nothing amiss there.

I still think the poor quality Hub is the root cause of the issues.