New Customer Wifi Issues - Right to Cancel

[EH11]

Hi,

I joined Virgin recently and as an O2 mobile customer have been upgraded to volt.  When connected, the speed is excellent, typically > 200mbps.  The issue I have is around the wifi signal from the 'SuperHub 3' which has led to zoom calls dropping out.  I work from home working with vulnerable people and I simply can't afford to have my zoom connection dropping out.  I had been with BT on a fibre package for a number of years, 60mbps package so not high end and I seldom had any issues with my wifi signal.  

I have raised with VM and they sent me a pod to try and boost my signal but it doesn't see to have had that much effect.  The other issue I have is that I checked my wifi using the Virgin Connect app and in some rooms the app states that the wifi is 'good'.  Yet when I run a diagnostic check on the Hub using my IP address the majority of the devices (8 out of 12) are showing as having low signal strength and the guidance is to move closer to the hub, often when the devices are in the same room!  The diagnostic check would appear more accurate than the Connect App as the devices also register a low wifi signal when I check them - smart tv's, speakers, laptop.

I really regret leaving BT as although the VM speeds are significantly better, it's a false benefit because the Super Hub 3 is so poor.  I have tried resetting the Hub, ensured that there are no devices in its immediate vicinity that would interfere with the signal but it's still limited.

Anyone else offer any advice to try and resolve the issue. Would VM allow me to walk away from my contract, particularly given the issues it's having on my ability to do my job with vulnerable people?  I also work with groups on zoom and without being an expert, believe that this soaks up more bandwidth and an unreliable connection when working with groups is a big concern.

I have also read conflicting things about buying a 3rd party router and putting the VM hub in modem mode. Frustrating that i'd need to fork out when I thought that VM would have provided a Hub with a similar spec to BT.  

Welcome any help in trying to get this resolved.

Thanks

[cje85]

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@gary_dexter wrote:

Your downstream levels are too low and upstream are on the cusp of being too low.

You'll need an engineer visit to rectify.

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Downstream power is too high. The maximum is 10dB but the stats show several channels over that, up to 13dB.

[gary_dexter]

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@EH11 wrote:

I thought that might be the case.

I've done a bit of reading on mesh v router and my sense would be that router would be a better option for my needs.  As someone who has very little understanding of these things, would it be reasonable to say a budget of £50-£100 would get you a decent upgrade on wifi signal through a 3rf party router?  Any experience of makes that are decent or what to avoid?

I read so much conflicting stuff when trying to research.

Again, thanks.

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£50-£100 will improve things but not greatly

[gary_dexter]

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@cje85 wrote:

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@gary_dexter wrote:

Your downstream levels are too low and upstream are on the cusp of being too low.

You'll need an engineer visit to rectify.

---

Downstream power is too high. The maximum is 10dB but the stats show several channels over that, up to 13dB.

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Sorry - yes.

Downstream too high. 

[Andrew-G]

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@EH11 wrote:

I thought that might be the case.

I've done a bit of reading on mesh v router and my sense would be that router would be a better option for my needs.  As someone who has very little understanding of these things, would it be reasonable to say a budget of £50-£100 would get you a decent upgrade on wifi signal through a 3rf party router?  Any experience of makes that are decent or what to avoid?

I read so much conflicting stuff when trying to research.

Again, thanks.

---

It's possible that you're correct on router vs mesh, but a decent quality router (for the challenging wifi environment implied by the problems you describe) is in the £120-200 range.  For a decent entry level mesh system, a TP-Link Deco M4 or the similar S4 would be about £110 for a three unit setup, and will give better coverage than any single point router.  What you get with a premium router (from makers like Asus or Netgear) is far more control of advanced settings, and the best possible design at that price point, but no amount of clever design can make up for the fact that it is a single access point compared to three access points of most mesh systems.  If you don't consider yourself an advanced wifi user who wants to dabble with technology, then a premium router is perhaps not what you need?  Your choice, your money, but consider carefully what you're after here.   You can hedge your bets by buying an Asus router that has AiMesh capability, and then if you still find that needs improvement, buy and configure a second router within the AiMesh setup.  That's probably a better solution in terms of ultimate technical capability than the Deco M4 I'm using, but it's also double or triple the price - probably £150 minimum per AiMesh capable router - do you really need that?

Also, wait until the broadband problem is sorted before spending any money.  If that's actually the route of the poor performance then you may find that the hub and the existing pod do everything you want.  Only spend money when you're sure that the problem is wifi, and the hub and pods are inadequate.  The hubs themselves aren't much cop, the pods usually do make a decent improvement in coverage, sometimes they need to be somewhere between the hub and the areas you want covered, rather than placed directly where you want the improved coverage as they function as a sort of combined mesh/wireless repeater.  

I'll flag your problem hub status for a staff member to take a look.  They can book a technician and that avoids you dealing with VM's dismal telephone support, where you may struggle to speak to a human, and even when you do many won't understand anything about power levels, and will fob you off with "I sent a signal to your hub that will fix this" rubbish.

[Zoie_P]

Hi EH11, 

Thank you for your post.

I am so sorry you have been having issues with your wifi, and thank you @gary_dexter, for your help on this.

I have checked and your downstream is showing issues and I can get this booked in for you asap.

I will pop you over a PM and we can get a tech out 🙂 

Zoie

[Zoie_P]

Hi EH11, 

Thank you for messaging with me, glad we could get an engineer booked in.

Please keep us posted with how you get on. If you want to reschedule or view your appointment time you can do so here, under the Help tab then "Orders and Appointments"

Zoie

[EH11]

Hi, just wanted to update after I had an engineer visit yesterday who confirmed that the downstream power was too high and therefore limited.  The new numbers are below and I wondered if they all now look reasonable?

As suggested by others on this thread, the engineer visit didn't resolve the wifi issues and I continue to get service dropping out across devices.  I will now have to endure the pain of 'phoning VM and having long waits and the lucky dip of hopefully speaking to someone who is competent to request more pods.  I did ask the forum support on this thread if they can request on my behalf but they couldn't help,  The engineer also said that they used to be able to offer kit to support wifi but that's no longer the case. Sounds like everything is stacked up to prevent customers from getting the support they need as there's a cost attached. 

The engineer did mentioned that the SuperHub 5 seems to have improved wifi signal and I wondered if it's possible for VM to provide the newer version in light of my current troubles?

One final question, I mentioned in my OP that the connect app seems to suggest that the signal is good in certain rooms but the Network diagnostic tool states that the signal strength is low on the devices in the same rooms.  They both can't be correct, what's the reason for the disconnect?  

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

1	187000000	3	40	256 qam	7
2	139000000	3.5	40	256 qam	1
3	147000000	3.4	40	256 qam	2
4	155000000	3.7	40	256 qam	3
5	163000000	3.5	40	256 qam	4
6	171000000	3.5	40	256 qam	5
7	179000000	3.2	40	256 qam	6
8	195000000	2.9	40	256 qam	8
9	203000000	2.7	40	256 qam	9
10	211000000	2.4	40	256 qam	10
11	219000000	2.2	40	256 qam	11
12	227000000	1.9	40	256 qam	12
13	235000000	1.4	40	256 qam	13
14	243000000	0.5	40	256 qam	14
15	251000000	-0.7	38	256 qam	15
16	259000000	-2.4	38	256 qam	16
17	267000000	-1.2	38	256 qam	17
18	275000000	0.4	38	256 qam	18
19	283000000	1	38	256 qam	19
20	291000000	1.7	40	256 qam	20
21	299000000	2	40	256 qam	21
22	307000000	2	40	256 qam	22
23	315000000	2.2	40	256 qam	23
24	323000000	2	40	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	40.3	5	0
2	Locked	40.3	8	0
3	Locked	40.3	8	0
4	Locked	40.9	3	0
5	Locked	40.9	5	0
6	Locked	40.9	6	0
7	Locked	40.3	5	0
8	Locked	40.3	5	0
9	Locked	40.3	7	0
10	Locked	40.3	5	0
11	Locked	40.3	6	0
12	Locked	40.9	5	0
13	Locked	40.9	5	0
14	Locked	40.3	14	0
15	Locked	38.9	3	0
16	Locked	38.9	18	0
17	Locked	38.9	4	0
18	Locked	38.9	7	0
19	Locked	38.9	6	0
20	Locked	40.3	6	0
21	Locked	40.3	5	0
22	Locked	40.9	5	0
23	Locked	40.9	2	0
24	Locked	40.3	8	0

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	32600080	43.3	5120	64 qam	5
2	39400095	43.8	5120	64 qam	4
3	46200117	43.8	5120	64 qam	3
4	53700166	45.3	5120	64 qam	2

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

Thanks

[gary_dexter]

The levels are good now.

Ignore the “advice” the connect app and hub diagnostics provide - both are dramatically incorrect, as already seen by yourself.

The Hub5 is by no means better - a search in the forums here will yield the reasons why.