New Install on new development, frequent drops of connection

[Bowerz]

I recently moved into a new housing development, I was the first house to move in, and after a bit of a problematic ordering process due to the fun of addresses in a new development, got my new Virgin Broadband installed - Hooray!

Unfortunately that's where the fun ends, I've had non-stop disconnection issues and now 2 engineer visits down with no fix. 

1st Fix was a bad termination inside the home behind the wallplate. Things were definitely better after, the drops became more defined (it was a hard drop and recovery, originally it dropped every few packets for a bit then died completely for 15s to 5 minutes)
2nd Engineer didn't have any idea other than to try replacing the router, which whilst the jitter and and ping stability did seem marginally better, still saw drops.

My setup has the router in modem mode, but this even happens if I put it into router mode for a short while. Drops are at least 1-2 an hour if not more (monitored by PingPlotter on an ethernet connected device, pinging 8.8.8.8, BBC.co.uk, my gateway/router IP the modem IP 192.168.100.1 - when the internet drops, pings to gateway are fine, modem will drop maybe 5 seconds after the 8.8.8.8 pings stop.

When the internet drops, i see logs in the modem log similar to the below:

28/07/2023 19:23:43	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/07/2023 19:23:43	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/07/2023 19:22:48	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/07/2023 19:22:42	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/07/2023 19:22:41	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

I'm at a loss. I lived about 500-750 meters away prior to this, with a Virgin connection that was pretty much faultless. Working from home this is becoming enough of an issue to me I'm considering just drawing a line under it and getting a different provider. 

Any other tips or ideas? Anyone seen or has similar? Given it's a new build, I'm suspiscious it's faulty cabinet hardware but with nobody else moved in yet around here, it's hard to say. Signal stats to follow in a comment.

[Bowerz]

Item Status Comments

Acquired Downstream Channel (Hz)	138750000	Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel (Hz)	43100145	Locked
Provisioning State	Online

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	138750000	-6.9	31	256 qam	1
2	146750000	-7.4	31	256 qam	2
3	154750000	-7.7	31	256 qam	3
4	162750000	-7.5	31	256 qam	4
5	170750000	-7.2	32	256 qam	5
6	178750000	-7	32	256 qam	6
7	186750000	-7	32	256 qam	7
8	194750000	-7	32	256 qam	8
9	202750000	-7	32	256 qam	9
10	210750000	-7.2	32	256 qam	10
11	218750000	-7	33	256 qam	11
12	226750000	-7	33	256 qam	12
13	234750000	-6.9	33	256 qam	13
14	242750000	-6.7	33	256 qam	14
15	250750000	-6.7	33	256 qam	15
16	258750000	-6.5	34	256 qam	16
17	266750000	-6.2	34	256 qam	17
18	274750000	-6	34	256 qam	18
19	282750000	-5.9	35	256 qam	19
20	290750000	-5.7	35	256 qam	20
21	298750000	-5.7	35	256 qam	21
22	306750000	-5.7	35	256 qam	22
23	314750000	-5.5	35	256 qam	23
24	322750000	-5.2	35	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	31.4	12917476	90511
2	Locked	31.4	12742976	100708
3	Locked	31.6	10970615	87159
4	Locked	31.9	9072626	67250
5	Locked	32.3	8074520	57472
6	Locked	32.2	7338755	53773
7	Locked	32.3	7204118	53854
8	Locked	32.6	7022732	59109
9	Locked	32.6	7215984	70364
10	Locked	32.5	6651585	68356
11	Locked	33	5969026	61874
12	Locked	33	5366777	52428
13	Locked	33.4	4280401	33549
14	Locked	33.8	3661658	25355
15	Locked	33.9	3218511	21794
16	Locked	34.3	2656881	15358
17	Locked	34.3	2231211	13040
18	Locked	34.9	1818006	10622
19	Locked	35	1517183	9705
20	Locked	35	1404918	8290
21	Locked	35.5	1231610	8045
22	Locked	35.7	1107381	7738
23	Locked	35.7	1013793	6878
24	Locked	35.7	883450	6170

Upstream bonded channels

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

1

43100145

56

5120

64 qam

7

Upstream bonded channels

Channel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts

1

ATDMA

0

0

4

0

[jb66]

It's such an obvious fault, your upstream is way too high, your downstream SNR low.  You need an engineer

[Bowerz]

Interesting that the engineer said my signal levels are fine, but to be fair for the first hour or so after his visit it was. Looks like it's time to book another...

[Paul_DN]

Hi Bowerz,

Thank you for reaching out to us in our community and welcome, I am sorry to hear you are facing contention issues again, I was able to locate you on our system with the detail we have for you, I can see there is some Network issues detected, there are currently no updated, please allow 72 hours to see if this is resolved our end.

Regards

Paul.

[Bowerz]

This was "fine" for a couple days (wednesday + thursday, only 3 or 4 short drops each day) until yesterday when it decided to rain around 16:25, then the issues started!

Thankfully I didn't cancel my 3rd engineer visit on Thursday and rescheduled it instead for next week just incase it wasn't actually fixed. Today has been AWFUL again.

The ThinkBroadband monitor looks even worse!

Logging this in here more for tracking as really starting to regret getting Virgin over the actual FTTP service available, despite my great experiance with them at my previous house. 

[Megan_L]

Hi Bowerz, 

Thanks for your update, I can see your BQM is quite dreadfully colourful! Not a good sign at all, so I am sorry you've had to deal with that. 

I've checked your services on my side and can see that the network issue that Paul mentioned previously now needs an engineer visit after monitoring it. 

I'll send you a private message to get this booked in for you now 😊 

Speak to you soon!

Thanks,

Megan_L

[jerrymark]

Having your link drop often in a new development could be caused by a number of things. Here are some usual problems and steps you can take to fix them:

Signal Interference: In new projects, there may be a lot of wireless devices and networks close together, which can make it hard for signals to get through. Change your router's Wi-Fi channel to see if that makes the connection more stable. Most new routers have a way to choose the best channel automatically, or you can set it yourself.

Placement: Make sure to put your router in the middle of your home or office, away from walls and other obstacles. Putting it in a corner or behind big things can make the signal weaker and cause it to stop working.

Router software Update: Check to see if your router has a software update. Manufacturers often put out changes that fix known problems and make things work better.

Router that gets too hot: Make sure your router doesn't get too hot. If you touch it and it feels hot, put it somewhere cooler or use a cooling pad.

Check for bandwidth congestion. Drops can happen when a lot of devices are linked to the network and using a lot of bandwidth. Try briefly turning off some devices to see if that makes the connection more stable.

Use a wired connection. If you can, use an Ethernet cable to connect your device straight to the router. This will help figure out if the problem is with the wireless link or something else.

Check for Network Outages: Call your internet service provider (ISP) to find out if there are any network outages or known problems in your area.

Reset Network Settings: On your device, try putting the network settings back to their default values and then setting up the link again.

Update Device Drivers: Make sure the wifi network drivers on your device are up-to-date. Check the page of the manufacturer for the most recent drivers.

Run a Speed Test. Use an online speed test to see how fast and stable your internet connection is. This can help figure out if the problem is with the internet service or something else.

Talk to your ISP: If none of the steps above fix the problem, there may be a problem with your internet service. Talk to your ISP's help team and tell them what's going on. They might be able to diagnose the problem or send an expert to find out more.

If the problem keeps happening even after you've tried these troubleshooting steps, it's best to talk to a professional IT technician. They can look at how the network is set up and fix any problems that might be happening in the new development setting.

[Megan_L]

Hi Bowerz, 

Just wanted to check up on how your engineer visit went? 👨‍🔧 

Let me know so I can help further if you need it! 

Thanks,

Megan_L

[Bowerz]

The engineer visted Saturday and was great, although not quite fixed yet. Checked my drop cable and confirmed it's not an internal or cable issue he thinks, but signal strength was barely out of spec although given how close I am to the cab on a new run, this shouldn't be the case and thinks it may be a cabinet issue. Upon checking, he found I am the only connection in the cabinet currently. Networks have been informed and I am expecting a call today to checkup but they believe another visit by the networks team will be needed.

BQM for the last 24h is definitely 'better than it was' but still not as it should be with multiple drops a day and RCS Partial service errors logged on the hub.

My internal monitor running pings out reporting a similar story: