Packet loss and ping spikes in online gaming

[Chris84]

Hello

We rejoined Virgin a few months ago on the 200mb package and initially had to be connected to next door due to a damaged cable to the street.

We were fully connected a month or so ago but since then we have still continued to see regular packet loss, rubber banding and very high pink spikes in online gaming via PS5 (wired). 

We have restarted the hub 3 several times and done the 60 second pinhole reset twice recently (2nd time as I couldn't regain access to the router settings page) and it hasn't made any difference.

I set up a broadband quality monitor yesterday night which is currently running, hopefully this is the right link:

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/863a7141dff2613039b2820604115d1293c79e96-07-08-2021

In addition we have had a lot of issues with our wireless, mostly to the virgin 360 box downstairs. It regularly struggles to load the saved page, making it difficult to watch recordings. Streaming is also pretty much a no go. 

The diagnostics page always shows it as having low speed and it usually connects with around 60-80% signal but also sometimes fails to connect at all. 

Wireless on our mobile devices also seems to go down every so often for short periods but my phone, a Galaxy s20 FE 5G, still normally tests between 150-200 Mbps on speedtest.net even when stood next to the 360 box that is struggling to connect.

I have also just re-scanned the living room where the 360 box is with the WiFi blackspot scan on the Virgin Media Connect app, with my phone directly next to the 360 box and it said the signal was "great".

Sorry for the long post, if anyone can offer any help with these issues we would be very grateful.

Thank you. 

[Chris84]

Hello

It has been some time since I last posted in here. 

We had another engineer come to check our connection several months ago and he found that the box on the wall, where the wire comes in from the outside, was an extremely old Telewest device and so he swapped it for a new one.

This significantly improved (maybe 90% better) my issue with ping spikes and packet loss for around 2-3 weeks but then unfortunately after that it gradually got worse again and returned to the previous terrible performance levels.

I am now back to constant significant ping spikes while trying to play any game online making it mostly unplayable.

We have now been with Virgin since April last year, around 15 months and this issue has persisted since day one.

I have reported this problem repeatedly and nothing has changed despite the several engineers that have come to check our connection and apparently reported the issues back to the network team.

I feel as though Virgin do not care about this problem as long as my speed is not affected and they are receiving my money.

If this issue is not resolved then I will be forced to leave Virgin and move to another supplier, especially as my renewal period is coming up soon and I do not want to renew if Virgin have no intention of resolving this problem. 

[Megan_L]

Hi Chris84, 

Thanks for using the forums to get this issue with your broadband issue looked into again, I am sorry this problem has materialised again after getting it seemingly fixed. Could you pop up an updated BMQ graph for us please so we can see what's happening?

Thanks,

Megan_L

[Chris84]

Hello Megan

This is my BQM from Monday when I tried to play some games online:

My BQM

Thank you. 

[Natalie_L]

Thank you for your reply and for providing the BQM Chris84. 

I have ran a full health check on the service from our side and we are not currently detecting any error or power level issues.

With this being the case, are you able to access your Hub's data and post your results to this thread? Information on how to do this can be found here. 

Thank you, 

[Chris84]

Hello Natalie 

Thank you for your reply, hopefully the below is correct:

Cable Modem StatusItem Status Comments

Acquired Downstream Channel (Hz)	451000000	Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel (Hz)	39400002	Locked
Provisioning State	Online

[Chris84]

Refresh data

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	451000000	1.5	38	256 qam	40
2	267000000	2.5	36	256 qam	17
3	275000000	2.5	37	256 qam	18
4	283000000	2.5	37	256 qam	19
5	291000000	2.2	36	256 qam	20
6	299000000	2.7	37	256 qam	21
7	307000000	3	37	256 qam	22
8	315000000	3.5	37	256 qam	23
9	323000000	3.5	38	256 qam	24
10	331000000	3.7	38	256 qam	25
11	339000000	3.4	37	256 qam	26
12	347000000	3.5	37	256 qam	27
13	355000000	3.5	38	256 qam	28
14	363000000	3.4	37	256 qam	29
15	371000000	3.2	37	256 qam	30
16	379000000	3.5	38	256 qam	31
17	387000000	2.9	37	256 qam	32
18	395000000	2.9	38	256 qam	33
19	403000000	2.5	38	256 qam	34
20	411000000	2.5	37	256 qam	35
21	419000000	1.5	37	256 qam	36
22	427000000	1.5	37	256 qam	37
23	435000000	1.7	37	256 qam	38
24	443000000	1.5	38	256 qam	39

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	38.6	83	0
2	Locked	36.6	119	0
3	Locked	37.3	120	0
4	Locked	37.6	109	0
5	Locked	36.6	110	0
6	Locked	37.3	135	27
7	Locked	37.3	100	0
8	Locked	37.6	55	0
9	Locked	38.6	71	0
10	Locked	38.6	65	0
11	Locked	37.3	108	13
12	Locked	37.6	82	0
13	Locked	38.6	74	0
14	Locked	37.6	114	0
15	Locked	37.6	86	0
16	Locked	38.9	67	0
17	Locked	37.6	75	0
18	Locked	38.6	68	0
19	Locked	38.6	48	0
20	Locked	37.6	66	0
21	Locked	37.6	65	0
22	Locked	37.6	59	12
23	Locked	37.6	83	4
24	Locked	38.6	81	0

[Chris84]

Refresh data

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	39400002	46.8	5120	64 qam	4
2	46200021	46.8	5120	64 qam	3
3	53700048	46.8	5120	64 qam	2
4	60299969	48.3	5120	64 qam	1

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

[Chris84]

Refresh data

General Configuration

Network access	Allowed
Maximum Number of CPEs	1
Baseline Privacy	Enabled
DOCSIS Mode	Docsis30
Config file	cxv9873254k;fg87dsfd;kfoA,.iy

Primary Downstream Service Flow

SFID	418
Max Traffic Rate	230000061
Max Traffic Burst	42600
Min Traffic Rate	0

Primary Upstream Service Flow

SFID	417
Max Traffic Rate	22000061
Max Traffic Burst	42600
Min Traffic Rate	0
Max Concatenated Burst	42600
Scheduling Type	BestEffort

[Chris84]

Refresh data

Network Log

Time Priority Description

14/07/2022 17:51:18	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/07/2022 12:52:28	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/07/2022 07:41:24	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt060+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/07/2022 07:41:24	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
10/07/2022 19:50:37	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
09/07/2022 02:18:0	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
08/07/2022 19:41:24	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt060+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
08/07/2022 19:41:24	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
08/07/2022 19:18:0	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
08/07/2022 18:33:34	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
07/07/2022 18:26:2	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
06/07/2022 17:48:21	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
05/07/2022 07:51:37	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
05/07/2022 07:41:24	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt060+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
05/07/2022 07:41:24	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
02/07/2022 04:11:49	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/07/2022 19:41:24	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt060+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/07/2022 19:41:24	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/07/2022 17:11:36	notice	NOTICE ATOM is restarted due to Kernel/oops panic as part of Self Healing Mechanism ;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
29/06/2022 20:23:48	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[Akua_A]

Thank you for the update @Chris84

I have had a look into your service and there seem to be some hub issues that may require another technician visit. In this case, I have sent you a private message. Please look out for the purple envelope and provide a response when you can.

Thanks,