Slow internet and music streaming dropouts

[shaneclare]

This is a long tale of woe. Three months ago I decided to go the music streaming route (tidal then Qobuz). I have a good quality hifi system and music streamers. I run two, one in my main hifi and one in my office. Before starting this endeavour I sent both machines back to the manufacturer for a service and firmware updates. The streamers are both Ethernet connected to the hub via a Cat 5e network.

From day one I have had nothing but problems, constant dropouts band buffering, it’s impossible to listen to music. So I contacted Virgin, was asked to do all the usual checks, nothing solved the problem. In the end I was told the only way to resolve the matter was to upgrade to a 1gb service which I did. Absolutely no difference whatsoever ever. I have registered a number of complaints with Virgin but they just keep telling me they are providing their contracted speed and so it’s my problem. 

With regards to speeds on my main computer which is on a wired connection I get speeds ranging from 2mb to 520(on a good day but on average 250mb). This doesn’t seem right for a 1 gab account.

Eventually, after much complaining an engineer was sent to the house, he checked everything and replaced all he could (except the hub) but could find no faults internally, he concluded there was an external error and confirmed this would be reported and should be resolved within 7 days. Also he was unable to connect to the hub using his Samknows app which he said was strange. I subsequently tried a number of times and the app told me the hub was offline and couldn’t be checked.

The time passed no communication, no nothing problems persists.

Tried customer support again and was put through to a ‘second line engineer’. He checked my system but was unable to connect to my hub as it said it was offline (which it wasn’t). After an hour of trying he concluded there was an issue and said it would be escalated and should be resolved in 7 days.

No communication, no nothing.

I went on holiday and then received an email telling me my speeds had been correct for three days and all was fine.

When I returned, I checked my main computer internet speeds, still averaging 250mb and the music streaming is just as bad.

Just so you are aware I have done the following to check my system. 

Disconnected everything from the hub except my computer and turned off WiFi, no improvement in speed.

Tried modem mode with my own router, no difference.

Swapped Tidal for Qobuz, no difference.

Tried my streamer on a friends network in a rural location (they average 7.5md) no problem at all. the music played without buffering or dropouts.

I have borrowed a different make of hifi streamer from a friend n and installed that in my system (wired) same problems.

I have bought a new Cat5e patch cable and connected the streamer straight to the hub thus avoiding my wired network, same problems.

I’m at my wits end, I paying a fortune for something which seems totally unusable and getting absolutely rubbish customer service. What can I do next, any ideas or thoughts on what I might have missed?

Thanks

[newapollo]

Hi @shaneclare 

One of the more learned VIP's or staff will comment however you should be using a cat6 cable.

The main difference between CAT5e and CAT6 cable lies within the bandwidth, the cable can support for data transfer.

Cat 6 supports data transfer speeds up to 10 Gbps at 250 MHz with even less (or no) crosstalk interference, due to the cable's improved insulation, compared to 100 Mhz for CAT5e. This means that a CAT6 cable can process more data at the same time.

[shaneclare]

Newapollo, thanks for your thoughts. I did wonder if this might have some impact, however the cat 5e cables worked fine at my friends with only a 7.5mb internet connection, and his WiFi connection was also fine, so I’m a bit confused. I also tried using just WiFi at another friends house (35mb internet service) into a Sonus setup and it was again fine.

[shaneclare]

Newapollo. I forgot to say I also stream hi-res music from a NAS drive on the same Cat 5e network with no issues.

[jpeg1]

The next thing you should do is to set up a free BQM test and post a Live Link here.  This will monitor your broadband feed for dropouts.

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

As an aside, I see you have fallen victim to the Virgin Mendacious practice of upselling to a more expensive contract when it will do nothing to help a connection problem.

[shaneclare]

I set up a BQM months ago but am not sure how to read it or what to do with it.

[shaneclare]

Not sure if this adds any insight.

I carried out a complete windows 10 reset overnight, so wiped everything and started from fresh.

Whilst reinstalling my firewall/virus protection I opened up task manager so that I could view the Ethernet performance, initially the download flew at around 250mb (still low compared to my connection) and then dropped to a snails pace of around 2mbps per second and lower for ages before picking up again.

[jpeg1]

The BQM website explains how to set up a Live Link to post here. Then we can advise you what it shows. 

[shaneclare]

I think I may need some help with the BQM link. I have been to the Thinkbroadband site and shared the monitor, it gives me various links I can copy. I have tried a number of these and each time I paste them into the reply it says there is incorrect html text and won’t let me continue. I’m clearly doing something wrong can someone advise please.

[newapollo]

Hi @shaneclare 

I hope this helps.

On Think Broadband go to your  BQM and under the options you will see

Today | Previous Days | Edit | Delete | Share

Click on the Share option and on the screen that opens click on Share 

On the next screen click on Share Live Graph

Copy the text in the Direct Link box (beware there may be more text than you can see) I usually do this on a PC by dragging the mouse across the full link and right clicking the mouse key and selecting copy

On your post 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.