Superhub upgrade

[HUGH_EFFO]

I have the M350 broadband package with the VOLT bolt on which takes it up to M500 (500bps).  The issue I have is I still have the superhub 3, which only give you wifi 11ac speeds (around 200bps), so on wifi I cannot benefit from the extra speed  .  How do I go about getting an upgrade to the superhub 5, which has 11ax speeds ?

[carl_pearce]

The HUB 5 is only supplied for Gig1 customers. Even then the HUB 4 is supplied if the HUB 5 is low stock.

You'd need to purchase your own router, with the HUB in modem mode, to increase your Wi-Fi speed.

VM do not guarantee full speed to one device over Wi-Fi (30Mbps guaranteed minimum if you pay £8/month https://www.virginmedia.com/wifi-max or if you are a Volt / Gig1 customer). 

[Tudor]

"superhub 3, which only give you wifi 11ac speeds (around 200bps)", 11ac will give up to 867 bps speed, realistically that means a max of about 520 bps.

[Molly_T]

Hi HUGH_EFFO 👋 welcome back to the community! Thank you for posting. 

Sorry to hear these concerns regarding your hub processing speeds. We would need to identify a fault that would require your hub being replaced, as it should still be able to process the speeds of your package. 

It looks like your hub is in Modem mode at the moment but if you would like us to take a look at the speeds reaching the hub to offer further support, you can pop it back into router mode temporarily for us to draw some data. Following this if there is a fault identified with the speeds reaching your hub which may require our assistance we will be able to help!

Let us know once you have popped the hub into router mode and we will be happy to help!

Wishing you all the best. 🌞

[HUGH_EFFO]

Hi Molly

There is defiantly something wrong with either the superhub or the switching at the cabinet.  All is fine until i try and download something, then my speed drops to almost nothing.

here is an example of speed test done directly at the modem, hard wired with cat 6 cable.  Tested on multiple machines and devices.

This is my normal speed with nothing downloading

As soon as i start to download something, after about 20 seconds it drops to this and i'm downloading at about 130kbs.

if I pause the download it goes back to this

I have tried loads of different sites, in fact using my phone as a hotspot, I get faster downloads than using the broadband.  Router is new (Asus AX5400) with a 2.5gbit ethernet port.

so at the moment I cant use the extra speed for downloading films on Netflix or Disney+ as it takes hours to download them.  If i switch the superhub off and back on again.  I get high speed downloads for about 20 seconds, then it drops again back down to just over 1 Mbs again.

I dont think the superhub 3 has either the cpu power or the bandwidth to cope with a constant high throughput and falls over.

[HUGH_EFFO]

Hi

I have put the Superhub 3 back into router mode.  Im now only getting about 160Mbps on wifi now, where with my router i was getting the over 520Mbps.

The download speed has increased, when using wifi, but still bad if I connect via Ethernet cable. Im guessing its because when on Wifi, im only getting about 160Mbps, but on ethernet im getting the full 500Mbps. 

At least now im sure its nothing to do with my equipment, as im getting the same issue whether im hard wired into the Superhub or my Router.  

So it seems im stuck.  Either I use the Superhub 3 as a router on wifi, get faster downloads, but cant only get about 40% of the speed on wifi, or switch back to my router, get full 500Mbps on wifi and wired, but download very slow, as I think once you get past about 200Mbps of downloading speed the Superhub 3 cant cope with the constant throughput, and falls over, either because the CPU is overheating or it cant cope with the constant speed, as its ok for 15-20 secs then the speed just drops to almost nothing.

All I want it to have full speed over wi-fi and to be able to download stuff at full speed.  This is why I need a superhub 5.  It has 802.11ax wifi, which means Ill get the full 500Mbps speed, and it being a newer model, im guessing has a better cpu, which can handle the higher speeds for longer.

The other option is to drop my broadband package down to M150, and save some money, as at the moment Im paying for higher speeds but cant use it.

[HUGH_EFFO]

UPDATE:

did a test with all my equipment turned off, and just a windows laptop wired into the Superhub 3 (Cat6) in modem mode.

Speedtest before any downloading 525.74 Mbps

downloaded a game from Steam Store.  After 20 seconds I was downloading at 16.7kbs, Speed test while im downloading: 0.21 Mbps

Stopped downloading, and waited 5 mins, then took new speedtest. 540.79Mbps

There is obviously an issue with either the superhub 3 or the switch at the cabinet, The internet speed is fine until I try and download something that takes longer than 30 seconds.  Even tried with my PS4, same issue starts downloading game fine, then after about 20 seconds, it drops to about 15-20 kbps. 

[Kath_F]

Hi HUGH_EFFO, 

Thanks for coming back to us with an update. We're sorry to hear you're still unhappy and that your speeds aren't what they should be. 

As mentioned previously, we would not be able to provide you with a newer hub. Any replacement would be like for like so if there is an issue with your hub, it would be swapped out for a new hub 3. 

Taking a look at things this end, some of your downstream power levels are a little high. We won't be able to fix this remotely so I would like to arrange for an engineer to come to take a look at this for you. 

I just need to confirm the address to ensure we are booking the visit on the correct account. I have sent you a direct message to allow us to do this with you in a private space. If you are using a PC/Laptop then you can just click on the little ✉ at the top right-hand side of the page to access your inbox. If you are on a mobile/tablet device then instead click on the little circle icon in the top right then select 'Messages'. 😊

Thanks,

[Kath_F]

Hi HUGH_EFFO, 

Thanks for coming back to via private message to confirm your information. 🤩

I have booked you in for the next available appointment. To view this please sign in to My Virgin Media here 👉 My VM. Once you log in scroll down to Orders & appointments then click on View your orders. Please note it can take up to 24 hours to show but you should also receive a text message with the details. You can also view this in the My VM app. If you have any issues with accessing your account or unable to see your visit, please do let us know and we’ll pop you a message to pass data protection and confirm the appointment details.

Just to confirm, there will be no charge for this visit unless:

• ➡ The technician diagnoses the faults as not being caused by our network/equipment
• ➡ The technician discovers that the fault or problem relates to your equipment
• ➡ The technician discovers that the fault or problem relates to any system that we are not responsible for
• ➡ The technician will confirm during their visit if any of these instances apply, and if so, a £25 charge will be applied to your account.

Please ensure there is someone over the age of 18 present at the time of the visit. If you need to change or cancel your appointment you can do this online or via the MyVM app by 4pm the day before the appointment. If you do miss an agreed appointment for any reason, a £25 missed appointment charge will be applied to your account on the day of the appointment.

We will continue to monitor your services and if we can see that the fault has cleared and the visit is no longer required we will cancel the appointment and let you know by text and email.

Let us know how the appointment goes. 😊

Take care.

[HUGH_EFFO]

Hi

I have replied.

I dont need a superhub 5 for the wifi speed, as my router is fine, just want the download speed issue sorted, and i think its down to a faulty superhub 3.  I think its throttling back when you have high download speeds due to it either overheating or cannot cope with the speeds.  The other possibility is that VM is throttling my download speeds, as like i said, its all godd for about 20-30 seconds, getting 45-55Mbps download, its just after that it drops like a stone to around 15-20 kbps.