Virgin Media Community

[Neil15]

Hi

Since this was setup every now and then iplayer will drop out. Everything else seems ok but I suspect other network traffic is having to reconnect/retry. We used to get a lot of packet loss after the install but that was fixed by engineers working on the lines.

The service status comes up as ok, speedtests are also ok, but sometimes things just aren't as quick as I would expect and most time I use iplayer it drops and has to buffer. I'm usually watching TV at this point so I don't get round to doing full network tests.

I have a Hub 3.0 and have noticed a number of T3 timeouts, PRE-RS errors in the logs and related errors, can I fix something or are the problems on the line which will need an engineer to visit?

Cable Modem StatusItem Status Comments

Acquired Downstream Channel (Hz)	275000000	Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel (Hz)	60300000	Locked
Provisioning State	Online

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	275000000	3.5	40	256 qam	18
2	203000000	3.7	40	256 qam	9
3	211000000	3.9	40	256 qam	10
4	219000000	3.9	40	256 qam	11
5	227000000	3.7	40	256 qam	12
6	235000000	3.9	40	256 qam	13
7	243000000	3.5	40	256 qam	14
8	251000000	3.5	40	256 qam	15
9	259000000	3.5	40	256 qam	16
10	267000000	3.5	40	256 qam	17
11	283000000	3.4	40	256 qam	19
12	291000000	3.4	40	256 qam	20
13	299000000	3.7	40	256 qam	21
14	307000000	3.5	40	256 qam	22
15	315000000	3.7	40	256 qam	23
16	323000000	3.5	40	256 qam	24
17	363000000	3.2	40	256 qam	25
18	371000000	3.5	40	256 qam	26
19	379000000	3.5	40	256 qam	27
20	387000000	3.2	40	256 qam	28
21	395000000	3.5	40	256 qam	29
22	403000000	3.2	40	256 qam	30
23	411000000	3.5	40	256 qam	31
24	419000000	3.4	40	256 qam	32

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	40.3	58	0
2	Locked	40.9	27	0
3	Locked	40.3	30	0
4	Locked	40.9	53	0
5	Locked	40.9	20	0
6	Locked	40.9	27	0
7	Locked	40.9	101	0
8	Locked	40.3	49	0
9	Locked	40.9	34	0
10	Locked	40.3	82	0
11	Locked	40.3	57	0
12	Locked	40.9	60	0
13	Locked	40.3	33	0
14	Locked	40.9	26	0
15	Locked	40.9	36	0
16	Locked	40.3	52	0
17	Locked	40.9	153	0
18	Locked	40.3	97	0
19	Locked	40.9	42	0
20	Locked	40.3	866	0
21	Locked	40.9	26	0
22	Locked	40.9	34	0
23	Locked	40.9	94	0
24	Locked	40.3	59	0

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	60300000	34.3	5120	64 qam	1
2	46200000	34	5120	64 qam	3
3	39399985	34.3	5120	64 qam	4
4	53700000	34.3	5120	64 qam	2

Upstream bonded channels

Channel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts

1	ATDMA	0	0	23	0
2	ATDMA	0	0	24	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	27	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	32	0

29/01/2021 11:58:48	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/01/2021 04:28:16	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/01/2021 02:25:6	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Many thanks for your time

Neil

[jbrennand · Accepted solution]

Is that all of the Logs ?

T3's are a worry and your 4 up channels are all at the bottom of the recommended range and could be causing this. You need to call in and let them test your connection properly. Tray at 08.00 if you cant get through at sociable times !

Also, in the meantime... If you haven’t already, set up a free and secure “Broadband Quality Monitor” to continually monitor the state of your connection and record any true network dropouts , latency issues, packet drops, etc - it will thus allow you to differentiate between those and simple wifi dropouts. It does it 24/7/365 and it keeps a visual record of any/all of your network disconnections, useful data to have to match to the Network logs (in your Hub settings) and also in discussions with VM - note it will take a few hours to start seeing a sensible picture - post up the “link” to the “share live graph” (as per instructions on the TB website) when it starts to develop.

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

[Neil15]

Hi John

Many thanks for your reply. I have setup the broadband monitoring below it almost a day's worth. Seems mostly ok from the graph just some high latency at times. Of course as luck would have it I didn't notice any drops since yesterday afternoon. I'll keep the monitoring running, then try to give VM a call in the week

The network logs do have more in them but it's just a repeat of the 3 I included.

 many thanks

Neil

[Neil15]

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/97417c155756731a8398aa6e9c7d76c6ab... 

Above is the link, no log errors that match the latency peaks. I guess I'll run it for longer and call VM about the T3 errors.

[Neil15]

Hi John

After calling VM and them changing some config, although they couldn't explain what, it was still hapening after waiting the advised 10 days. Called them again and they could see no issues so more likely to be my network/the hub. I was advised to use CAT6 cables but I doubt it would matter much for the short cable runs I have, I tested and there was no difference.

Whilst thinking about all of this I realised my old firewall really was old and only had a 100mbps external interface, causing a bottleneck when the fibre link from the Hub is around 112mbps. I have now changed my network and no drops yet with streaming!  I was also advised to use 'modem' mode as I don't use the Hub's wireless, not done this yet as I'll have to reconfigure more things and don't see a need.

Thanks again Neil