Unusable wifi in the evenings

[Madelvic]

VM customer for 20+ years

In recent weeks wifi performance tails way off in the evenings.  So bad we can no longer stream tv on a modern Samsung TV and web pages can take 10 to 20s to load.

If I use my Virgin SIM in my phone I get 100x speed on 5G

Engineer out.  Replaced Hub 3.0, tweaked signal into the house.  No improvement

We are in 100MB/s service.  Main computer via Cat5 into the Hub.  Consistently reporting circa 100MBs using Ookla SpeedTest on the wired connection (so it's not a Broadband issue)

We've tried turning off as many wifi devices as possible.  No change

We have old Apple Airport Express using mains extenders.  On or off makes no difference

On my laptop 10m or less from Hub Speedtest reports between <1 and 5MBs in the evenings.  No sold barriers between Hub and laptop.  Tried stopping either 2.4GHz or 5GHz on the Hub - no difference I can see

This I don't understand.  If I stand by the Hub I'll see 60+MB/s. If I then move to the living room where performance is pants, it is okay for a short while, then tails way off.

Would Hub 4 or 5 help?  Or Virgin's wifi extenders?  Don't want to pay more to fix a service that used to work.  Any ideas?  Help much appreciated

[Madelvic]

No still having issues. All devices on 2.4GHz. Been fine for 48 hours but tonight can't watch Netflix as it is scrolling. First Speedtest failed, second 3.56Mb/s download and 0.93 upload.

Over 20 years I must have paid Telewest/Virgin over £10k and it's just not good enough. How do I escalate within Virgin please?

[Madelvic]

Thanks but why should I? I pay a lot for a service and we know they have better products so why should I part with more money to fix a Virgin problem when the Broadband is as good as useless

[legacy1]

If VM does it all why do 3rd party routers exist VM don't care about wifi one day VM will give you a TV as part as your service will it be good? will you want to use your own TV?

[jpeg1]

Get yourself a free WiFi scanning app for your phone and see how much interference there is from neighbours' WiFi.

[Madelvic]

Is that not what Sky Glass is all about?

You make a point but:

1. It has been working and now doesn't. I'd like to get to the bottom of it, not just throw money at it
2. It's an expensive service; maybe BT / Sky etc would be better
3. Virgin has two more up-to-date products. I don't NEED 1 Gig and not willing to pay an extra £30 plus per month to fix the issue

As I say I'd like to get to the bottom of it. Right now SpeedTest has reported 34.8MB/s download. Why is it so poor in the evening?

[Madelvic]

Thanks. I have used NetSpot. As far as I can tell we are on different channels from our neighbours (plus it's not a heavily populated area - I can only 'see' two other wifi SSIDs at the moment).

I also have 'Auto' ticked against both channels in the Advanced setting in the Hub

[jpeg1]

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@Madelvic wrote:
Is that not what Sky Glass is all about?

You make a point but:

1. It has been working and now doesn't. I'd like to get to the bottom of it, not just throw money at it
2. It's an expensive service; maybe BT / Sky etc would be better
3. Virgin has two more up-to-date products. I don't NEED 1 Gig and not willing to pay an extra £30 plus per month to fix the issue

As I say I'd like to get to the bottom of it. Right now SpeedTest has reported 34.8MB/s download. Why is it so poor in the evening?

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1. WiFi environments do change. And have you tried enforcing one WiFi band or the other.

2. Yes VM is expensive. If you can get a better deal, go for it.

3. Are there more users sharing your WiFi in the evening? Speed tests require all other connections to be off. 

[Tudor]

A lot of interference is caused by other devices, microwaves, fridges, baby alarms and even USB hubs. Unfortunately VM hubs have poor WiFi, I use other networking equipment and in my location I can see well over 100 SSIDs transmitting, but I still get excellent Wifi. 

[g0akc · Accepted solution]

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@Madelvic wrote:
Thanks. I have used NetSpot. As far as I can tell we are on different channels from our neighbours (plus it's not a heavily populated area - I can only 'see' two other wifi SSIDs at the moment).

I also have 'Auto' ticked against both channels in the Advanced setting in the Hub

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Try taking it off ‘auto’ and try different channels manually.  Keep to 1,6 or 11 on 2.4 GHz. The automatic channel selection isn’t perfect (not on any manufacturer/provider).

Whilst the free analysers are useful for diagnostic work there might be some other source of interference present that they won’t show (a good spectrum analyser would be needed).

Changing channels may help.

You have been indicating that wired connections are okay - so your broadband is working fine - but WiFi isn’t.

And getting your own WiFi kit/router may help as decent ones perform better.  Worth trying for sake of £100 or less.

[Madelvic]

Problems continue. 6 calls to Virgin today and 2+ hours on the phone, mainly to Indian staff, and we were offered a wifi pod for free.  Hours later Virgin emails me to say my bill is going up.

I've raised a formal complaint with Virgin.