low signal strength, please move it closer to Hub 3.0

[Philz0r]

I have had nothing but bother from Virgin media for over 2 weeks now.

my internet keeps dropping out across all my devices and have terrible speeds. 

The device **:**:**:**:**:** has low signal strength, please move it closer to Hub 3.0.
8	The device **:**:**:**:**:** has low signal strength, please move it closer to Hub 3.0.
9	The device **:**:**:**:**:** has low signal strength, please move it closer to Hub 3.0.
10	The device **:**:**:**:**:** has low signal strength, please move it closer to Hub 3.0.
11	The device **:**:**:**:**:** has low signal strength, please move it closer to Hub 3.0.
12	The device **:**:**:**:**:** has low signal strength, please move it closer to Hub 3.0.
13	The device **:**:**:**:**:** has low signal strength, please move it closer to Hub 3.0.
14	Please place your WiFi device near the Hub 3.0.

i phoned virgin up yesterday and the guy who answered was very rude, unhelpful and unwilling to listen to what i had to say.

i told him my problems and he told me to restart my router and check all the cables, which i have done and he basically called me a liar saying the router hadn't been restarted in over 2 weeks despite the fact i have restarted it about 20 times in the last week alone and leaving it off through the night over the weekend. 

getting really fed up now, looking at this problem from previous people's threads it looks like a router problem that requires a replacement, i really dont want to have to sit on hold for another hour to be told "turn your router off at the wall, factory reset it" over and over.

[MikeRobbo]

The error messages are self explanatory but the physical position of the devices won't allow them to get closer.

Probably 50% of the problems on this board are Wi-Fi related and probably 75% of those problems are signal strength problems.

If you remove all the internal walls, electronic and electrical devices, metallic pipes and conduits and wrap the whole building in a thick lead shield you will have a good chance of getting decent Wi-Fi from a VM Hub.

Many people have accepted that the VM Wi-Fi is poor and have purchased third party equipment that is much, much more powerful than the VM supplied kit and once set up have wondered why they waited for so long.

[gary_dexter]

Do wired connections drop?

If not, then get a mesh system or your own router 

[Philz0r]

Firstly, thank you for the reply

secondly, what router would you recommend buying?, not that I want to have to buy a router..

thirdly, wifi has been fine for last 3 or 4 years with this router, computer is about 5 meters away from hub in same room.

the router has rarely been turned off and obviously got worse over the years. 

[Philz0r]

Only thing I have Ethernet connected is the skybox and never appeared to have problems with that.

[gary_dexter]

It can take anything and nothing to affect WiFi connectivity.

A decent mid-range ASUS or TP-Link router will do you fine. 

[MikeRobbo]

---

@Philz0r wrote:

Firstly, thank you for the reply

secondly, what router would you recommend buying?, not that I want to have to buy a router..

thirdly, wifi has been fine for last 3 or 4 years with this router, computer is about 5 meters away from hub in same room.

the router has rarely been turned off and obviously got worse over the years. 

---

For the PC you would be far better off connecting using a Cat 6 ethernet cable.

[jbrennand]

Lets see the Hub details. Follow this procedure
--------------
. In your browser’s URL box type in http://192.168.0.1 (or http://192.168.100.1 - if in modem mode) and hit return. On the first page up [there should be no need to login if you have done so before] click on the “router status” icon/text at bottom-middle of first page up and then copy/paste as “Formatted Text” (not images) 3 FULL sets of data onto here – 2 pages from the Downstream, 2 from the Upstream, & the Network Logs page. Don't worry too much about the formatting it can be easily read & DON’T include personal data or MAC addresses - blank them out - if you copy/paste the data, the board software will do this for you (you may need to click the "submit" button a second time).

Also, in the meantime, if you haven’t already, set up a free “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” (as per instructions on the TB website) when you have the first 24h period.

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

[Philz0r]

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) SNR (dB) Modulation Channel ID
1 347000000 6.1 38 256 qam 25
2 251000000 4.6 38 256 qam 15
3 259000000 4.5 38 256 qam 16
4 267000000 4.9 38 256 qam 17
5 275000000 5.1 38 256 qam 18
6 283000000 5.5 38 256 qam 19
7 291000000 5.6 38 256 qam 20
8 299000000 6.1 38 256 qam 21
9 307000000 6 38 256 qam 22
10 315000000 6.4 38 256 qam 23
11 323000000 6.4 38 256 qam 24
12 355000000 6.1 38 256 qam 26
13 363000000 6 38 256 qam 27
14 371000000 5.6 38 256 qam 28
15 379000000 5.5 38 256 qam 29
16 387000000 5.3 38 256 qam 30
17 395000000 5.4 38 256 qam 31
18 403000000 5.5 38 256 qam 32
19 411000000 5.5 38 256 qam 33
20 419000000 5.5 38 256 qam 34
21 427000000 5.5 40 256 qam 35
22 435000000 5.5 40 256 qam 36
23 443000000 5.1 40 256 qam 37
24 451000000 5.1 38 256 qam 38

Downstream bonded channels
Channel Locked Status RxMER (dB) Pre RS Errors Post RS Errors
1 Locked 38.9 0 0
2 Locked 38.6 6 0
3 Locked 38.9 0 0
4 Locked 38.6 5 0
5 Locked 38.6 6 0
6 Locked 38.6 4 0
7 Locked 38.6 6 0
8 Locked 38.6 6 0
9 Locked 38.6 5 0
10 Locked 38.6 4 0
11 Locked 38.6 0 0
12 Locked 38.9 5 0
13 Locked 38.9 5 0
14 Locked 38.9 4 0
15 Locked 38.6 5 0
16 Locked 38.9 5 0
17 Locked 38.9 4 0
18 Locked 38.9 5 0
19 Locked 38.9 6 0
20 Locked 38.6 5 0
21 Locked 40.3 6 0
22 Locked 40.3 4 0
23 Locked 40.3 5 0
24 Locked 38.9 0 0

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) Symbol Rate (ksps) Modulation Channel ID
1 39399986 38 5120 64 qam 4
2 46200034 38 5120 64 qam 3
3 53700000 38 5120 64 qam 2
4 60300014 39.5 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

Time Priority Description
20/10/2020 19:27:47 notice LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
20/10/2020 05:51:8 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
18/10/2020 17:39:38 notice LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
18/10/2020 17:25:52 Warning! LAN login FAILED : Incorrect Username / Password / ConnectionType;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/10/2020 12:46:42 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
15/10/2020 04:58:15 notice DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt057-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
15/10/2020 04:58:15 Error DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/10/2020 09:36:28 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/10/2020 23:15:15 notice DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt057-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/10/2020 23:15:15 Error DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
09/10/2020 00:49:36 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
09/10/2020 00:46:54 notice SW download Successful - Via NMS
09/10/2020 00:44:12 notice SW Download INIT - Via NMS
07/10/2020 22:31:23 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
07/10/2020 21:41:14 notice DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt057-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
07/10/2020 21:41:14 Error DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
05/10/2020 18:36:8 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
05/10/2020 10:51:1 notice DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt057-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
05/10/2020 10:51:1 Error DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
03/10/2020 14:38:46 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[jbrennand]

All those look spot on to me. Post up a link to the "live" BQM when you have it that should show if there actually are any networks issues (doesn't look like it) or whether your issues are simply wifi ones (likely).

In that case... you are better advised to sort out yourself either by.....

1) A Mesh System
2) A Wireless router
3) A Wireless access points
OR
4) A combination of the above

Each option has its pro's and con's