Intermittent Connection Issues and Orange Light

[Steve_V]

I'm having issues with my wifi connection, particularly noticeable when working from home. It's intermittently dropping out and losing connection. I've been with Virgin since October 2021 but not spent a lot of time at the property until recently, so it's possible it's always been like this.

My phone occasionally has trouble loading webpages and in settings it will sometimes say 'no internet connection'.

Also streaming of TV etc is sometimes an issue. Speed tests show decent speed (100Mbps+) but occasionally video will buffer randomly or drop to a lower (almost unwatchable) resolution. 

Maybe worth mentioning that the hub (3.0) is showing a solid orange light and, as far as I recall, has always been like this, despite the set up guide saying it should be white. I've seen a few other posts where hubs have been replaced when this was the case. I have performed many reboots and done a full pinhole reset.

I called customer services earlier who tried to tell me we have too many devices connected (they also performed a remote reboot) but there's only two of us and while we do have a few smart bulbs and Amazon devices, as well as the usual laptops and TVs, I'm sure we don't have more than the average family and it should easily be able to cope. I had no issues with 29Mbps fibre with Vodafone before I switched to Virgin.

[Kain_W]

Hi Steve_V,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the community!

From checking our service I can't seem to find any readings that would contribute to the intermittency.

Can I ask also whether you're facing issues on a wired connection too? 

Thanks,

[Steve_V]

It's difficult to tell, as the issue is most noticeable when working from home in the office and bedroom upstairs. It isn't a huge house and the signal does cover these rooms very well. Speed tests check out ok, with minimal speed loss. We're just being plagued by these occasional drop outs where it disconnects, sometimes during calls, sometimes during general working, so I don't think it's a bandwith issue - in any case 100MBps should be able to cope, given that we could work comfortably with less than 30Mbps with my previous provider.

The Smart TV, Fire TV and a Sonos are the only things plugged directly into the router via ethernet but it isn't possible for us both to work plugged into the router due to the location.

As I said, the light on the front of the router is permanently orange and has never been white, as I understand it should be, so this could indicate a problem with the router, given some of the other posts I've read on this forum.

[Steve_V]

Coincidentally, I've just experienced one of these issues. 

I was streaming live TV in HD and it's just dropped to a much lower resolution. I ran a speed test on my phone and it's given me a speed of 0.07Mbps, when it's normally 100Mbps+ even on wifi upstairs.

[Andrew-G]

Connect to the hub by clicking on this link http://192.168.0.1/  That should pull up the log in page for the hub.  But don't log in, just click on the link "Check router status"  That'll bring up a window with five tabs.  Open the Downstream tab.  Select all the text (Ctrl-A if using a keyboard), copy it (Ctrl-C), then paste it (Ctrl-V) into a reply here as TEXT not screenshots.  Post that, do the same for the Upstream and Network log.  You'll get an error message when you post the Network log, just click on "post" a second time.

If this pulls up nothing useful we'll suggest other tools to try.

[Steve_V]

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	331000000	3.5	40	256 qam	25
2	203000000	4.8	40	256 qam	9
3	211000000	4.5	40	256 qam	10
4	219000000	4.4	40	256 qam	11
5	227000000	4.1	40	256 qam	12
6	235000000	4	40	256 qam	13
7	243000000	3.9	40	256 qam	14
8	251000000	3.5	40	256 qam	15
9	259000000	3.5	40	256 qam	16
10	267000000	4	40	256 qam	17
11	275000000	3.9	40	256 qam	18
12	283000000	3.5	40	256 qam	19
13	291000000	3.7	40	256 qam	20
14	299000000	3.7	40	256 qam	21
15	307000000	3.5	40	256 qam	22
16	315000000	4	40	256 qam	23
17	323000000	4	40	256 qam	24
18	339000000	3.7	40	256 qam	26
19	347000000	4	40	256 qam	27
20	355000000	3.7	40	256 qam	28
21	363000000	3.7	40	256 qam	29
22	371000000	3.9	40	256 qam	30
23	379000000	3.5	40	256 qam	31
24	387000000	3.2	40	256 qam	32

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	40.3	7	0
2	Locked	40.3	9	0
3	Locked	40.9	11	0
4	Locked	40.9	12	0
5	Locked	40.3	15	0
6	Locked	40.3	12	0
7	Locked	40.3	15	0
8	Locked	40.3	10	0
9	Locked	40.3	12	0
10	Locked	40.9	13	0
11	Locked	40.3	15	0
12	Locked	40.9	17	0
13	Locked	40.3	10	0
14	Locked	40.9	19	0
15	Locked	40.3	14	0
16	Locked	40.3	18	0
17	Locked	40.3	21	0
18	Locked	40.3	23	0
19	Locked	40.9	14	0
20	Locked	40.3	14	0
21	Locked	40.3	16	0
22	Locked	40.9	13	0
23	Locked	40.3	15	0
24	Locked	40.3	16	0

[Steve_V]

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	46199996	40	5120	64 qam	1
2	25800000	40	5120	64 qam	4
3	32600000	40	5120	64 qam	3
4	39400039	40	5120	64 qam	2

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	1	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	0	0

[Steve_V]

Network Log

Time Priority Description

04/03/2022 05:05:9	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/03/2022 14:56:55	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/02/2022 20:30:15	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/02/2022 18:35:5	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;
28/02/2022 18:35:4	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
25/02/2022 13:04:10	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
25/02/2022 06:35:4	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;
25/02/2022 06:35:4	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
21/02/2022 19:21:43	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
21/02/2022 18:35:5	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;
21/02/2022 18:35:5	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
19/02/2022 05:37:57	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
18/02/2022 06:35:4	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;
18/02/2022 06:35:4	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/02/2022 01:37:55	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
14/02/2022 18:35:4	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;
14/02/2022 18:35:4	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
14/02/2022 02:11:24	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
14/02/2022 00:57:3	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[Andrew-G]

Bad news - all the hub status data is exactly where it should be, and that means we're looking for some other cause.  Let's see how latency and packet loss are on your connection: Setup a BQM which may show if there's anything going on with your VM connection.  Post a LINK to a LIVE, SHARED graph here and we'll see what's happening.  Usually needs to run for 24 hours before we can draw reasonable conclusions, but the live graph will continuously update so you can post the link immediately.

You referred to problems streaming TV - is that the ethernet connected TV?

In respect of the orange LED, we believe that for most cases that's the ageing of the blue diode in the RGB package that creates a multi-colour LED unit, and of itself usually means nothing.  It can sometimes be linked to other hub faults, but as a general rule it's anything in the range white, dirty white, light orange is seen as normal.  My old Hub 3 hub decayed over five years from white to what I describe as capuccino, without problems (and now I've got a shiney new Hub 5 that I can't recommend to anybody until the suddenly diabolical reliability of my connection is diagnosed and fixed).

[Steve_V]

Interesting that you say the orange light may be down to aging of the diode. The light has always been the same colour since I got the hub in October last year. Obviously I don't know how "new" the hub is though. The light is definitely what I would describe as a dark but bright orange. 

The streaming issue affects both the TV connected by wifi upstairs and the wired one but I've noticed it happening a lot more on the wifi one - that may just be as it's the one I've been using most while working. I can't remember the wired one having any noticeable issues in the past few days.

I'll have a look at your other advice when I'm in the house more, in a day or so, as I'm going to be away for most today and tomorrow.