Intermittent Packet Loss and spikes in latency

[m11]

Hello everyone,

My connection is totally usable and quite good in general, however, there are some moments where I experience packet loss. This occurs in some competitive games that require consistently low latency and no packet loss or just 5 second drops in download speed. I've looked into my cable modem network status and seen some of the channels have power levels close to the upper bound which is considered optimal.

I just wanted to let someone look over my cable modem details to see if everything looks in order or if I need an engineer to install anything extra like an attenuator or equaliser to lower my forward path power.

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	227000000	6.9	40	256 qam	12
2	139000000	9	40	256 qam	1
3	147000000	9.1	40	256 qam	2
4	155000000	9.1	40	256 qam	3
5	163000000	8.9	40	256 qam	4
6	171000000	9	40	256 qam	5
7	179000000	8.8	40	256 qam	6
8	187000000	8.6	40	256 qam	7
9	195000000	8.1	40	256 qam	8
10	203000000	8	40	256 qam	9
11	211000000	7.6	40	256 qam	10
12	219000000	7.3	40	256 qam	11
13	235000000	6.4	40	256 qam	13
14	243000000	6.4	40	256 qam	14
15	251000000	6	40	256 qam	15
16	259000000	5.3	38	256 qam	16
17	267000000	0.9	36	256 qam	17
18	275000000	2.7	36	256 qam	18
19	283000000	6.4	40	256 qam	19
20	291000000	7.8	40	256 qam	20
21	299000000	8.5	40	256 qam	21
22	307000000	8	40	256 qam	22
23	315000000	8	40	256 qam	23
24	323000000	8	40	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	40.3	5	0
2	Locked	40.3	0	0
3	Locked	40.9	6	0
4	Locked	40.3	19	0
5	Locked	40.3	5	0
6	Locked	40.9	6	0
7	Locked	40.9	5	0
8	Locked	40.9	17	0
9	Locked	40.9	5	0
10	Locked	40.9	4	0
11	Locked	40.3	4	0
12	Locked	40.3	5	0
13	Locked	40.9	1	0
14	Locked	40.3	5	0
15	Locked	40.3	5	0
16	Locked	38.9	0	0
17	Locked	36.3	8	0
18	Locked	36.6	1	0
19	Locked	40.3	5	0
20	Locked	40.3	0	0
21	Locked	40.3	4	0
22	Locked	40.3	4	0
23	Locked	40.9	6	0
24	Locked	40.9	5	0

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	39400019	43.5	5120	64 qam	4
2	46199998	43.5	5120	64 qam	3
3	53700007	43.5	5120	64 qam	2
4	60299998	43.5	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

Thanks in advance,

Marwan H

[John_GS · Accepted solution]

Hi @m11

Thanks for posting. My apologies for the broadband issues. 

I've checked the system and a few of the downstream channels are out of spec.

This needs a tech visit to the property to sort out. 

Best,

[m11]

Thank you very much! 

I will get in touch with virgin media to get a technician out to fix this. 

May I ask you to explain to me in some detail which channels were out of spec and why?

Thanks in advance,

Marwan H

[John_GS]

Hi @m11

Respond to the PM I've sent mate, I'll book it in

Best,

[John_GS]

Hi @m11

Thanks for joining me on PM

Just to update the thread, the engineer visit was booked in.

This can be tracked and/or altered in your online account 

Let us know how the visit goes

Best,

[m11]

Hello again,

The engineer did visit my property and checked out my equipment and wiring. He was very friendly and explained, in detail, the process of diagnosing and fixing my issue. 

There were two main issues:

• High dbmV Power levels on the downstream bonded channels as sometimes they fluctuate past the acceptable range (-6 <dbmV< 10)
• An issue with the cabling outside the property where a part of the coaxial cable to the cabinet was bent at an almost 180 degrees causing the inner sheilding and copper cable to become exposed and overtime, it degraded due to weather and caused the packet loss

The engineer added a 3db attenuator to the back of my modem and replaced the damaged wiring. 

I have never had a connection this stable in a long time and it has fixed all the issues!

Thank you,

Marwan H

[m11]

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

1	427000000	3.2	40	256 qam	37
2	251000000	-1.7	36	256 qam	15
3	259000000	2.2	38	256 qam	16
4	267000000	2.7	40	256 qam	17
5	275000000	2.9	40	256 qam	18
6	283000000	3.2	40	256 qam	19
7	291000000	4.4	40	256 qam	20
8	299000000	5	40	256 qam	21
9	307000000	4.9	40	256 qam	22
10	315000000	4.9	40	256 qam	23
11	323000000	5	40	256 qam	24
12	331000000	5	40	256 qam	25
13	339000000	4.8	40	256 qam	26
14	347000000	4.9	40	256 qam	27
15	355000000	4.9	40	256 qam	28
16	363000000	4.9	40	256 qam	29
17	371000000	4.8	40	256 qam	30
18	379000000	4.5	40	256 qam	31
19	387000000	4.1	40	256 qam	32
20	395000000	3.9	40	256 qam	33
21	403000000	3.7	40	256 qam	34
22	411000000	3.7	40	256 qam	35
23	419000000	3.5	40	256 qam	36
24	435000000	3	40	256 qam	38

[Zach_R]

Hi @m11,

Thank you for the update on this. I'm really glad to hear that the engineer was able to address and resolve the issue for you during your visit.

Please do let us know if there's anything more we can assist you with.

Thanks,