Questions for the Stats Gurus

[tremolo]

Please could someone let me know if these stats are ok? I am concerned by the high number of Downstream Post RS Errors, the low qams on Upstream Modulation and the regular critical warnings (SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync) in the Network Log.

Many thanks!

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	139000000	0.7	30	256 qam	1
2	147000000	0.4	30	256 qam	2
3	155000000	0.4	30	256 qam	3
4	163000000	0.5	30	256 qam	4
5	171000000	0.7	30	256 qam	5
6	179000000	1	30	256 qam	6
7	187000000	1.2	30	256 qam	7
8	195000000	1.2	31	256 qam	8
9	203000000	1	31	256 qam	9
10	211000000	0.7	31	256 qam	10
11	219000000	0.5	31	256 qam	11
12	227000000	0.4	31	256 qam	12
13	235000000	0.4	31	256 qam	13
14	243000000	0.4	31	256 qam	14
15	251000000	0.9	32	256 qam	15
16	259000000	1.2	32	256 qam	16
17	267000000	1.7	32	256 qam	17
18	275000000	1.9	33	256 qam	18
19	283000000	1.7	33	256 qam	19
20	291000000	1.5	33	256 qam	20
21	299000000	1.7	33	256 qam	21
22	307000000	1.7	33	256 qam	22
23	315000000	1.5	33	256 qam	23
24	323000000	1.4	33	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	30.1	34903395	430958
2	Locked	30.2	33464277	335011
3	Locked	30.1	35624724	369050
4	Locked	30.3	29876812	283083
5	Locked	30.6	25604424	243602
6	Locked	30.8	23981761	230561
7	Locked	30.8	22130932	217407
8	Locked	31.3	17204073	198791
9	Locked	31.4	14894713	192138
10	Locked	31.3	17264887	199744
11	Locked	31.4	17777934	199286
12	Locked	31.6	16375754	186221
13	Locked	31.9	13273522	175042
14	Locked	31.9	10567975	167551
15	Locked	32.3	7724216	168880
16	Locked	32.6	6027521	170220
17	Locked	32.6	4367587	167855
18	Locked	33	2697381	160339
19	Locked	33	2392112	154293
20	Locked	33	2613696	150100
21	Locked	33	2734516	145072
22	Locked	33.4	1697512	135478
23	Locked	33.4	1263338	128334
24	Locked	33.8	944490	129671

[tremolo]

I've had issues with disconnections recently and an engineer came out last week to replace my Superhub 3 because that was what telephone support advised.

Today there was another disconnection for about 30 minutes but no one noticed because it was between 8.30am and 9am. I saw it on the BQM later though. When I got home I found that wired connections were working fine but the WiFi was completely down and it was very slow to login to the SuperHub and look at the config. All wireless was disabled for reasons unknown and the green WiFi light was on.

The engineer said to try and not change the Auto Channel and Channel Optimisation settings in WiFi so, after a 60 second pinhole reset, I didn't. As an aside, let me just say that these "smart features" are anything but smart and choose channels that overlap with my neighbours despite there being enough bands to go around.

Things I did change: SuperHub password, Split the 2.4Ghz and 5GHz networks, Chose WPA2-PSK for both, Added a Guest Network, Disabled WPS, Changed DHCP to start from 192.168.0.150, Changed Number of CPEs to 100, Disabled UPnP.

Everything above is necessary IMO for my setup except possibly splitting the 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks. The problem is my TV often chooses to connect at 2.4GHz so the bandwidth is not nearly enough to stream raw Blu-rays from a local FTP server. If the networks aren't split (i.e. different SSIDs) then I can't force the TV to connect at 5GHz, as far as I know.

Why does changing the Superhub 3 settings you provide always seem to cause problems? Buggy interface, tick boxes greyed out, you can't enable/disable 2.4Ghz or 5GHz after a while etc. I'm tired of pinhole resets. I just want a stable connection and WiFi.

Will leaving the Auto Channel and Channel Optimisation settings alone be enough or am I already doomed by splitting the networks or any of the other changes I made. Are there any other solutions to forcing a device to connect at 5GHz if you don't split the networks?!

Thank you. Advice gratefully received (apart from to put it in modem mode 😉)

3 red spikes about 1pm are just resets

[Tudor]

"there being enough bands to go around." are very sure? There are only 3 2.4GHz channels that you can use 1, 6 & 11. This is because the bandwidth of the channels, 20MHz, overlaps other channels. If you do not use VM pods I would always advise to split the SSID names and turn off any smart/intelligent WiFi feature.

[tremolo]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I'm aware of the limitations of 2.4GHz. In fact I can't even use channel 11 for some of my devices (mostly cheap IoT stuff) because it strays up to the edge of channel 13 which is verboten in whatever region they're set up for.

I should have made it clearer that I was referring to 5GHz. I've come to the conclusion that the only 80MHz frequency range VM wants you to use is bands 36 to 48, which, of course, is the same as both my neighbours... It's possible to turn off the "smart" WiFi settings in the SuperHub 3 and manually set it to use bands 52 to 64 (legal indoors in the UK according to Wikipedia) but the SuperHub 3 then decides by itself to override your choice at some point in the next few days and return you to the former bands. It's then just a buggy mess. For example, only 24 hours after a 60 second pinhole reset I can no longer choose whether or not to broadcast the SSIDs. The checkboxes are greyed out and unresponsive. (Luckily this isn't an important issue but it illustrates my point.) Is this normal or do I have another defective hub?

I would happily disable 2.4GHz altogether apart from the fact that I need it for the guest network which is used for (likely) insecure cheap IoT devices that can't connect to 5GHz and that I don't want having access to my LAN.

Anyway, this is becoming too confusing. I probably should have made two separate threads because I now think I'm experiencing two separate issues. First is the rubbish buggy WiFi in the SuperHub 3. (I'm becoming resigned to the fact that I might just have to buy my own router and switch to modem mode.) Second is the spikes of high packet loss and disconnections that the engineer and the new SuperHub 3 were supposed to help with but it's not looking promising. More spikes this afternoon when no one was in so it's not due to overutilisation. At least there was no full outage unlike yesterday.

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/37bb5e3072838412eccfaa5e4c70b0c0fa... 

To staff: Would it be possible for me to try a SuperHub 4 please, seeing as the 3 has given me so many issues over the past year?

[Paul_DN]

Hi tremolo,

Thank you for reaching back out to us Via our community and welcome back, sorry to hear you have been facing issues with disconnections, unless there is a fault with your Hub 3.0 we wouldn't swap the Router for a Hub 4.0, this is something a technician would do if called out and a fault detected.

If you do have any further issues and there aren't any area issues showing on our Service Status, you can run further diagnostic checks Via your Online Account and book a technician if required. 

If you do need any further help, please do not hesitate to reach back out.

Regards

Paul.

[tremolo]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your reply. Could you please confirm whether or not it is normal for the "WiFi Network Name (SSID) broadcast" checkboxes to be greyed out (unusable) for the Superhub 3? I was told by the engineer who replaced my faulty SuperHub 3 a couple of weeks ago that VM don't want you to split the 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels however I have a specific requirement for doing so (mentioned above). He also said that VM don't want you to disable Smart WiFi or Channel Auto select so I have reluctantly left these settings alone despite the "smart" WiFi selecting exactly the same bands as both of my neighbours.

Left as default

SSID broadcast options greyed out

Is the engineer correct that you don't want customers to change the SuperHub 3 WiFi settings? If so, why provide the ability to do so?

I don't know if this is related or not but I am still getting spikes of packet loss during which time webpages fail to load and video streaming freezes. These issues started around a year ago and during that time I have received 3 or 4 separate text messages that "engineers are working on network issues in my area". Could this be connected to the problems I have been experiencing?

I realise that this is a lot of information to take in and I have tried to keep this post as concise as possible. I would really appreciate answers to the questions that I have bolded for your ease of reference.

Many thanks for your help!

PS I posted my stats in another thread and to my layman's eyes they don't look great. Perhaps they might be useful in diagnosing the problems.

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/QuickStart-set-up-and/Questions-for-the-Stats-Gurus/m-p/5118705... 

[tremolo]

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	36600815	51	5120	32 qam	9
2	49599585	50.3	5120	32 qam	7
3	30100000	51	5120	32 qam	10
4	43100317	50.8	5120	32 qam	8
5	23599529	52	5120	16 qam	11

Upstream bonded channels

Channel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts

1	ATDMA	0	0	2	0
2	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	87	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	87	0
5	ATDMA	0	0	1	0

[tremolo]

Network Log

Time Priority Description

12/09/2022 19:56:1	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 19:34:40	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 19:14:58	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 19:04:4	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 12:14:0	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 12:13:59	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 12:08:54	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 12:08:54	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 12:08:9	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 12:08:9	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 10:35:26	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 10:35:26	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 10:23:9	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 10:21:21	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 10:04:38	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 10:04:38	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 10:03:19	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/09/2022 10:03:19	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/09/2022 18:49:48	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11/09/2022 15:37:9	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[jpeg1]

You are right to be concerned. Apart from the issues you correctly identified, the upstream levels are too high.  You need to call for a technician visit to sort this out. 

[Tudor]

Too low downstream, too high upstream. Unless there is an area problem, you definitely need a technician’s visit, possibly a move to another tap. 

Check with Area faults on 0800 561 0061 If you have a VM landline 150 this goes down to post code level. You could also try the web page status, but this is not recommended.

VM will not dispatch any technicians while an area fault exists.

If no faults found:

Call Customer Services on 0345 454 1111/150 if you have a VM landline or wait two or three days for a VM staff member to get to your post.