Virgin Media installation experience so far.

[Alan782]

Thought I'd add my own voice to the comedy of errors which is the Virgin Media installation merry go round.

Where we live (small block of flats in south London) we can't get fibre broadband from BT Openreach (as our phone line is connected directly to the exchange which isn't fibre enabled), so that rules out fibre via BT, SKY, PlusNet etc..etc..

Luckily, we were cabled in for Virgin Media the other year (the fibre cables were run into ducting in the hallways, not into individual flats).

Due to more internet enabled kit (smart TV’s, Alexa’s etc..) plus now with hybrid working the existing copper broadband from BT simply isn't good enough anymore (max of 10 - 12mb download speed).

Got a great deal on the Virgin Media 350mb package so thought why not.

I'm aware of the issues that a lot of people have with Virgin Media so haven't cancelled the BT Internet (thank god).

Anyway, after that long intro..

Was scheduled to be connected on 14th October. Engineer turned up, couldn't complete the installation as he said that the fibre cable was damaged and needed an MDU team to do a cable re-pull.

Fair enough I said, Cable re-pull was scheduled for 1st of November and 2nd engineer visit scheduled for 2nd of November.

Engineer turns up on the 2nd of November, clearly doesn't know how to tie his shoelaces, didn't know what cables were Virgin Media's (I had to point them out to him), he denied they were Virgin Media cables, disappeared for around 30mins and then re-appeared and confirmed that actually yes the cables were theirs.

But, he couldn't complete the installation as he had no idea where the cables terminated and so would have to get another engineer out who knew the area better, he stated this engineer would turn up on the 5th of November, but as it's an appointment made 'within' the team it wouldn't appear on the Virgin app etc.

This I thought was a bit odd and sure enough no engineer appeared on the 5th (meaning the 2nd engineer clearly lied about the additional visit simply so he could leave without doing any work).

Rang Virgin Media and they confirmed that no MDU team turned up on the 1st of November to do a re-pull, have got another re-pull scheduled for 27th of November and 3rd Engineer visit scheduled for 9th of December.

The only reason I haven't cancelled my contract with Virgin Media is simply down to lack of options, I haven't even been connected to them yet and already the customer service is so shockingly bad, they really have no idea what they are doing.

I even raised a complaint on the 16th of November about the installation (or lack of) and was told I would be contacted within 48 hours, surprise surprise, no call ever came, so rang them this morning to chase the complaint and initially spoke to Customer services, who passed me to the pre-install team who said they couldn't deal with my complaint and passed me to customer services who said they couldn't escalate it and passed me back to the pre-install team (it's a total joke).

The person I spoke to the 2nd time on the pre-install team said that they were doing the re-pull on the 27th of November because (according to an engineer) our block has no connections to Virgin Media??? well that's funny says I, because other residents are connected to Virgin Media and I could go outside my front door, open up some cable trunking and touch the Virgin Media cable...

What's going on??

They have now arranged a site survey to be carried out on the 24th of November to check if any external cabling actually does need to be carried out.

For a broadband service provider the lack of knowledge about their own infrastructure is frankly embarrassing, you wouldn't think it should be that hard to get connected, especially as the cables already exist (and if they are damaged, as the 1st engineer stated, you would think it should be easy to replace).

The shocking ineptitude from the engineers is astonishing, that, and customer service seems totally unable to assist, all they say is "we need to pass you to the pre-install team" who just don't care that you’re having issues, raising a complaint is pointless as no-one addresses it and they simply don't care at all.

If I had any other options I would take them (I even offered to pay BT/Openreach to have another line installed, going to a green street cab so I could get fibre broadband, but they can't do it).

So... at the moment, if I want download speeds above 10mb then I'm stuck.

Sorry peeps, rant over, just thought I'd share my experience (And it's not over yet!).

[Alan782]

Thanks Jodi, I have got some advice from Paul on checking the current status.

Basically rebooting the router and checking the logs after a few days (since the router hasn't been rebooted since long before the alleged re-pull), this will help confirm (or not) if the Post-RS errors and T3 timeouts are continuing at a rate which needs addressing.

Will report back with my findings in a day or 2.

[Paulina_Z]

Hi @Alan782,

Thank you for letting us know. No problem at all.

Keep us updated on how you're getting on and if you need any further help or support from our team. 🙂

Thank you.

[Alan782]

ok, so, after having rebooted my router last Thursday and leaving it for a week, here are the log results....

Cable Modem StatusItem Status Comments

Acquired Downstream Channel (Hz)	203000000	Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel (Hz)	53700000	Locked
Provisioning State	Online

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	203000000	5.5	37	256 qam	9
2	139000000	5.8	36	256 qam	1
3	147000000	5.5	36	256 qam	2
4	155000000	5.1	37	256 qam	3
5	163000000	5.3	37	256 qam	4
6	171000000	5.3	36	256 qam	5
7	179000000	5.4	36	256 qam	6
8	187000000	5.4	36	256 qam	7
9	195000000	5.5	37	256 qam	8
10	211000000	5.4	37	256 qam	10
11	219000000	5.5	37	256 qam	11
12	227000000	5.4	37	256 qam	12
13	235000000	5.3	37	256 qam	13
14	243000000	5	37	256 qam	14
15	251000000	5.1	37	256 qam	15
16	259000000	5.1	37	256 qam	16
17	267000000	5.1	37	256 qam	17
18	275000000	5.1	37	256 qam	18
19	283000000	5.1	37	256 qam	19
20	291000000	5.1	37	256 qam	20
21	299000000	5.4	37	256 qam	21
22	307000000	4.9	37	256 qam	22
23	315000000	5	37	256 qam	23
24	323000000	5.1	37	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	37.6	95	0
2	Locked	36.6	182	0
3	Locked	36.6	102	0
4	Locked	37.6	76	0
5	Locked	37.3	120	0
6	Locked	36.6	113	0
7	Locked	36.6	128	0
8	Locked	36.6	109	0
9	Locked	37.3	106	0
10	Locked	37.3	91	0
11	Locked	37.3	86	0
12	Locked	37.3	111	0
13	Locked	37.3	119	0
14	Locked	37.3	197	0
15	Locked	37.6	159	0
16	Locked	37.3	171	0
17	Locked	37.6	160	0
18	Locked	37.6	195	0
19	Locked	37.6	233	0
20	Locked	37.3	195	0
21	Locked	37.3	181	0
22	Locked	37.6	161	0
23	Locked	37.6	147	0
24	Locked	37.3	195	0

[Alan782]

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	53700000	42	5120	64 qam	2
2	39400000	42	5120	64 qam	4
3	46200000	42	5120	64 qam	3
4	60300000	42	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	2	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	2	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	2	0

General Configuration

Network access	Allowed
Maximum Number of CPEs	1
Baseline Privacy	Enabled
DOCSIS Mode	Docsis30
Config file	fd;kfoA,.iyewrkldJKDHSUBsgvca

Primary Downstream Service Flow

SFID	546
Max Traffic Rate	402500089
Max Traffic Burst	42600
Min Traffic Rate	0

Primary Upstream Service Flow

SFID	545
Max Traffic Rate	38500089
Max Traffic Burst	42600
Min Traffic Rate	0
Max Concatenated Burst	42600
Scheduling Type	BestEffort

[Alan782]

Network Log

Time Priority Description

18/05/2022 08:34:13	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/05/2022 18:56:3	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt062+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/05/2022 18:56:3	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
15/05/2022 06:41:34	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
14/05/2022 06:56:3	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt062+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
14/05/2022 06:56:3	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
13/05/2022 07:33:3	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

I've only included the portion of the log file since the router was restarted (thought the rest of it would be irrelevant to this test).

Now, as far as I can tell, those Post-RS errors (0) and the T3 timeouts (6) in a week don't look at all bad to me, so, I'm assuming my issue has actually been resolved?

But, before I finally put this to bed, can someone else just cast their eyes on what I've posted and let me know if (to much more expert eyes than mine) my problem is indeed cured (for now).

[Carley_S]

Hi @Alan782

Thanks for getting back to us with your recent hub log. 

From what I can see on both your log and on our systems today all is looking good and within specifications. Please let us know if you have any any other questions or concerns, we'll be here to help if needed. 

[Anonymous]

Yup stats look good. 

[Alan782]

New Update - 

Unfortunately, I've checked the logs this morning (for the first real time since my last post) and it would appear I was a bit too premature with my hopeful thinking of the problems being resolved.

The logs are again filled with Post-RS errors and T3 timeouts, I'm assuming at this point that I need an engineer visit?

Can someone please check the logs (that I will upload) and confirm?

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	203000000	5.9	37	256 qam	9
2	139000000	6	36	256 qam	1
3	147000000	5.9	36	256 qam	2
4	155000000	5.5	37	256 qam	3
5	163000000	5.5	37	256 qam	4
6	171000000	5.5	36	256 qam	5
7	179000000	5.6	36	256 qam	6
8	187000000	5.6	36	256 qam	7
9	195000000	5.8	37	256 qam	8
10	211000000	5.8	37	256 qam	10
11	219000000	5.8	37	256 qam	11
12	227000000	5.6	37	256 qam	12
13	235000000	5.6	37	256 qam	13
14	243000000	5.4	37	256 qam	14
15	251000000	5.5	37	256 qam	15
16	259000000	5.5	37	256 qam	16
17	267000000	5.5	36	256 qam	17
18	275000000	5.5	37	256 qam	18
19	283000000	5.6	37	256 qam	19
20	291000000	5.5	37	256 qam	20
21	299000000	5.8	37	256 qam	21
22	307000000	5.1	37	256 qam	22
23	315000000	5.3	37	256 qam	23
24	323000000	5.5	37	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	37.3	2036	16760
2	Locked	36.6	2401	17032
3	Locked	36.6	2249	17301
4	Locked	37.3	1865	16765
5	Locked	37.3	1939	16768
6	Locked	36.6	1882	3598
7	Locked	36.6	2109	2781
8	Locked	36.6	2035	16242
9	Locked	37.6	1973	16016
10	Locked	37.3	2095	15821
11	Locked	37.3	2116	15960
12	Locked	37.3	2635	15658
13	Locked	37.6	2638	15173
14	Locked	37.3	3243	15058
15	Locked	37.3	3863	14034
16	Locked	37.3	6100	11598
17	Locked	36.6	9063	8558
18	Locked	37.3	12405	5190
19	Locked	37.6	13643	8691
20	Locked	37.3	13875	6661
21	Locked	37.6	13627	7133
22	Locked	37.3	12936	7624
23	Locked	37.6	11638	7856
24	Locked	37.3	10384	7884

[Alan782]

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	53700000	42	5120	64 qam	2
2	39400000	42	5120	64 qam	4
3	46200000	42	5120	64 qam	3
4	60300000	42	5120	64 qam	1

Upstream bonded channels

Channel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts

1	ATDMA	0	0	10	0
2	ATDMA	0	0	8	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	9	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	7	0

General Configuration

Network access	Allowed
Maximum Number of CPEs	1
Baseline Privacy	Enabled
DOCSIS Mode	Docsis30
Config file	fd;kfoA,.iyewrkldJKDHSUBsgvca

Primary Downstream Service Flow

SFID	546
Max Traffic Rate	402500089
Max Traffic Burst	42600
Min Traffic Rate	0

Primary Upstream Service Flow

SFID	545
Max Traffic Rate	38500089
Max Traffic Burst	42600
Min Traffic Rate	0
Max Concatenated Burst	42600
Scheduling Type	BestEffort

Network Log

Time Priority Description

09/06/2022 02:00:19	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
07/06/2022 18:56:4	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt062+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
07/06/2022 18:56:4	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
04/06/2022 07:49:10	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
04/06/2022 06:56:4	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt062+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
04/06/2022 06:56:4	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/06/2022 14:43:22	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
31/05/2022 18:56:4	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt062+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
31/05/2022 18:56:4	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
29/05/2022 19:51:23	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/05/2022 06:56:4	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt062+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/05/2022 06:56:4	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/05/2022 19:07:11	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/05/2022 18:56:4	notice	DHCP Renew - lease parameters tftp file-cmreg-vmdg505-bbt062+voc-b.cm modified;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/05/2022 18:56:4	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/05/2022 10:00:10	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/05/2022 10:00:8	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/05/2022 09:59:58	Warning!	Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/05/2022 09:59:53	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/05/2022 09:59:53	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[Molly_T]

Hi Alan, hope you are well! Thank you for returning to the thread with an update. 

Having had a look on our systems there are no issues at the exchange or with the signals reaching your hub. 
Your speeds look great and there are no disconnections showing in the last week. 

Please do let us know if this changes and what symptoms you are experiencing on your service to indicate there is a fault. 

We can then offer further support if needed!

Thank you! All the best.