Virgin Media Community

[timchill]

I have been paying for 200Mbps for several years now, but that speed I assume is merely a dream state that one hopes to achieve in Nirvana. At best I achieve 50Mbps. Beyond the useless blurb about relocating the hub (done), getting boosters (done), ethernet (done), I finally had a technician around who claimed it was something to do with my outside link. He worked on it, switched the hub off and on, and hey presto I had around 180Mbps for all of half an hour. This is something I have been told happens if you switch on and off, a short boost of speed. I have since written to Virgin several times and only received a letter, which suggested I relocate the hub, buy a booster...you get the idea.

What I wonder is if anyone out there does actually get the speeds they pay for. Can I expect Virgin to provide us with wifi that does not cut out during work meetings, that my kids can do homeschooling on, and that provides the average 213 Mbps that the letter they sent me today, informing me of a price hike, promises? Why is it easier to receive a call from Virgin marketing, who upped my package against my wishes, than it is to contact their complaints department? I have three pending complaints with Virgin and have heard nothing back. Thank you for any advice. Also, can I ask if (this is something I am loath to do) upgrade to 1Gb, are people finding the service any better?

[Andruser · Accepted solution]

I'll try and unpick this:

1) Speed upgrade.  No, don't do it.  If the line isn't working properly now, asking it to perform at higher speeds is a recipe for trouble.

2) Unanswered complaints.  Visit the CISAS web site, and escalate the complaint according to their rules.  If you don't have a "deadlock letter", then eight weeks has have elapsed since your first complaint, but there's good customer guidance. 

3) Package upgrade without permission.  If this is the subject of one of those complaints, then no further comment, if it isn't, then a few more details about how this seems to have happened?  VM could unilaterally give you (for example) a free speed boost so long as there's no new contract, anything with a new contract requires your agreement.

4)  Setup a BQM, that'll show what's 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 do that immediately.

[timchill]

Andruser, thanks so much for such a detailed answer. Will similarly take it in parts. 

1. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. 

2. Will do. 

3. As for the unwanted upgrade, I received a call from their marketing team. I tried to explain my problem to the poor lady, who I'm afraid did not really seem to understand me. She suggested that getting pushed up to M350 would solve the situation. I consistently said I did not want this, but could see she either did not understand or was keen to get the sale. I told her several times I did not want this, the upgrade was made. I then finally managed to contact Virgin, and informed them of this. They said this was very serious. Returned me to the M200, which I explained was not working, and said they would follow up with a formal complaint. This never happened. 

4. Again much appreciated. I will give this a go. 

[timchill]

Here is the link to the BQM

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/05b02abd373048fc2d2800c2863c18df38...

[timchill]

Just a quick follow up, having never set up a BQM before. Am I right is assuming that I am losing 80% of my speed from this reading? Many thanks. 

[Andruser · Accepted solution]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.  The DOCSIS technology that drives cable internet is more magic than science, so it's always of case of "it depends...."

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.  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.

Then we can check for any obvious problems with power, noise or error counts.  The BQM shows a hint of time-of-day profiling, but it doesn't look to my eyes like the dreaded over-utilisation issue.  Customer service and the technician should already have checked this, but let's look again.

[timchill]

Thanks again so much. 

Here goes. Downstream:

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

1	299000000	5.5	38	256 qam	21
2	203000000	6	38	256 qam	9
3	211000000	5.8	38	256 qam	10
4	219000000	5.6	38	256 qam	11
5	227000000	5.5	38	256 qam	12
6	235000000	5.3	38	256 qam	13
7	243000000	5.1	38	256 qam	14
8	251000000	5.1	38	256 qam	15
9	259000000	5.1	38	256 qam	16
10	267000000	5.3	38	256 qam	17
11	275000000	5.3	38	256 qam	18
12	283000000	5.4	38	256 qam	19
13	291000000	5.4	38	256 qam	20
14	307000000	5.4	38	256 qam	22
15	315000000	5.5	38	256 qam	23
16	323000000	5.3	38	256 qam	24
17	331000000	5.4	38	256 qam	25
18	339000000	5.4	38	256 qam	26
19	347000000	5.4	38	256 qam	27
20	355000000	5.3	38	256 qam	28
21	363000000	5	38	256 qam	29
22	371000000	4.9	38	256 qam	30
23	379000000	4.8	38	256 qam	31
24	387000000	4.5	38	256 qam	32

Upstream:

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	46200053	44	5120	64 qam	3
2	39400000	44	5120	64 qam	4
3	60300000	44.8	5120	64 qam	1
4	53700000	44.3	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	2	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	2	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	2	0

Network log:

Network Log

Time Priority Description

20/01/2021 15:01:30	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
20/01/2021 06:50:5	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
18/01/2021 13:28:51	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
17/01/2021 09:15:20	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
16/01/2021 16:13:34	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
15/01/2021 03:03:42	notice	SW download Successful - Via NMS
15/01/2021 03:01:46	notice	SW Download INIT - Via NMS
13/01/2021 06:47:4	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
12/01/2021 15:25:2	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
09/01/2021 10:05:20	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
09/01/2021 03:25:2	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
07/01/2021 20:21:10	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
05/01/2021 15:25:1	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
04/01/2021 21:19:40	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
02/01/2021 03:25:1	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
30/12/2020 09:08:48	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
29/12/2020 15:25:1	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/12/2020 17:48:5	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/12/2020 03:25:1	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
23/12/2020 05:35:10	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[John_GS]

Hi timchill,

Thanks for posting. My apologies for the broadband and service issues. 

I can see the complaint is with the team, it would all be one complaint also and you'll get a response asap. 

Regarding the broadband speeds, I've checked the systems and nothing showing. All your levels are in spec.

Can you do a wired speedtest for me on a laptop/computer with only that device connected at speedtest.net and we can go from there.

Kind regards,

[timchill]

Hi John-GS, thanks for getting in touch, and sorry I could not reply sooner. I have done a wired test, directly to my hub, and had the following result: ping 12, download 94.02, upload 21.13.  (see: https://www.speedtest.net/result/10809945276.png) While this is much better than the speeds I have on wifi, which come in no more than 50Mgb, it is still far short of what I pay for. I have now posted extensive information on here, am still to hear from Virgin, who you say will contact me shortly, and continue to struggle to get decent service. Virgin have consistently messed me around with this and I would really ask that this be solved quickly. 

Best

Tim

[carl_pearce]

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@timchill wrote:

Hi John-GS, thanks for getting in touch, and sorry I could not reply sooner. I have done a wired test, directly to my hub, and had the following result: ping 12, download 94.02, upload 21.13.  (see: https://www.speedtest.net/result/10809945276.png) While this is much better than the speeds I have on wifi, which come in no more than 50Mgb, it is still far short of what I pay for. I have now posted extensive information on here, am still to hear from Virgin, who you say will contact me shortly, and continue to struggle to get decent service. Virgin have consistently messed me around with this and I would really ask that this be solved quickly. 

Best

Tim

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Access the 'Connected Devices' section within your HUB and check if the wired device is connected at '100' or '1000'.