Forum Discussion

swaynetldn's avatar
swaynetldn
Tuning in
2 years ago

Gig1 upload speed upgrade not happened

Hello, I am in area 22 and have the Gig1 package which as I understand has had it's upload speed increased from 52mbps to 104mbps.

If I run a postcode and address check on VM's website checking availability, the Gig1 package is advertised to my address as having an upload speed of 104mbps, which has not taken place on my equipment yet as an existing customer. I have tried multiple hub reboots and reset to factory defaults with the hope that it would force a config file update to be pulled. My hub's configuration status page shows the upstream Max Traffic rate still at the same 55000270 which I would expect to double once the change takes effect.

I called VM's customer support team and spoke to two agents: the first one did not listen or understand the issue and offered WiFi boosters which have nothing to do with this case. The second was more helpful but insisted on speed tests being performed which I repeatedly confirmed are showing a max upload of 52mbps, but would not entertain the fact that the hub itself is throttled to 52mbps based on the config file - all I was asking for was if they could force a push of an updated config file to my hub but that went nowhere.

I would like to know what are my options here to get such an action done? Many thanks and much appreciated!

    • David_Bn's avatar
      David_Bn
      Forum Team

      Thanks for your post on our Community Forums swaynetldn, and I'm sorry to hear of the issue with the upload speed not being fulfilled.

      Can you please place the Hub in modem mode and then run a speed test on the hub with an Ethernet cable, so we can see the full download and indeed upload speeds entering your home?

      Once this has been completed, please provide us with a screenshot of the result

      Thanks,

      David_Bn

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta

    To be able to reach 100+ Mb/s in the upstream, the Hub connection needs ...

    At least 5 and preferably 6 upstream 3.0 DOCSIS Channels.

    OR

    4 upstream 3.0 DOCSIS Channels and 1 upstream 3.1 DOCSIS Channel

  • Hello both, many thanks for your responses.

    I indeed do have enough upstream channels, but what is not adding up is the "Max Traffic Rate" of 55000270 on the Hub's configuration profile matching the expected value of 100mbps+.

    I would do a speed test as requested, however as it is 7:30pm the network is a bit saturated at the moment, but I can confirm that with repeated speed tests (on Speedtest.net, SamKnows via the Hub, and my 3rd party router's 4x daily automatic speed tests) that it never goes above the package's 52mbps.

    After a bit of wrangling and another hour spent on the phone with customer service yesterday (and me deflecting his suggestions that I need WiFi boosters (when 80% of my 54 devices in my household are hardwired via gigabit ethernet), I managed to convince an engineer to be booked in who is coming tomorrow morning, with the aim to have him/her force a re-provisioning of the configuration profile on my Hub, or alternatively provide a new hub out of the van with the aim of provisioning this fresh with a new config profile.

    • newapollo's avatar
      newapollo
      Very Insightful Person

      swaynetldn wrote:

      my 3rd party router's 4x daily automatic speed tests) that it never goes above the package's 52mbps.

      After a bit of wrangling and another hour spent on the phone with customer service yesterday (and me deflecting his suggestions that I need WiFi boosters (when 80% of my 54 devices in my household are hardwired via gigabit ethernet), 


      Looking at your config stats you are indeed only provisioned for the lower 52 Mbps upload speeds, although not every area has had this upload speed applied yet. Mine has been applied and the max upload traffic rate is 110000274 bps, although https://samknows.com/realspeed/  shows my config as Package:Virgin Media,1000x50.

      I notice that you have a third party router, this may be affecting your upstream modulation, or it may be due to the wiring as they should all be 64 QAM, and you have two at 16QAM and one at 32 QAM.  This needs pointing out to the tech when they arrive as your speeds and/or connection isn't ideal. 

  • Just to add, I would usually not waste an engineer call out on something that could be done remotely (ie. manually push an updated configuration profile) but the customer service agent was cutting me off and talking over me and not listening or even letting me finish my sentences, and even started complaining that he had to repeat himself (about the WiFi) with me. The engineer call out was only achieved as an "exception" according to him once I said that the next steps would be to raise the issue with OFCOM for not receiving the product I am paying for (considering Gig1 is advertised to my address with 104mbps upload). Complete 180 in terms of customer service the moment I mentioned the term OFCOM. Nightmare to deal with to be honest.

     

  • They need to fix an upstream noise fault in your area going by those stats.

    If there's congestion with the existing upstream tiers that explains why no upgrade: it'd get worse at peak times and break a bunch of applications. 

  • Thank you IPFreely and Dave for those responses, again much appreciated.

    I will ensure to highlight these to the tech tomorrow, and see what the story is from there.

    Honestly I just want to get the best upload I can, and even if not achieved in terms of real speed vs. advertised, compensation would not help me either as my employer pays for my broadband in full.

    Unfortunately OpenReach has no plans to bring FTTP to my cul-de-sac (despite it being available literally across the road if I look out my window).

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous

    From what we know about how it displays power, you need to add 6 dB to the 3.1 channel in order to compare it to the 3.0 channels. A 10 dB difference is borderline. The technician may be fixing that too. 

  • Hello all, first of all I would like to say that you are all amazing and great assets in this community!

    I had the engineer round this morning and he agreed with your points and his first proposal for a solution was to swap out my Hub4 to a Hub5, and install a 3dB attenuator to the coax line.

    After a quick provisioning of the new Hub5, my configuration profile is now as expected with the new 104mbps upload speed, and speed tests verify this is working as it should.

    Top service from the engineer and he was very knowledgeable and I am now a very happy camper. I just wish the customer service team would not give so much resistance to customer requests and denial that issues exist when they do, but that is another story and I am now glad to put this all behind and move on with my life 🙂

    Again, my immense gratitude to all of you for your contributions! Keep up the great work!

    • Zach_R's avatar
      Zach_R
      Forum Team

      Hi swaynetldn,

      Thank you for the update on the situation. I'm glad to hear that this has now been addressed and resolved by a technician, and that the advice provided by our community also helped you along the way.

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

      Thanks,