HUB 5x - GSX-PON FTTP - Extermely spikey latency

[harveyl12]

Hi All,

So I've been on the new GSX-PON FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) connection since October. The first month and a bit was fine with no issues however since at least November I have had issues with latency spikes noticeable when gaming. I set up a Broadband Quality monitor and have also been running various latency tests and it seems that my broadband consistently had a pattern of peaking to very high latency and also when in use and gaming more of these latency spikes occur. I'm not talking spikes to like 60ms, I am seeing spikes up to well over 500ms.

On the tests I run the latency on download is fine however on upload most of the time it will see an average of around 150-350ms latency. On the rare occasions, I do see this stay around 20-40ms on tests but I'd say 90% of my tests show over 200ms on upload latency.

This seems to be down to bufferbloat however there is nothing I can try on my side to sort this out as the Hub 5x cannot yet be put into Modem mode so I can not buy and use my own router with some SQM to help stop bufferbloat. However, that is beyond the point as my old ADSL line never had these issues and there was no special SQM on that. I should not need to buy a router when this is not acceptable broadband that should not be having these issues.

I've had an engineer out who replaced the Hub 5x and also cleaned my fiber cables inside and the one outside connecting into my house. The one on the pole has not been done yet although I am told by the engineer that a request for a new line to be sent from the pole to my house has been sent, this has only been up since October so I don't think this will solve the issue but we will see.

Is there anyone else on the new GSX-PON network using a Hub 5x who can share their results on BQM and other tests so I can compare? I feel like Virgin Media's new network has an issue with the upload latency and I can see this being annoying for them to try and fix which they really need to do.

Also for your info, I get the exact same results with the Wi-Fi turned off on the Hub and all my network devices disconnected from the hub. I still get the fluctuating results with 1 Laptop connected directly into the Hub with nothing else connected to the network at all. 

I've included examples below with also the rare good test I actually got to prove that it isnt just the test bloating the network as sometimes it has perfect upload latency but only 5% of the time I test it. If that.

Broadband Quality Monitor

Bufferbloat Test

Cloudflare Test 1

Cloudflare Test 2 *This is what I get the majority of the time*

[pob42]

Here is my BQM on the 1 gig service with 5x Hub (very little internet use for the last 24 hrs)

[Tudor]

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 as it only covers issues that affect a very large number of customers.

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

If no area faults found:

The primary place to report faults or for service requests is 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..

[harveyl12]

Looks much better than mine that

[legacy1]

VM really needs to stop speed testing the hubs🙄

[harveyl12]

Yep either way most other networks don’t have an issue with bufferbloat on upload. Virgin media’s new network just sees stupid high latency when upload is being used

[harveyl12]

Looks miles better than mine, Your spikes when virgin media seem to do a test don't peak anywhere near as much as mine do. 

[pob42]

Here is my Buffer Bloat test result:

https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=fdfa90da-f929-46f9-b001-560ad75ed051

[harveyl12]

And this is using a new Hub 5x on the new GSX-PON network where fiber going into your hub. Not coax? 

[pob42]

Yes. Hub 5x