Internet intermittently drops out

[Norrisweb]

For almost a week now I've had regular Internet dropouts of  5ish or so seconds where the Internet seems to drop out meaning that anything connection sensitive stops (MS Teams meetings, online gaming, etc.). These dropouts can be spaced anything from 20 to 2 minutes apart. I spent some time changing things on my setup, eventually even turning off modem mode on the VM router and just directly connecting to it and It's still the same.

Below is my BQM and the modem stats

Downstream  DS-1 DS-2 DS-3 DS-4 DS-5 DS-6 DS-7 DS-8

Frequency (Hz)	139000000	147000000	155000000	163000000	171000000	179000000	187000000	195000000
Lock Status(QAM Lock/FEC Sync/MPEG Lock)	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked
Channel ID	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Modulation	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM
Symbol Rate (Msym/sec)	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000
Interleave Depth	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17
Power Level (dBmV)	-0.50	-0.62	-0.79	-0.99	-1.16	-1.46	-1.54	-1.90
RxMER (dB)	37.94	37.94	37.94	37.94	38.26	36.84	38.26	37.94
Pre RS Errors	15184	12202	984	674	336	24509531	1264903	318
Post RS Errors	290	291	290	286	297	24383911	1251076	286

Upstream  US-1 US-2 US-3 US-4

Channel Type	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Channel ID	4	3	5	2
Frequency (Hz)	30100000	36600000	23600000	43100000
Ranging Status	Success	Success	Success	Success
Modulation	64QAM	64QAM	64QAM	64QAM
Symbol Rate (Sym/sec)	5120000	5120000	5120000	5120000
Mini-Slot Size	2	2	2	2
Power Level (dBmV)	49.00	49.00	48.75	49.50
T1 Timeouts	0	0	0	0
T2 Timeouts	0	0	0	0
T3 Timeouts	1	0	0	0
T4 Timeouts	0	0	0	0

Network Log

First Time	Last Time	Priority	Error Number	Description
29/07/2022 09:42:27 GMT	29/07/2022 09:42:27 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 09:34:57 GMT	29/07/2022 09:34:57 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 09:25:15 GMT	29/07/2022 09:25:15 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 09:24:07 GMT	29/07/2022 09:24:07 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 09:21:05 GMT	29/07/2022 09:21:05 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 09:18:55 GMT	29/07/2022 09:18:55 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 09:15:48 GMT	29/07/2022 09:15:48 GMT	Warning (5)	66050310	Auth Success - Web login successful.
29/07/2022 09:15:43 GMT	29/07/2022 09:15:43 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 09:13:29 GMT	29/07/2022 09:13:29 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 09:09:58 GMT	29/07/2022 09:09:58 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 09:07:04 GMT	29/07/2022 09:07:04 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 09:05:24 GMT	29/07/2022 09:05:24 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 08:59:06 GMT	29/07/2022 08:59:06 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 08:56:50 GMT	29/07/2022 08:56:50 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 08:42:52 GMT	29/07/2022 08:42:52 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 08:41:40 GMT	29/07/2022 08:41:40 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 08:39:54 GMT	29/07/2022 08:39:54 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 08:38:16 GMT	29/07/2022 08:38:16 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 08:31:08 GMT	29/07/2022 08:31:08 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout
29/07/2022 08:30:48 GMT	29/07/2022 08:30:48 GMT	Warning (5)	84020200	Lost MDD Timeout

[jbrennand]

I have an SH2 too - and whilst some RS errors are always present (its a feature!) your channels 6&7 are dreadful with that many PostRS counts.

Can you press the reset counter buttons to 0 them and see if they re-appear quickly - they shouldnt. If they do it suggests that noise in the 2 frequency ranges (and maybe others) is getting in from somewhere. One thing worth looking at is to try this...
_________________________________

There is one other option, there have been several threads on here recently where similar BQM latency problems were eventually pinned down to a dodgy piece of connected kit. Bad connectors on ethernet cables and faulty network switches being high on the list of suspects

What I advised was... if you run the BQM for 24h to get a picture of the issues (you have done this) - and then unplug all the ethernet cable connections from the Hub and just let it run - overnight is best - then in the morning look at the BQM and see if it has cleaned up. If it has - plug the devices back in one at a time for an hour or two until the problem reappears and that should indicate where to look for what is causing the issues

Examples.
See message 12 in the first and 13 in the second.
https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/Internet-connection-dropping/td-p/4781287/p...
https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/Intermittent-Connection/td-p/5069984/page/2

[Norrisweb]

I reset the counts and after 20 minutes it looked like this;

Downstream  DS-1 DS-2 DS-3 DS-4 DS-5 DS-6 DS-7 DS-8

Frequency (Hz)	139000000	147000000	155000000	163000000	171000000	N/A	187000000	195000000
Lock Status(QAM Lock/FEC Sync/MPEG Lock)	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked	Unlocked	Locked	Locked
Channel ID	1	2	3	4	5	N/A	7	8
Modulation	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	Unknown	256QAM	256QAM
Symbol Rate (Msym/sec)	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	N/A	6.952000	6.952000
Interleave Depth	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	N/A	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17
Power Level (dBmV)	-0.40	-0.57	-0.68	-0.86	-1.02	N/A	-1.44	-1.80
RxMER (dB)	37.94	38.26	37.94	37.94	38.26	N/A	38.26	37.94
Pre RS Errors	68	57	4	6	0	N/A	14402	0
Post RS Errors	0	0	0	0	0	N/A	14339	0

[jbrennand]

You have a problem on the connection. Channel 6 has disappeared now and 7 is borked by noise.

Can you do what I suggested re unplugging ethernet connections.

You will have to call in and report it as a fault - a VM person will take a look here soon.

[Reece_MH]

Hi @Norrisweb,

Thanks for your post. Sorry to hear you're facing issues with intermittent service. As kindly mentioned by @jbrennand, it does appear that there are a few issues that we need to get resolved with a Technician visit.

I've ran checks on our end, and can also see that there are some problems with the Power levels as well. So I can get a Technician booked in, I'm going to drop you a PM. Please look out for it in the top-right of the Forums, in the purple envelope.

Thanks,

[Norrisweb]

The engineer visited this morning and made some changes at the cabinet, the downstream power levels have improved, however the intermittent disconnects are still occurring, to be it with slightly less frequency.

Downstream  DS-1 DS-2 DS-3 DS-4 DS-5 DS-6 DS-7 DS-8

Frequency (Hz)	139000000	147000000	155000000	163000000	171000000	179000000	187000000	195000000
Lock Status(QAM Lock/FEC Sync/MPEG Lock)	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked	Locked
Channel ID	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Modulation	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM	256QAM
Symbol Rate (Msym/sec)	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000	6.952000
Interleave Depth	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17	I=12 J=17
Power Level (dBmV)	4.17	3.98	3.78	3.63	3.43	3.16	3.08	2.69
RxMER (dB)	38.26	38.26	37.94	38.26	38.98	36.84	38.26	38.26
Pre RS Errors	635	559	305	294	303	34948	20473	955
Post RS Errors	291	282	286	282	302	33031	20311	955

[Natalie_L]

Hi Norrisweb, 

Thank you for reaching back out and updating the thread. 

I am happy to hear there has been some improvements. 

I have taken a look at the service from our side and everything does appear to be running in specification with no errors. 

How have things been since your last post to us? 

Thanks,