Virgin Media Community

[Sartois]

Hi all,

 I'd appreciate any help regarding an issue on my new fibre broadband; since it was installed on Monday things have been somewhat ropey and despite two calls to the support line, nothing has improved although there was, temporarily, a significant improvement.

 Basically, I should be getting (in theory) 100Mb speed although I appreciate that on Wifi I'm unlikely to get near that. When testing via Speedtest.net I've been getting 40Mb on average although that's really varied. After conversation with tech support, and a few router reboots later, the speed was around 90Mb (or even 100Mb) at one point but it quickly dropped back down to 40Mb or so. Still, it did indicate that the wifi wasn't the issue. Indeed, whether on 5Hz or 2.4Hz, the signal strength is good.

 In terms of upload, there's an issue there too - in the Speedtest.net test, it would just freeze at certain points. Given that I'm working from home with Teams calls, etc. this is problematic.

 So...what have I done? I went into the router settings, separated the frequencies, and tried connecting either to 5Hz or 2.4Hz. I also got a Wifi analyser on my phone and picked up the channels that seemed to be quieter in terms of nearby chatter. Here are the results:

5Hz - Default channel: 3.19Mb upload, 3.47 download

5Hz - Channel 36: 14.00 up, 0.00 down

2.4Hz - Default channel: 31.99 up, 4.86 down

 So...oddly, the 5Hz seems to be slower than the 2.4Hz one, despite the fact that the signal strenght is fine for both.

In addition, I ran a tracert command via CMP to the Google servers and I'm getting 'Request Timed Out' on those elements relating to the virginmedia.net 'nodes'. Finally, when doing the Speedtest.net tests I sometimes get a 'Socket error' as well.

So, I'm out of options - any help would be much appreciated. I've done a factory reset so am back to square one again. The download speed is underwhelming, and the upload connection freezes up.

Thanks,

Sartois

[Andrew-G]

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 as text, not screenshots  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.

[Sartois]

Thanks for taking the time to reply - it's appreciated; here's the results over 3 messages - it wouldn't let me put them all together:

Downstream:

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	331000000	7	40	256 qam	25
2	203000000	5.9	40	256 qam	9
3	211000000	5.6	40	256 qam	10
4	219000000	5.5	40	256 qam	11
5	227000000	5.3	40	256 qam	12
6	235000000	5	40	256 qam	13
7	243000000	5	40	256 qam	14
8	251000000	5.1	40	256 qam	15
9	259000000	5.5	40	256 qam	16
10	267000000	5.8	40	256 qam	17
11	275000000	5.8	40	256 qam	18
12	283000000	6.1	40	256 qam	19
13	291000000	6.4	40	256 qam	20
14	299000000	6.5	40	256 qam	21
15	307000000	6.5	40	256 qam	22
16	315000000	6.8	40	256 qam	23
17	323000000	6.8	40	256 qam	24
18	371000000	6.5	40	256 qam	26
19	379000000	6.5	40	256 qam	27
20	387000000	6.4	40	256 qam	28
21	395000000	6.1	40	256 qam	29
22	403000000	6.4	40	256 qam	30
23	411000000	6.3	40	256 qam	31
24	419000000	6.1	40	256 qam	32

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	40.3	0	0
2	Locked	40.3	9	0
3	Locked	40.3	6	0
4	Locked	40.3	8	0
5	Locked	40.3	4	0
6	Locked	40.9	7	0
7	Locked	40.3	4	0
8	Locked	40.3	2	0
9	Locked	40.3	6	0
10	Locked	40.3	6	0
11	Locked	40.9	5	0
12	Locked	40.9	3	0
13	Locked	40.3	5	0
14	Locked	40.3	18	0
15	Locked	40.3	19	0
16	Locked	40.9	19	0
17	Locked	40.9	5	0
18	Locked	40.3	1	0
19	Locked	40.3	5	0
20	Locked	40.3	7	0
21	Locked	40.3	6	0
22	Locked	40.3	6	0
23	Locked	40.9	8	0
24	Locked	40.3	15	0

[Sartois]

Upstream:

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

1	39400000	45.3	5120	64 qam	6
2	25800078	45	5120	64 qam	8
3	32600000	45.3	5120	64 qam	7
4	46200000	45.3	5120	64 qam	5

Upstream bonded channelsChannel Channel Type T1 Timeouts T2 Timeouts T3 Timeouts T4 Timeouts

1	ATDMA	0	0	2	0
2	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	0	0

[Sartois]

Network Log:

Network LogTime Priority Description

28/04/2021 14:41:53	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/01/1970 00:01:40	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/04/2021 09:02:21	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
28/04/2021 08:59:55	Warning!	LAN login FAILED : Incorrect Username / Password / ConnectionType;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/04/2021 14:00:17	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/04/2021 09:30:24	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/04/2021 08:45:50	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/04/2021 08:27:51	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/04/2021 08:04:38	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/04/2021 07:59:11	notice	SW download Successful - Via Config file
26/04/2021 07:57:10	notice	SW Download INIT - Via Config file
26/04/2021 07:57:6	Error	Disruption during SW download - Power Failure
26/04/2021 07:54:28	notice	SW Download INIT - Via Config file
01/01/1970 00:09:0	critical	No Maintenance Broadcasts for Ranging opportunities received - T2 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/01/1970 00:08:55	Warning!	Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/01/1970 00:08:51	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/01/1970 00:06:56	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/01/1970 00:05:9	critical	No Maintenance Broadcasts for Ranging opportunities received - T2 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/01/1970 00:05:3	Warning!	Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/01/1970 00:05:0	critical	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[Sartois]

I'm not sure why it's replaced the CM-MAC characters with asterisks, I can manually copy and paste if required.

Thanks.

[Andrew-G]

No, those asterisks are intentional, to keep identifying data like IP addresses, MAC addresses and so forth private, there's no requirement for them when sharing the data publicly as in this forum.  When you post, the software looks for data that matches the format, and replaces it with asterisks, and that's when you see that odd error message - although it's incorrectly worded, that's just showing you the redacted version before it gets posted.

The bad news is that the power levels and SNR are all OK.  Bad news because if they were out, that's an easy fix.  There's a series of troubling errors in the network log, so whilst not on their own clear enough to confirm a broadband fault, they don't persuade me to rule out the broadband.  And if the signal strength is good, that likewise suggests that the broadband could yet be the problem.  So at this point in time, we still don;t know if we're dealing with a wifi fault or a broadband fault..

So, next steps:

First up, do you have a device (or could you borrow one) that can connect to the hub by ethernet cable, to see if speeds over ethernet are poor?  This is important, because VM's protocols tend to assume that the users's wifi environment or devices are faulty rather than taking a more agnostic approach to identifying a fault.  

Second, setup a BQM over at https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality 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.

It is worth persevering with this for the next few days, because when VM works, it is acceptably reliable and consistently fast.  But if by the beginning of next week we're no further forward, you might need to consider invoking a cancellation during the 14 day cooling off period, but let's worry about that at the time.

[Sartois]

Sorry for the delay in replying, I was having trouble getting my Broadband Quality account sorted out; so...I just did a Speedtest run via my PS4 which is hooked up directly into the hub. The results are not great.

1st run: It hits 100Mbps but then freezes for a good 20 seconds and when it comes to, the average download speed is 35Mbps. The upload test doesn't complete because it pops up with a 'Socket error'.

2nd run: Again, it hits 100Mpbs but then froze for approximately 12 seconds, started again, then froze for at least 40, whereupon it finished the test and reported an average of 38Mbps. Again, with the upload there was a Socket error.

I did actually run it 2 other times and it did the freezing thing, but then the PS4 reported not enough memory, so the whole webpage crashed.

I just need to sort out the Broadband link, brb.

[Sartois]

For the life of me, I can't work out how to embed a live image - it's continually coming up with the invalid HTML error message, whatever variant I'm trying to do. Here's the direct link: https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/a8499a08d1976ea195c057ad8dc73fb851... 

Thanks,

Sartois

[Andrew-G]

From your test with the PS4, I agree with your diagnosis that it's the broadband not the wifi.

Regarding the BQM link, that's fine - a link to a live chart shows the preceding 24 hours and updates continuously.  If you post a linked image then you either need to insert it via the forum's HTML editor (which is a small amount of faffing), or if it inserts as an unlinked image it won't update.

Can you repost a full set of downstream, upstream and network log again?  I know that's a nuisance, I'm hoping to see evidence of some change that will give us a clue - VM are very poor at taking ownership and resolving intermittent or complex problems, which is why it is often best to try and identify a fault before asking for a technician visit.  And company protocols are that a technician won't be sent out unless there is clear evidence of a fault - your word and my opinion count for nothing, it needs evidence.  The first few hours of the BQM are looking nasty - you shouldn't be seeing those huge latency spikes, we'll get more evidence as that builds through the day, though for a complete picture we'll have to wait until tomorrow. 

I'll flag for the staff to comment in case there's any known problems or anything visible on their systems, but at this stage I'd be surprised if they could see anything that would be clear enough to both assign a technician visit, and for the technician to be able to find and fix.