Virgin Media Community

[stephenhamilton]

After a few years of decent quality broadband (apart from the occasional dropout) I have noticed in the last week that the upload and download speeds are not great.

I'm on the M1 package and have generally been getting the expected 100Mbps Download 10Mbps Upload.

In the last week or so its been hovering around 25-30Mbps Download and 3-4Mbps Upload.

Network equipment is a Virgin superhub 2 in modem mode, with a Synology RT2600ac router + a couple of MR2200AC mesh points.

I have a couple of work computers connected via ethernet to the router, and there are a collection of iphones/ipads that connect to the network wirelessly.

Speedtests have been run over ethernet and wireless with comparable results. Here are the last three results:

IP_ADDRESS	TEST_DATE	TIME_ZONE	DOWNLOAD_MEGABITS	UPLOAD_MEGABITS	LATENCY_MS	SERVER_NAME	DISTANCE_MILES	CONNECTION_MODE	SERVER_COUNT
x.x.x.x	04/30/2021 18:45	GMT	25.97	3.31	68	London	0	multi	4
x.x.x.x	04/30/2021 18:44	GMT	24.82	3.73	325	London	0	multi	4
x.x.x.x	04/30/2021 17:44	GMT	22.11	3.36	11	London	0	multi	4

BQM:

Hopefully someone at Virgin can take a look at this.

[stephenhamilton]

And here is Hub Status:

Status

Acquired Downstream Channel (Hz)	138750000 Hz	Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel (Hz)	53700000 Hz	Success
Provisioning State	OK	Operational

Downstream

Frequency (Hz)	138750000 Hz	146750000 Hz	154750000 Hz	162750000 Hz	170750000 Hz	178750000 Hz	186750000 Hz	194750000 Hz
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	QAM256	QAM256	QAM256	QAM256	QAM256	QAM256	QAM256	QAM256
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)	-4.7 dBmV	-3.9 dBmV	-4.6 dBmV	-6.1 dBmV	-3.2 dBmV	-3.4 dBmV	-4.6 dBmV	-4.2 dBmV
RxMER (dB)	40.7 dB	40.8 dB	40.5 dB	39.9 dB	40.9 dB	40.9 dB	40.8 dB	40.7 dB

Upstream

Channel Type	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Channel ID	2	1	4	3
Frequency (Hz)	53700000 Hz	60300000 Hz	39400000 Hz	46200000 Hz
Ranging Status	Success	Success	Success	Success
Modulation	QAM64	QAM64	QAM64	QAM64
Symbol Rate (Sym/sec)	5120000	5120000	5120000	5120000
Mini-Slot Size	64	64	64	64
Power Level (dBmV)	48.0 dBmV	48.0 dBmV	48.3 dBmV	48.0 dBmV
T1 Timeouts	0	0	0	0
T2 Timeouts	0	0	0	0
T3 Timeouts	12	12	12	12
T4 Timeouts	0	0	0	0

[stephenhamilton]

And lastly

Network Log

First Time	Last Time	Priority	Error Number	Description
30/03/2021 13:56:08	30/03/2021 13:56:08	Critical (3)	2436694078	TOD established
29/03/2021 20:52:29	29/03/2021 20:52:29	Critical (3)	84000500	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
29/03/2021 19:38:21	29/03/2021 19:38:21	Critical (3)	84000400	SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to receive MAC SYNC frame within time-out period;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
30/03/2021 18:02:37	30/03/2021 18:02:37	Critical (3)	82000500	Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
30/03/2021 18:06:50	30/03/2021 18:06:50	Warning (5)	84020300	MDD message timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

[Tazz]

Hello

First thing I will say is get yourself a free upgrade to the Hub 3 - it allows you to have double the number of channels:

https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/hub-swap?buspart=uk_app_connect2_hubsw

[stephenhamilton]

Thanks Taz

I'm not sure what extra channels would get me. I'm only on the M100 package, and only use the hub in modem mode. It's been working fine as is for a number of years now.

[Tazz]

So it will bond 24 rather than just 8 downstream channels. This way it will be like having 24 lanes on the motorway rather than just 8 🙂

It don't matter what speed you have it just enables you to access more capacity. It will also help you get access to the latest 3.0 network on your upstream.

[Andrew-G · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately that won't help.  @stephenhamilton you've got a simple problem of downstream power that's too low, and probably a noise issue upstream judging by the timeout count.  It could be, but is unlikely to be the hub, so even if it were replaced the problem would persist unless you had a technician install it and check and correct the line faults.  Splitting the radio frequency across more downstream channels helps reduce network congestion, but that's not the problem you have, so a Hub 3 (on its own) won't help.  And in addition, because of some Grade A1 bungling by VM, they've run out of new hubs, so you certainly won't get an "on request" Hub 3, and if they do choose to replace your hub, they've started asking for Superhub 2's back, so you might even get your existing antique replaced by a similar antique handed back by a customer who has cancelled their service.

All of which is quire depressing, but I can at least flag your post for forum staff to advise.  They'll probably need to book you a technician visit, and there is then an outside chance they may have a Hub 3 in the van and choose to replace your hub anyway..

[stephenhamilton]

Thanks Taz and Andrew

Sounds like I'm going to need an engineer visit - hopefully someone from VM will see this 🙂

I just checked and I actually have a boxed superhub 3 here that was sent a while back - I vaguely remember deciding not to install it because the existing hub was fine and I didn't want to break anything!

[Andrew-G · Accepted solution]

Ooooh.  I'd suggest you try plugging in the Hub 3, and see if it works.  You may need to phone and activate it (some installations did, some didn't), if that is the case then try - I don't know if the activation process had a time limit on it. 

If that works, you've now got a shiney, working Hub 3, which might, but I'm guessing won't resolve the underlying issues causing errors and power problems.  But I'd try it, and then see about getting a technician visit.  Might need to run for a couple of days before any line problems surface.

Don't worry about VM picking this up - where I've flagged the post for staff attention, it has gone into a queue to be dealt with usually within 24 hours, other posts are read if unanswered or unresolved, but that can take a few days, sometimes a week or more.  

[Akua_A]

Hi @Stephenhamiltion.

Welcome back to our community forums. 

Sorry to hear you are having issue with your service. Has service improved since changing to a Hub 3?

I have just had a look into your account using your forum details. There seems to be a local issue in the area. You might find that your Virgin Fibre, Virgin TV or TiVo® services are intermittent, with the picture freezing or disappearing now and then. We are sorry and our engineers are working hard to resolve this for you. 

The estimated fix time for this is 05 MAY 2021 15:10

Please let us know if the issue persist after this and we will do our best to help.

Thanks,