Virgin Media Community

[milmber]

Hi,

I am seeing slow speeds and latency on my M350 package - especially during the day. Running on a Hub 4 in modem mode with my own wifi router.

Below is my BQM for 18/01/2021 - 

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/336052879895d95c9f1f270ef4c2fcb686eb7477-18-01-2021

Upload and download speeds from thinkbroadband.com

Date	Down HTTPx6	Down HTTPx1	Upstream
Mon 18/01/2021 23:07	84.54 Mbps	47.48 Mbps	13.56 Mbps
Sat 16/01/2021 10:45	196.05 Mbps	120.57 Mbps	21.03 Mbps
Sat 16/01/2021 10:34	220.50 Mbps	212.31 Mbps	34.98 Mbps
Sat 16/01/2021 00:20	46.77 Mbps	23.77 Mbps	22.95 Mbps
Tue 12/01/2021 21:35	121.37 Mbps	149.40 Mbps	21.54 Mbps
Mon 11/01/2021 09:37	34.97 Mbps	32.21 Mbps	0.25 Mbps
Mon 11/01/2021 09:36	111.82 Mbps	87.13 Mbps	2.67 Mbps
Sun 10/01/2021 15:36	97.76 Mbps	88.49 Mbps	12.06 Mbps
Sun 10/01/2021 10:06	149.47 Mbps	145.66 Mbps	24.88 Mbps
Sun 10/01/2021 10:01	272.77 Mbps	205.91 Mbps	21.23 Mbps
Sun 10/01/2021 09:59	173.26 Mbps	235.99 Mbps	31.29 Mbps
Sun 10/01/2021 09:58	251.66 Mbps	225.41 Mbps	28.64 Mbps
Sun 10/01/2021 09:55	59.35 Mbps	76.19 Mbps	28.79 Mbps
Sat 09/01/2021 19:33	90.69 Mbps	45.23 Mbps	16.19 Mbps
Sat 09/01/2021 19:09	42.40 Mbps	30.20 Mbps	15.21 Mbps
Sat 09/01/2021 16:58	34.75 Mbps	39.53 Mbps	3.04 Mbps
Sat 09/01/2021 15:43	97.37 Mbps	78.53 Mbps	9.98 Mbps
Sat 09/01/2021 15:18	89.16 Mbps	103.77 Mbps	18.22 Mbps
Sat 09/01/2021 14:58	73.94 Mbps	67.61 Mbps	16.23 Mbps
Sat 09/01/2021 09:39	133.41 Mbps	116.82 Mbps	1.02 Mbps
Sat 09/01/2021 09:38	69.90 Mbps	97.38 Mbps	0.31 Mbps
Fri 08/01/2021 18:27	44.65 Mbps	39.43 Mbps	4.27 Mbps

[milmber]

Below is my router status.

3.0 Downstream channels

Channel	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	SNR (dB)	Modulation	Channel ID
30	402750000	6.7	40.4	QAM256	30
1	138750000	10.4	40.4	QAM256	1
2	146750000	10.3	40.4	QAM256	2
3	154750000	9.8	39	QAM256	3
4	162750000	9	39	QAM256	4
5	170750000	8.4	40.4	QAM256	5
6	178750000	8.4	40.4	QAM256	6
7	186750000	8.2	40.4	QAM256	7
8	194750000	8.2	40.4	QAM256	8
9	202750000	8.3	40.4	QAM256	9
10	210750000	8.2	40.4	QAM256	10
11	218750000	7.8	40.4	QAM256	11
12	226750000	7.9	40.4	QAM256	12
13	234750000	8.2	40.4	QAM256	13
14	242750000	8.2	40.4	QAM256	14
15	250750000	8.2	40.4	QAM256	15
16	258750000	8.6	40.4	QAM256	16
17	266750000	8.7	40.4	QAM256	17
18	274750000	7.6	40.4	QAM256	18
19	282750000	7.6	40.4	QAM256	19
20	290750000	7.7	40.9	QAM256	20
21	298750000	8.2	40.4	QAM256	21
22	306750000	8.4	40.4	QAM256	22
23	314750000	8.7	40.4	QAM256	23
24	322750000	8.7	40.4	QAM256	24
25	330750000	8	40.4	QAM256	25
26	370750000	7.2	40.4	QAM256	26
27	378750000	7.1	40.4	QAM256	27
28	386750000	7.1	40.9	QAM256	28
29	394750000	7.1	38.6	QAM256	29
31	410750000	6.8	40.4	QAM256	31

3.0 Downstream channels

Channel	Lock Status	RxMER (dB)	Pre RS Errors	Post RS Errors
30	Locked	40.366287	0	0
1	Locked	40.366287	0	0
2	Locked	40.366287	0	0
3	Locked	38.983261	0	0
4	Locked	38.983261	0	0
5	Locked	40.366287	0	0
6	Locked	40.366287	0	0
7	Locked	40.366287	0	0
8	Locked	40.366287	0	0
9	Locked	40.366287	0	0
10	Locked	40.366287	0	0
11	Locked	40.366287	0	0
12	Locked	40.366287	0	0
13	Locked	40.366287	0	0
14	Locked	40.366287	0	0
15	Locked	40.366287	0	0
16	Locked	40.366287	0	0
17	Locked	40.366287	0	0
18	Locked	40.366287	0	0
19	Locked	40.366287	0	0
20	Locked	40.946209	0	0
21	Locked	40.366287	0	0
22	Locked	40.366287	0	0
23	Locked	40.366287	0	0
24	Locked	40.366287	0	0
25	Locked	40.366287	0	0
26	Locked	40.366287	0	0
27	Locked	40.366287	0	0
28	Locked	40.946209	0	0
29	Locked	38.605377	0	0
31	Locked	40.366287	0	0

3.1 Downstream channels   

Channel	Channel Width (MHz)	FFT Type	Number of Active Subcarriers	Modulation (Active Profile)	First Active Subcarrier (Hz)
33	78	4K	1520	QAM4096	424

3.1 Downstream channels     

Channel ID	Lock Status	RxMER Data (dB)	PLC Power (dBmV)	Correcteds (Active Profile)	Uncorrectables (Active Profile)
33	Locked	42	6.1	2450281407	11592

3.0 Upstream channels

Channel	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	Symbol Rate (ksps)	Modulation	Channel ID
1	32600000	39	5120 KSym/sec	64QAM	5
2	46200000	40	5120 KSym/sec	64QAM	3
3	39400000	39.5	5120 KSym/sec	64QAM	4
4	25800000	38.3	5120 KSym/sec	64QAM	6

3.0 Upstream channels

Channel	Channel Type	T1 Timeouts	T2 Timeouts	T3 Timeouts	T4 Timeouts
1	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	0	0
2	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	0	0
3	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	1	0
4	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	1	0

[Andruser · Accepted solution]

Hub status data is mostly excellent - there's a couple of channels over 10 dBmV, but only fractionally and I wouldn't see that as causing problems.

The BQM however shows a typical over-utilisation pattern - you see how it's very poor during normal waking hours, and then peachy from about half past midnight to 9 am? Shows that the network and your hub are working perfectly when there isn't too much traffic. As you've got a Hub 4 on an M350 connection, that suggests that there's been a utilisation problem there for a while?

The Hub 4 and DOCSIS 3.1 are supposed to help with over-utilisation, but as far as I can tell, that's en masse, not at an individual connection level, what's more the benefits are moderate (around 15% additional bandwidth) and I suspect won't help with upstream issues.  Looking at the BQM's shape, I'd hazard a guess that the dominant utilisation issue around you is daytime working from home that puts most pressure on the upstream.

There's a good chance that this is Covid related so it might go away as and when we get back to some form of normal, so give that some thought.  The alternative is to invoke the VM speed guarantee, as you have speeds that regularly fall below the minimum.  Doing that gives the company 30 days to fix the issue, or to release you from contract without penalty (which may or may not be an outcome you want).  If invoking the speed guarantee, read up on the policy and the small print.  In essence you need to show that on at least one occasion on three consecutive days the speed was below 181 Mbps. 

[milmber]

Thank you. Very useful analysis. Virgin is the only fibre provider where I live. I will wait for that to change.