Virgin Media Community

[oysteroyster]

Hi,

Ever since I switched to Virgin a few months ago, I find my M100 connection starts off working at full speed, then over a period of a few days, my speed drops to a crawl and stays that way until I reboot the router, at which point it works at full speed again.

This is happening over WiFi - I'll check my wired connection too next time it happens - but is this a common issue and are there any potentially useful solutions?

Thanks in advance.

[Andrew-G · Accepted solution]

Commonest cause is a noise or power level problem, and in the vast majority of cases they are easily fixed.  You can try phoning it in (and possibly finding out how VM earns and retains the grim reputation that it has), or you can do a bit of detective work to see if there's a clear cause, and the forum staff can then book you a technician visit.

If you want to do that latter approach, then (ideally after the hub's been running a good while and not been rebooted even if slow) 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.

[Megan_L]

Hi Oysteroyster, 

Thanks for using the forums to get this issue with your WIFI looked into, I am sorry if this has been causing some frustration. I would be more than happy to look into this for you.

I've already taken the time to look into your services on my side, I can't find any red flags or faults that would explain the slow speeds. However, I do see that there is an issue with one device on your WIFI that needs some attention.

Usually this kind of WIFI issue is caused by congestion on the WIFI bands, if one or more devices are on the wrong WIFI channel (2.4ghz & 5.0ghz) it can cause congestion which materialises as intermittent connection and slow speeds. 

• 2.4ghz - This channel is more suitable for low impact devices, so things like mobile phones, tablets, in-home PA systems etc. The things that don't need a huge amount of bandwidth to work effectively. 2.4ghz has a lower capacity, but it's signal reach has a wide radius, so even if you go upstairs it will still be able to connect (unless you live in a mansion! lol)
• 5.0ghz - This is a channel for the more heavy hitter devices like PC's, Consoles and laptops that you may use for gaming, streaming and other heavy usage. 5.0ghz has a smaller signal radius, but it's capacity is much better. The radius can be boosted by using our WIFI Pods so even if you have a PC in another room, you can still connect to 5.0ghz.

In order to keep congestion in check, you'll need to follow the steps on this link - Change WIFI Channel - this will show you how to change them if any devices are on the wrong band. Please have a go and we'll see if the slow speeds improves over the next few days 🙂

I also have a few general links below for future issues, or if any other users are looking for help on this thread they can use them too 🙂

• Our Service Checker is a good tool to use to check if there are any area outages ongoing with Broadband, TV, Landline and Mobile. It usually lets you know what is wrong and how long it's going to take for the engineers to fix (estimated time of course)
• Your Online Account also has a good tool which helps diagnose a fault within your home network with your Broadband, TV and Landline, it will tell you what's up and what to do next. 
• We also have a good section for faults on our website here - Help Website - it will give you flows for diagnosing and rectifying faults on a multitude of aspects. A really good link to bookmark!  

Thanks,

Megan_L

[oysteroyster]

Thanks @Andrew-G - I'll try this next time things slow down and let you know.

@Megan_L - Happy to try that and I see that my Amazon Alexas are running on 5ghz, instead of the maybe the better suited 2.4ghz. However, using your suggested method that simply allows me to change which number (channel) each channel is operating, rather than choose which device is running on 5ghz or 2.4ghz - how do I change that? And do I also want to change the channels in which 5ghz and 2.4ghz are operating (currently 11 and 44)?

[lotharmat]

The channel settings are in 'Advanced --> Wireless'

You'll need to switch off smart channel optimisation

Then change it from Auto to a channel

For the 2.4GHz - stick to channels 1,6, or 11 (you may need to use a WifI analyser app for your phone to see which one is the clearest!

Hope this helps!

[Akua_A]

Thank you for getting back to us @oysteroyster.

Was the great advise given by @lotharmat useful? Do you need any further help regarding this?

Thanks,