26-08-2020 08:17 - edited 26-08-2020 08:18
Hi. I decided to open a collective thread for UDP issues on SuperHub3, as it seems that many users are pestered by them, the impact is high and Virgin Media is not aware or fails to acknowledge the issue so far (they've been trying to fix my issues for a past year and nobody ever suggested that this has anything to do with UDP packets, until i found whats exactly the issue on my own).
This is the main thread for those issues was this one: https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Speed/My-350Mb-connection-is-throttled-to-10Mb/td-p/3953746/pag... but it was originally created over a year ago and has a slightly misleading title.
What we know so far:
1. The issue only occurs on SuperHub3 (and reportedly on SuperHub4) modem. SuperHub2 users are not affected.
2. The issue occurs if an app/service is using an UDP connection to the internet. Examples of such apps: BBC Iplayer app, most online games, Microsoft Teams, Skype, third party VoIP apps, all kinds of VPN apps, torrent download apps.
3. All UDP connections are performing very badly on Superhub3 modem, but also whenever there's a significant UDP traffic passing through the modem, other, non-UDP internet connections are slowed down to crawling speeds.
4. Depending on an user, the reported slowdowns are to between 10Mbps and 2kbps (!) speed measured through Speedtest. At the same time ping times go up all the way to 2000+ ms and huge packet losses (sometimes over 40%) occur. In other words, even web browsing is not possible if there's a significant UDP traffic going on through modem.
5. VM street level fixes do not fix the problem - i had a whole uplink cable between CATV manhole and Virgin Media cabinet replaced by VM and it has not fixed the issue.
6. Replacing a modem does not fix the problem either - replacement SuperHub3 modems also have same issue.
7. Here's how the issue looks like on ThinkBroadband/Speedtest with just 1Mbps of UDP traffic flowing through the modem:
It's really sad, that Virgin Media fails to acknowledge this problem, as hundreds, if not thousands of people may be severly affected by it. The advice VM is giving out to the users is unhelpful and sometimes harmful (I've been told i need to chase the walls in the newly refurbrished house to replace my VM cable and desperate to fix the problem I have done that). Just look how many threads are being open on this forum describing similar issues with apps using UDP connections.
09-09-2020 20:44 - edited 09-09-2020 20:49
Just an update, as VM has closed my complaint.
As for the resolution, I've been asked to reset my modem and got a promise that they going to send me a wifi booster. Obviously, this only made me more frustrated, as it shows a complete lack of understanding technical terms or even their own systems - in my original complaint, I have explained that the issue occurs (at least in my setup) when the SH3 is in modem mode. Feels like they are processing complaints by sending out wifi boosters without even reading the content.
on 13-09-2020 13:08
on 13-09-2020 14:59
Hi @Topbloke and thanks for your post.
I have switched my Mullvad to TCP only and indeed it improved things a lot *WHEN* i'm using Mullvad. Unfortunately i dont have an option to switch to TCP only with my works VPN nor Teams for example. Actually, i could do my work from home forever, but now im forced to commute to the office for 2 hours one way every day because my 350Mbps (and unlike some regions, i do get stable 350Mbps to my house) VM connection is not able to handle a simple MS Teams videoconference.
What is interesting though, is where the "cap" comes from? For me it caps between 200-300 and 5kbps on two different modems i have tried, but other people report that it caps at 1Mbps for them
on 13-09-2020 18:02
on 22-10-2020 14:40
I also don't remember ever having the issue on a SH2. Oddly I only have the issue on my SH3 periodically (modem mode), I can go for weeks without seeing the issue but once it's triggered I can barely browse the web.
23-10-2020 14:53 - edited 23-10-2020 14:54
Hello!
Thanks so much for this thread! I thought i was going mildly crazy before I found it! I've been encountering very similar issues resulting in Skype apparently overloading the Superhub and stopping it processing all traffic for 1-2 minutes, resulting in a brief internet outage. Very frustrating after initially being super excited about Virgin Media rolling out faster broadband in our area, then discovering that actually my previous fibre service appeared far more reliable. (Uno, Plusnet never had these issues).
I couldn't replicate the exact symptoms that caused Skype to do this, but while investigating this one thing I did find I could replicate 100% of the time is making the superhub become unresponsive at 192.168.100.1, and 192.168.0.1 (Running in modem only mode) by sending many DNS requests.
To replicate:
Note: Thanks & Apologies to Cloudflare for the DNS spam during my testing (owners of 1.1.1.1) but I think you can take it! 😉
Make sure you cancel the loop of DNS requests - your modem will recover but most of the time not immediately, it seems to take it a good while to 'get over' having a high number of UDP packets thrown through it. During this time the modem management page will be intermittent or unavailable.
I managed to escalate this to VM, and one of their clever folks has replicated this in the lab, and so will log it with the Superhub vendor. It appears to affect Superhub3 and Superhub 4 (I've tried both). VM are sending me a Superhub 2 AC, so I'm hopeful I'll then get stable connectivity for a while until a new firmware is released!
I'm hoping this issue, and the poor UDP handling issue / Skype dropouts are linked!
on 23-10-2020 15:05
Hello!
Thanks so much for this thread! I thought i was going mildly crazy before I found it! I've been encountering very similar issues resulting in Skype apparently overloading the Superhub and stopping it processing all traffic for 1-2 minutes, resulting in a brief internet outage. Very frustrating after initially being super excited about Virgin Media rolling out faster broadband in our area, then discovering that actually my previous fibre service appeared far more reliable. (Uno, Plusnet never had these issues).
I couldn't replicate the exact symptoms that caused Skype to do this, but while investigating this one thing I did find I could replicate 100% of the time is making the superhub become unresponsive at 192.168.100.1, and 192.168.0.1 (Running in modem only mode) by sending many DNS requests.
To replicate:
Note: Thanks & Apologies to Cloudflare for the DNS spam during my testing (owners of 1.1.1.1) but I think you can take it! 😉
Make sure you cancel the loop of DNS requests - your modem will recover but most of the time not immediately, it seems to take it a good while to 'get over' having a high number of UDP packets thrown through it. During this time the modem management page will be intermittent or unavailable.
I managed to escalate this to VM, and one of their clever folks has replicated this in the lab, and so will log it with the Superhub vendor. It appears to affect Superhub3 and Superhub 4 (I've tried both). VM are sending me a Superhub 2 AC, so I'm hopeful I'll then get stable connectivity for a while until a new firmware is released!
I'm hoping this issue, and the poor UDP handling issue / Skype dropouts are linked, and so both get fixed! 🙂
on 23-10-2020 15:36
Thanks @fordy for taking an effort to investigate this and persistence in trying to get to VM technical dept
on 26-10-2020 22:11
on 26-10-2020 22:46
Also fordy would you be able to share the ticket/reference number of your issue with VM. I'm trying to explain VM customer service that my issue has nothing to do with weak wifi signal and being able to reference your ticket would be super helpful