Virgin Media Community

[THE_ReD]

Hi All,

The subject/title explains itself and I hope the information below will be useful to identify the issue.

Internet comes to a halt between 9.30pm - 2.30am due to ZERO upload speed, and this is when I am most active due to late working hours. Outside of these hours, I get what I paid for (500Mbps package).

It has been going on for more than a week, and as a family we cannot take the connection drops any longer. I hope you can help us.

Wired/Ethernet connection. Gaming/Streaming Movies etc. Below are 2 sets of data, when internet is BAD vs GOOD.

When the Internet is Bad

Downstream bonded channels

Channel	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	SNR (dB)	Modulation	Channel ID
1	203000000	3.5	37	256 qam	9
2	139000000	4.4	38	256 qam	1
3	147000000	4.4	38	256 qam	2
4	155000000	4.3	38	256 qam	3
5	163000000	4.1	37	256 qam	4
6	171000000	4.1	37	256 qam	5
7	179000000	4	37	256 qam	6
8	187000000	3.9	37	256 qam	7
9	195000000	3.9	37	256 qam	8
10	211000000	3.5	37	256 qam	10
11	219000000	3.4	36	256 qam	11
12	227000000	3.2	36	256 qam	12
13	235000000	3.2	36	256 qam	13
14	243000000	2.9	37	256 qam	14
15	251000000	2.9	37	256 qam	15
16	259000000	3	37	256 qam	16
17	267000000	3	37	256 qam	17
18	275000000	3.4	37	256 qam	18
19	283000000	3.5	37	256 qam	19
20	291000000	3.5	37	256 qam	20
21	299000000	3.2	38	256 qam	21
22	307000000	3.4	38	256 qam	22
23	315000000	3.2	38	256 qam	23
24	323000000	3.5	38	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

Channel	Locked Status	RxMER (dB)	Pre RS Errors	Post RS Errors
1	Locked	37.6	39	0
2	Locked	38.6	32	0
3	Locked	38.6	139	36
4	Locked	38.6	61	0
5	Locked	37.6	40	0
6	Locked	37.3	87	0
7	Locked	37.6	25	0
8	Locked	37.3	51	0
9	Locked	37.3	58	0
10	Locked	37.3	38	0
11	Locked	36.6	23	0
12	Locked	36.6	57	0
13	Locked	36.6	41	0
14	Locked	37.3	52	0
15	Locked	37.6	27	0
16	Locked	37.3	89	0
17	Locked	37.6	32	0
18	Locked	37.3	50	0
19	Locked	37.3	24	0
20	Locked	37.6	21	0
21	Locked	38.6	35	0
22	Locked	38.9	34	0
23	Locked	38.6	28	0
24	Locked	38.9	28	0

Upstream bonded channels

Channel	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	Symbol Rate (ksps)	Modulation	Channel ID
1	39400391	42.5	5120	16 qam	4
2	46200000	42.8	5120	16 qam	3
3	32600330	42.5	5120	16 qam	5
4	25799516	42.3	5120	16 qam	6

Upstream bonded channels

Channel	Channel Type	T1 Timeouts	T2 Timeouts	T3 Timeouts	T4 Timeouts
1	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
2	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	1	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	5	0

Network Log
Time	Priority	Description
27/07/2021 19:41	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/07/2021 22:21	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:05:c2:1d:d1:2b;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/07/2021 21:03	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/07/2021 00:06	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Slow network speed test

Snapshot of BQM (red areas occur also from 9.30pm that graph does not capture)

Live BQM

[THE_ReD]

When Internet is Good/Behaving

Downstream bonded channels

Channel	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	SNR (dB)	Modulation	Channel ID
1	203000000	3.2	37	256 qam	9
2	139000000	4	38	256 qam	1
3	147000000	4	38	256 qam	2
4	155000000	3.9	38	256 qam	3
5	163000000	3.9	37	256 qam	4
6	171000000	3.7	37	256 qam	5
7	179000000	3.7	37	256 qam	6
8	187000000	3.5	37	256 qam	7
9	195000000	3.5	37	256 qam	8
10	211000000	3.2	37	256 qam	10
11	219000000	3	36	256 qam	11
12	227000000	2.9	36	256 qam	12
13	235000000	2.9	36	256 qam	13
14	243000000	2.5	37	256 qam	14
15	251000000	2.5	37	256 qam	15
16	259000000	2.7	37	256 qam	16
17	267000000	2.7	37	256 qam	17
18	275000000	3	37	256 qam	18
19	283000000	3	37	256 qam	19
20	291000000	3	37	256 qam	20
21	299000000	2.9	38	256 qam	21
22	307000000	3	38	256 qam	22
23	315000000	2.7	38	256 qam	23
24	323000000	3.2	38	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

Channel	Locked Status	RxMER (dB)	Pre RS Errors	Post RS Errors
1	Locked	37.3	62	0
2	Locked	38.6	71	0
3	Locked	38.6	174	36
4	Locked	38.6	79	0
5	Locked	37.6	78	0
6	Locked	37.6	138	0
7	Locked	37.3	48	0
8	Locked	37.3	81	0
9	Locked	37.3	85	0
10	Locked	37.3	74	0
11	Locked	36.6	44	0
12	Locked	36.6	111	0
13	Locked	36.3	67	0
14	Locked	37.3	92	0
15	Locked	37.6	63	0
16	Locked	37.3	164	0
17	Locked	37.6	73	0
18	Locked	37.3	85	0
19	Locked	37.6	48	0
20	Locked	37.6	42	0
21	Locked	38.6	60	0
22	Locked	38.9	65	0
23	Locked	38.6	58	0
24	Locked	38.9	53	0

Upstream bonded channels

Channel	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	Symbol Rate (ksps)	Modulation	Channel ID
1	39399979	42.3	5120	32 qam	4
2	46200000	42.5	5120	64 qam	3
3	32600063	42.5	5120	16 qam	5
4	25800020	42.3	5120	32 qam	6

Upstream bonded channels

Channel	Channel Type	T1 Timeouts	T2 Timeouts	T3 Timeouts	T4 Timeouts
1	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
2	ATDMA	0	0	1	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	1	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	6	0

Good Network Internet Speed

My Thoughts

I sincerely think it has nothing to do with my setup as I have not changed anything, it would only make sense if its happening to everyone since the heatwave started, otherwise it could also be from Virgin Media's side.

Although I am glad compared to others that it does not happen during daytime/working hours, it still should not happen with the amount that I am paying and expecting consistent internet speeds.

I sincerely appreciate if you could assist me resolving this issue. Thanks!

[risc19]

Yup your upstream is not good.

When its bad the upload channels are at 16 qam.

When is 'good' some are 64 and some are 32qam.

They should ALL be 64qam ALL THE TIME.

You are going to need an engineer visit to investigate why they are dropping to a lower modulation.

It may just be some noise on the line or a corroded connector.

Virgin should drop by soon and hopefully agree with me.

[THE_ReD]

Thanks risc19 for looking into this,

I think you might be correct with the corroded connector. Unfortunately we cannot even use our phone line that we are paying, called 3-4 engineers to fix it since the pandemic started, few days later - incredible amount of noise comes back after fix and its still unusable. They keep telling us to use the Virgin Router's phone line (router is located in my room 2nd floor next to my computer, phone line located closer to entrance ground floor). It is just not possible to put home phone in my room, and I prefer to use wired connection without the need of powerline/wireless.

Last engineer said the cables coming into the property may have gotten old and could be the reason creating the noise in lines. Now it seems it is affecting the internet based on your initial observation...

[THE_ReD]

I forgot to add, router has 6db Forward Path Attenuator connected.

[Zak_M]

Good morning @THE_ReD.

Welcome to the forums and thank you for taking the time to post. 

I am really sorry to hear that you have had some issues with your broadband. 

Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate your account to run some diagnostics,  in order for me to do this I will pop you over a PM. 

Kind regards,

Zak_M

[THE_ReD]

Thank you Zak_M and staff for sending an engineer to look into this.

After the engineer visit, unfortunately the slow internet is still here with no upload speed.

As the weather is getting warmer in London, the issue is persisting more frequently. If no other Virgin Media customer has this problem in my area, I think it could be a router problem? I currently have Hub 3.0.

See below snapshot of BQM (or see OP for live BQM) of current night's connection. The dip at 11pm is me resetting the router to test if the connection would come back:

I cannot access the internet now, so I am sending this over my mobile data. See below current router logs:

Downstream bonded channels

Channel	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	SNR (dB)	Modulation	Channel ID
1	243000000	4.5	38	256 qam	14
2	203000000	5.1	38	256 qam	9
3	211000000	5	38	256 qam	10
4	219000000	4.9	38	256 qam	11
5	227000000	4.8	37	256 qam	12
6	235000000	4.8	37	256 qam	13
7	251000000	4.5	38	256 qam	15
8	259000000	4.5	38	256 qam	16
9	267000000	4.8	38	256 qam	17
10	275000000	4.9	38	256 qam	18
11	283000000	5	38	256 qam	19
12	291000000	5	38	256 qam	20
13	299000000	5	38	256 qam	21
14	307000000	4.9	38	256 qam	22
15	315000000	4.9	38	256 qam	23
16	323000000	5	38	256 qam	24
17	331000000	5.3	40	256 qam	25
18	339000000	5.3	40	256 qam	26
19	347000000	5	40	256 qam	27
20	355000000	5	40	256 qam	28
21	363000000	5	40	256 qam	29
22	371000000	4.8	40	256 qam	30
23	379000000	4.9	38	256 qam	31
24	387000000	4.9	40	256 qam	32

Channel	Locked Status	RxMER (dB)	Pre RS Errors	Post RS Errors
1	Locked	38.6	5	0
2	Locked	38.6	4	0
3	Locked	38.6	6	0
4	Locked	38.6	6	0
5	Locked	37.6	4	0
6	Locked	37.6	5	0
7	Locked	38.6	7	0
8	Locked	38.9	5	0
9	Locked	38.6	5	0
10	Locked	38.6	6	0
11	Locked	38.9	5	0
12	Locked	38.9	6	0
13	Locked	38.9	5	0
14	Locked	38.9	5	0
15	Locked	38.9	4	0
16	Locked	38.9	6	0
17	Locked	40.3	5	0
18	Locked	40.3	3	0
19	Locked	40.3	4	0
20	Locked	40.3	5	0
21	Locked	40.3	5	0
22	Locked	40.3	6	0
23	Locked	38.9	6	0
24	Locked	40.9	6	0

Upstream bonded channels

Channel	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	Symbol Rate (ksps)	Modulation	Channel ID
1	39399525	40.8	5120	16 qam	4
2	46200439	41	5120	16 qam	3
3	32599861	40.8	5120	16 qam	5
4	25799337	40.8	5120	16 qam	6

Channel	Channel Type	T1 Timeouts	T2 Timeouts	T3 Timeouts	T4 Timeouts
1	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
2	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
3	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	5	0

I appreciate if you could look into this again and thank you all for your assistance.

[THE_ReD]

I forgot to put the speedtest, see below:

[lotharmat]

Yup - Upstream is still bad!

[THE_ReD]

Hi All,

Unfortunately I am running out of patience as this is happening during my work hours now and cannot attend to meetings or do my job. I am on Virgin Mobile with 2GB data limit which I cannot heavily rely on and I did not require more data on my phone hoping that my internet would be stable. Can this be seriously looked into now?