Virgin 360 service level drops at peak times

[SteveAldous]

We recently upgraded from TiVo to 360 with an internet speed boost from 125 to 250. Since then, whenever we are watching on catch up - usually iPlayer or Netflix/Prime in the evenings, the playback/streaming stalls several times during a show - often requiring us to come out and then back in to what we were watching. This never occurred prior to the "upgrade" and does not occur during the day. I have disconnected and re-booted the 360 and the hub several times and replaced the ethernet cable to the 360 with no improvement.

Any suggestions for what else I can try or does Virgin now drop service levels at peak times?

Thanks 

[g0akc]

• Have you done a speedtest - with other device(s)?  Preferably wired.
• Anything obvious in the hub stats?
• Can you access any of those apps/services another way, such as via those inbuilt on a smart TV e.g. the iPlayer app on another device - are they the same?

[japitts]

I've moved this post to the broadband forum as it sounds more like that, than a TV-service issue.

Some speed tests, BQM graphs & observations across different devices - are the next steps of troubleshooting.

[SteveAldous]

Thank you

The blips tend to be very temporary so by the time I do a speed test, the system is already back to full speed. I have updated the firmware on my LAN  and will also try disconnecting the ethernet cable and streaming via wi-fi just to rule out a hardware issue with the LAN

Router status network log has the following entries which don't mean anything to me. I have cut out the Mac address in case this information is private

Time Priority Description

03/02/2023 09:09:12	notice	LAN login Success;CM-MAC=ac:xxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
03/02/2023 09:07:47	Warning!	LAN login FAILED : Incorrect Username / Password / ConnectionType;CM-MAC=ac:xxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/02/2023 12:53:40	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/02/2023 10:48:23	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
01/02/2023 10:29:42	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=ac:fxxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx5;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
31/01/2023 12:50:40	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx9;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx5;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
29/01/2023 11:11:51	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx9;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/01/2023 11:49:45	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx9;CMTS-MAC=0xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/01/2023 11:49:34	critical	Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=ac:fxxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx:55;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/01/2023 11:49:34	critical	Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=axxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/01/2023 11:48:9	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx9;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/01/2023 11:47:45	critical	Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=0xxxxxxx5;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/01/2023 11:47:45	critical	Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=ac:xxxxxxx:d9;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
26/01/2023 11:47:1	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx9;CMTS-MAC=0xxxxxxx5;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/01/2023 21:24:56	Error	DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response v4 option;CM-xxxxxxx0:01:5c:7a:a8:55;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/01/2023 14:05:24	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx5;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/01/2023 14:05:0	critical	Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
24/01/2023 14:05:0	critical	Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=0xxxxxxx5;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
23/01/2023 13:40:4	critical	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx9;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx5;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
23/01/2023 13:40:4	Warning!	RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=xxxxxxx;CMTS-MAC=xxxxxxx;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Cheers

[g0akc]

I can't see anything abnormal in that log - can you post the other stats with the error count and so on - should be on other pages at 192.168.0.1 (don't even need to login).

As I mentioned before - can you try with different instances of the iPlayer and Prime, Netflix apps ?  On a PC, smart TV etc. rather than the TV360

[SteveAldous]

Sorry at 192.168.0.1 what I have posted are the only available stats under the network log tab - The Status/Downstream/Upstream/Configuration tabs don't have any useful data that look like error logs.

Over time I will work through your other suggestions thanks

[SteveAldous]

Also, If I log in to my router and run diagnostics, it gets about 30% of the way through the diagnostic wheel spin before kicking me back to the welcome sign in screen

[Adduxi]

---

@SteveAldous wrote:

Sorry at 192.168.0.1 what I have posted are the only available stats under the network log tab - The Status/Downstream/Upstream/Configuration tabs don't have any useful data that look like error logs.  <snip>

---

We need to see all those figures from the Downstream and Upstream tabs.  They are indeed very useful 🙂

Just copy and paste the text into several posts and ignore any warnings that may come up, and just click the Post button again.

[SteveAldous]

OK here goes

Downstream

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) SNR (dB) Modulation Channel ID

1	203000000	7.3	35	256 qam	9
2	139000000	8.9	33	256 qam	1
3	147000000	9.1	33	256 qam	2
4	155000000	9.5	34	256 qam	3
5	163000000	9	35	256 qam	4
6	171000000	9	35	256 qam	5
7	179000000	8.5	35	256 qam	6
8	187000000	8.5	34	256 qam	7
9	195000000	7.9	35	256 qam	8
10	211000000	7.1	35	256 qam	10
11	219000000	6.6	34	256 qam	11
12	227000000	6.5	34	256 qam	12
13	235000000	5.9	34	256 qam	13
14	243000000	5.5	34	256 qam	14
15	251000000	4.5	33	256 qam	15
16	259000000	4.5	33	256 qam	16
17	267000000	4.6	34	256 qam	17
18	275000000	5.1	34	256 qam	18
19	283000000	4.8	34	256 qam	19
20	291000000	4.6	34	256 qam	20
21	299000000	4.5	33	256 qam	21
22	307000000	4.9	34	256 qam	22
23	315000000	4.8	35	256 qam	23
24	323000000	4.4	34	256 qam	24

Downstream bonded channels

Channel Locked Status RxMER (dB) Pre RS Errors Post RS Errors

1	Locked	35	1609	0
2	Locked	33.9	103852	0
3	Locked	33.8	89096	0
4	Locked	34.9	5260	0
5	Locked	35	1623	0
6	Locked	35	1643	0
7	Locked	35	2296	0
8	Locked	34.3	13136	0
9	Locked	35	1300	0
10	Locked	35	1986	0
11	Locked	34.9	2271	0
12	Locked	34.4	18624	0
13	Locked	34.9	6365	0
14	Locked	34.4	21092	0
15	Locked	33.9	82044	0
16	Locked	33.4	309010	0
17	Locked	34.3	42438	0
18	Locked	34.4	8832	0
19	Locked	34.4	7681	0
20	Locked	34.4	16064	0
21	Locked	33.9	72465	0
22	Locked	34.9	5298	0
23	Locked	35	1735	0
24	Locked	34.9	2305	0

[SteveAldous]

Upstream

Channel Frequency (Hz) Power (dBmV) Symbol Rate (ksps) Modulation Channel ID

1	49600000	44.5	5120	64 qam	1
2	43099893	44	5120	64 qam	2
3	23600000	42.5	5120	32 qam	5
4	36600239	43.5	5120	64 qam	3
5	30100000	43	5120	64 qam	4

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	0	0
4	ATDMA	0	0	0	0
5	ATDMA	0	0	0	0