Virgin Media Performance Issue - High packet loss when downloading games

[fjama13]

Hi,

I have been a Virgin Media customer since late march and over the last 2 weeks (ever since we had some maintenance done in the area by Virgin) internet has been unstable when downloading large files. I am using modem mode but tried router mode and the issue persists.

Here is my BQM graph - https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/20fec4ae8ea479b397fce22246a50bc8c7...

I think this is an issue of congestion but I never had the internet choke due to a heavy download before. (Was with TalkTalk with 70mbps)

Here are the stats for Hub 4 (I am on the M350 plan):

Cable Modem Status	Online	DOCSIS 3.1
Primary downstream channel	Locked	SC-QAM
DOCSIS 3.0 channels	31	5
DOCSIS 3.1 channels	1	0

3.0 Downstream channels

Channel	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	SNR (dB)	Modulation	Channel ID
25	331000000	1.9	38.6	QAM256	25
18	275000000	2.2	38.6	QAM256	18
19	283000000	3.1	39	QAM256	19
20	291000000	3	39	QAM256	20
21	299000000	2.5	38.6	QAM256	21
22	307000000	2.3	38.6	QAM256	22
23	315000000	1.9	39	QAM256	23
24	323000000	1.4	39	QAM256	24
26	339000000	1.9	38.6	QAM256	26
27	347000000	1.2	39	QAM256	27
28	355000000	1.9	39	QAM256	28
29	363000000	2.5	39	QAM256	29
30	371000000	1.9	38.6	QAM256	30
31	379000000	1.3	38.6	QAM256	31
32	387000000	1.8	39	QAM256	32
33	395000000	0.9	38.6	QAM256	33
34	403000000	1	38.6	QAM256	34
35	411000000	1.4	39	QAM256	35
36	419000000	1.3	38.6	QAM256	36
37	427000000	0.8	39	QAM256	37
38	435000000	1.9	39	QAM256	38
39	443000000	1.8	39	QAM256	39
40	451000000	1	38.6	QAM256	40
41	459000000	0.7	39	QAM256	41
42	467000000	1.2	39	QAM256	42
43	475000000	0.5	39	QAM256	43
44	483000000	0.8	38.6	QAM256	44
45	491000000	1.4	39	QAM256	45
46	499000000	1.5	39	QAM256	46
47	507000000	1.2	39	QAM256	47
48	515000000	1.7	38.6	QAM256	48

3.0 Downstream channels

Channel	Lock Status	RxMER (dB)	Pre RS Errors	Post RS Errors
25	Locked	38.605377	0	0
18	Locked	38.605377	0	0
19	Locked	38.983261	0	0
20	Locked	38.983261	0	0
21	Locked	38.605377	0	0
22	Locked	38.605377	0	0
23	Locked	38.983261	0	0
24	Locked	38.983261	0	0
26	Locked	38.605377	0	0
27	Locked	38.983261	0	0
28	Locked	38.983261	0	0
29	Locked	38.983261	0	0
30	Locked	38.605377	0	0
31	Locked	38.605377	0	0
32	Locked	38.983261	0	0
33	Locked	38.605377	0	0
34	Locked	38.605377	0	0
35	Locked	38.983261	0	0
36	Locked	38.605377	0	0
37	Locked	38.983261	0	0
38	Locked	38.983261	0	0
39	Locked	38.983261	0	0
40	Locked	38.605377	0	0
41	Locked	38.983261	0	0
42	Locked	38.983261	0	0
43	Locked	38.983261	0	0
44	Locked	38.605377	0	0
45	Locked	38.983261	0	0
46	Locked	38.983261	0	0
47	Locked	38.983261	0	0
48	Locked	38.605377	0	0

3.1 Downstream channels

Channel	Channel Width (MHz)	FFT Type	Number of Active Subcarriers	Modulation (Active Profile)	First Active Subcarrier (Hz)
159	96	4K	1880	QAM4096	759

3.1 Downstream channels

Channel ID	Lock Status	RxMER Data (dB)	PLC Power (dBmV)	Correcteds (Active Profile)	Uncorrectables (Active Profile)
159	Locked	40	-5.1	2695714261	0

3.0 Upstream channels

Channel	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	Symbol Rate (ksps)	Modulation	Channel ID
1	25800000	38.5	5120 KSym/sec	64QAM	6
2	32600000	38.8	5120 KSym/sec	64QAM	5
3	39400000	39.3	5120 KSym/sec	64QAM	4
4	46200000	39.8	5120 KSym/sec	64QAM	3
5	53700000	40.3	5120 KSym/sec	64QAM	2

3.0 Upstream channels

Channel	Channel Type	T1 Timeouts	T2 Timeouts	T3 Timeouts	T4 Timeouts
1	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	2	0
2	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	7	0
3	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	0	0
4	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	0	0
5	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	1	0

[fjama13]

Updated BQM graph - https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/d3fefcb87f427255ded8766752112743f7...

[Anonymous]

Quite a lot of T3 timeouts. BQM suggests high evening latency and packet loss. 

Check for local issues on 0800 561 0061 and ensure that all cables and connections are tight and secure and not kinked or damaged. 

Lastly try a 30 second pinhole reset of the hub with no ethernet connection. 

[fjama13]

I have called the number and it has reported that there are NO issues in my area. I have done the pinhole reset and there is still significant evening congestion. Significant latency spikes in games and sporadic speeds. Never had this on TalkTalk. No matter the bandwidth the experience was consistent.

Please see the updated BQM graph for yesterday (28th June 2022) -  https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/080b33412b7accc5c16c94d0da2db4b798...

How likely is it that an engineer can fix this? Would proving my area reference help to identify if my area is suffering from congestion. All this started after the maintenance which was done on the 9th/10th of June 2022.

I am paying a lot for Virgin, surely there should not be any congestion and for Virgin to have the capacity to deal with capacity.

[Roger_Gooner]

If you think that there are ISPs who are going to be good all the time then you are very wrong.

Just let the tech try and sort out your problem.

[fjama13]

How would I be able to arrange for a tech to come and take a look?

[fjama13]

Hi,

Can someone from the Virgin Media Forum team please take a look at why my line is unstable during peak times? Tonight the internet is unusable regular fluctuations in the ping, which cause webpages and sites to load slower. The number of T3 timeouts has increased into double digits. 

3.0 Upstream channels

Channel	Channel Type	T1 Timeouts	T2 Timeouts	T3 Timeouts	T4 Timeouts
1	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	2	0
2	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	11	0
3	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	0	0
4	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	5	0
5	US_TYPE_STDMA	0	0	1	0

[David_Bn]

Good Morning @fjama13, thanks for coming back to us.

I've been able to look into the connection on our side and I don't see any issues with the equipment, or any area faults that may be effecting you.

Can you please advise me how the service has performed over the weekend?

Have you possibly set up a BQM to keep tabs on the connection during the course of the day?

Kindest regards,

David_Bn

[fjama13]

Hi,

I have setup BQM when I had my virgin media installed on the 19th of March

Please see the BQM graph for the 3rd of July but every day since the 9th of June it's been like this. Significant ping spikes during peak times

BQM Graph 3rd July

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/2ffe3e4f2c1c9a39f8025ef0862f7531cc...

Live BQM

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/20fec4ae8ea479b397fce22246a50bc8c7...

[Beth_G]

Hi fjama13,

Thanks for coming back to us, your BQM could be looking better. After investigating a bit further on this end, we can send that a lot of your signal levels are out of spec which will require an engineer's visit to resolve.

I'm going to pop you over a PM now so I can look into this for you. Please look out for my message at the envelope.

Thanks