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]

Hi,

Sorry for the late response. I have PM'ed you back with the requested details.

Kind Regards

[Beth_G]

Hi fjama13
Thank you for supplying the requested details via PM.

I've now booked in the next available engineer slot for you - to view the appointment time slot or rearrange, please head over and sign into your My Virgin Media account here and go to 'my orders and appointments'.

Please do let us know how the visit goes and if you need anything else from us in the meantime. 

Kind regards

[fjama13]

Hi,

The engineer attended yesterday and he found issues with the original installation and he detected interference. He wasn't pleased and had to do over 2 hours worth of work. Explained everything and was very nice.

He installed a new faceplate, redid the terminal connection in the brown box outside the house and issued a new Hub4. He also checked the cabinet and redid the connection.

Page slowdowns are gone but the BQM monitoring still shows spikes during peak times which would suggest congestion. Will monitor for the next couple of days but the main issue is resolved.

May I ask what is the policy in regards to congestion on the VM network? What I mean is do they take into account the latency during full load on the customer line?

Do Virgin media throttle certain types of traffic such as VPN traffic using Wireguard as I get atrocious performance?

[Roger_Gooner]

Can you repost your stats and logs.

[fjama13]

Hi,

Please see the live BQM graph here - https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/20fec4ae8ea479b397fce22246a50bc8c7...

Latency spikes are evident still, which is during the afternoons and evenings. packet loss is there but very slightly (1%-5%). I think the issue is upstream probably due to congestion. I loom at other people's graphs and no crazy ping spikes during peak times. 

The issue of slow loading of webpages during peak times is gone but what should I do regarding this? When in modem mode I'm using a PFSENSE firewall. I reset the configuration on Friday and just set up the BQM monitoring and the issue persists.

Should I let bygones be bygones? Could this becuase of the BQM monitoring setup on my PFSENSE firewall? If I prioritise ICMP traffic would it give me a good inidcator asto what the line is really like?

[legacy1]

Ping spikes can be caused by you downloading or uploading but if your connection is idle and or you QoS/BMW under your rate limits then the problem is likely Docsis and the upstream it could be your link drops causing a delay in you sending packets or so many people in your area are sending stuff that the scheduler buffers and delays you sending stuff.

[John_GS]

Hi fjama13

Thanks for coming back to the thread. I have done a system check today, no area issues or outages. All levels are fine and no congestion or SNR issues.

I hope everything has been sorted for you since posting, do check in if you need further assistance,

[fjama13]

Hi,

Is there any way to get this escalated to the networks team to see if there are any issues with congestion? The situation has improved to be honest but I'm still not satisfied as ping spikes during peak times does make degrade my online experience.

Here is the latest BQM graph for the 17th of July - https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/1b09b0fb4ea585af3ea6194ef5dfce5fc6...

[fjama13]

Can anyone advise if this can be escalated to the network team to see if there is congestion causing the latency spikes?

My BQM graph for the 18th of July

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/261b483c37fc565d7b1ce60d3641ef7e72...

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @fjama13

Communication with the Networks team would be done by the engineer, if when they visited they found a suspected high utilisation issue they would pass this on. 

When the engineer came did they mention anything in regards to the Networks team? 

We have checked everything on our side and we cannot see anything that could be causing issues on our side.

Thank you.