Virgin Media Community

[Ginger1969]

I have a hub 3 and have just bought a tenda mesh. I have turned off Wi-Fi on the hub to stop interference and have done speed checks all around the house and I’m getting thr same speeds all over, which is great but, why when i use the tenda app, it’s telling me that the Wi-Fi signal keeps going up and down between 0mbps and 20 when on a speed test it shows 100?

[jbrennand]

You should try it like this...
_________________
In the first Tenda, go in the settings and set the WAN port to be in Automatic IP i.e. DHCP (& Nat) mode, it may be pre-set that way anyway.

Then, disconnect all cables from all the Tenda's and switch off and unplug ithem Then, put the VM Hub into modem mode

( https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-media-hub-modem-mode )

and wait for the base light to turn magenta/purple (on a Hub3 - but not on a Hub4!).

Once it’s in modem mode, the VM hub “MUST” then be powered off. Switch your first Tenda on and make sure it’s fully initialised (leave 5 min) and then put in the ethernet cable from its WAN port to the VM hub (any port will work).

NOW… power up the VM hub and wait 5-10 minutes for The Hub to initialise and and you should get a connection. Use the recommended App to connect the other Mesh units to the first one. This order only needs to be done the first time you connect the router to the VM hub.

[Ginger1969]

Tried this 3 times. Complete shut down and start up again each time. Speed test is still showing 100mbps but the actual Tenda app is still showing upload and download as 0 - 78 (highest I got) and then all the way back down to 0. Primary node is connected to the modem (hub 3) and the secondary nodes are connected by ethernet cable to the primary node. lan to wan from primary to 1st secondary and the same again to the third one.

Even when standing next to the primary node the Tenda app is still showing 0 upload and 0 download.

Connectivity is saying "excellent" in the app though

[jbrennand]

What make model of Tenda mesh is it ?

What is it like without the Tenda and the Hub in normal router mode? It may be that the Tenda is faulty?

[Ginger1969]

Hi,

Not much difference with the hub in normal mode in the lounge on speed test. This is where the hub and primary node are situated. Again, a speed test is showing 100 but the tenda app is showing next to nothing. The tenda app did hit 78 at one point but dropped to around 25 and then when I put the hub in modem mode, it’s dropped to 0 again. I took the hub out of modem mode and the same thing, tenda app showing 0 but speed test showing 100. All nodes in the app are showing excellent connection.  When I run a speed test in the back bedrooms I get a reading of around 10 -20. With tenda on, the speed test shows 100 but the app still shows 0.

When I ask Alexa if she’s connected to the net, she says, “yes” and sometimes when she runs a test, she says everything is ok and other times she says the Wi-Fi is busy. This is both when things are connected, PS4, mobiles, tablets and they’re being used and when they’re connected but next to nothing being used; everyone gone to bed except myself and a tablet and tv being used.

Alexa will sometimes turn the tv off and other times says that the “skill” is not registered or the tv is not connected to the account. I am running Alexa with the lg thinq app as the tvs are all lg. There is a separate echo dot in each room connected to each tv through lg thinq  and the Alexa app. I’m guessing not being “registered” or “not found” or skill not registered is when the Wi-Fi signal drops.

I don’t understand why a speed test is showing such high speeds but the actual tenda app is showing 0?

It’s the tri-band ac2100 MW12 nova mesh. 

[Andrew-G]

Are you 100% sure that the broadband connection is reliable?  Might be worth posting the hub's status data for us to look over.  Ideally with at least 12 hours since last restart, pull up the log in page for the hub.  But don't log in, just click on the link "Check router status"  That'll bring up a window with five tabs.  Open the Downstream tab.  Select all the text (Ctrl-A if using a keyboard), copy it (Ctrl-C), then paste it (Ctrl-V) into a reply here as TEXT not screenshots.  Post that, do the same for the Upstream and Network log.  You'll get an error message when you post the Network log, just click on "post" a second time.   Then we can check for any obvious problems with power, noise or error counts.

If that gets a clean bill of health, might be time to return the Tenda and consider an alternative mesh setup.  I've found the TP-Link Deco M4 a great piece of kit at a near entry level price, but there's plenty of choice if you want to spend more.  Whatever you buy, it's best with most mesh systems to run the hub in modem mode (but usually do that after setting up the mesh system), if for connection reasons you choose not to run the hub in modem mode, the mesh needs configuring in access point mode.  Or if £5 a month seems acceptable, consider renting some VM pods - they're not quite the same as a true mesh system, but they work well for many people and involve no configuration on your part.  For me, renting the VM pods seems poor value, but that's because I'm a skinflint value conscious.

[Ginger1969]

I’ll do that all tonight when I get in, cheers. I’ve tried 10 different boosters. They’ve all been s##t! Before I went to the mesh I tried a pod. Was really **bleep** off with VM about it, they said I could try it free of charge for a month… it was also s##t! VM never explained to me that there was a £5 delivery charge for the pod. Argued the point to no avail, sent it back and swallowed the charge.

Next, I tried the power line adapters, sent them back, so as a last resort (almost) I’ve spent money I didn’t want to in order to get a mesh.

Very tempted to send the Tenda back and try the eero. It’s dual band rather than tri and more expensive. 

The Tenda is well over power for my house but I went for it because it’s triband and Compatible with Alexa.  The Tenda covers 6000sq feet. My bungalow is 1300sq feet with all brick walls. Tenda’s and which ever new device I go for are linked with cat8 Ethernet cable.

I’ve also tried a couple of routers to pair with VM 3. None of which worked.

[Ginger1969]

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	739000000	3.2	38	256 qam	48
2	555000000	3.4	37	256 qam	25
3	563000000	3.5	37	256 qam	26
4	571000000	3.7	37	256 qam	27
5	579000000	3.5	37	256 qam	28
6	587000000	3.7	37	256 qam	29
7	595000000	3.7	37	256 qam	30
8	603000000	3.4	37	256 qam	31
9	611000000	2.9	37	256 qam	32
10	619000000	2.4	37	256 qam	33
11	627000000	2.2	37	256 qam	34
12	635000000	2.2	37	256 qam	35
13	643000000	2.5	37	256 qam	36
14	651000000	2.7	37	256 qam	37
15	659000000	3	37	256 qam	38
16	667000000	3.5	37	256 qam	39
17	675000000	3.9	37	256 qam	40
18	683000000	4.1	37	256 qam	41
19	691000000	4.1	37	256 qam	42
20	699000000	4	38	256 qam	43
21	707000000	4	38	256 qam	44
22	715000000	3.9	37	256 qam	45
23	723000000	3.5	37	256 qam	46
24	731000000	3.2	37	256 qam	47

[Ginger1969]

Downstream bonded channels

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

1	Locked	38.6	11	0
2	Locked	37.3	10	0
3	Locked	37.3	9	0
4	Locked	37.3	22	0
5	Locked	37.3	30	0
6	Locked	37.6	22	0
7	Locked	37.3	7	0
8	Locked	37.6	15	0
9	Locked	37.3	7	0
10	Locked	37.3	13	0
11	Locked	37.3	7	0
12	Locked	37.6	27	0
13	Locked	37.6	8	0
14	Locked	37.3	7	0
15	Locked	37.6	8	0
16	Locked	37.3	14	0
17	Locked	37.3	25	0
18	Locked	37.6	22	0
19	Locked	37.6	29	0
20	Locked	38.6	34	0
21	Locked	38.6	24	0
22	Locked	37.6	10	0
23	Locked	37.6	10	0
24	Locked	37.6	17	0

[Ginger1969]

Refresh data

Upstream bonded channels

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

1	53700004	40.5	5120	64 qam	10
2	39400024	40	5120	64 qam	12
3	46199969	40.5	5120	64 qam	11
4	60300026	42	5120	64 qam	9

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