Error 1021 still not fixed after engineer visit

[philch1]

I joined Virgin Media last Friday and have a V+ box in the lounge and a standard Samsung (SMT-2110C) box in the bedroom. The V+ box works fine, including all on demand services.

The Samsung box displays error 1021 every time I try and use an on demand service. Unfortunately I did not notice this until after the engineer left. A seond engineer came on Monday, checked the box and said it was fine. According to him, the problem was with the equipment cabinet on the street, and the network team would fix it within 24 hours.

The box was still not working this evening, so I phoned Virgin and they want to send a 3rd engineer to look at it.

What happens if the 3rd guy also says the box is fine? Should I insist on a replacement anyway? Is there anything I can try and do myself to fix this?

Thanks.

[webcrawler2050]

It could of been that the 2nd engineer was having a lazy day - It happens to the best of us, you should of asked for a replacement box, they gave me a spare modem because I wasnt sure If our modem supported 20mb

[Kellargh]

Requires a new STB, and even if it was something at the cab, that would either affect most people on that street (which would be passed to networks), or it would be something they could fix while there.

Most probably the STB though!

[philch1]

3rd engineer has now been and said the same as the last one. It's now going to be 3 weeks before they can re-do the cable.

I'm quite tempted to tell them to stick their service, and just go back to Sky.

[Jonnymeg]

Originally Posted by philch1

3rd engineer has now been and said the same as the last one. It's now going to be 3 weeks before they can re-do the cable.

I'm quite tempted to tell them to stick their service, and just go back to Sky.

If it was a problem in the street then it would effect the second box too.
Does the little green light flash on the front of the box?
Go to settings>technical stuff>and see if the return path is on and that you have an IP address. Let us know what these say.

[the-cable-guy]

Originally Posted by philch1

3rd engineer has now been and said the same as the last one. It's now going to be 3 weeks before they can re-do the cable.

I'm quite tempted to tell them to stick their service, and just go back to Sky.

good luck mate its taken VM just under three years & five modems later to be able to give me a connection thats on 24/7 without it cutting out at least four times a day.

[philch1]

Originally Posted by Jonnymeg

If it was a problem in the street then it would effect the second box too.
Does the little green light flash on the front of the box?
Go to settings>technical stuff>and see if the return path is on and that you have an IP address. Let us know what these say.

Yes, the little green light is flashing. Return path is off and there is no IP address. Both engineers have seen this, and still insist the box is fine.

The last engineer said the V+ box works because it has less cable running to it. The upstairs box has a longer cable to reach it, and the signal is degrading. He says replacing the cable outside in the street will fix this.

[Jonnymeg]

OK heres what you do.

Take the samsung and connect it up where the V+ box is and see if the return path comes on and you get an ip address, if so the on demand will work.

If this works the you know it is not the box or the cable in the street. It will then be a case of finding out why the signal drops so much to the second location. It could be that the cabling to that room is damaged and needs replacing or you might need a HDU (powered splitter that has no loss) to keep the power high enough.

From your reports i would say with 99% certainty it is not in the street. If the power is fine for the V+ then there is no reason why it cannot be fine for the other too.

[philch1]

Ok, I plugged the Samsung box in downstairs and it worked - return path was on and on-demand services worked. Took the box back upstairs, and return path went back to off.

Then I took the V+ box from downstairs and tried that upstairs, and that did not work either. So at least I know the set top boxes are working fine.

There is a small box fixed to the outside of my house. One cable goes directly from there into the back of the V+ box. A second cable runs up the outside wall, into the house and then into a small white box fixed to the skirting board. A shorter cable then runs from that into the back of the Samsung box. Does this sound like a usual setup?

[Jonnymeg]

Originally Posted by philch1

Ok, I plugged the Samsung box in downstairs and it worked - return path was on and on-demand services worked. Took the box back upstairs, and return path went back to off.

Then I took the V+ box from downstairs and tried that upstairs, and that did not work either. So at least I know the set top boxes are working fine.

There is a small box fixed to the outside of my house. One cable goes directly from there into the back of the V+ box. A second cable runs up the outside wall, into the house and then into a small white box fixed to the skirting board. A shorter cable then runs from that into the back of the Samsung box. Does this sound like a usual setup?

Ok, this all sounds ok.

Your problem is either:

The cabling between the box on the outside wall and the samsung STB.
The splitter in the box on the outside wall.
The connections on the cabling between the box outside and the samsung.
The isolator in the box attached to the skirting board.


A decent engineer can change all this in less than 15 mins, i would personally change all but the cable first (takes 5 mins) and see if that cures it as it is most likely one of those components.

The fact that both boxes work from the feed downstairs indicates that there is NOTHING wrong with the feed coming into the house so no work in the street will help. It also shows there is sufficient power to operate the on demand. Even if the power is low and loss because of splitters can be overcome by the use of a HDU.

I would get a engineer out and INSIST all this is done. Sadly, like a lot of industries, their are lazy workers that will always let you down. It sounds to me you have experienced a few of them. Sometimes it is easier to blame someone else than do a bit of work yourself!

[the-cable-guy]

lol

[Jonnymeg]

Originally Posted by the-cable-guy

lol

Care to explain what's so funny?

[philch1]

Well after waiting many weeks, Virgin Media have been and replaced the cable that runs up the driveway from the street. The upstairs Samsung box now works properly, including on-demand.

[the-cable-guy]

Originally Posted by Jonnymeg

Care to explain what's so funny?

[Jonnymeg]

Originally Posted by the-cable-guy

Well i am glad you cleared that up for me.