Speed 'Issues'.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

Having been a guest on this forum for quite some time, I thought it about time to join up, and bother you all.

Over the past week or two my connection has dropped to a lower speed than that of what it should be.

I'm on XL in an ex Telewest area, and should be getting the famed 20mbps.
But lately, I've been getting about 10mbps, max. Now whilst this is in no way as big a problem as many others are having out there, it gets right on my wick.

I've tried various speed tests, and test files, etc at different times of the day, but it just won't go anywhere near 20mbps. One thing I did notice however, as I have been monitoring this for a while is that, about 4-5 days ago on speedtest.net my connection was showing as coming from the middle of England, rather than Dundee. What that means, I do not know but I found it perculiar. It has gone back to the Dundee area now though.

Before I phone up Virgin Media crying would someone please make sense of this?

Downstream Status Operational
Channel ID 184
Downstream Frequency 331000000 Hz
Modulation 256QAM
Bit Rate 20480000 bits/sec
Power Level 10.0 dBmV
Signal to Noise Ratio 44.2 dB

Upstream Status Operational
Channel ID 4
Upstream Frequency 29200000 Hz
Modulation 16QAM
Bit Rate 768000 bits/sec
Power Level 45.0 dBmV

Any help appreciated.

[General Maximus]

the thing which you need to check dude is the upstream and downstream power levels and snr, have a look here http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12/26006-cable-modem-signal-levels.html

[InfiniteBiscuit]

Well as far as I can see, they appear to be fine. But I'm not sure.

EDIT: Oh and cheers!

[xocemp]

Hi InfiniteBiscuit

Could you post the results of a ping & tracert to the bbc please.
Start>Run>type in cmd and click ok.
Type ping bbc.co.uk
Once thats finished
Type tracert bbc.co.uk

[whydoIneedatech]

Well as far as I can see, they appear to be fine. But I'm not sure.

EDIT: Oh and cheers!
What model is your modem as you are on 20Mb so we can ensure that it is actually capable of that speed.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

The modem itself is a Scientific Atlanta 2100 as far as I can see. I'm pretty sure it's capable of the full 20mbps. As when I took out the service, it was a fresh install. Also, I've seen it hit 20mbps. The problem started a week or two ago.

ping:

Pinging bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.138] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 212.58.224.138: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=116
Reply from 212.58.224.138: bytes=32 time=34ms TTL=116
Reply from 212.58.224.138: bytes=32 time=24ms TTL=116
Reply from 212.58.224.138: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=116

Ping statistics for 212.58.224.138:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 21ms, Maximum = 34ms, Average = 25ms

tracert:

Tracing route to bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.138]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * * * Request timed out.
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 * * * Request timed out.
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 24 ms 21 ms 21 ms virtual-vip.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.138]

Trace complete.

Thanks.

[xocemp]

Hmmm, mind running a trace to google. That trace is quite odd :erm:
tracert www.google.com

[General Maximus]

I have tried it for fun and I get request timed outs after 9 hops for some reason (to BBC)

[InfiniteBiscuit]

I did both www.google.com and www.google.co.uk. Dunno if that'd make a difference. The only thing internet based running at this time was my last.fm scrobbler. Torrents were stopped.

Tracing route to www.l.google.com [64.233.183.99]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * * * Request timed out.
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 * * * Request timed out.
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 42 ms 51 ms 42 ms nf-in-f99.google.com [64.233.183.99]

Trace complete.

Tracing route to www.l.google.com [64.233.183.147]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * * * Request timed out.
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 * * * Request timed out.
5 * * * Request timed out.
6 * * * Request timed out.
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 42 ms 43 ms 39 ms nf-in-f147.google.com [64.233.183.147]

Trace complete.

Having now looked, seems to go to the same place.

[caph]

InfiniteBiscuit, it might be worth checking if this is simply a case of oversubscription in your area. You need to ask for the status of your UBR which you can find from looking up the DNS entry for your IP address (by clicking on the connection link at the top of the page). Then you need to post on the Virgin support newsgroup and they'll let you know.

Unfortunately, in certain areas Virgin are taking on way too many customers and they don't have the infrastructure to support them all. Probably shouldn't happen, but it seems to be happening more and more recently and they don't seem to be bothered in the least.

[xocemp]

I'd most definitely call tech support, I'm sure they will in turn contact 2nd line for advice on your issue.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

I'll give that a try.

Didn't even know Opera had a newsgroup client built in. Wonderful.

I presume I'm just giving them the bit after the IP address? So the location, and UBR number?

---------- Post added at 19:06 ---------- Previous post was at 19:05 ----------

I'd most definitely call tech support, I'm sure they will in turn contact 2nd line for advice on your issue.

I'll give this newsgroup thing a try first.

Where are technical support based? Never had to phone them.

[xocemp]

Liverpool, Swansea, Scotland and India. You have a better chance of getting to a UK center if you call before 8pm or 10 for Scotland.
The newsgroups are manned by a different tech support, so give them a try if your ok with newsgroups.

Good luck

[caph]

I'd most definitely call tech support, I'm sure they will in turn contact 2nd line for advice on your issue.

Not meaning to be negative, but in my experience you've got more chance of winning the lottery. I've rung more times than I care to remember and it's very rare that I speak to anyone who knows how to use the systems let alone knows what they're talking about.

Yes, you want the location and the UBR number. I just quote the whole string. You get a different customer number every time you connect so it's not personal to you. You get really fast response times from the newsgroup too.

[xocemp]

I've come across good and bad in both onshore and offshore. And the response time for the groups SLA is 4 hours.

Edit
Please post back InfiniteBiscuit, I'd like to know what the issue is :)

[InfiniteBiscuit]

I'll be posting back when I find out. No reply on the Newsgroups yet, but I'll give it another couple of hours before I throw another kitten on the fire.

[Stabhappy]

If you have a router try it without the router (direct network to the modem) and rerun the trace. Seen that traceroute issue on several routers which are simply very cheap.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

That's a point. Haven't tried it without the router, and the router wasn't exactly expensive. I'll give it a go!

---------- Post added at 23:53 ---------- Previous post was at 23:31 ----------

So I removed the router, and set the LAN to obtain IP and DNS automatically. Reran the tracert, and this is what I got.

Tracing route to www.l.google.com [66.249.91.99]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 51 ms 19 ms 9 ms akasa [0.0.0.0]
2 8 ms 8 ms 16 ms osr01dund-ge122.network.virginmedia.net [81.97.4
8.197]
3 33 ms 21 ms 15 ms osr01edin-tenge71.network.virginmedia.net [62.30
.251.49]
4 26 ms 47 ms 14 ms man-bb-a-ge-400-0.network.virginmedia.net [195.1
82.178.90]
5 31 ms 24 ms 22 ms pop-bb-b-as3-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.252.1
92.158]
6 41 ms 21 ms 20 ms tele-ic-2-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.
184.6]
7 33 ms 64 ms 33 ms 212.250.14.138
8 35 ms 60 ms 34 ms 209.85.255.175
9 32 ms 39 ms 49 ms 209.85.130.84
10 39 ms 37 ms 66 ms 64.233.175.246
11 38 ms 40 ms 35 ms 72.14.233.77
12 44 ms 72 ms 40 ms 66.249.94.146
13 57 ms 38 ms 42 ms ik-in-f99.google.com [66.249.91.99]

Trace complete.

So that's something at least, and suggests the router is the funny bugger in this little saga.

Now, the speed isn't any faster than it was. Still getting around 10mbps. So, I'll still await a respone on the Newsgroups, and update this post as that happens.

Any other ideas are welcome. Cheers. Reckon I'll need to get another router?

---------- Post added at 00:48 ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 23:53 ----------

Oh wonderful, through the joys of Windows Vista, my lack of networking knowledge and own forgetfulness. I've forgotten how to get my connection running back through my router. :confused:

I'll work it out, probably!

[Stabhappy]

does it give you local only or limited/no connection?

as for the router, you may find that you can't port forward. if you ever get offered a decent brand router cheap go for it - i had one with the same symptom as you have there and i couldn't do anything with it.

it was some naffy plexus router.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

Got it connected through the router again, I was being stupid. :D

Just gonna set up the portforwarding etc, and try another tracert. I've still no reply on Newsgroups. Unless I've set that up wrong too. :rolleyes:

[moaningmags]

Newsgroup support are there from 8am - 10pm.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

That's cool then. I posted at 19:15, so tomorrow it is!

[xocemp]

What user name did you post under and the title of the thread?

Edit
If you posted as Barry and your title was "speed drop" then you have an answer from Alan Paul. :tu:

[InfiniteBiscuit]

What user name did you post under and the title of the thread?

Edit
If you posted as Barry and your title was "speed drop" then you have an answer from Alan Paul. :tu:

I actually managed to delete the reply somehow. But I deleted/reset my newsgroup account in Opera, and voila!

Cheers guys!

I'm still perplexed as to why tracert through the router is so poop. Directly from the modem, it works fine. Through the router, it times out until about the 13th attempt.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

Stupid question, but what do I do with the fault reference? Is there anywhere online I can check for an update?

[Joxer]

You could try here: http://status-cable.virginmedia.com/vmstatus/summary.do but I wouldn't hold out much hope of finding anything, there isn't a search feature for reference numbers thogh they are displayed. also most faults aren't on there as they don't affect enough people. you could try typing site:virginmedia.com followed by the reference (minus the F0000 bit) though I doubt it will find anything.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

Got nothing out of that, but it was worth a shot.

I'll give 'em a ring in the week, if it doesn't improve.

[xocemp]

IIRC Alan posted that is was high TXLoad

[caph]

FYI InfiniteBiscuit, high TXLoad is not a hardware fault or anything else as forgivable. It means Virgin have knowingly accepted more subscriptions in your area than they have the capacity to service. Shameless really but that's what they're doing. I've got the exact same problem in my area and have had for months.

Unfortunately it's the higher speed users that this hits hardest and it will likely get worse because you can bet that Virgin will continue to sign people up in your area and upgrade them to 10Mb broadband for free this month. Virgin seem more interested in rolling out 50Mb broadband than providing existing customers with decent speed.

Your only option is to put up with it or leave I'm afraid.

[Joxer]

Not necessarily, caph, high TX load can be caused by malware, cloned modem, stolen wifi connections etc. Possibly VM are rolling out 50Mb precisely because the new system will actually relieve congestion on the network?

That said, high utilisation is not as big an issue as people here seem to think, way more than 50% of the slow speed calls I recieve are issues with the customers equipment (mostly their PC), most of the rest are SNR issues.

[MistaP]

Have you tried the tweak tool from the VM website for 20Mbps? I had a problem on one PC which was limited to 10Mbps for some reason on the 20Mbps service. Ran the tool and it worked at 20Mbps as it shoud after that. Give it a try first.

[warescouse]

Not too sure where to post this but I have been noticing this problem for last couple of days. My trace says it all:
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WinMTR statistics |
| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
| SOHO - 0 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| xx.xxx.xx.x - 0 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 15 | 40 | 10 |
|bagu-txcam1-x-vxxx.network.virginmedia.net - 0 | 37 | 37 | 10 | 16 | 70 | 21 |
|bagu-t3core-1a-ae2-0.network.virginmedia.net -0 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 17 | 70 | 10 |
|man-bb-a-so-310-0.network.virginmedia.net - 0 | 37 | 37 | 10 | 22 | 61 | 20 |
|nth-bb-b-so-300-0.network.virginmedia.net - 0 | 37 | 37 | 10 | 24 | 60 | 10 |
| tele-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net - 45 | 37 | 20 | 10 | 28 | 71 | 40 |
| 212.250.14.86 - 0 | 37 | 36 | 10 | 47 | 421 | 70 |
| No response from host - 100 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|________________________________________________| ______|______|______|______|______|______|

Lots of errors on the hop tele-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net

Anybody else seeing this?

[caph]

high TX load can be caused by malware, cloned modem, stolen wifi connections etc.

High TXLoad is techno speak for an over subscribed UBR. Even if someone has malware or someone is using their wifi, they will still be limited to the bandwidth that Virgin allocate to them (and STM will kick in if this traffic is high anyway). The underlying problem is too many people are connected to the UBR. My UBR is hitting 80% utilisation by 10am. Virgin know this but refuse to do anything about it. A quick check through the support newsgroup shows this is shockingly common.

I agree that the 50Mbps upgrade will alleviate the problem eventually for 20Mbps customers but I don't agree that we should have to wait (and pay) for months on end while it happens (by next Summer IF everything goes to plan). If a UBR is heavily oversubscribed now then I would expect it to be fixed within an acceptable time frame and by that I mean a couple of weeks at most. If Virgin continue to accept subscriptions they ought to make sure they have the capacity available.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

Well I'm no longer having issues with my 20mbps. As I've upgraded. I now await my new modem, and I'm getting about 35mbps on this current modem.

Which is nice! :D

[LaineY]

35MBPS?

Either your IE / Browser Lies or you are in a 50MB Trial Area..

Which you cant be as your modem doesnt support 50MB

How unusual .. You Certain?

By the way..
Just out of curiosity is that an EPC 2100 REVISION A (1) Modem..

If it is i had a problem like that yeaaaars.. ago with the same modem..

I found out it was the Upstream Locking Out.. on the modem when torrent programs / heavy Bandwidth programs were open.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2008/12/22.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

That do ya?

[The Jackal]

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2008/12/22.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

That do ya?

That ping is pretty bad.

What's the point of speed without latency ?

[Frank]

I'm still perplexed as to why tracert through the router is so poop. Directly from the modem, it works fine. Through the router, it times out until about the 13th attempt.
Because you router is set to block ICMP packets probably.

[Ignitionnet]

What's the point in paying attention to a speedtest ping that's an unreliable flash app in that if your browser is slow to load the flash it gives a bad ping? ;)

---------- Post added at 18:56 ---------- Previous post was at 18:54 ----------

Not too sure where to post this but I have been noticing this problem for last couple of days. My trace says it all:
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| WinMTR statistics |
| Host - % | Sent | Recv | Best | Avrg | Wrst | Last |
|------------------------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|------|
| SOHO - 0 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| xx.xxx.xx.x - 0 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 15 | 40 | 10 |
|bagu-txcam1-x-vxxx.network.virginmedia.net - 0 | 37 | 37 | 10 | 16 | 70 | 21 |
|bagu-t3core-1a-ae2-0.network.virginmedia.net -0 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 17 | 70 | 10 |
|man-bb-a-so-310-0.network.virginmedia.net - 0 | 37 | 37 | 10 | 22 | 61 | 20 |
|nth-bb-b-so-300-0.network.virginmedia.net - 0 | 37 | 37 | 10 | 24 | 60 | 10 |
| tele-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net - 45 | 37 | 20 | 10 | 28 | 71 | 40 |
| 212.250.14.86 - 0 | 37 | 36 | 10 | 47 | 421 | 70 |
| No response from host - 100 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|________________________________________________| ______|______|______|______|______|______|

Lots of errors on the hop tele-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net

Anybody else seeing this?

The trace says tele-ic-1 isn't minded to answering your pings, but is forwarding them and your other traffic just fine, note the 0% loss on the hop after, 212.250.14.86.

Routers are there to route, they answer pings if and when they feel like it :)

[InfiniteBiscuit]

Cheers guys. I'll mess about with the router settings a bit.

I'm back on the 20mb service for now, as VM messed up a bit on Monday, by setting my connection to 50mb, without having a new modem ordered or that.
So one of the members of this very forum, had my VM problems sorted out. Getting me onto the right package, etc for my needs.

08/01/09 will be when I get my 50mb service. I miss being able to upload at 200kB/s already though. And downloading at 5mB/s was nice, whilst it lasted. :p I wish I hadn't had that brief taster though. Heh!

[preacher]

All Tracerts to bbc.co.uk time out now guys as they have a corporate firewall up these days as everyone kept hammering their network with pings lol

[whydoIneedatech]

All Tracerts to bbc.co.uk time out now guys as they have a corporate firewall up these days as everyone kept hammering their network with pings lol
We use their site everyday in work and all you do is ping to bbc.co.uk leaving the www of the front and it works everytime.

[Joxer]

All Tracerts to bbc.co.uk time out now guys as they have a corporate firewall up these days as everyone kept hammering their network with pings lol


So is that ICMP UDP or TCP pings? Or something else?

Ran some ICMP pings from work today - all worked ok since tracert uses ICMP it should work ok too. (ok one required a tcp/ip reset but that was a PC issue).

UDP pings and traceroutes work OK from here at the moment.

tcp ping seem to have no responce (using tcptraceroute), but you can't have everything.

Can you ping 127.0.0.1 or 192.168.100.1? If not it may be a firewall issue.

[InfiniteBiscuit]

Ping to 192.168.100.1 works no bother. Tracert's still gubbed though. Meh!