Virgin 20 Mb - getting capped at 1mb? [Archive]

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 21:55

Hey guys,

Moved into a flat a few weeks ago, signed up with virgin 20 mb and I was fully aware that I would get capped as we download alot of stuff.

Problem being, according to virgins website I should be being capped at 5mb not 1mb yet every single night for the past week I've been capped at 1mb with terrible upload speeds too - and a couple of the days ive purposly downloaded nothing yet I've still been capped in the evening.

Can someone tell me what on earth is going on? I'm considering moving to the 50mb service but I'm guessing that will end up getting traffic management on it at some point too, can other people confirm this?

Oh - I should also mention for the first 2 weeks we got 20mb down solidly with no capping what so ever even though I was using usenet alot!

Thanks :)

Peter_

03-08-2009, 22:11

You need to call in when your speed drops as even when traffic managed it should not drop below 5Mb on a 20Mb connection so the must be a fault somewhere.

Call Tech Support on 151 from a Virgin phone or 0845 454 1111 from any other phone.

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 22:15

Thanks, I'll give them a try tomorrow

moaningmags

03-08-2009, 22:18

Peter_

03-08-2009, 22:18

Thanks, I'll give them a try tomorrow
It is best to call when your speed drops so they can run checks straight away as they may tell you to call next time it occurs.

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 22:23

Or do some diagnositcs first.
Where are you downloading from?
If you start a download from the following link what transfer rate do you get?
http://gamefiles.virginmedia.com/blueyondergames/demos/?C=S;O=D
Start a 2nd download what transfer rate do you get on each?
How many users?
Using a router? Which one? Configured properly?

Sorry I should have been alot more descriptive in my first post. Id say I'm experienced enough to tell if it was the router, I configured it myself - WGR614 v9. We get solid 20 meg until around 5-6 ish which I understand is when they start capping for the evening.

I will ring tomorrow when it happens - I presume I can ring 24/7? As itll probably be after 6.

When I try to download those files I'll get about 80-90kb/s on one file however when I download another file at the same time I'll get 80-90kb/s on that file too... Odd? 4 files still gives me the same speed for each one.

Ive tried multiple files from other servers and I always struggle to reach 100kb/s - tried speedtest.net and it says Im getting 1meg down and 0.7 up.

moaningmags

03-08-2009, 22:27

Which version of Windows? Is the same happening on all comps in the house or just your own?
Usually if it's a network issue one file transfer is X amount, opening a 2nd file would normally split the first file speed in half as that's all the network is capable of.
What are your power levels and SNR from 192.168.100.1 root/root for user/pass

Obvious question but has to be asked, is the router secured?

Peter_

03-08-2009, 22:27

As you are on 20Mb you can ring up and order a Netgear WNR2000 N router for only £25 which will give you a better and faster connection and if you are really lucky you may get one of the new D link N routers instead.

Tech Support is available 24/7.

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 22:36

Surely I don't require a new router though? I barely use my laptop which uses wireless so N isn't worth it for me.

I cant test my flatmates pc because he's using it at the moment, I'll have to test that tomorrow when he's out of the house. Hes also using his xbox on the net so I'm not going to mess with the router for a couple of house.

I've tried my laptop however and its exactly the same speed that my pc is getting :(

I couldn't find where it shows the SNR statistics in the routers config - I was very familiar with my old 834G however I haven't had much time to mess around with this one, could you tell me where this info is located?

moaningmags

03-08-2009, 22:38

What's your flatmate doing on the pc? I'm asking incase he's downloading or uploading which can and will impact on the performance you're seeing.

Can you try a ping test too see your minimum, maximum and average times in ms and also if any packet loss.
ping bbc.co.uk -n 50

Peter_

03-08-2009, 22:40

Surely I don't require a new router though? I barely use my laptop which uses wireless so N isn't worth it for me.

I cant test my flatmates pc because he's using it at the moment, I'll have to test that tomorrow when he's out of the house. Hes also using his xbox on the net so Im not going to mess with the router for a couple of house.

I've tried my laptop however and its exactly the same speed that my pc is getting :(
I just mentioned the router because it is a good deal for a N router.

If it is slow now you should call Tech Support so they can try and find what the problem is instead of tomorrow when the speed is back to normal.

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 22:41

He's just chatting on IM and browsing webpages, nothing big because Ive talked to him at length about the problem - and we have netlimiter on both machines to cut the 20 meg in half (so that if I'm torrenting it wont ruin his xbox experience and the other way round) and yeah don't worry I've tried shutting the software off :p Don't worry its configured properly

Im getting response times of 30-40ms

moaningmags

03-08-2009, 22:45

Good ping times and no loss. If he's out tomorrow night, try bypassing the router altogether and try downloading from that link again. If still the same call tech support who can check for area faults like high utilisation.

If you click on the link saying connection at the top of the page it will tell us where you are.
Mine is 94-XXX-X--XXX.cable.ubr19.uddi.blueyonder.co.uk

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 22:48

Im gonna get him off his xbox in a couple of minutes and try resetting the modem and router before ringing them, ill do it tonight as you guys suggested.

82-.cable.ubr04.newc.blueyonder.co.uk

moaningmags

03-08-2009, 22:49

Can you scrub some of your ip addy please, thanks :)

That tells me you're ex-NTL which I'm not overly familiar as I primarily do tech support for ex-TW.

Not that I doubt you but try direct to one comp without the router making sure to reboot the modem after removing the router incase you've done an iffy bit of configuration :D
If that doesn't solve it a call to tech support will be next.

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 22:50

If someone wants my ip that badly I'm sure they'll get it :p

moaningmags

03-08-2009, 22:53

True, but no point making it easier for them :)

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 23:03

I can tell this is going to be a pain.

The indian guy on the phone told me to unscrew the cable that comes out of the wall and goes into the modem for 30 minutes.

I personally think thats total bull, so id like confirmation that Im not wasting my time before trying it.

I cant see the difference between switching the modem off and unscrewing the fibre, he says its something to do with the automatic servers on their end....

moaningmags

03-08-2009, 23:05

It's something I've only ever tried when a customer has a 169ip address, never tried it for slow speeds never been trained too either.
I work for VM in tech support but not verified as staff but if you like I'm working tomorrow 2-10 and can take a look for you if you like. If you'd rather not there are a few tech support guys on here who have been verified who I'm sure could take a look for you.

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 23:06

Is it worth trying? Or should I call them up again?

moaningmags

03-08-2009, 23:08

I wouldn't waste my time doing it to be honest.

You could always call back and ask specifically if there are any problems on ubr04 newc and ask him to check his status page and also confirm what cable of ubr04newc you are on.

broadbandking

03-08-2009, 23:13

Is it worth trying? Or should I call them up again?

You need to call before 8pm really plus if you want I can check the usage on your UBR if you PM me post code as Moldova said you need to speak to em just try if you want to get either Scotland center Liverpool or Swansea, any agent at these centers are brilliant.

Plus mate 50Mb won't cause you so many issues, I used it for awhile and was great plus it uses a different DOCSIS so you should get better connection, only cheap from the 1st Sept.

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 23:24

moaningmags

03-08-2009, 23:25

Not until they establish what the problem is.
What are your power levels and SNR from 192.168.100.1 root/root for user/pass

Look in downstream and upstream.

broadbandking

03-08-2009, 23:28

Right, rang them again - another indian guy who said this time to plug my laptop straight into the modem as either the router or ethernet was faulty - ive done that and im still getting exactly the same problem.

The guy said there's nothing wrong on his end and even said at the moment that I shouldn't be being capped as I haven't downloaded enough to BE capped today! Said his system is showing that im getting the full 20 meg...

I'm starting to get worried now, this is becoming more and more annoying.

I'll try to ring tomorrow earlier broadbandking and hopefully ill get a uk callcentre, what other things are they going to ask me to do? Might they send a guy round?

Sounds like high usage on your UBR, tech support will need to esclate this to there 2nd line team which will then pass it to the correct team and your UBR will be upgraded at some point, My honest view get 50Mb if you want good speeds, actually post your modem configs please I will look at them 2morrow or maybe moldova or mags might look at them 2night just log on to 192.168.100.1 password and user name are root, I need your downstream levels and upstream levels.

DAM MAGS BEAT ME LOL

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 23:32

Sorry Im an idiot, Ive been logging into the wrong device

Downstream rate is 5360.537 Ksym/sec
downstream SNR is 39db
power level 7.2 dBmV

It also says downstream status is locked

upstream rate is 2560 Ksym/sec
power level 47db

moaningmags

03-08-2009, 23:35

To me those levels look fine.

RoachycaL

03-08-2009, 23:40

Corrected ^

Downstream rate is 5360.537 Ksym/sec
downstream SNR is 39db
power level 7.2 dBmV

It also says downstream status is locked

upstream rate is 2560 Ksym/sec
power level 47db

broadbandking

04-08-2009, 08:17

As Mags said for those levels are fine

musicbravo

04-08-2009, 08:59

Have you tried disabling netlimiter?

---------- Post added at 08:55 ---------- Previous post was at 08:47 ----------

Ok I have just downloaded and installed net limiter 3. Having looked at the config and scheduler page, it looks to me that it could be very easy to mess up the setup of this by accident purely by misreading the units. Are you scheduled to run the rule 24/7 or does it perhaps kick in at 6pm ish per chance. Let me know

---------- Post added at 08:59 ---------- Previous post was at 08:55 ----------

for instance setting 1mbit slimit instead of 1mb limit. which would cause your exact problem especially if all apps are limited at this level, allowing each do download at around 100k

RoachycaL

04-08-2009, 12:14

I said in an earlier post I've tried shutting it off completely. I configured it properly and tested it on both machines.

That's not the problem because when I plugged my laptop straight into the modem it still did it, and the laptop doesn't even have netlimiter installed

The problem is that 1. im getting capped for not using the internet

and 2. when I AM getting capped, its at 1meg not 5. I cant see how its a problem at my end when I get solid 20meg until I get capped, if it was a problem at my end I wouldn't get a solid 20 meg.

---------- Post added at 12:14 ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 ----------

Tried ringing again just now, the guy said to ring back when I get capped - which I did TWICE last night and they couldn't help me.

He said that if they cant sort it over the phone they will send a guy round but I cant really see what he can do :(

broadbandking

04-08-2009, 13:05

he can change the modem and check the cables and levels from the cab

musicbravo

04-08-2009, 14:16

Apologies, didnt mean to upset you further but replying to everyone who tries to help you in the angry manner you replied to my message and in a lesser extent to Mags message will get you nowhere fast. As for netlimiter not being on your laptop, you did not mention this previously as far as i can see. Admittedly i missed the post stating you had tried shutting net limiter down and for that i need to read more carefully. With regards setup i was only trying to help we all sometimes miss the simplest things and it usually takes someone else to point this out.

Best of luck in getting this sorted out, but remember chill, it is not us you have the problem with, we are only trying to help. As for being capped i'm still not convinced this is what is happening, would not make sense for you to be able to get 80k on 2 simultaneous downloads. Sounds more like a possible cabling/modem fault

RoachycaL

04-08-2009, 14:18

Sorry mate, it doesn't come across well in text form but I wasn't the slightest bit annoyed or upset.

I have to say I really REALLY appreciate the help you guys are giving me - sorry if you thought I was being nasty but I really wasn't :)

I'm gonna ring them again tonight to see what they say, and ill try to get them to get a virgin guy around.

musicbravo

04-08-2009, 14:39

RoachycaL

04-08-2009, 19:26

Ok, thought id give you guys an update.

Im getting capped at 1mb as we speak however Im trying to download files, their all going at 100kb/s and same with streaming videos, all to the same speed, sometimes less.

Ive just opened utorrent and its letting me download 10 files at a combined speed of 700kb/s - eh?!

The gadget on my sidebar is telling me that im downloading at 100kb/s, as is speedtest.net yet utorrent is letting me go way higher.

Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?

Peter_

04-08-2009, 19:31

RoachycaL

04-08-2009, 19:43

Yes they keep telling me there are no problems at their end. Ive tried taking the router out of the equation, and it only does it at this time of night.

Peter_

04-08-2009, 19:46

Yes they keep telling me there are no problems at their end. Ive tried taking the router out of the equation, and it only does it at this time of night.
Has no one even gave any possible reason as to what the fault may be.

RoachycaL

04-08-2009, 19:52

Not yet nope :( I'll try ringing again now but I'm starting to think its something that doesn't have anything to do with them.

Peter_

04-08-2009, 19:54

Not yet nope :( I'll try ringing again now but I'm starting to think its something that doesn't have anything to do with them.
Such as what?

musicbravo

04-08-2009, 20:07

You havent got bandwidth control turned on on your router have you? Some routers are capable of this and for the same reason i gave with netlimiter this could have an adverse effect. No wait you have already said utorrent is allowing much better throughtput. D'oh

RoachycaL

04-08-2009, 21:38

I had a really helpful guy on the phone tonight, we talked for a long time and he got me to do alot of tests. In the end he was just as baffled as I was - so hes put a note on my account so that I can ring tomorrow and book a phonecall with a level 2 technician who can do more diagnostics over the phone.

Have to wait till tomorrow now.

broadbandking

04-08-2009, 22:59

You could post on the newsgroups they are the 2nd Level techs

xocemp

04-08-2009, 23:06

If I remember correctly the agent you spoke to should have booked a time when you would get a call from 2nd line.
And not you call to be put through to 2nd line, is this what you mean.

RoachycaL

05-08-2009, 00:27

He told me they were fully booked for tonight so I would have to ring back tomorrow to book a time for tomorrow evening.

moaningmags

05-08-2009, 01:10

Make sure you call early, preferably around 8am as the slots will go quickly.

v0id

05-08-2009, 02:15

.....82-.cable.ubr04.newc.blueyonder.co.uk

.....

That tells me you're ex-NTL which I'm not overly familiar as I primarily do tech support for ex-TW.
......

eh? with a hostname of *.blueyonder.co.uk. That's ex telewest :/

moaningmags

05-08-2009, 02:26

Can't remember ever having a call from a Newcastle customer, if that's what newc stands for.
http://help2.virginmedia.com/help/getContent.jspx?page=h_internet_advanced_dns

I have however had a call from everything on that list.

Peter_

05-08-2009, 06:58

eh? with a hostname of *.blueyonder.co.uk. That's ex telewest :/
He is still EX-NTL regardless of the uBR name.

RoachycaL

05-08-2009, 11:59

This is getting a tad annoying now - I rang up this morning and got another Indian guy. I gave him my details again straight away and said there's notes on my account that say I need to be booked in for a level 2 guy.

The guy agreed with this but then said that when they ring back tonight, they will have to go through the diagnostics checks again before they can organise a level 2 callback!!! This is doing my nut in, I told the guy that Frank from the other night said that wasnt the case but he was having none of it!

So I guess I have to wait until tonight, THEN they'll ring me back the next night...

Peter_

05-08-2009, 12:02

RoachycaL

05-08-2009, 12:12

I rang 151 on my phone, I don't have 50mb I have 20 :)

He did put that stuff into the notes but It hasn't worked

Peter_

05-08-2009, 12:13

i rang 151 on my phone, I don't have 50mb I have 20 :)
Sorry I about that but from September it is coming down in price so may be of interest:D

RoachycaL

05-08-2009, 12:22

Yeah you're right :D however I bet its coming down in price because there going to start introducing caps on it :(

Im a broke student, cant really afford it if thats the case

Peter_

05-08-2009, 12:24

Yeah you're right :D however I bet its coming down in price because there going to start introducing caps on it :(

Im a broke student, cant really afford it if thats the case
When the price comes down give them a call as you may get a good deal, never know till you ask.

RoachycaL

05-08-2009, 14:07

True :) Will do mate

xocemp

05-08-2009, 19:39

He is still EX-NTL regardless of the uBR name.

No he/she is ex-Telewest newc-cmts is the new naming convention for newy

Peter_

05-08-2009, 19:42

No he/she is ex-Telewest newc-cmts is the new naming convention for newy
Thanks for that so he/s connected to New York not Newcastle:tu:

xocemp

05-08-2009, 19:47

No!
Read again, newc-cmts is the new naming convention for newy. And he/she is indeed in Newcastle, though I suspect you know this. A little humor can mask ignorance ;)

Peter_

05-08-2009, 19:53

No!
Read again, newc-cmts is the new naming convention for newy. And he/she is indeed in Newcastle, though I suspect you know this. A little humor can mask ignorance ;)
No I was talking about New York in North Tyneside just north of Newcastle not the other one.;)

The New York I am talking about is listed here and they get broadband from Virginmedia http://www.which.co.uk/news/2008/12/virgin-media-launches-superfast-broadband-164440.jsp

RoachycaL

05-08-2009, 22:40

Well they didn't ring me back tonight like they said they would do - so I'll ring after work tomorrow....

Getting sick of this now. Someone PM'ed me a few hours ago telling me they're near newcastle and their getting exactly the same problems as me. Dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing.

fmouse

06-08-2009, 15:56

Hi peeps

I was the one who pm'ed RoachycaL.

Working from home this aftertoon - In attempt to get through to a UK support person - Just tired and it's the Indian call center again - so I hung up - It saves me the pain of banging my head against the wall. I will try again later.

Like RoachycaL my evening speeds are definitely being restricted. Even the gamefiles virgin site never goes faster than 160Kb/sec. However if I fire off multiple downloads they all reach approx the same speed (140-160Kb/sec) - and I'm in the 4 -5 Mbit combined speeds.

If I logon at 1am in the morning I'm downloading at the full 10Mbit on a single session.

Streaming web content is dire too... You can forget Youtube in the evenings - it's pause, buffer, play, pause, buffer, play, etc.

I thought my speed would be slow this afternoon - as Saturday morning I was back to slow speeds (tried at 11:20am). This lasted all day long. When I tried around 1am on Sunday morning it was full speed ahoy again.

Early in the morning is fine too - tested at 9:20am. Haven't been able to test any later. Then each evening this weekend when I get back from work it's slow again.

At the moment I have full 10Mbit speeds - so goodness knows when it actually drops down. I wanted it to be slow so I could get some monitoring done by one of the UK support staff.

I've never hit the STM - I don't download enough - according to DU meter my total usage last month was 3.4GB.

Chris

---------- Post added at 15:56 ---------- Previous post was at 14:36 ----------

Right, spoke to a nice chap called David who checked my modem levels - and also checked with another team to see if I had been subjected to any traffic management. The modem is clean error wise, and my traffic usage is small - no STM records for my account/IP etc.

One thing he mentioned which "may" be the cause was my upstream power level - which is 30dBmV (you can also see this in the modem status). I was told that this was a little lower than the desired level - 35dBmV was the figure he quoted.

Apparently a low and fluctuating upstream power level can lead to speed issues - although he didn't know why the speed variations would occur at set times each day.

I'll need to get an engineer around to tweak this etting - something they do at the main junction box out on the street - they they come in to check the new value is OK.

Pity the engineers are busy at the moment in my local area - will be a week or two before I can arrange the call out. Will have to see if it improves during this time - due to other people in the area having the same issue.

Whether it fixes my speed issue or not - at least it's something I can get done.

Chris

fmouse

06-08-2009, 18:57

Another update.

6pm arrived, and my single speed download is slow again.

Gave tech support a ring - seeing as I now had something to demonstrate to them - I spoke to a nice chap called Phil.

Tests were done on the gamesfile virgin site.

Demonstrated a single download which starts at around the 400KB/sec mark and then gradually drops to a steady 260-264KB/sec.

Fired off a second download - guess what - settled at the 260-264KB/sec mark.

Fired off a third download - again another 260-26KB/sec download.

At least the speeds are consistant - just a pity I cannot get a single 1.2MB/sec download.

Phil did all the background monitoring his end - he could see the server stats his end - but had no idea why it was behaving like this. Apparently my network area bandwidth is not overused - bandwidth aplenty. and my modem stats were fine - I still had the same upstream power level value of 30 I had this afternoon when single download speeds were fine.

I even put the clock back on my PC, turned off the Microsoft firewall. But the speed issue was the same.

You can even remove the PC out of the equation as I get the same behaviour on a second PC.

Same effect whether plugged directly into the modem, or if I plug in a wireless modem (which I only use on rare occasions).

Anyway, Phil said he'd send an email to the Network Team section - see if they could monitor my cable segment for any possible faults.

I don't suppose anybody out there has any further ideas on what the issue could be?

All the best

Chris

RoachycaL

06-08-2009, 19:00

You have the EXACT same problem as me mate, you seem much further forward in getting it sorted though - keep me informed as I'm getting nowhere at the moment. I'll try again tomorrow morning, I'm getting 1meg speeds again as I speak. It isn't a hardware problem on our end, if were both getting the same problem and it started happening at the same time for both of us

Broken Hope

06-08-2009, 23:36

I've been having these same problems for over 6 months, I've had techs out to change power levels, multiple new modems, been changed over to the new UBR's and back to the old ones and I'm still getting horrible speeds, right this moment I'm getting the following at 11:34PM, which isn't a time I'd expect there to be high load.

Test 1: 1024K took 2625 ms = 390.1 KB/sec, approx 3214 Kbps, 3.14 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 3297 ms = 310.6 KB/sec, approx 2559 Kbps, 2.5 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 2691 ms = 380.5 KB/sec, approx 3135 Kbps, 3.06 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 4861 ms = 421.3 KB/sec, approx 3472 Kbps, 3.39 Mbps

Overall Average Speed = approx 3095 Kbps, 3.02 Mbps

I've tried connecting directly to the modem, using another PC, still the same issue.

I'd love it if someone here could check my UBR for issues, cause even the level 2's on the newsgroups haven't been of much help.

my UBR details are

cpc1-basf1-0-0-custXXX.nott.cable.ntl.com

Modem levels are

Downstream Receive Power Level : 3.8 dBmV
Downstream SNR : 40.8 dB

Upstream transmit Power Level : 50.5 dBmV

Which I know are perfectly fine.

RoachycaL

07-08-2009, 00:36

I'm worried now that this problem just wont get sorted :(

Do you get these weird speeds all day or just in the evenings like me and fmouse?

Broken Hope

07-08-2009, 01:56

I'm worried now that this problem just wont get sorted :(

Do you get these weird speeds all day or just in the evenings like me and fmouse?

Mostly the evenings. I am currently getting my full 20Mb at 1:55am, which proves my computer, router and connection is capable, so seems to be a load issue, even though I've been told over and over that the utilisation on my UBR is fine.

grohnautorsten

07-08-2009, 13:39

Same issue here. Speeds drop to 1 meg after 5 pm. Before that it's fine. I've started a new thread as well. My tracerts seem fine. Problem started last Friday. Virgin are saying no network issue but I'm having the same issue as you. Are you in the NE27 area by any chance. Having an engineer round Saturday but I doubt it will help.

---------- Post added at 13:39 ---------- Previous post was at 13:30 ----------

P.S: I am in Shiremoor which is close to New York. Haven't tried the multiple download thing yet though. You should contact Tech Support newsgroup team or twitter@virginmedia.co.uk. They are aware of my download problems. On Saturday I had speed issues all day. Next time you contact Tech Support you can tell them about me too. They need to know it's not an isolated case. PM me to discuss further if you want.

RoachycaL

07-08-2009, 16:48

Ok I just got off the phone with another guy, there's a techie coming round on Monday to have a look.

As you guys said, doubt it'll do any good - its good to hear a few more people are having the same problems as me. Its definitely not a factor of having too many people on their server as they said only 67 modems are connected to the server Im on and he said there's usually hundreds.

I told the guy today that there was someone else I knew who was having the same problems, but it didn't seem to make any difference to him.

I'm in the NE2 area, Jesmond ( yeah its newcastle )

Tonight my speeds are going from 700k to 1mb which is the highest I've had in the evening for a good week or so...

If they cant find anything wrong, I'm either leaving or switching to 50mb :P

grohnautorsten

07-08-2009, 16:55

At the moment my speeds are dropping lower and lower and later on I will only get 1-2 meg. My tech gut is coming round tomorrow. The UBR ("server") is connect to has lots of capacity left and there is no reason why I should not be getting full speeds. There have been so many outages in NE6, NE25, NE26, NE28, NE33 recently it's unbelievable. The tech guy won't find anything tomorrow I'm sure of that. I think fmouse has managed to get Tech Support to escalate the issue. I'd like to know what's going to happen. This must be a Network Issue and no technician will be able to sort the problem locally.

RoachycaL

07-08-2009, 17:11

If its only in the North East, they'll start looking into it surely? Quite a few of us are having this problem now

grohnautorsten

08-08-2009, 07:44

Tech Support just don't take any notice. Ive told them the issue is not an isolated case. They would not inform Network Faults. It will either take weeks and weeks to get sorted or not at all. Tech guy is coming this afternoon. He will either say hes heard this many times before or he wont find anything and leave. If you dont get any further. Email the twitter Team at twitter@virginmedia.co.uk and tell then about us sufferers on here lol. Ill post again once the tech guy has been.

grohnautorsten

08-08-2009, 12:35

To Moldova:

You seem to be in Tech Support, unfortunately, I cannot message you privately. I have spoken to a few people both neighbours and on here. All of them reported the speed issue after 5pm to Tech Support and are getting nowhere. Seeing that this problem suddenly started last week and was fine before that, there must be something wrong with the network. If you look through the internet, Virgin Media had exactly this kind of problem in 2007 where customers lost speed at certain times of day. Seeing that this has happened before and lots of people are now experiencing this problem, somebody in Network Faults should investigate this rather then 1st or 2nd line support.

---------- Post added at 12:35 ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 ----------

UPDATE:

The Engineer has just come round and checked all the equipment. No fault found! What a surprise. At the moment 12:33 speeds are normal and everything is working. The engineer that popped round did confirm to me that he has visited several other houses with the same issue (speeds dropping after 5pm). He believes me and thinks there is an issue somewhere but he could not help me and had to close the ticket. If a Virgin Media engineer confirms there are issues in the Newcastle area, why are Virgin Media NOT listening?? If anybody has this issue that's being discussed here, please report it to newsgroup team because it needs more complaints for them to take action.

fmouse

08-08-2009, 14:18

You need the engineer to visit after 6pm so that they can actually see the fault.

I was told they work in time slots - 4pm to 7pm is one. That way they can plug in their own laptop - do the same test - and see the issue for themselves. This will stop tech support saying it must be your PC which has the issue.

Anyway, I posted I had the same issue on the newsgroup you mentioned.
Had a reply off David Owen (I don't know how big the tech section is - it might be the same David I spoke to on Thurdsay - who knows!).

I can't see the suggestion of setting duplex speeds, using the TCP optimizer, etc. working. As it a specific time period with the same issue on 3 different PCs, running different OS's, and software configurations. Still it's something to tweak whilst I wait for a web stream to buffer far enough ahead to give me 30secs of continuous viewing.

Speeds have been fine since 1AM last night.. 4 hours to go... better get all my streaming done now :)

Chris

RoachycaL

08-08-2009, 21:10

Is there any way to actually get Virgin to start checking their networks in the area? Any way of speaking to someone higher up?

grohnautorsten

08-08-2009, 21:25

Sadly not. The only way is to demand 2nd Line support. They can check network while you are downloading. Someone needs to escalate this issue. Maybe you should ring complaints department. Looks like a dead end right now. An engineer will visit me at 6 next Thursday. Dont want to wait that long.

RoachycaL

10-08-2009, 16:08

Well a bit of good news, the virgin guy just called round and the first thing I said to him was that I was getting slow speeds, he then replied by saying that over the past month that's literally all he's been called out for.

Now I've browsed the forum for the first time in 2 days and all I see are threads about slow speeds in Newcastle.

I could tell the guy wanted to get away however he was adamant that something higher up would need to be done and that it was annoying him as much as everyone else - said he's been doing it for years and they never usually have problems in Newcastle.

He's given me his phone number and said to ring back next Monday to ask if its been sorted higher up or not.

Sounds promising to be honest, lets hope the other technicians that have been called out say the same?

grohnautorsten

10-08-2009, 16:15

Did you speak to an engineer called Andy. My engineer was frustrated too as he could not help customers. Well, this looks like it's getting escalated. My speeds are down right now and it looks like the drop in speed started even earlier today. I've been bugging 2nd line support and they have now agreed to run extensive tests tonight plus I am in contact with the complaints department. I think the ball is finally rolling. I'm expecting a call from a technical expert now.

RoachycaL

10-08-2009, 16:20

Great news, no the guy I had was called Paul. Keep me informed as to what's happening mate :)

Currently I'm getting 10 meg which is fine - however it'll drop to unusable status later.

I forgot to mention that if a problem is found higher up, he said they would definitely reimburse us for the speed drops - probably a couple of months free or something.

grohnautorsten

10-08-2009, 16:42

Yeah, I get 10 too but I should get 20 meg. lol I will let you know if I find out anything. You keep me posted too please. Already had 1 months credit, doubt I will get more, maybe for the hassle.

---------- Post added at 16:42 ---------- Previous post was at 16:33 ----------

Speed right now, absolutely terrible on a 20 meg connection:

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2009/08/29.png

Same speed using games files

RoachycaL

10-08-2009, 16:51

How did you get the 1 months credit? How would I go about getting it? :P

grohnautorsten

11-08-2009, 17:19

I sent an email to their Twitter Team. They offered it. I didn't have to ask. Lol. By the way, the issue has now been escalated. The Network Team are working on it.

fmouse

11-08-2009, 22:58

Yes I see on the newsgroups today a post by ziggy and answered by Graham (from Virgin) that they investigating a fault in the NE area.

So at least we're finally believed, and that we do have an issue.

Chris

RoachycaL

12-08-2009, 12:27

Yes! Cant wait for this to be sorted. One less thing to worry about and I'm glad they finally listened!

stubright

12-08-2009, 23:09

Hi everyone
I have the same problem, 20meg connection rarely going faster than 2meg at best , usually going at 0.6meg. The upload speed is fine and I haven't downloaded enough to be capped.
I've called india 6 times now and the say everything is fine on their end. They gave me a new modem, they blamed my pc, they blamed my laptop, they blamed AVG anti-virus, they blamed my cables. They give me a phone number of their tech support dept but I'm not paying £1/min for something that is their problem.
I have now contacted them via their website, I don't know how much good that will do but hopefully they will get back to me.

I forgot to mention I live in Wallsend

Stu

grohnautorsten

13-08-2009, 08:46

Hi

Do your speed issues always start in the evening at around 4 pm? Wallsend has been pretty bad recently. 2nd line support are currently investigating a network issue so I hope this will soon be sorted.

To everyone else:

Are you still having issues or have your problems been sorted. Just want to get an idea.

Thanks

stubright

13-08-2009, 08:58

This morning at around 6am my speed was 5-6 meg. At 7ish it was 18-19meg. I'm at work now so i can't check it again until later today.

stubright

13-08-2009, 20:02

As you can see from below I was at full speed at 7am and down to 9000kbs by 430pm and by 730pm back to the usual 2200kbs. I received an email from a man called Mark [ADMIN EDIT - NAME REMOVED] who has given some tests to do since they checked the line and found nothing wrong. I've done the tests several times using a my pc through a router and through my laptop connected directly to the modem. All the results get steadily slower as the night goes on. So I'm going to email him all my results including a link to this forum and hope they can find a solution

Today 19:36 2211 kbps (276kB/s) 732 kbps (91.5kB/s)
Today 19:35 2450 kbps (306kB/s) 733 kbps (91.6kB/s)
Today 19:01 2374 kbps (297kB/s) 731 kbps (91.4kB/s)
Today 18:56 3024 kbps (378kB/s) 730 kbps (91.3kB/s)
Today 18:53 2914 kbps (364kB/s) 733 kbps (91.6kB/s)
Today 18:49 3416 kbps (427kB/s) 731 kbps (91.4kB/s)
Today 18:46 4955 kbps (619kB/s) 732 kbps (91.5kB/s)
Today 18:39 4131 kbps (516kB/s) 735 kbps (91.9kB/s)
Today 18:30 4676 kbps (585kB/s) 727 kbps (90.9kB/s)
Today 18:25 3508 kbps (439kB/s) 731 kbps (91.4kB/s)
Today 18:13 4464 kbps (558kB/s) 732 kbps (91.5kB/s)
Today 17:35 7275 kbps (909kB/s) 736 kbps (92kB/s)
Today 17:20 6362 kbps (795kB/s) 734 kbps (91.8kB/s)
Today 17:16 8134 kbps (1.02MB/s) 736 kbps (92kB/s)
Today 17:04 5565 kbps (696kB/s) 732 kbps (91.5kB/s)
Today 17:01 9072 kbps (1.13MB/s) 731 kbps (91.4kB/s)
Today 16:47 10916 kbps (1.36MB/s) 733 kbps (91.6kB/s)
Today 16:40 8894 kbps (1.11MB/s) 732 kbps (91.5kB/s)
Today 16:36 9088 kbps (1.14MB/s) 734 kbps (91.8kB/s)
Today 07:00 19463 kbps (2.43MB/s) 733 kbps (91.6kB/s)
Today 06:58 19622 kbps (2.45MB/s) 736 kbps (92kB/s)
Yesterday 23:27 2157 kbps (270kB/s) 730 kbps (91.3kB/s)
Yesterday 22:39 1670 kbps (209kB/s) 731 kbps (91.4kB/s)
Yesterday 20:51 2416 kbps (302kB/s) 686 kbps (85.8kB/s)
Yesterday 20:09 2662 kbps (333kB/s) 731 kbps (91.4kB/s)
Yesterday 19:54 2369 kbps (296kB/s) 729 kbps (91.1kB/s)
Yesterday 18:42 5925 kbps (741kB/s) 735 kbps (91.9kB/s)

Russ

13-08-2009, 20:14

Please can forum members not post VM staff full names unless that staff member contacts the team directly to give their permission, thank you.

stubright

13-08-2009, 20:35

Sorry, I didn't realise I'd typed his full name. Won't happen again

grohnautorsten

14-08-2009, 12:15

Hi fellow speed addicts,

I have just had a message from Tech Support that my/our issue has also been passed onto the Network Team by the engineer that came round yesterday. So this is another escalation. It looks like we are all still having the same issue in the evening. Cannot believe this is taking so long. If we had been believed sooner rather than later, this could have been resolved by now.

RoachycaL

15-08-2009, 00:05

I'm just glad their looking into it to be honest. Speeds are still dire here - 1-2mb at best in the evenings.

I'm going on holiday tomorrow for a week so you guys wont hear from me for a while - keep this thread up to date though! :)

fmouse

18-08-2009, 23:33

There is a fault ticket for this issue.

Last update on the newgroups said that CISCO were involved - no update from the Virgin Techs on what there findings were.

0.2Mbit - 1.2Mbit evening speeds here for the 3rd week. Quickest site is the virgin games site - which hits 130-150KB/sec at peak slowness - around 9-11PM for me. Apple and Microsoft are in the 50KB/sec - 76KB/sec region.

Chris

Welshchris

19-08-2009, 00:11

stubright

19-08-2009, 20:36

How is everyone's speed today? Mine is currently at full speed (2.46MBs) (20:35). I've not had this speed for at least a fortnight at this time.

fmouse

19-08-2009, 21:39

Yay hey... mine too.

Whatever CISCO and Virgin and done STOP NOW - I'm happy :)

You're all back on my Xmas card list :)

Chris

xocemp

19-08-2009, 22:18

I had a virgin tech out today who changed my modem and we were discussing the STM and i said they are not supposed to cap after 9pm unless u have hit the limit before 9pm.

The technician looked at me, laughed and said yeah right and thats all i can say on the subject which he meant that he knows they they do cap after the 9pm time.

A service tech wouldn't know when STM triggers are set on the cmts. They do not see configs on the cmts nor do they have access to the cmts'es.

You've had your leg pulled Chris.

Ignitionnet

19-08-2009, 22:40

A service tech wouldn't know when STM triggers are set on the cmts. They do not see configs on the cmts nor do they have access to the cmts'es.

You've had your leg pulled Chris.

Service techs know everything from enforcement config on the CMTS right through to the latest state of trials throughout the country, you know that Xo ;)

moaningmags

19-08-2009, 22:58

I wonder if they have Saturday's lottery numbers :erm:

Welshchris

20-08-2009, 04:47

A service tech wouldn't know when STM triggers are set on the cmts. They do not see configs on the cmts nor do they have access to the cmts'es.

You've had your leg pulled Chris.

he was informed by someone who was part of the team that installed the new docsis 3 BSR's in swansea about it and and the reason they are doing it is because of over subscription. This isnt the first time ive heard of this also that Virgin do STM if the UBR/BSR peak above a certain limit.

When my modem was changed i went from the DOCSIS 3 network back onto the DOCSIS 1 network, when i asked second line support why i was told that if i checked my UBR was also differrent and i had been placed on an "Overspill" UBR because of oversubscription.

grohnautorsten

20-08-2009, 12:08

Hi fmouse and stubright,

yeah my speed was back to normal last night. Virgin rang this morning confirming that there was an upload issues with one of Virgins router. Cisco resolved the problem. The ticket is now closed. Will monitor over next few days but looks like its sorted now, touch wood.

RoachycaL

22-08-2009, 14:23

Back from holiday guys :) Hope things are fixed!

Ignitionnet

22-08-2009, 15:07

he was informed by someone who was part of the team that installed the new docsis 3 BSR's in swansea about it and and the reason they are doing it is because of over subscription. This isnt the first time ive heard of this also that Virgin do STM if the UBR/BSR peak above a certain limit.

That or it was a software problem on the BSRs that Motorola have been working to fix. I'll take those words straight from the guys who have been working on the issue over the 'he said, she said, they said' from a service tech. :)

When my modem was changed i went from the DOCSIS 3 network back onto the DOCSIS 1 network, when i asked second line support why i was told that if i checked my UBR was also differrent and i had been placed on an "Overspill" UBR because of oversubscription.

Loads are balanced between DOCSIS 3 and 1 depending on needs, ways and means. You were probably returned to the same D1 CMTS that you were on before, unless your area had been resegmented in which case all modems in your area would have been on that CMTS. It's not 'overspill' any more than any other network capacity increase though. If it were that simple that they could just pop people over to 'overspill' capacity there would never be capacity problems.

The only capacity issues I've heard of on the D3 network were a few upstream capacity problems, that might have been the cause for your return to D1 network.