Virgin media disconnects/slow speeds [Archive]

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UnderPressure

20-02-2010, 18:08

Been getting constant disconnects today and my connection has been pretty slow.

In fact last couple of weeks, the connection has been slow, especially in evenings, not quick enough to run videos off the bbc iplayer.

Used to be absolutely fine, my computer is clean, not running torrents or anything like that.

Based in East London, using a netgear wgr614 router, connected via an ethernet cable, wireless isn't used that often.

Any ideas anyone?

Sephiroth

20-02-2010, 19:09

UnderPressure

20-02-2010, 20:19

Any chance you're caught up in other things going on in East London? http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/search.php?searchid=3509869

Otherwise post your modem stats and a PATHPING www.bbc.co.uk so we can try and figure something out.

Cable Modem Information
Cable Modem : Euro-DOCSIS 1.0/1.1/2.0 Compliant

Serial Number : 0014A4B1E368
Boot Code Version : 3.1.6d
Software Version : 2.94.1015
Hardware Version : 1.19

How do I do a PATHPING? Sorry!

colin25

20-02-2010, 20:48

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Using-Pathping.html

try this for guidance.

Basically run pathping through command prompt

Sephiroth

20-02-2010, 20:54

The full stats & pathping would be delivered by followig these instructions:

In case it's a VM problem, we can try to part-diagnose this for you if you provide us with stats when things are bad. Quite often we can validly suggest a cause for an unstable service based on the data you provide as listed below.

It also helps to know your location (not just East London). You can tell us your VM host (which could be a few miles from your home) by going to http://www.dslzoneuk.net/ip_checker.php. Do take care not to post the IP address and obfuscate the digits immediately after the word CUST (and leave the rest of the line present).

1/
Your modem stats (to include Downstream, Upstream, Operational Config & event log). This is achieved by entering http://192.168.100.1 in your browser and hitting the Login link, supplying credentials "root" and "root". You then click on each of the menu items I've listed and copy the results into your next post (e.g. by cutting & pasting into Notepad.exe and then copying the lot into the post).

IMPORTANT: REMOVE YOUR CABLE MODEM MAC ADDRESS FROM ANY INFORMATION.

2/
A speed test using http://www.virginmedia.com/testmyspeed/manual.php. Please ensure when adding up the download speeds that you clearly quote MB/s or confirm that you've done the conversion to Mb/s when giving the aggregated figure.

3/
Just before modem stats, please do PATHPING www.bbc.co.uk. Pathping takes a few minutes to run (please let it run through) and tells us where congestion might be occurring. If you type pathping www.bbc.co.uk > c:\fred.txt at the windows command prompt, then you can use notepad to extract and paste all the information in c:\fred.txt or another location of your choice.

UnderPressure

20-02-2010, 21:34

Hope this is right, thanks for your help so far!

cpc9-walt12-2-0-cust***.know.cable.virginmedia.com

Cable Modem Downstream
Downstream Lock : Locked
Downstream Channel Id : 49
Downstream Frequency : 306750000 Hz
Downstream Modulation : QAM256
Downstream Symbol Rate : 6952 Ksym/sec
Downstream Interleave Depth : taps12Increment17
Downstream Receive Power Level : 11.7 dBmV
Downstream SNR : 35.7 dB

Cable Modem Upstream
Upstream Lock : Locked
Upstream Channel ID : 4
Upstream Frequency : 45800000 Hz
Upstream Modulation : QAM16
Upstream Symbol Rate : 2560 Ksym/sec
Upstream transmit Power Level : 38.0 dBmV
Upstream Mini-Slot Size : 2

Cable Modem Operation Configuration
Network Access : Allowed
Maximum Downstream Data Rate : 10240000
Maximum Upstream Data Rate : 512000
Maximum Upstream Channel Burst : 1600
Maximum Number of CPEs : 1
Modem Capability : Concatenation Enabled, Fragametation Enabled, PHS Enabled

Cable Modem Event Log
First Time Last Time Priority Description
Sat Feb 20 20:16:48 2010 Sat Feb 20 20:16:48 2010 Critical (3) Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - ...
Sat Feb 20 17:05:25 2010 Sat Feb 20 17:05:25 2010 Information (7) The s/w filename specified in the config file is the same as ...
Sat Feb 20 17:05:25 2010 Sat Feb 20 17:05:25 2010 Information (7) A software upgrade filename was specified in the config file.
Sat Feb 20 17:05:25 2010 Sat Feb 20 17:05:25 2010 Information (7) Authorized
Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Information (7) Registration complete!
Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Information (7) We registered with a DOCSIS 1.1 config file!
Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Information (7) Received a REG-RSP message from the CMTS...
Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Information (7) Sending a REG-REQ to the CMTS...
Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Critical (3) REG RSP not received
Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Sat Feb 20 17:05:24 2010 Information (7) Timed out waiting for a REG-RSP!
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) Sending a REG-REQ to the CMTS...
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) CableModem SNMP configure complete
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) IP init completed ok
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) CableModem TFTP init ok
Time Not Established Time Not Established Error (4) ToD request sent- No Response received
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) CableModem DHCP client init ok
Time Not Established Time Not Established Critical (3) DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
Time Not Established Time Not Established Critical (3) DHCP FAILED - Request sent, No response
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) MAP w/initial maintenance region received
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) Downstream sync ok
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) Beginning initial ranging...
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) downstream time sync acquired...
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) Downstream sync ok
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) starting ds time sync acquisition...
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) Locked on the downstream. Waiting for UCDs...
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) Downstream lock ok
Time Not Established Time Not Established Information (7) Sync Start
Time Not Established Time Not Established Critical (3) DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
Sat Feb 20 15:00:22 2010 Sat Feb 20 15:00:22 2010 Critical (3) REG RSP not received
Sat Feb 20 15:00:19 2010 Sat Feb 20 15:00:19 2010 Critical (3) REG RSP not received
Time Not Established Time Not Established Critical (3) DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
Time Not Established Time Not Established Critical (3) DHCP FAILED - Request sent, No response

The speedtest it will only allow me to download 2 at a time? Best aggregate speed I got was about 800k/second, was as slow as 70k/second, might need to do that again though.

Tracing route to www.bbc.net.uk [212.58.253.67]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

0 owner-fac50038d [192.***.*.*]

1 192.***.*.*

2 10.14.252.1

3 * popl-core-1b-ge-500-665.network.virginmedia.net [62.255.161.101]

4 popl-bb-1b-as2-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.174.238]

5 gfd-bb-a-so-010-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.172.137]

6 gfd-bb-b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.172.6]

7 redb-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.185.78]

8 * * 212.58.239.249

9 212.58.238.149

10 te12-1.hsw1.cwwtf.bbc.co.uk [212.58.239.234]

11 www-vip.cwwtf.bbc.co.uk [212.58.253.67]

Computing statistics for 275 seconds...

Source to Here This Node/Link

Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address

0 owner-fac50038d [192.***.*.2]

0/ 100 = 0% |

1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.***.*.1

13/ 100 = 13% |

2 --- 100/ 100 =100% 87/ 100 = 87% 10.14.252.1

0/ 100 = 0% |

3 134ms 16/ 100 = 16% 3/ 100 = 3% popl-core-1b-ge-500-665.network.virginmedia.net [62.255.161.101]

0/ 100 = 0% |

4 141ms 21/ 100 = 21% 8/ 100 = 8% popl-bb-1b-as2-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.174.238]

0/ 100 = 0% |

5 131ms 17/ 100 = 17% 4/ 100 = 4% gfd-bb-a-so-010-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.172.137]

0/ 100 = 0% |

6 142ms 13/ 100 = 13% 0/ 100 = 0% gfd-bb-b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.172.6]

2/ 100 = 2% |

7 127ms 18/ 100 = 18% 3/ 100 = 3% redb-ic-1-as0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253.185.78]

0/ 100 = 0% |

8 142ms 15/ 100 = 15% 0/ 100 = 0% 212.58.239.249

0/ 100 = 0% |

9 145ms 19/ 100 = 19% 4/ 100 = 4% 212.58.238.149

0/ 100 = 0% |

10 181ms 15/ 100 = 15% 0/ 100 = 0% te12-1.hsw1.cwwtf.bbc.co.uk [212.58.239.234]

4/ 100 = 4% |

11 161ms 19/ 100 = 19% 0/ 100 = 0% www-vip.cwwtf.bbc.co.uk [212.58.253.67]

Trace complete.

Thanks very much!

Sephiroth

20-02-2010, 23:34

Hope this is right, thanks for your help so far!

cpc9-walt12-2-0-cust***.know.cable.virginmedia.com

.....
The speedtest it will only allow me to download 2 at a time? Best aggregate speed I got was about 800k/second, was as slow as 70k/second, might need to do that again though.
....!

Was that 800KB/second or 800 Kb/sec? As I said in my instructions, verification of this point is important.. Two at a time is fine. What I'm looking for is the sum of the two after, say 30 seconds clearly stating whether it's KB as Windows reports or Kb that you've converted by x10 multiplication.

Looking at your modem stats:

Receive Power Level : 11.7 dBmV
Downstream SNR : 35.7 dB

The SNR at 35.7 is OK but not fantastic. The 11.7 dBmv receive power is far too high and will carry noise, especially since your SNR is not brilliant. There can be many reasons for a high receive power. Usually, if you are close to your street box, the receive power would be higher than if you were further away, and a forward path attenuator (in this case 10 dB) would be fitted to normalise the receive power; but then the SNR would be higher too - like 40 dB or 41; it's not.

I speculate (but see paragraphs below) that maybe an amoplifier between you and the street box might be misbehaving; or if you are in an ex-Telewest area, you are wired to a low attenuation block in the street box and should be moved down in the frame or have the 10 dB attenuator fitted.

BUT - the Pathping shows serious delay in getting onto the network. Usually that's due to upstream congestion and there's every likelihood that this is the case anyway.

Taking the tow together, I would further speculate that whatever's going on in East London is now affecting you - although the high receive power needs looking at. According to my information (gleaned from the newsgroups and forums - no inside link to VM), the VM work going on in E. London would require new/upgraded infrastructure and load re-balancing. When that happens, Sh*t also happens as a byproduct. Again, I'm speculating.

You should report all the stats you've produced to the 2nd line support newsgroup who will respond quickly to you. It beats the offshore debacle by a long mile.

If you're on XP, the VM web site tells you how to connect to the newsgroup using Outlook Express (Outlook doesn't support this).

If you're on Vista or Windows 7, you would use Windows Live Mail (a standard part of your system). To get on the VM Newsgroup you need to be operating through the VM broadband system.

In Windows Live Mail, you'd click the "Newsgroups" link at the bottom of the screen and then Tools/Accounts then Add/Newsgroup Account.

Give your Display Name (like UnderPressure), your e-mail address (which can be fictitious) then your server address for the newsgroup which is "news.virginmedia.com".

You'll then be able (via the Newsgroups menu item) to select the Virgin media icon on the left of a search panel, click on "All" and wait a few minutes till it's finished listing thousands of newsgroups.

Scroll down to "Virginmedia.support.broadband.cable" and double click it.

And you're there. You can post your stuff including any evidence you've collected.

UnderPressure

20-02-2010, 23:57

Was that 800KB/second or 800 Kb/sec? As I said in my instructions, verification of this point is important.. Two at a time is fine. What I'm looking for is the sum of the two after, say 30 seconds clearly stating whether it's KB as Windows reports or Kb that you've converted by x10 multiplication.

Looking at your modem stats:

Receive Power Level : 11.7 dBmV
Downstream SNR : 35.7 dB

The SNR at 35.7 is OK but not fantastic. The 11.7 dBmv receive power is far too high and will carry noise, especially since your SNR is not brilliant. There can be many reasons for a high receive power. Usually, if you are close to your street box, the receive power would be higher than if you were further away, and a forward path attenuator (in this case 10 dB) would be fitted to normalise the receive power; but then the SNR would be higher too - like 40 dB or 41; it's not.

I speculate (but see paragraphs below) that maybe an amoplifier between you and the street box might be misbehaving; or if you are in an ex-Telewest area, you are wired to a low attenuation block in the street box and should be moved down in the frame or have the 10 dB attenuator fitted.

BUT - the Pathping shows serious delay in getting onto the network. Usually that's due to upstream congestion and there's every likelihood that this is the case anyway.

Taking the tow together, I would further speculate that whatever's going on in East London is now affecting you - although the high receive power needs looking at. According to my information (gleaned from the newsgroups and forums - no inside link to VM), the VM work going on in E. London would require new/upgraded infrastructure and load re-balancing. When that happens, Sh*t also happens as a byproduct. Again, I'm speculating.

You should report all the stats you've produced to the 2nd line support newsgroup who will respond quickly to you. It beats the offshore debacle by a long mile.

If you're on XP, the VM web site tells you how to connect to the newsgroup using Outlook Express (Outlook doesn't support this).

If you're on Vista or Windows 7, you would use Windows Live Mail (a standard part of your system). To get on the VM Newsgroup you need to be operating through the VM broadband system.

In Windows Live Mail, you'd click the "Newsgroups" link at the bottom of the screen and then Tools/Accounts then Add/Newsgroup Account.

Give your Display Name (like UnderPressure), your e-mail address (which can be fictitious) then your server address for the newsgroup which is "news.virginmedia.com".

You'll then be able (via the Newsgroups menu item) to select the Virgin media icon on the left of a search panel, click on "All" and wait a few minutes till it's finished listing thousands of newsgroups.

Scroll down to "Virginmedia.support.broadband.cable" and double click it.

And you're there. You can post your stuff including any evidence you've collected.

Thanks, you sound like you know your stuff!

The speedtest aggregate is approximately 1MB/second. (1000kb/second)

When I post, shall I post all the stuff I've posted here, and tell them exactly about the stuff you mentioned like the receive power being too high, or just post the stuff I posted earlier and leave it at that?

Sephiroth

21-02-2010, 00:44

You're welcome. There are people on the forum who know a lot more than I do who are also wiser by not speculating as I do!

1MB/second is 10 Mb/second. So your download speed at the time of the test looks good.

Your problem originally stated is the disconnects. So just post your stats (downstream, upstream, event log, configuration and Pathping. tell them about the disconnects. Point out that this forum has mentioned the high receive power and the poor pathping. Also ask them if your problem could be linked to any known area problem.

Keep us informed.

UnderPressure

21-02-2010, 00:55

colin25

21-02-2010, 08:06

@ sephiroth

Ditto on thanks..I found the newsgroup thing interesting..will try this, always keen to learn new things :)

DC_FC79

21-02-2010, 19:34

Ive been getting slow speeds and thoguht maybe there was soemthing wrong with the network as a whole but ive now done a speed test and i think im being limited

badhairday

23-02-2010, 00:13

My connection kept dropping too last week and VM came round and replaced my two month old Modem saying that there was a lot of noise on the line too from outside so the engineer fitted a attenuator and everything was back to wonderful again...until tonight really slow speeds again but no disconnections.....YET!!!
I live in East London too...Sadly Sephiroth that link for East London gave me this from Cable Forum,"Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. " :((( Whats happening in East London OMG what are they doing to us...arrggghhhhh