Ongoing issue, Virgin claiming there's no problem!

[MxGaza33]

Hi, for the last few months my internet connection has been cutting out frequently throughout the day. It only lasts for around 10-15 seconds then the modem reconnects however this requires my router to be rebooted for the internet to work again. I've had 5-6 virgin tech visits and still nothing has changed. My SNR and signal levels are apparently fine but the problem still persists. My modem has also been changed twice. One thing that strikes me as abnormal is the amount of T3 timeouts shown on the modem log, which appear at the same time as the internet connection cuts out. Is this normal? Here's the log I showed Virgin and my current levels:

Tue Dec 20 08:31:41 2011 Tue Dec 20 08:31:41 2011 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 08:31:57 2011 Tue Dec 20 13:26:30 2011 Warning (5) MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=0 post cfg file MIMO=-1;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 13:36:44 2011 Tue Dec 20 13:36:44 2011 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 13:36:48 2011 Tue Dec 20 13:36:48 2011 Warning (5) Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 13:37:07 2011 Tue Dec 20 13:37:35 2011 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
Tue Dec 20 13:37:37 2011 Tue Dec 20 13:37:37 2011 Critical (3) Ranging Request Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 13:37:37 2011 Tue Dec 20 13:37:37 2011 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 13:37:54 2011 Tue Dec 20 13:38:55 2011 Warning (5) MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=0 post cfg file MIMO=-1;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 17:16:52 2011 Tue Dec 20 17:16:53 2011 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 17:16:57 2011 Tue Dec 20 17:16:57 2011 Warning (5) Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 17:17:20 2011 Tue Dec 20 17:17:49 2011 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
Tue Dec 20 17:17:51 2011 Tue Dec 20 17:17:51 2011 Critical (3) Ranging Request Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 17:17:51 2011 Tue Dec 20 17:17:51 2011 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 17:18:07 2011 Tue Dec 20 17:18:07 2011 Warning (5) MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=0 post cfg file MIMO=-1;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 17:22:03 2011 Tue Dec 20 17:22:32 2011 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
Tue Dec 20 17:22:34 2011 Tue Dec 20 17:22:34 2011 Critical (3) Ranging Request Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 17:22:34 2011 Tue Dec 20 17:22:34 2011 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 17:22:52 2011 Tue Dec 20 17:22:52 2011 Warning (5) MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=0 post cfg file MIMO=-1;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 19:47:55 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:47:56 2011 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 19:48:00 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:48:00 2011 Warning (5) Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 19:48:18 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:48:47 2011 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
Tue Dec 20 19:48:49 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:48:49 2011 Critical (3) Ranging Request Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 19:48:49 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:48:49 2011 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 19:49:06 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:49:06 2011 Warning (5) MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=0 post cfg file MIMO=-1;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 19:52:02 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:52:31 2011 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
Tue Dec 20 19:52:33 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:52:33 2011 Critical (3) Ranging Request Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 19:52:33 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:52:33 2011 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 19:52:46 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:52:46 2011 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
Tue Dec 20 19:52:52 2011 Tue Dec 20 19:52:52 2011 Warning (5) MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=0 post cfg file MIMO=-1;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 21:05:38 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:05:38 2011 Critical (3) SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Loss of Sync;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 21:05:42 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:05:42 2011 Warning (5) Lost MDD Timeout;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 21:06:06 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:06:34 2011 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
Tue Dec 20 21:06:37 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:06:37 2011 Critical (3) Ranging Request Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 21:06:37 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:06:37 2011 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 21:06:52 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:06:52 2011 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
Tue Dec 20 21:06:55 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:06:55 2011 Warning (5) MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=0 post cfg file MIMO=-1;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Dec 20 21:12:01 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:12:30 2011 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
Tue Dec 20 21:12:32 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:12:32 2011 Critical (3) Ranging Request Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 21:12:32 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:12:32 2011 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted
Tue Dec 20 21:12:48 2011 Tue Dec 20 21:12:48 2011 Warning (5) MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=0 post cfg file MIMO=-1;CM-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CMTS-MAC=**:**:**:**:**:**;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Channel Type 2.0 N/A N/A N/A
Channel ID 5 N/A N/A N/A
Frequency
(Hz) 35800000 N/A N/A N/A
Ranging Status Success N/A N/A N/A
Modulation 16QAM N/A N/A N/A
Symbol Rate
(KSym/sec) 5120 N/A N/A N/A
Mini-Slot Size 4 N/A N/A N/A
Power Level
(dBmV) 36.50 N/A N/A N/A


DS-1 DS-2 DS-3 DS-4
Frequency 315000000 299000000 307000000 323000000
Lock Status
(QAM Lock/FEC Sync/MPEG Lock) Y/Y/Y Y/Y/Y Y/Y/Y Y/Y/Y
Channel Id 51 49 50 52
Modulation 256QAM 256QAM 256QAM 256QAM
Symbol Rate
(Msym/sec) 6.952 6.952 6.952 6.952
Interleave Depth I=12
J=17 I=12
J=17 I=12
J=17 I=12
J=17
Power Level
(dBmV) 2.87 3.78 3.12 2.44
RxMER
(dB) 38.26 37.94 37.94 38.26
Correctable
Codewords 1 0 1 1
Uncorrectable
Codewords 300 368 303 913

[Nopanic]

Router issue ? why isn't the router recovering connection ?

[MxGaza33]

Everytime the connection is lost a Dlink page is displayed that says "no internet connection" (its a Dlink 825). Plus the errors on the modem log appearing consistantly at the time it cuts out, that cant be coincidence?

[Peter_]

Have to tried a direct connection to rule out the router as the power levels look normal.

[General Maximus]

maybe it is both, there is a still problem with the modem not being able to establish a connection with all those T3 timeouts.

[Peter_]

maybe it is both, there is a still problem with the modem not being able to establish a connection with all those T3 timeouts.
Those timeouts where on the 20th December.

[MxGaza33]

I used the log from the 20th of December as that's the log I also posted on the Virgin support forum, the same errors occur every day just at different times. Direct connection to the modem would be difficult as there's other people in the house wanting the use the internet, if I get a chance to I'll give it a shot to see what happens. Am I correct in thinking those amount of T3 timeouts is not normal though?

[Sephiroth]

It's best to provide the full event log as selected snippets do mislead.

Anyway, it's diffocult to judge whether or not the T3 timeuts are occurring during the reboot of the modem or causing the reboot to occur with the Retries Exhausted message. The MIMO event is the point at which modem reset has occurred. (the SH doies not bless us with such a useful pointer).

I'm wondering if there is upstream congestion issue which is causing T3 errors. The thing gives up after 30 seconds of being unable to supply the keep-alive responses.

When it's working, is there delay in loading web pages?

[MxGaza33]

When its working everything seems nice and quick, good download speeds. Is there anything more I can do / software I can install to investigate the issue?

[Sephiroth]

For what my opinion is worth, as soon as an issue occurs, note the time on your watch (to the second) - having previously synched your watch to the modem. There'll be an hour's difference - don't bother with making your watch wrong on the hour!

Then we can see whether the T3.Sync loss occurs before or after the failure - becuae they can happen during the dark moments of modem reset.

The other thing you can do is to set the Thinkbroadband Quality graph running - and keep it running. www.thinkbroaddband.com/ping This is a brilliabnt way of assessessing what's happening with your circuit.

Cheers

[MxGaza33]

Okay I've setup a thinkbroadband monitor, here's a link to it:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/share/18c03138d9b33dab7c1d59845922aa60.html

I'll keep an eye on my watch next time it cuts out and report back!

[Andrewcrawford23]

Okay I've setup a thinkbroadband monitor, here's a link to it:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/share/18c03138d9b33dab7c1d59845922aa60.html

I'll keep an eye on my watch next time it cuts out and report back!

your gettinga lot of packet lose i say there different a issue somewhere, is it connected direct ot the modem as hte rotuer could also be causing a issue with ping replies but it is less likely but seeing it direct to the modem wiht thinkbroadband for a few hours would be interesting if it still the same then it either the line or the computer (computer with say spyware can cause packet lose, or runnign p2p softwa\re) but i could rule that out witha few tests if i know you are still getting the problem witha direct connection

[MxGaza33]

I was under the impression that thinkbroadband pings the router, and the computers connected to it are irrelevant?

[Sephiroth]

TBB pings the router. The computers connected to it are only relevant if they're claiming bandwidth that makes TBB wait/lose packets.

[Andrewcrawford23]

TBB pings the router. The computers connected to it are only relevant if they're claiming bandwidth that makes TBB wait/lose packets.

yip that is what i was meaning although i generally dnt express myself right

[Nedkelly]

what area are you in ?:)

[MxGaza33]

Dumbarton, Scotland

[MxGaza33]

For what my opinion is worth, as soon as an issue occurs, note the time on your watch (to the second) - having previously synched your watch to the modem. There'll be an hour's difference - don't bother with making your watch wrong on the hour!

Then we can see whether the T3.Sync loss occurs before or after the failure - becuae they can happen during the dark moments of modem reset.
It would appear that the internet cuts out (and the T3 error appears) before the MIMO event (Modem reset) although its quite hard to tell as the times in the log are so close. Still nothing from Virgin on the problem, looks like I'm going to have to write a letter of complaint to get their attention.:mad: