Low Downstream Power level?

[mattb37]

Hi all, sorry in advance if this is similar to a thread already on the board.

I have been with Virgin on their 10MB broadband for less than a month, all was fine with my connection until a few days ago and since then it has been well below what I was getting before.

I have read a few threads on modem readings I should be getting and I am thinking my downstream power level is too low and this could be the reason I am getting problems with my connection?

Below is my downstream and upstream status.

Downstream Levels

Downstream Lock : Locked
Downstream Channel Id : 0
Downstream Frequency : 331000000 Hz
Downstream Modulation : QAM256
Downstream Symbol Rate : 5360.537 Ksym/sec
Downstream Interleave Depth : taps32Increment4
Downstream Receive Power Level : -11.9 dBmV
Downstream SNR : 35.5 dB

Upstream Levels

Upstream Lock : Locked
Upstream Channel ID : 2
Upstream Frequency : 29200000 Hz
Upstream Modulation : QAM16
Upstream Symbol Rate : 2560 Ksym/sec
Upstream transmit Power Level : 55.5 dBmV
Upstream Mini-Slot Size : 2

Would I be correct thinking my downstream is way too low?

Thanks for any helpful replies in advance.
Matt.

[Ben B]

:welcome:
Downstream is too low and upstream is a bit high. You will need a tech to adjust these levels

[mattb37]

Could this be anything to do with VM's traffic management? I had a heavy bandwidth night then my speed took this nose dive.

[Peter_]

Could this be anything to do with VM's traffic management? I had a heavy bandwidth night then my speed took this nose dive.
No it will have nothing to do with traffic management, you just need an engineer to sort out your power levels.

So call in now on 151 from a Virgin phone or 0845 454 1111 from any other phone and they should book an engineer visit for you.

[mattb37]

Hi again, I have reported this issue via the online form but have not heard anything back from vm in 5 days regarding the issue. I did briefly try phone support but don't have a landline so mobile phone costs a fortune to listen to michael jackson. Is there another online method I can use or possibly a phone number that isn't going to cost a small fortune?

Its pretty poor I have to ask this but I haven't been with virgin for a month yet and after the lengthy installation this is the last thing I need. When my bb was installed it eventually took 2 engineers all morning after the first said he couldn't get a signal in my home after installing all the hardware. Could the problems be following on from the installtion issues and if so am I likely to see them a lot?

On my mobile now so I can't paste my modem status but the downstream power level is at -12.7 now.

Matt.

---------- Post added at 04:24 ---------- Previous post was at 04:23 ----------

Hi again, I have reported this issue via the online form but have not heard anything back from vm in 5 days regarding the issue. I did briefly try phone support but don't have a landline so mobile phone costs a fortune to listen to michael jackson. Is there another online method I can use or possibly a phone number that isn't going to cost a small fortune?

Its pretty poor I have to ask this but I haven't been with virgin for a month yet and after the lengthy installation this is the last thing I need. When my bb was installed it eventually took 2 engineers all morning after the first said he couldn't get a signal in my home after installing all the hardware. Could the problems be following on from the installtion issues and if so am I likely to see them a lot?

On my mobile now so I can't paste my modem status but the downstream power level is at -12.7 now.

Matt.

[Peter_]

Try http://www.saynoto0870.com/ for a number to call.

[mattb37]

Try http://www.saynoto0870.com/ for a number to call.

Thanks for the suggestion but I just get an automated message telling me I must call 150/151 or an 0845 number.

[Ben B]

Thanks for the suggestion but I just get an automated message telling me I must call 150/151 or an 0845 number.

Post on the newsgroups, set up guide: http://www.virginmedia.com/myvirginmedia/newsgroups/ and the newsgroup you want is virginmedia.support.broadband.cable tell them the issues your having and post your power levels to them.

Ben :)

[mattb37]

Post on the newsgroups, set up guide: http://www.virginmedia.com/myvirginmedia/newsgroups/ and the newsgroup you want is virginmedia.support.broadband.cable tell them the issues your having and post your power levels to them.

Ben :)

Thanks, set it up, will post on it if I get nothing from the complaint form I submitted. VM have got till tuesday then it will be nearly 3 weeks not working correctly and I have only been a VM customer for not even 5 weeks to date.

[mattb37]

I have finally managed to get in touch with Virgin but their response has completely angered me to point where a written complaint will be made to Virgin.

I had a reply from the online form I submitted but the response was a disgrace. Virgin Media simply replied to me asking for information I had provided them with. The email response took about 5 days instead of the “estimated” 2 days and they had clearly not read the email or sent a generic response after reading the subject. The email told me to send my trace route of bbc.co.uk, which I did and I provided them with the status of my modem. This was all clearly pointless because I might as well just hit my head on the wall to get more action from them.

After reading this email I tried to call them from my mobile phone, which again cost a small fortune for nothing. I managed to get through to a “support” person who I found difficult to understand their English. The person who I was talking to did not listen to what I was saying and they were clearly trying to put the blame of the snail paced broadband on my setup. The person on the phone tried getting me to change my setup and refused to accept the low downstream power level is a problem. He claimed -11.6dbvm was acceptable because it was in the range of +/-12dbvm.

From what I have been told on here by people who have contributed to this thread my downstream power level is the problem. I also had a bit of luck after the phone call because a Virgin engineer was at a neighbour’s house, I did ask them about the problem and they told me to book a service engineer visit because they couldn’t help me out at the time. I also asked the engineer in the street if it is normal for it to take all morning and require two engineers to install a braodband line, to which he replied "no".

So according to Virgin Media’s phone “support” the downstream level is not the problem and they refused to book an engineer visit, where does this leave me?

I have tried phone support and email but no one has been able to help me and resolve the problem I am having. I find as I am a new customer this is appalling and insulting that they are more or less telling me I have installed it incorrectly. I run a server hosting business so I know how to setup a network, I didn’t tell to person on the other end of the phone because they simply not listening to what I was saying.

Has anyone else had dealings with Virgin Media “support” like this, how can I get it fixed, they say I am the problem when clearly from readings off the modem the problem is something I can’t fix and they refuse to book me an engineer. Should I cancel my direct debit or will they then bring proceedings on me for refusing to pay for a service they refuse to ensure is working as advertised?

My latest modem readings, which is not a problem and perfectly normal.
Downstream 01/09/09 - 15:42

Downstream Lock : Locked
Downstream Channel Id : 0
Downstream Frequency : 331000000 Hz
Downstream Modulation : QAM256
Downstream Symbol Rate : 5360.537 Ksym/sec
Downstream Interleave Depth : taps32Increment4
Downstream Receive Power Level : -11.6 dBmV
Downstream SNR : 35.9 dB

Upstream

Upstream Lock : Locked
Upstream Channel ID : 2
Upstream Frequency : 29200000 Hz
Upstream Modulation : QAM16
Upstream Symbol Rate : 2560 Ksym/sec
Upstream transmit Power Level : 55.0 dBmV
Upstream Mini-Slot Size : 2

[Ben B]

Not only is your downstream extremely low, your upstream is on the limit of 55dBmV as well. Since you've had so many problems, I'd suggest you post on the Newsgroups support. The set up guide is here http://www.virginmedia.com/myvirginmedia/newsgroups/ and the newsgroup you want is virginmedia.support.broadband.cable tell them of the problems you're having and post the modem stats as you have done here.

Ben :)