Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Assuming you're now running the hub in modem mode and getting internet access, you'll need to setup another BQM graph, as the IP address for your hub will have changed when you change from router mode to modem mode and sometimes when you change back to router mode again.

See "why is my graph all RED?": http://www.thinkbroadband.com/faq/sections/bqm.html#308


New colour for qas.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

That will keep him happy!:D:D:D

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

ok, i tried modem mode and all hell broke loose..
first, despite the fact that the cat5e cable was connected and the lights were on on the router and my pc, the connection was "limited".
had to unplug the damn thing (superhub) and re-plug it again to make it work.
then it worked for a few minutes just fine, until i launched Black Ops 3.
got disconnected again, and this time did not respond even to 192.168.0.1 request. could not connect to the internet, and could not reset the router.
after 10 times unplugging and re-plugging and using the reset pin hole on the side of the router, finally got it working again on router mode.
what is going on here? this thing has a mind of its own..
i was lucky i could get it running again before ppl come back from work.

could not be bothered with the graph tbh.
i reset it now.

---------- Post added at 23:33 ---------- Previous post was at 23:27 ----------

ok, i created a new one;

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/s...a67b4779f.html

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Are you sure you left it long enough to boot fully? Takes a good few minutes to boot and connect to the internet.

OK.

OK. Network problem most likely on VM's side (since you're still getting those red lines on your BQM). Hard to be sure because you didn't have a BQM running at the time while in modem mode. Having that kind of thing setup first before you test is useful for proving things one way or another.

That sounds normal as you don't know how to use modem mode.

When in modem mode 192.168.0.1 will not work. The address changes to 192.168.100.1. See instructions for how to enable and disable modem mode here: https://help.virginmedia.com/system/...MER_TYPE=Cable

Factory reset (pin hole) is not the only way out of it.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Dear Mud Wizard,

many thanks. i really appreciate your help.
what should i do next?

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/at...7&d=1449051968

and

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2015/11/3.png

Mod edit - first image replaced, as it was too large.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

I already told you: post everything (or the gist of it) on the forum, including the TBB graph (very important as it shows the problem with the regular packet loss spikes) and a link to this thread, wait a few days for the VM forum team to respond, start their investigation and ask for more info, then you'll probably need to get the landlord to confirm account details.

Don't bother the landlord before then.

Ideally make sure that when you present your test results you do it in modem mode (create another TBB graph for that) with an ethernet cable. keep the powerline and wifi out of the testing or this will go on forever.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Lol

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

news news news..
so, for the last few days, staying online for more than 10 minutes was impossible.
this time everyone in the house got ****ed.

so today, just this afternoon, our landlord came here and brought a new router with himself. apparently, he got to understand that superhub works better in modem mode.

so, we did setup the new router, and again the internet got disconnected every 5 minutes.
called VM and they said they will fix the issue by 8pm.

no more disconnections.
i also disconnected the Netgear Powerline and my own BT powerline. job done.
well, i still get lags in games, but its far better than what it was.

the router is:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/d...cher-C20i.html

i know its not much, but apparently thats what our landlord was recommended about.
he would not pay more than that i guess.
but the wifi coverage for everyone is really good now.

anyway, i tried to set up the BQM monitor, but it seems our new router does not respond to ICMP requests. what should i do now?

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Wow, that's got to be the worst AC router in existence.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

tbh the improvement from superhub is massive!
not only i get more powerful wifi signal, the new router is handling the traffic perfectly.
he paid £25 for it.
but again, its 10 times superior to superhub1 .

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Good news. Should sort out most of your problems (apart from any recurring VM network issues).

If anyone ever says that don't believe them. You undoubtedly spoke to the Indian offshore customer services who just make stuff up to get you off the phone.

Finally!

LOL. No, he just looked for the cheapest router in the high street. You got lucky getting a dual-band router for that price. Although you can't really call that an ac router as the speed of the 5ghz is barely better than 802.11n. You'll be lucky to get 10Mb more speed on 5ghz than on 2.4ghz at close range (when using the highest settings on both).

Still, it's got a USB port for sharing media and files! lol.


End-user experience is what matters. I'll consider this solved.

Just don't complain about not being able to get more than 75-85Mb on ethernet, as they're only 100Mb ethernet ports on the router!

Wifi should be faster.

Don't think there is an option to respond to ICMP/pings, according to the manual.

Don't forget to set your DNS on your computer to something other than Virgin DNS (I use Google DNS).

Also you'll want to port forward or DMZ your PC for gaming.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Not bad then, it might be the worst AC router but it's also the cheapest AC router I've seen so far too.

---------- Post added at 10:46 ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 ----------

That's not entirely true. The 5Ghz will perform a lot faster, especially on mobile devices.

The 2.4Ghz rating of 300Mbps is dependant on HT and MIMO, neither of which work under high interference conditions and/or most mobile devices.

The 5Ghz rating of 433Mbps is pure "single-threaded" throughput. The equivalent rating for 2.4Ghz is 150Mbps. And that's before considering interference, which will bring it down to 72Mbps.

Think of it as the 2.4Ghz as a 700Mhz quad-core. The 5Ghz is a 4300Mhz single-core.

Anything can take advantage of single-core performance but only certain applications can make full use of multiple cores.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Dear Mud Wizard,


landlord said there is a 28 days return policy going on for the new router. so we r going to check it daily see if it has problems, we can pursue him to return it and get a better one. so i probably will stick around here for a little longer.

at the time my landlord purchased the Netgear Powerline, he spent like £50~60 on that. thats why he did not want to spend more this time. you know, lack of knowledge is a weakness. if we knew better, we would just pursue him to get a proper router like the linksys or asus one at the time, and avoid all these months of pain and suffering. well, we didnt know that superhub 1 had faults. i didnt know that until i posted here.

anyway, i want to thank you for all your kindness and help. really appreciate your patience and kind advices. thanks alot :)

may i ask you to tell me more about how to set my DNS, and how to port forward/DMZ my pc please?

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

In certain conditions yes.

Agreed. Though 5ghz 802.11n is also dependent on HT and MIMO. All wireless is subject to interference etc.


433Mbps isn't throughput, it's the communication link rate, with 802.11ac using HT80 you get around half of that as throughput (speed you see on a speed test) after communication overheads. i.e. Around 215Mb.

vs on 802.11n you see around 2/3rds of the link rate as throughput. Using 300Mbps link rate, that's around 200Mbps.

Excluding interference or device limitations for both.


LOL ... because that works so well when comparing across processor families.
Mhz is an inaccurate measure of processor performance.

3.4 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 672 (average CPU mark 402)
vs
AMD A4-5000 1.5 Ghz (average CPU mark 1893, single thread rating 585)

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Dear Mus Wizard,

may i ask you to tell me more about how to set my DNS, and how to port forward/DMZ my pc please?

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

is DMZing my pc putting it at risk?

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

It's letting any unrouted traffic go straight to your PC. If you don't have a decent firewall, then yes your PC may be at greater risk.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

all i have is the windows firewall..
i guess i pass on that then.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Yes, but no. This device doesn't have MIMO on 5Ghz AC and (V)HT isn't disabled by default on 5Ghz like it is on 2.4. And half the point of 5Ghz is it has less interference, therefore that strengthens my case even more.


AC is more efficient than N so actually you get a higher proportion of throughput. On 11n you get 85% of the link rate as throughput (maximum) and on AC it's supposed to be higher.

But that ignores the fact we're still looking at a 72 or 144Mbps link rate vs. a 433Mbps link rate. Even if your numbers were right, two thirds of a 144Mbps link rate is about 100Mbps, half of a 433Mbps link rate is over 200Mbps. Still a HUGE difference.

That's why I specifically didn't say anything about processor families.

A 3.4Ghz single-core Pentium 4 will be faster than a 850Mhz quad-core Pentium 4 in most places. Especially when that quad-core is overheating because of err interference.

---------- Post added at 01:12 ---------- Previous post was at 01:09 ----------

Before the great web site called Google, we had the great website called www.portforward.com

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

You're only telling me things I already know. :) I qualified my statement by saying on maximum settings.

That's a spurious argument as it's environment dependent. It might be the case it might not.

You're off your rocker and really need to read this: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wirel...m-an-ac-router

I think you're confusing downlink speed vs total throughput (downlink + uplink).

The 433Mbps link rate doesn't come into it really, unless transferring data point to point, as the limiting factor here on 5Ghz is going to be the 100Mbps ethernet ports. So real world throughput average speeds will always be no more than 75-85Mbps, with peak at 95Mbps, regardless of any wifi link rates.

http://www.tp-link.com.mx/FAQ-782.html

Like I said, doesn't matter because of ethernet. Btw, in the smallnetbuilder link I posted above the AC433/866/1300 clients connected to the AC1300 router were getting no more than 20-30% throughput on downlink. I was being generous.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

It's the case in 100% of environments.

You need to read the 50x+ times I've already explained why Smallnetbuilder's measurement methods are unrepresentative. That becomes pretty obvious when you see Cisco get higher throughput out of an AC433 client two football pitches away than Smallnetbuilder do out of a AC1200 client in the same room.

That's a spurious argument since you're now trying to weasel out of being wrong by pointing to factors that we were not even talking about in the first place.

That's a spurious argument as it's environment dependent. They're conducted under very specific conditions and not realistic representations of the capabilities of the device.

Maybe you should start reading things like this, rather than consumer reports mumbo jumbo:

https://web.archive.org/web/20151203...s/20141212.pdf
http://www.jwcn.eurasipjournals.com/...9-2013-226.pdf

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

ok.

so the angry "hate" letter did wonders, we now have a superhub 2 ac running in modem mode.
me and my next door mate started playing Black Ops 3 together, and in order to avoid congestions we started to have voice chat over LAN using Mumble.

still we get lag spikes, but its nothing like what it used to be.
we also made a QoS for everyone, so we - the gamers of the house - get higher priority.
had one disconnection today, and i still think Virgin has some network issues going on.

anyway, i will post more results more in the nest few days.

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

can anyone guide me how QoS works please?

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

In what context? Router or ISP? Both work differently and independently.

Plenty of help on Router side eg >..the-beginners-guide-to-qos-on-your-router

quality-of-service-explained-how-routers-with-strong-qos-make-better-home-networks

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Dear Horseman,

I meant the router.
many thanx for the links ^^

---------- Post added 13-12-2015 at 00:11 ---------- Previous post was 12-12-2015 at 23:43 ----------

ok everyone,

big problems.
first, the internet started to disconnect again every few minutes.
we called Virgin 2 days ago and they said the problem is within our router.

so i started researching around. some other people had the same problem.
symptoms was "No Connection" on Steam, then a yellow triangle on the connection thingy on the task bar (limited connection)
some older posts on the internet on some other forums suggested that the problem could be ports. ports were opened/forwarded.
others said it was the router's firewall. firewall got disabled.
now it gets interesting; i thought the problem was fixed. only to find this morning that the problem still happens.


second, i goofed around the security section of my router, ad while the whole internet was saying that i could not set a BQM monitor as my router does not support it, against all odds i found the option to enable supporting BQM monitor and we have it again going on!

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2015/12/8.png

red spikes show the disconnections.
hence, imo the router is not the source of disconnections, Virgin was BSing again and the fault is clearly on their side.
called them again, and after some torture and unpleasant chats we got them to send us an engineer this coming Wednesday.

so, I am again standing where i was when i posted my original post.
high pings are solved quite a bit, but disconnections persist.

i really like to ask those here who claimed moving to a new ISP is much of a hassle.
was this saga of mine during this period a hassle or not?
did heated up arguments between me and my landlord, me and my house mates, landlord and virgin, me and virgin and me and some "users" on this forum solved the problems?

i am very happy, that i did not listen to some "users" here and did not spend £70 on a router which would be a waste of money when the fault is on Virgin's side.
i am just salty that i spent £14 on a 30m cat5 cable which is useless now anyways, just to clear Virgin from faults.

i was polite to ppl here, i was called names.
i thanked them for their help, i got their sarcasm.

much arrogance and "i know what im saying, u do what i say" here, money and time spent, still my problem is there.

i clearly put my doubt about Virgin being a scam on my OP. what i got here was 8 pages of long notes about which router was the best to buy, how should i use super hub in modem mode and that i dont have the knowledge, and that i should trust some unknown dudes who claim they know everything.

my God.

if i knew better, i would just persuade my landlord to move away from Virgin t someone else, and we could have some working internet by now which is near Christmas time and i have lots of free time.

oh yeh, you guys know better.

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2015/12/9.png

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

Post 13 on the first page of this long thread.

"However, rather than guessing what the problem is, we should approach this methodically and investigate before shelling out money."

Re: need advice and help for a possible fix
 

lol, the irony!

you for real?
didnt that guy argue with me that a £30 router does not cut it and that i have to get that £80 one in order to get the internet running? and that im a fool that i do not listen to him or im asking for a cheaper router?

didnt you give his posts a "+"?

forget the money, think about the time i spent trying to "resolve" things, trying to "figure out" things.

did i approach "this" un-methodically?
was there any advice here which was free? or not time consuming?

---------- Post added at 00:48 ---------- Previous post was at 00:46 ----------

as a matter of fact, i did everything i was told here as of the methodical approach, what i did not commit myself to do was opening up my wallet!