Lagged gaming.
 

I got upgraded to the Virgin Media Superhub about a month ago and since then I've noticed I lag for a couple of seconds every few minutes when I'm playing Enemy Territory. It isn't server side, since it happens on every server and no-one else is experiencing it.

I don't have any other problems anywhere else with the service. My internet is faster than it was but I can't play E.T like I used to.

Someone suggested resetting the router, which I did and it seemed to work for about a day. Didn't notice any drops but the problem returned later and I still have it now. I could potentially restart the router every time I want to play but I really don't want to be doing that.

Anyone have any ideas on how to resolve the issue?

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

The only sure way of permanently resolving an issue that does not lie in a network congestion is to pbuy your own router and put the SuperHub into modem mode.

The SH is a router fail and yyou'll short circuit a whole load of future hassle if you do that now.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Damn, really didn't want to be paying money. It's annoying because everything else seems to work OK from it, we use it to stream Sky through the x-box and apart from a known unfixable issue with audio lag on some Sky channels, it's fine.

E.T gaming is the only problem but I really love E.T so I might be forced to buy a new one.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Many people say that. VM totally misadvertise the SH. But more than two years in, it started at firmware v19, we're now at v37 and only 4 (or 5) of the versions have come to the public. R37 has introduced new bugs. really - modem mode offers stability albeit you have to shell out for a decent router. If you want a decent router, the SH is not it.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Or get a cheap router off ebay for a few quid and give it whirl

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/D-link-Dir...item4169949fd7

I believe the d-link offers reasonable performance for the cost

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

What pabs says, of course.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Is it literally just a case of unplugging everything from my existing router and plugging it all into this one or is there more to it than that?

Apologies but I'm not too savvy when it comes to routers.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

You'd log into the SuperHub and switch it to Modem mode via the software switch it gives you. It'll reboot and the big VM lamp will go sort of purple.

At that point only port 1 (next to the coax) is live. You would connect this to the WAN port of your new router.

So, when you're first in modem mode as above, switch the SH off.

Connect the router to the SH on port 1.

Switch the Router on and wait for lights to stop flashing.

Switch the SH on - it'll acquire the VM network and acquire you're router.

Plug your stuff into the router.

Set up any options on your router such as wireless SSID etc.

Simples.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

could we have a look at your connection stats..

open and copy/paste...

http://192.168.100.1/VmRouterStatus_downstream.asp

and

http://192.168.100.1/VmRouterStatus_upstream.asp

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Hmm it doesn't seem to want to let me access any of those right now for some reason. I used to go to 192.169.0.1 for my router but I can't access that either.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

reboot the SH. wait 30 seconds to 1 minute inbetween off and on

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

I took a screenshot rather than paste all that stuff, think it could have looked a mess.

http://i.imgur.com/LO38M.jpg

Thank you for everyone's help on this so far btw.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Those stats are not good.

Your upstream is maxing out and that'llbe the principal cause of the lagging.

Is everything screwed in tight?

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

your upstream is too high. call VM and get a tech booked. when he comes ask him to move you at the cabinet to lower your upstream power levels and then adjust downstream accordingly if needed.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Could you give us a bit of info about your network and the devices you use (inc how they are connected)?

Worth doing a bit of diagnostics before shelling out on more equipment.

What are the SHub logs like?

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

The cause of the maxing ut upstream has to be determined first. The downstream power is also low and the downstream SNR ison the poor side of acceptable..

It could be loose connector in your inside wallo box; a duff splitter (if you have one) in your inside wall box. It could be a duff connection at your street drop point or at the street cabinet. It could be a weaki laser at the optical node in which case your neighbours would be affected too.

TH's suggestion of moving you to a lower attenuation tap point at the cabinet is potentially valid if there are no impairments of the type I've described and the street cabinet amplifier isn't duff (would affact neighbours too).

How far are you from the street cabinet?

---------- Post added at 18:02 ---------- Previous post was at 18:01 ----------

They've been posted

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

I could unscrew it at the wall with my bare hands so I've tightened it there but it hasn't made a difference to the upstream stats.

Does this come free with the service?

I currently use a PC that's connected via cable, (same cable I used before the new router) and an X-Box that's also connected via cable. Several phones connect wirelessly and occasionally a laptop. Had all of these connected before with no problems.

My upload rate has increased since getting the SuperHub.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

yeah. call 150 from your VM homephone. speak to the broadband faults department. if you get through to offshore dont bother explaining lag. just say your upstream levels are too high, could a tech be booked please.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

If the thing here is the street cabinet then about 100 metres.

---------- Post added at 18:14 ---------- Previous post was at 18:08 ----------

When I tightened it at the wall, the box it plugged into did come away slightly on one side. I'm confident it was like this before I tightened it and it's also probably why it wasn't on very tight. Tightening the screw seemed to put strain on the wall-box.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

I've never seen the inside of that type of cabinet. I don't know it it has variable attenuation tap points. I wonder who the original cable provider was in Polesworth. Be good if you could get a look inside one of those cabinets.

EDIT: I reckon the distribution cabinets in the street all connect up to the large cabinet on the B5000 opposite Pooley Lane. I think there's an optical node there too (in the larger cab). They would be VM boxes if the floor plate says "CATV".

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Originally NTL a while ago. I'm not sure if the wall-point in my house got changed when the engineers came round. Gaming was fine basically until I got my SuperHub so I wouldn't have thought the problem exists outside my house, although I could be entirely wrong.

Is there a way to turn down the upstream by myself manually or is it a definite call out?

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

has to be a tech visit mate.

---------- Post added at 18:24 ---------- Previous post was at 18:23 ----------

are there no other cabinets near by?

---------- Post added at 18:26 ---------- Previous post was at 18:24 ----------

the tech will fit a HDU if theres no banks right?

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

No other cabinets as far as I'm aware and I think I remember someone from BT working in there a while ago.

There's this about 300 metres down the road from the other one I posted.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

If BT was in the cabinet then its not VM's.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

I've no idea then, maybe I've imagined it. Those are the only cabinets around here and things were fine before the superhub got installed.

I'll call an engineer out as suggested and tell them my upstream is too high. Is there anything else that could be improved and what words do I say to get it done? Haha, I want to appear to them like I know what I'm talking about.

Thanks once again for everyone's input.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

if theres no way of lowering via the cabinet then the tech will plug in a HDU into your electrics and loop your cable to lower upstream.

downstream power levels should be between -3 to +7. you want it or them close to 0

upstream 35 to 50. you want it or them in the 40's range

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

I'll see what they can do then. Thanks all.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

The upstream can be sort of manipulated by you in one of two ways:

1. Everything's tightened up when it wasn't before.

2. SH is switched off overnight and maybe next morning you'll get a different upstream channel. If that's still maxing out, then it's physicaol. Eiether the SH is duff or it's one of the things I listed.

What's needed here is to find the root cause of the maxed out upstream.

---------- Post added at 18:57 ---------- Previous post was at 18:53 ----------

Really the best thing you can now do is to post your facts and your modem stats onto the VM forum so that 2nd line support there can examine your upstream using their analytic tools. They are a much higher notch engineer than the tech they send to the house. One will come, for sure - but it's best to know in advance what's causing your maxed out upstream.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Mike could you watch your upstream power level. just keep the page open and refresh every so often to see if the 58 drops or rises.

---------- Post added at 19:02 ---------- Previous post was at 18:58 ----------

yeah good point there Seph. Mike make a thread on the Virgin Media Community forum in a subforum that matches your broadband speed tier..

Up to ....Mb - Setup, Equipment & Connection

community.virginmedia.com/

keep the tech booking though.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Still maxed at 58 currently. Will set up that thread on virgin now.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

An engineer's coming out Thursday to fix the problem with the line. All done through the virgin forum which was nicely surprising since I'm having trouble with a terrible phone. (Nothing to do with Virgin, just a **** phone.)

Again, thank you thenry and Sephiroth, you've been incredibly helpful.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

your welcome. let us know how you get on.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

A tech's just been to try and sort it all out.

Annoyingly, the stats had changed to the downstream being -1.9 and the upstream being 54.7, still too high but the first time either has changed for about 4 days, having previously been -4ish and 58 respectively.

Either way he added an attenuator at the cabinet I think and the speeds now read 3.8 down and 47 up.

Just had a quick trial run in the game that was initially the flag of the problem and no lagging, although I'll keep an eye on it. Regardless, both upstream and downstream figures are now better.

Thanks for everyone's help once-more!

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

your welcome. did you find out where your cab is?

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

It was one of the boxes I linked to I'm fairly sure. He took a walk to it and wasn't gone all that long so it must be pretty close and they're the only two street cabinets near here.

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

As TH has previously advised, keep an eye on the upstream. The figure you see is a snapshot and a few seconds later it could rise because the value is commanded from the VM end as it struggles to make sense of data received (or not received).

Re: Lagged gaming.
 

Sounds more like he removed an attenuator, or rather, moved you to a lower attenuated tap point.