Is Virgin at it?
 

Ok, here goes.

A few weeks ago I noticed a significant reduction in my broadband speed (should be a 20Mb connection). Testing using download rate and the speedtest.net site revealed I was getting something in the region of 2-6Mb at best.

Few phone calls to Virgin, and in their defence they couldn't be more helpful. After one call I was asked to change the ethernet cable running from the modem to the router, instant change, up to 19Mb+. Fine, must have been it I thought. Next day though back to square 1. Another call.

While checking the speed from the modem recovered but there was still an issue with the router. Must be the router apparently, although I did say direct connection to the modem was also an issue. New router arrived, no change.

Another call, the Support guy said that my line was experiencing considerable packet loss and he thought it may be the cabling.

Engineer came out on Sunday...changed the cable modem, dismissed the cabling option, while muttering about the modem IP address getting hijacked ...ok, didn't argue with that just wanted to see where it was going. No change in the download speed when I asked for this to be checked, so it was arranged for his supervisor to come out the following morning. This he duly did and bizarrely once again the speed was back up to 19Mb+ - without them doing anything. Advised there was no problem so off they toddled.

By the afternoon the speed was back down to its usual. Checking London got 6Mb, checking Birmingham got 3Mb and Rome was down to 1Mb or less - these are the three I routinely checked. The results were the same connected to the router and directly to the modem. They were also consistent, morning, afternoon and at night. The only occasions when the speed went up was either during a call to Virgin or when the supervisor appeared on the Monday morning.

Last night I called again to report the low speeds, and you guessed it. Despite having low speed a couple of minutes before I called Virgin, during the call the speed suddenly recovered to what it should be. I mentioned this amazing coincidence to the support guy who chose to ignore the comment. I also said I'd be checking constantly to determine the speed after the call. The speed was 19Mb+ all of last night and again this morning when I checked... now that's unusual.

Now am I being paranoid here? Its is just coincidence? Has anyone else experienced similar?

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

Paranoid :D:D

And can you go to: 192.168.100.1 - root / root is the login and post your upstream and downstream power levels.

At the same time, speeds tests dont provide accurate results. Results, depend on server load etc etc

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

The power levels were fine, they didn't change in any significant way during the low speed indications and the high speed.

Granted about the accuracy of the speedtests, and if these had been random then I would have simply dismissed the results. What perked my interest was timing of the less than random changes in the test results.

You can't be too paranoid... well maybe.

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

Its very likely the speed test server was under high load.

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

Possibly, but the results were very consistent over the course of several days; (approx) London 6, Birmingham 3, Rome 1. The sites were checked three times per day, morning 8.00am, afternoon 2.00pm and in the evening around 9.00pm. The only time a change occurred was the during the aforementioned support contacts.

If no one else has experienced anything like this I guess I'll have to put it down to strange coincidence.

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

It's possible that the modem is performing well after the tools at the VM support center get into contact with it briefly. Not really sure what I'd do after this. Perhaps you can use a friend to ping you and see if it improves in bursts.

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

Couple of things i'd look at - connection - cables - wifi - router - modem. Etc

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

The ethernet cables, router and modem were all replaced. The wired connection only shows a very slight difference when connected to the router and when connected direct to the modem. Wireless is again consistent and there's no sign of unauthorised connections.

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

Can you paste power levels please?

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

I'm at work at the moment, when I get home tonight I'll check the connection and post the power levels if the speed is down again.

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

in a word - no.

:)

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

For a start there are some people on this forum who apparently work for Virginmedia so they will always say the company is great and the problem is with you and NEVER with them.

I have been having constant connection problems but someone said using speedtest is not accurate I dont know why but apparently its is not and even if it was its to be expected to get high speeds then low speeds "hi low hi low its off to another supplier I go";).

VM has gone downhill big time recently personally I think the more people who leave them and find another supplier the better they need a good kick up the rectum.

Any comapny that provides something that is excellent rarely has a queue in their support room but with VNM you need to wait 30 minutes plus what does that say?.

Good luck.

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

It says that people phone VM because their Norton, McAfee or ZoneAlarm is blocking their connection as they clicked on something they shouldn't have.
It says that when VM charged 25ppm there was no queue and people stopped phoning VM for problems to with their security software, windows media player or to find out why they can't burn a movie from their My Shared Files in Kazaa direct to disk.
It says that people phone VM to ask for the security key for their Linksys router, why they think we'd know that I have no idea.

Then there's people call with intermittent problems that require extensive troubleshooting to determine the issue and that makes for a long call.

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

You hit the nail squarely and firmly on the head, we get to many non Virginmedia calls.

Re: Is Virgin at it?
 

Doesn't every tech - I get the old "Your my webhost, can you build my website" Answer: For £4.00 a month no. You need a designer. CUSTOMER: Thats a disgracefull service i'm going to warn everyone about your company. TECH: Oh Jesus!