Connection drops in/drops out periodically - Page 3

Bagmanian · 29-03-2015, 18:53

Could this be due to a problem with the ethernet cable if it is continually being taken in and out of router and PC,

General Maximus · 29-03-2015, 19:01

Na, a new one would have been supplied with the shub

Rajie · 29-03-2015, 22:41

A new ethernet cable wasn't supplied with the superhub, but I did have a new one myself which is being used with it, so it's not that. It just happened again now at about 11:10pm, right on cue for the traffic management.

Virgin's own traffic management information: http://my.virginmedia.com/traffic-ma...hresholds.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus

Edit: I just realised which thread this is. Without going round in circles about traffic management and anything else you can think of can you copy and paste your power levels, config and log from the shub so we can take a look at what is going on. Click this link and scroll down to the fifth post (mine) so you can see what you are looking for. If you are using the shub in router mode (which I am sure you will be) go to http://192.168.0.1 (you can click that) it will take you to the router login page which is the first pic on that link I gave you.

Thanks, here's the info

General Maximus · 30-03-2015, 07:37

I'll make this super quick because I am late for work. Your connectivity issues are due to your power levels being out of whack. Your downstream power is too low (needs to be closer to 0) and your upstream power is too high. You need to ring tech support and ask for a tech to come out and adjust them. Don't let them give you any bs about resetting the shub and all that stuff, it won't fix it. You need a tech to come out and move your tap point in the street cabinet.

Rajie · 30-03-2015, 11:05

OK, thanks for that. I don't really know what any of that means at all though, I'm worried if I just tell them verbatim what you say there they will fob me off and I won't have any come back because I don't know what I'll be talking about either.

So I ask for my power levels to be adjusted, because the downstream power is too low, and upstream is too high, so they need to move our tap point? I'm worried if I say that they won't know what I'm talking about and I won't either (the bloke who brought the superhub even told me he knew nothing about the internet when we were chatting).

I'm still wondering why the vast majority of the times the disconnects happen that it as a specific time of day - 10 mins either way of 11am/4pm/11pm.

Kushan · 30-03-2015, 14:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rajie

OK, thanks for that. I don't really know what any of that means at all though, I'm worried if I just tell them verbatim what you say there they will fob me off and I won't have any come back because I don't know what I'll be talking about either.

So I ask for my power levels to be adjusted, because the downstream power is too low, and upstream is too high, so they need to move our tap point? I'm worried if I say that they won't know what I'm talking about and I won't either (the bloke who brought the superhub even told me he knew nothing about the internet when we were chatting).

I'm still wondering why the vast majority of the times the disconnects happen that it as a specific time of day - 10 mins either way of 11am/4pm/11pm.

Don't worry about the technical mumbo jumbo, just phone them up and tell them what you do know - your internet is intermittent and there's a problem. Let the agent figure it out and don't accept no for an answer.

It should be pretty cut and dry though, your levels are not great so even a mediocre agent should spot it and book you a tech.

General Maximus · 30-03-2015, 17:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rajie

I don't really know what any of that means at all though

I won't bore you with the technical details but suffice to say that in order for the "signal" from VM to get to you and get through all the bits inbetween, it needs a certain amount of power to do it. Think of it as pushing a bowling bowl down the lane and having to hit a series of pins every meter. Every time it hits something it is going to slow down a bit so you need to make sure it starts off fast enough so it has enough oompf to reach the end. As the signal from VM gets closer and closer to you it loses power and in an ideal world it gets to you with just the right amount which is why I said your downsteam power levels (what you get from VM) should be as close to 0 as possible. Conversely, your upstream power is how much power you need to send back the signal so that will start off high and then go down as it gets closer to VM's end. There is such a thing as too much or not enough which is why your downstream power can be a + or - figure. There are limits within which your signal is deemed acceptable and yours is outside of those which is why your connection is dropping and you are getting those T3 timeouts in your error log.

You need to ring tech support and tell them that you are experiencing intermittent connectivity issues which you believe are due to out of spec power levels. If you get a good agent he will ask if he can log into your pc remotely so he can connect to the shub and have a look at the same pages which I asked you to do. If you get a ming mong they won't understand what you are saying and will go through the palaver of rebooting your shub, resetting it to factory settings and mucking about with other stuff (like changing your wireless settings). No matter what they say they have done, they cannot change any settings on the shub which will fix things nor can they do anything their end. If they turn around and say "madam I have just send a signal to the modem and I have changed the power settings and I can see that the problem is fixed now" they are lying.

Not all the connections in the street cabinet (what your house is connected to) are the same because properties are situated at varying distances from the cabinet. Depending how far or how close you are to the cabinet means you might need a little bit more or less power. Your connection needs to be moved to a different tap point so your downstream power goes up by +10 (to make it +3) and your upstream comes down by -10 to make it +45. You don't need to feel bad about ringing them up and don't think you are a pain in the bum. The tech who brought the shub round should have checked your power levels before he left so all of this is his fault for doing half a job. You are actually doing them a favour by making their job easier because you know what the problem is. If India muck you about be firm with them and tell them you want a tech booked and if they say no then ring back go through to retentions and complain. If you don't get back to us before the tech comes out you should know he will do one of two things; he will either move your tap point in the cabinet or cheat and put an attenuator on the back of the shub which will adjust the power coming down the cable before to reaches the shub.

Rajie · 30-03-2015, 17:55

Alright, I'll give it a go thanks very much for the continued help.

heero_yuy · 30-03-2015, 18:19

One other check you can do: Are there any attenuators* fitted at the back of the SH?

*Small metal boxes in-line with the cable

If they're there please report what is written on the outside of them.

General Maximus · 30-03-2015, 21:32

it is a new shub so I doubt the installation tech would have put one on without checking the power levels first

Rajie · 30-03-2015, 22:15

Yes there isn't anything fitted to the back of the SH.

The install guy did nothing other than plug it in and pull up speedtest.net, I asked a few basic questions and he looked at me like I was speaking Chinese. They could've just sent the SH through the post, I knew how to do what he did myself.

qasdfdsaq · 31-03-2015, 00:22

Looks like your tap point needs changed.

Rajie · 08-04-2015, 17:52

Hi everyone, just wanted to pop back and say a big thank you to everyone who helped me in this thread (even when I was stubborn!).

The engineer came this week, and exactly as you had said he fixed the power levels and changed the tap point. So fingers crossed everything seems much better so far. You helped me a lot, so thank you again

heero_yuy · 08-04-2015, 18:06

We're all happy to help. Glad you got your issue sorted out.

General Maximus · 08-04-2015, 18:12

yup, pay extra special attention later at the times you think traffic management kicks and watch to see what the shub does. It you get any dodgy flashing lights or lose connectivity have a look in your log and see what happened. Can you post your new downstream and upstream power levels (regardless of fault) as well so we can see the difference.