Powerline network - Stability Issues

[Luke070]

I am currently experiencing ongoing issues with my Power over Ethernet system used for my computer. I am now sceptical on whether it could either be my broadband service (Virgin Media) or it is just my power circuits running in the house. So the problems that arise when playing games and browsing the internet is constant lag spikes and disconnects from the internet. It seems to happens every hour or so.

I also created a thread on Virgin's Help & Support Forum regarding the issues and have been advised to reset my router and wait for a few days to then bump the thread so that they can see whether they can identify a problem with the Superhub.

Now, I am currently experiencing ongoing issues with my Power over Ethernet system used for my computer. I am now sceptical on whether it could either be my broadband service (Virgin Media) or it is just my power circuits running in the house. So, the problems that arise when playing games and browsing the internet is constant lag spikes and disconnects from the internet. It seems to happens every hour or so. Now, I have also made a thread on Virgin's Help & Support Forum regarding the issues and have been advised to reset my router and wait for a few days to then bump the thread so that they can see whether they can identify a problem with the Superhub. Although, I'm having doubts on the fact that the Power over Ethernet system is actually affecting the consistency and throughput. Although, I'm having doubts on the fact that the PoE system is actually affecting the consistency and throughput. I believe that our house has two power circuits so I'm not exactly sure on what and how this can affect my connection to the Superhub.

Suggestions are welcomed and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to leave a message below.

Edit: Another thread I created from Virgin Media's Help & Support Forum (if it will help): http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...e/td-p/1628012

[Stuart]

Welcome to the forum.

I believe you are actually referring to a Powerline networking system, and not Power over Ethernet. PoE is a system to enable small devices (such as cameras and Wireless Access points) to get enough power over an ethernet cable that they do not need a seperate power supply. Its primary use is in commercial environments where they need things like WAPs and cameras, and don't wish to add extra power sockets to power them.

Powerline networking is where you plug a special adaptor into the mains, then run an Ethernet cable from that adaptor.

[Luke070]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

POE is usually provisioned on the redundant two twisted pairs in the CAT5/6 cable so I think it's unlikely that it would be affecting your broadband unless you are actually utilising these.

More likely is a VM problem.

You will need to reduce the setup to the simplest one. i.e. One PC and the VM modem/SHUB, if this is OK than add components until the problem establishes itself.

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the warm welcoming!

Anyway back to the issue, the broadband itself seems to be relatively stable. I've run several speedtests on my iPhone and I actually seem to get much better results. I just ran a test on that and I seem to get ~30ms, ~30Mbps download and around 1.70Mbps of upload. My computer however is giving me about ~20ms, ~10Mbps download and 1.33Mbps upload. Although, the priority is the stability that is very much needed for what I do so I'm still unsure on why I'm experiencing disconnects every so often.

[thenry]

could you get a ping monitor running...

put this in your web browser 192.168.100.1

Login

Advanced Settings

Ping

Tick Respond to Ping on WAN Port

Apply

now...

open link and create...

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/monitors.html

once set up click on Share Live Graph then Generate

copy and paste everything in the box labelled...

Small Graph (500x219 px) - BBCode (for forums; not yet supported on thinkbroadband forums)

and post it

[Luke070]

So it appears to have been set up now. Would we just need to wait for results now?

Also, I can give you both my downstream and upstream channels if that helps:

Downstream Channels
Lock Status Channel ID Frequency Modulation Rx Power SNR Pre RS Errors Post RS Errors
Locked 77 306750000 Hz QAM256 2.8 dBmV 40.9 dB 23616 2315
Locked 73 290750000 Hz QAM256 1.9 dBmV 40.3 dB 40936 4004
Locked 74 298750000 Hz QAM256 2.2 dBmV 40.4 dB 29602 3177
Locked 78 314750000 Hz QAM256 3.2 dBmV 41.2 dB 28842 2117
Locked 79 322750000 Hz QAM256 3.6 dBmV 41.4 dB 14817 1467
Unlocked Unknown 0 Hz Unknown 0.0 dBmV 0.0 dB Unknown Unknown
Unlocked Unknown 0 Hz Unknown 0.0 dBmV 0.0 dB Unknown Unknown
Unlocked Unknown 0 Hz Unknown 0.0 dBmV 0.0 dB Unknown Unknown

Upstream Channels
Lock Status Channel ID Frequency Modulation Tx Power Mode Channel Bandwidth Symbol Rate
Locked 3 27400000 Hz ATDMA 43.3 dBmV 16QAM 1600000 5120 Kbits/sec
Unlocked 0 0 Hz Unknown 0.0 dBmV Unknown Unknown 0 Kbits/sec
Unlocked 0 0 Hz Unknown 0.0 dBmV Unknown Unknown 0 Kbits/sec
Unlocked 0 0 Hz Unknown 0.0 dBmV Unknown Unknown 0 Kbits/sec

[thenry]

ye just leave the ping monitor and SuperHub running. it wont kill anything and is safe. from the little i see so far on the monitor shows a lack of capacity, stability on the network. your power levels are fine. whats your double broadband speed ETA?

[Luke070]

Between May and August in 2013.

[thenry]

have you checked over lease time in DHCP settings within the SuperHub setting?

do disconnections happen to devices/systems connected directly to the SuperHub or is it only through the powerline adapters?

have you had a look at your SuperHub lights on the side when the disconnections happen to see if the SuperHub is reloading?

[Luke070]

The DHCP Lease Time is set at 1 Day.

Disconnections happen to just my computer (which is the only device in our house that's connected via a powerline adapter).

I have not yet checked the Superhub lights and whether they react to the disconnection. Next time I disconnect, I'll run downstairs and check to see whether something does happen.

[thenry]

ok.

which powerline adapters have you got, make and model?

how long has this been going on, when did it start playing up? was it going on in the past when you may of been connected to other kit (VM standalone modem and router or the standard Hub etc.) at the time?

is it just a PC that connects to the powerline adapter or do you hook up a console etc. as well? if so does it happen to that or those adapters? if not and its only the PC have you checked over your network adapter settings, DHCP settings and all on the computer?

you wont really need to run downstairs now. the ping monitor will pick it up and show red for disconnections/outage/packet loss.

[Luke070]

http://www.netgear.co.uk/home/produc.../XAVB1004.aspx - This is the powerline adapter kit I have. Netgear is the make and the model number is XAVB1004.

It's been going on for about a week now. I have only been at this house for one week as well. It's been like this since day 1 (which is when the powerline adapter was installed). Previously we have had other issues with the router which is why Virgin installed a Superhub. I believe other devices are able to connect to it wirelessly without any problems whatsoever. I do regular speed checks on my iPhone and seem to get great results at all times.

Yes, my computer is the only device that connects to the powerline adapter.

Here is the DHCP Lease Table for our network:

IP Lease Table
Device Name IP Address Expires

Lukes-PC 192.168.0.6 30-Dec-2012 14:11
User-PC 192.168.0.3 30-Dec-2012 22:31

[thenry]

you say theres two electric circuits?

so you have the adapter where the SuperHub is then the Netgear powerline Hub elsewhere? does the netgear powerline hub have a setup IP? if 192.168.0.1 is the IP to access the web interface it may conflict with the SuperHub when trying to access it which means disconnecting the powerline plug where your SuperHub is then accessing. while theres no link to the SuperHub. have a look at your settings there.

what was the wireless issue with previous kit? what kit did you have prior to getting the SuperHub ?

[Luke070]

so you have the adapter where the SuperHub is then the Netgear powerline Hub elsewhere? does the netgear powerline hub have a setup IP? if 192.168.0.1 is the IP to access the web interface it may conflict with the SuperHub when trying to access it which means disconnecting the powerline plug where your SuperHub is then accessing. while theres no link to the SuperHub. have a look at your settings there.

Yes that is correct, the adapter is where the Superhub is and the Netgear powerline hub is next to my computer. I have not configured it to the extend of assigning it an IP address I dont think.

The wireless issue was just a cable problem on the router. It was a very fault/loose cable so I don't think it actually was a routing problem.

Also just to note, I have disabled Port Scan Detection and IP Flood Detection under the Firewall on my Superhub.

Edit: What I will do now is I will install the software that was included with the Netgear powerline adapter kit.

[thenry]

probably a load of bloatware but there may be some stuff in there thats of use to you. is there a web IP stated to access settings of the hub in the manual?

you mentioned two electric circuits in your home?

[Luke070]

No there is not anything about configuring settings for a web IP or anything.
I searched through all of the manuals and there didn't seem to be anything IP related whatsoever.

Yes, we have two electric circuits in our home.