Superhub Awful SH wifi: Can I improve it? - Page 2

RainmakerRaw · 07-10-2013, 10:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by General Maximus

yes they will have deleted the shub 1 mac however I can't see there being a problem with them re-registering it as shub1s are still in use on the network. If worst comes to worst and they don't want to register second hand equipment they'll send you a new shub1 out.

As for your problem, whilst I cannot offer any productive comments to remedy it, I am not surprised with this kind of stuff because VM bang the shubs out as fast as possible once they know they can handle the basics and then spend ages afterwards trying to fix the proper routing features. They did exactly the same thing which shub1. Have you got a proper router you could try so you can defo say it is the shub2 which is at fault?

Unfortunately not. I used to have high end server equipment, VM hosts, download boxes and routers (commercial and home-brew) coming out the wazoo; but alas I'm down to a barebones old PC and a MacBook Pro now after a house move.

I need m0ar equipment!

The issue persists today so I'm going to ring VM and ask them to re-register the SH1 to troubleshoot. It's the quickest way to rule out the equipment without going through a ton of hassle with two VPN providers; especially when logic dictates they can't be at fault here.

Thanks for replying.

I'll post back if I have any updates.

Sephiroth · 07-10-2013, 11:01

Whilst the SH2 is a vast improvement in certain areas over the SH1 (i.e. wireless, stability), my mantra always remains intact: modem mode.

The routing functions of the SH are well slugged; we have no visibility as to how buffers are handled and IMO for anything other than basic browsing, I wouldn't use the SH in router mode for any purpose.

For any kind of high performance use, I strongly recommend an external router l;eavinf the SH2 (in this case) to have to cope with the DOCSIS side only.

Hope that helps!

RainmakerRaw · 07-10-2013, 11:59

I agree wholeheartedly, but we're saving hard for our wedding in May next year and are on a tight budget. As such the chunk of cash needed for a decent Asus router (or better yet a custom box) is something I really can't justify until after we're married. The SH1 at least managed full speed on VPN so it may be a case of make-do for now. I'll have to see how the swap goes later once I get home. Fingers crossed, because I can't see what else could be the problem so I'm actually hoping it IS the SH2 at fault just so I don't end up with a huge conundrum on my hands lol.

qasdfdsaq · 07-10-2013, 15:43

Put it in modem mode, and clone the MAC if you can. If the problem goes away, it's the router, if it does not, it's protocol shaping. Which VM do do against VPNs, it's just notoriously inconsistent.

RainmakerRaw · 08-10-2013, 17:30

Sorry for the delay guys, I ended up working late last night. Thanks for that suggestion qas, I hadn't thought of that (d'oh)... In modem mode my Debian desktop (Intel Pro 1000MT NIC, cat6 cable) gets 15MB/sec from an Ubuntu torrent. Add in the VPN (no SOCKS5 proxy), and I still get 15MB/sec.

Once back in router mode, I can't get full speed from the VPN unless I use a SOCKS5 proxy as well. So it's definitely an issue with routing/handling on the SH2. Quel surprise! The wifi is definitely better on SH2 so I'll just keep that running and use the SOCKS5 dirty fix for now to keep full speed on downloads and uploads (I'm a Linux tester/dev so I distro-hop and circulate patches etc almost continuously).

Is there an email I can report this issue to VM, so that they can look to adding a fix to a future firmware update? Or should I just not hold my breath? Again thanks to all replying to this thread, at least now I've confirmed the issue and have a temporary dirty fix.

Sephiroth · 08-10-2013, 18:25

Emailing VM is a waste of time unless you know an individual. Others will confirm this, no doubt.

Kushan · 08-10-2013, 19:01

Having been the sod who responds to those emails, I can confirm it's a waste of time. There was a 3 month backlog when I last looked and agents can pick and choose which emails they respond to, so anything remotely complicated just gets ignored.

Sephiroth · 08-10-2013, 19:12

You mean the sod who doesn't respond to those emails - in a timely and meaningful manner. Gotcha - it was you.

What an indictment of VM. I've always said that their CS processes were/are broken.

General Maximus · 08-10-2013, 19:21

yup, and the sad thing is that is something has upset the customer, no matter how trivial VM think it is, it needs dealing with otherwise the customer will walk.

Kushan · 08-10-2013, 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

You mean the sod who doesn't respond to those emails - in a timely and meaningful manner. Gotcha - it was you.

The very same!

In all fairness, quite a lot (the vast majority) of the emails I seen were issues that simply could not be dealt with via email. Having net troubles? Best I can do is check your modem. If it's switched off, I can't do anything. If I find an issue that requires a tech, I still can't do anything because YOU need to phone in to get one booked. If I don't find anything, then I stop there because you need to phone in to go through diagnostics. None of the agents doing emails are trained well enough to give out proper technical advice (pings, traceroutes, etc.).

The same for TV, Phone, etc.

Billing issues can't be touched due to data protection, we couldn't even give out your phone number in most instances.

Really, there's just no point emailing in, always phone or post on the forum.

RainmakerRaw · 08-10-2013, 20:54

I have emails for one of the head managers in retentions (who got our install debacle fixed with six months compensation), as well as a manager in the CEO's office. I might ping off an email just to see what they come back with. Worth a go if nothing else.

I think I'll be building a dedicated router and putting the SH2 into modem mode ASAP, however!

qasdfdsaq · 09-10-2013, 16:05

Wait, could you clarify about the SOCKS proxy.

Are you using the SOCKS proxy to connect to the VPN and running the VPN through the proxy or the other way round (i.e. running the proxy through the VPN)?

In any case unless you get the same IP while in modem mode and router mode (i.e. through copying the router's MAC) you might get treated differently by the traffic shaping systems - a remote but known possibility - changing IPs has been known to get around both routing and overzealous traffic shaping issues.

But it could well also be the Superhub, in which case getting your own router is the best solution and isn't even that expensive - mid-range (gigabit class, wireless N450+) routers start at about £30.

Or just set up a random Linux machine or VM as a router.