Internet intermittently slowing down to a crawl

Brendan,
Exactly the same type of fault. Virgin Media also said I should get a new box. It arrived a week ago.
For the last three months I have been running the Google chrome extension “ Internet connection log“ we have a computer running 24 hours and this works away in the background loging anytime the Internet is dropped. It was previously showing multiple drops a day. I have to say since I installed the new Virgin Media modem router there have been no drops. I didn’t actually believe them that this was the fault but to be fair I think they were correct.
 
I have added that extension.

It only shows the drops though and not the reduction in speed. But I suppose that is fair enough as repeatedly testing the speed would impact the speed itself.

 
I am not sure if a drop is logged as a complete loss of connection or a drop in speed below a certain threshold. I also forgot to mention that my main computer is hardwired via Ethernet to the modem router, so a drop of internet was being logged and not a drop in wifi. It is important to distinguish the difference.
 
OK

So I put in the new modem yesterday and it worked fine ... for a while.

But a couple of hours later, the connection came to a complete stop.

The Internet Connection Monitor is great. It shows a little green arrow when the internet is connected.

And goes brown when the connection has been dropped. Despite the system icon showing the connection
working.

I rebooted the laptop and it was fine. ( It comes and goes without rebooting the laptop, so this might or might not be the cause.)

I switched my laptop off overnight. When I turned it on this morning, the connection was fine, but dropped almost immediately and came back within a minute.

I said earlier that I had a cable connection. I don't. It's by wifi.

So my plan is when it drops or slows again, to check it on my phone.

Brendan
 
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It's bad on my phone as well.

I rang Virgin Media and got through within 6 minutes, which is good.

They are sending out an engineer tomorrow.

Brendan
 
i would be willing to bet then that you have a wifi set up issue rather than an issue with virgin,

my advice to split the bands would be worth trying,

Can't split wifi between 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz

My wifi was split previously into 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz settings which worked better for me as I have a number of devices connected. Lately the wifi went down so I reset it and now it won't split between 2.4 and 5Ghz again. I have been to my Hub 3.0 settings page and it says there that they're both...
community.virginmedia.com

look at the 3rd or 4th post here.
 
Blackrock1 said:
i would be willing to bet then that you have a wifi set up issue rather than an issue with virgin,
Click to expand...
What type of setup issue gives sponradic results like described?

Blackrock1 said:
If wired you have an issue, if wireless its either the hard ware or your wireless set up.
Click to expand...
The Speedtest tests run a load test between your device and a remote server, so you can't assume that a poor result on a wireless connection is down to the wifi itself.
 
Blackrock1 said:
if wireless its either the hard ware or your wireless set up.

Ideally you would have your wifi split between 2.4g and 5g, and where you can connect to the 5g band, its range is lower but speeds are higher and its less prone to interference.
Click to expand...

I take that you are referring to this?

I have absolutely no idea what "splitting my wifi" means.

And as Leo asked - does this account for the intermittent nature of the problem. It has been fine for the last hour, but when I press reply, it might well just go into suspense.

Brendan
 
Leo said:
What type of setup issue gives sponradic results like described?


The Speedtest tests run a load test between your device and a remote server, so you can't assume that a poor result on a wireless connection is down to the wifi itself.
Click to expand...
Interference on the wireless channel for one, far more common an issue on 2.4ghz v 5Ghz.

If Brendan connects wired and everything works as it should, then we can isolate the issue to wireless, i dont think he has done this yet, he should.
 
if you read the link i sent you have the instructions, at the moment your virgin router is using both the 2.4 and 5ghz channel so when you connect to your wifi you are most likely ending up on the 2.4 as its range is greater.

If that 2.4hhz channel is subject to intereference then yes that could account for the nature of the problem.

Simply put,

connect your laptop via an ethernet cable for a period, if you encounter no issues then its either a hardware or a wifi configuration issue
if you have isolated it to that and you experience the same issue with different devices then its not a hardware issue its a wifi issue,
If its a wifi issue you need to address that.
 
Most modern routers will offer channels on both 2.4 & 5GHz ranges, and the majority work very well managing them and broadcasting everything on a single WiFi network name. With a single WiFi network for all, the devices connecting can choose the best channel for themselves.

By splitting, they mean reconfiguring the router so that both ranges use a different WiFi network name. You then have to go reconnect devices a deciding what ones access the 2.4GHz channels, and what can only use the 5GHz channels. The problem with that approach is you need to figure out what works best for each connected device, and then you likely need to restrict your phone and other mobile devices to the 2.4GHz channels to give you greater range from the router.
 
i have my own network equipment, i have yet to find a router sent out from virgin, sky, digiweb, or anyone else that id use personally but i understand i am in the minority.

That said i have always split my networks, and very few devices wont work on 5ghz, and you get far better and more consistent speeds.

Another thing to look into would be what dns server your router is using and maybe change that to open dns or googles dns server.

given you dont seem to like my suggestions Leo, what would you suggest he do?
 
Blackrock1 said:
Interference on the wireless channel for one, far more common an issue on 2.4ghz v 5Ghz.
Click to expand...
Speed drops like Brendan is experiencing are more likely on the provider side. If there is interference on a channel, the router or laptop should switch channel. An app like Fing will let you analyse the quality of all channels.
 
Leo said:
Speed drops like Brendan is experiencing are more likely on the provider side. If there is interference on a channel, the router or laptop should switch channel. An app like Fing will let you analyse the quality of all channels.
Click to expand...
i would agree if he tested wired to the modem, but he hasnt as of yet.
 
Blackrock1 said:
given you dont seem to like my suggestions Leo, what would you suggest he do?
Click to expand...
Given you suggested that poor down/upload speeds on a wireless connection had to be to a local WiFi/hardware issue I was doubting your credentials

Splitting the WiFi is overkill for most people unless they have spcecific devices that can be problematic on one or the other, likes certain ZigBee hubs.

Monitoring or regular testing over a wired connection, as you suggested, is the best way to isolate this to a provider side issue and a WiFi analyser will highlight intereference issues. But be in no doubt that the providers usually know this issue is on their side, just it's a lot chaper for them to plactate users by sending out a new router than it is upgrade the capacity of their lines to be able to cope with their installed base.
 
Hi Blackrock

Just checked that, and apparently I need some adapter to plug an ethernet cable into my laptop - a HP Thinkpad.

Before I got this laptop a year ago, I did connect my desktop via a wired connection, so I would probably go back to that anyway, if it's faster and more reliable.

Brendan
 
fair enough i have rarely experienced a degradation in service on the provider side, its far more frequently been an issue with local wifi set up (in my own and my wider family experience where i am the default internet fixer )

My own line is FTTH so normally rock solid, i believed virgin was always pretty good as well but maybe not the case any more.
 
amazon should sort you out, do you know what adapter you need? USB3.0 to ethernet or micro usb to ethernet?
 
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