VM Connection - Odd packet loss spikes?

My Broadband Ping

Hello guys,

I've been using the broadband monitor tool here for a couple of days now after trying to track down the cause of the routine buffering problems and intermittent drops in service that I'm having with Virgin Media. I'm hardly unique here but I'm wondering if the monitoring is showing up a specific issue that is more than Virgin's persistant peering woes.

You will see that every 3 hours, more or less on the nose, I am seeing a brief but near complete spike in packet loss. Unsurprisingly if I am mucking about on my xbox these result in dropping suddenly off the service and if I am browsing/streaming via my PC everything stops.

Inbetween the periods where these spikes occur the service continues to be intermittent, with the common virgin streaming iplayer/youtube woes and, interestingly this morning and last night at around 10:30-12:00 (and beyond, I had to get some kip) no internet access at all, which I note does not show up on this graph as I'd expect.

I've snapshot the last day specifically because unusually nobody was using the internet and no PC/Xbox has been switched on during the day, which at least eliminates malware I guess, but the last couple of days have not shown up anything radically different.

Any ideas? Are Virgin likely to be the culprits or is my cable box knackered?

Not a nice graph! When you get regular disturbance like that it just has to be network issues. Here's mine looking like a new level for Super Mario I am told. My Broadband Ping

My regular features result in buffering, laggy gaming via PS3 and low speed test results with high ping. All I can say is that I have only been having such a poor service, apart from the infamous mid-evening blip, since our area got double speed. VM has been fobbing people off with explanations such as ongoing national upgrading work and 'it'll probably sort itself out when the 120Mb roll out has completed'.

This is not good enough is it? We are paying for a 'goodbye to buffering' service and not getting it for at least half the time. I complained and got a discount last month, but this is no substitute. All I can suggest, is keep on complaining and posting as much as you can in assorted forums. I am considering taking my complaint to OfCom.

Try getting a support ticket here VM Support Forum

Edited by roughbeast (Thu 22-Nov-12 17:20:21)

NOTE:

The packet might actually arrive, but if over 150ms in arriving we call that lost. Which to be honest most broadband connections should be able to easily manage.

The YouTube buffering appears to be down to some cache/CDN issues inside the Virgin Media network, but there are also various other problems too.

i thought you ping's was 500ms before time out

I got reminded of this - yes 500 ms.

That brain cell must have missed its coffee hit, have refreshed it now.

well this is on the same street

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/share/fa6526f9f5a...
vs
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/share/031d286575e...

on the same street (i guess cable fault or modem as its the only one that is doing it)

Edited by leexgx (Fri 23-Nov-12 17:58:30)