Vision & VBox - Some n00b questions/observations.

I know this topic has probably been done to death already. But not in the most recent forum pages......

I have just re-contracted my Option 3 for another 12 months. After some initial wobbles I have found the service to be excellent and the Home Hub has performed faultlessly. I primarily download hi-def video clips via P2P between 6am and 3pm which consumes about 30-40Gb a month. I declined their telephone offer to save �2 pcm to sign up again for �22.99 and likewise the e-mail offer for the same. I went down the MAC code route
and got their �19.99 + Vision offer. Being a Vision n00b I wondered if there are tricks and tips I should know about. These are my initial findings:

Having agreed to the Vision service (only for the Freeview decoder, PVR and free BBC and CH4 downloads) I noticed in the following days my Hub would resync daily, usually in the early morning. When the V-Box arrived I took my stats before connecting it and got my usual 448/8096 bandwidth with a 19/9.5 SN Margin on line attenuation of 20/38dB. However after setting up the V-Box (using Ethernet 1 on the Hub and Power Line Adapters into dedicated wall sockets) my stats plummeted to 448/4024 and 19/18.5 SNM.

A quick power down/up in VBox - Hub - Hub - VBox order ensured all was well again in the world as my normal stats were reinstated. Next I grabbed 30minutes of free BBC VOD after which my stats told me I had downloaded approx 300Mb and my bandwidth is 448/5952 and SNM is 19/18.5. Am I right in thinking that when you have initiated your first VOD request a Quality of Service marker is applied to the line which is responsible for the change in stats I have seen?

I am not griping about it at all, in fact I accept I am blessed with outstanding bandwidth for such a rural location. I am just wondering if these observations are 'normal'. Other things I have discovered are:

The bright green LED of "I expect you to die, Mr Bond" intensity serves no purpose as the 1571 message facility is not active in current firmware and a soft reset extinguishes it. The USB ports don't do anything other than provide a source of sufficient power to run a USB battery charger. When On or in Standby the not-so-quiet fan is constantly whirring and the V-Box is always "Phoning Home" for schedule updates etc. so the data light on the Hub is now flashing 24/7.

Please feel free to embelish or trash my observations and hopefully this thread will compile a mine of useful information for other n00bs thinking of installing Vision.

Trevor

QoS should affect the line rate between modem and exchange.
Maybe the powerline adaptors are casuing a problem, I have heard they cause issues in some installations.

I do want to add some Cat5 cabling between the Hub upstairs and the living room as I also have my eye on one of the new 40Gb Playstations for media serving duties so dispensing with the Power Line Adaptors is my ultimate goal.

QoS does not affect the line connection rate, if running the VBox does this then something is creating interference. The QoS settings only show up when you visit www.speedtester.bt.com

As a trial I'd suggest unplugging the powerline plugs and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for that, Andrew. It looks like the Power Line Adaptors have put me in RF Hell or something. Constant resyncs, millions of CRC errors and an SN Margin up at 18.5dB. I bought a 20-metre screened ethernet patch lead on ebay for �6.98 delivered. As soon as I dispensed with the Power Line Adaptors my old stats returned and stability has been maintained. I'd advocate the use of an ethernet connection over wireless or PLA every time.

Glad you got it sorted TooBad