Virgin Media Superhub - Erratic Speeds 15-64mbs

[Andeh13]

Hi guys,

I recently renewed my contract with Virgin Media and have taken one of their super hubs. Over a cable the speeds has hit 64mbs before but it has also dropped to as alow as 15-16mbs.

Wirelessly though the connection is hopeless, it is 50:50 as to whether I can get anything to load at all, and even when it does ‘work’ it only connects at 15-16mbs with a ping of 100ms+. It is the same on my laptop, girlfriends laptop and my Samsung Galaxy nexus S.

I am yet to ring Virgin Media as I am NOT a fan of their customer service (but I am stuck with their fibre optic network due to a naff bt line).

Before I changed to this 60mbs package I could get a solid stable 10mbs - limit of my package. Can anyone suggest what could be causing the problem before I have to sit there and listen to theiir ‘experts’ tell me to turn it on and off until they panic and make me wait 2 weeks for a replacement modem to be sent out?

Thanks!

[g8ina]

The new Superhub does have a poor rep from what I've heard re wireless.

[snedger]

Anyone thinking of going to Virgin should google superhub first and then decide (not to join).
VM called me to offer me a free upgrade to 100mb and I told them to shove it when they said that I would have to have a SH - "you are not putting one of those in my house".
I've tried to get a SH working at my gf's house and it has been a freakin bad expererience. As reported many times, by many people, on various forums , the wireless range is tiny. I tried turning the SH to modem only and connected a separate wireless router, which was better, but upon powering down, all settings got lost and I lost the will to try again.
The connection drops frequently, making online gaming practicially unfeasable. That is nothing to do with wireless, just that SH is rubbish.
I moved my gf's SH to a different room at the weekend - slightly more central and this means that all rooms now have some coverage. It did take a long time for the wireless signal to start working again - no idea why - and I did think that maybe I'd mucked everything up!
I would advise anyone getting a SH installed that they really think about insisting that it gets installed in a central location and not just connected next to a TV box - don't let the engineer fob you off.
I was reading some forum a few days back and it does appear that VM will sometimes install an Ambit 300 modem when there are problems with SH - if it were me, I would insist on an Ambit 300 from day one and I'd probably get my own quality wireless router.

[Hicks12]

I must check my connection properly tonight as I got mine installed on Friday. How are you checking speeds? If you're using speed test its not really good! Search on Google for Virgin media manual speed test and download the largest file see what the speeds are. I've found that 60mb Is hard to get from any where atm even Microsoft i seem to download at 10mb! But vm sites is fine and speed test gets 60mb depending on the location

[Dareos]

Microsoft servers are terrible for downloads i find.

Anyways, have your own router? preferrably N router, log into the shub - 192.168.0.1 - admin/changeme , advanced settings, modem mode, connect your router to the port closest to the coax and use your own router for wireless. Other than that go into wireless settings (also under advanced) change the channel to 11 or 7 and mode to 145, most problems are resolved


Snedger, there was a batch of shubs that went out that reset themselves to factory settings every so often, you appear to have one, call up and get it replaced.

If a mod wants me to put a guide up here that we can sticky at the top of the page, more that willing to do it btw

[Andeh13]

Taken your advice Dareos so will see how it goes. Went a bit flaky this evening so will give it a day or two then report back!

[snedger]

@Dareos - thanks for the info on problems with resetting superhubs.
Next time I try and and reroute the routing, I'll print off the instructions, rather than try and slow browse info on my phone - and if it fails again then I'll advise to get a replacement superhub.

[Dareos]

hope it helps guys. I am not a fan of the superhub, but it does work ok as a modem, and the flaky wireless can be tuned a touch, range is still very poor imo tho.

[GoNz0]

my superhub works fine, its in modem mode


my netgear wndr4500 takes care of everything else and the old wndr3700 has ddwrt to allow it to work as a 5 port switch.

[teppic]

I've found that the superhub has terrible range too. Just across the landing in another room nothing can pick up the wifi signal, yet things can detect ones from other houses. Since they're made by Netgear I'd assume they'd be good - I'm not sure if it's just wonky software.

If you do get problems with speed the best thing to try first is modem mode with a wired connection to rule out as much as possible.

[Dareos]

its not wonky software, the hub was designed to produce a wireless signal that got to the edge of peoples properties but not beyond, as theres a lot of cross interference with wireless networks these days and also the security issue, in that its not really.

Also, whoever designed it, and it wasnt netgear, decided that an internal antenna in the middle of a circuit board, pointing downwards.... was a good idea



as you can see, its not

Hence my being a strong advocate of modem mode and separate router. There will be a new hub at some point I am told, tenders are being tossed around and so on and so forth, but the rumour mill suggests it will only be available to 100 meg customers, how true that is I dont know, its just water cooler talk and in no way reflects any official virgin statement.

[Andeh13]

The superhub seemed to improve, but recently (last day or two) it has been a bit flaky again. I am having to use a network cable atm as it kept dropping the signal 7 chugging along a bit. Can you suggest any more options?

I have a small house so range isn't an issue!

[GoNz0]

pop on the vm forums and request a late entry to the beta as it has a wifi fix.

[Dareos]

do you think its purely wifi mate? if not send me your mac in a Pm and i will check it out monday or tuesday

[Andeh13]

Yep, it is purely wifi. Via cable I can get 60-64mbs except on peak times and it drops by 10-15mb.

Wireless is shockingly unreliable. At best i get 24mbs, at worst it wont even load the BBC website. VM forum is a mess, everyone is basically posting about the same thing yet few seem to get any concrete answers!

I hate to have to buy a second router purely for the wireless, I am interested in this beta you mention Gonzo?

[Andeh13]

Yep, it is purely wifi. Via cable I can get 60-64mbs except on peak times and it drops by 10-15mb.

Wireless is shockingly unreliable. At best i get 24mbs, at worst it wont even load the BBC website. VM forum is a mess, everyone is basically posting about the same thing yet few seem to get any concrete answers!

I hate to have to buy a second router purely for the wireless, I am interested in this beta you mention Gonzo?