VM Negotiation Tips

[Jonj1611]

Ah interesting, of course that is true what you are saying but as I said whatever patch they did bring out fixed the issue for me. But like most things you generally only hear from people having problems and not the people its not affecting, there are 3 gamers in this house, and I mean most of the time, when we started with Virgin a few years ago the latency and issues we had with that were very noticeable, a few updates down the line and no issues to speak of anymore. So for me it worked, shame it hasn't for others, surprised they didn't change the chipset in the hub 4.

[ik9000]

Ah interesting, of course that is true what you are saying but as I said whatever patch they did bring out fixed the issue for me. But like most things you generally only hear from people having problems and not the people its not affecting, there are 3 gamers in this house, and I mean most of the time, when we started with Virgin a few years ago the latency and issues we had with that were very noticeable, a few updates down the line and no issues to speak of anymore. So for me it worked, shame it hasn't for others, surprised they didn't change the chipset in the hub 4.

oh they did change the chip from puma6 to puma7. Intel however left the flaw in the range and so it is no better!!! And Virgin bought it. Can you believe? I'd love to see what incentivised them to do that...

[Jonj1611]

Someone with a brown envelope full of money perhaps

[ik9000]

Someone with a brown envelope full of money perhaps

as I said. I wonder what incentivised that decision...

[Jace007]

Intel has confirmed the defect, stating that the company is "aware of an issue with the Puma 6 system-on-chip software that impacts latency," but after numerous months, has failed to release any update that fixes the issue.

https://www.theregister.com/2018/08/...el_puma_modem/

https://www.classactionlawyers.com/puma6

[Jonj1611]

That was back in 2018. Think we established the fact that there is still an issue for SOME people. Patches have worked for some and not others, so there we go. Usual story.

[IAmATeaf]

Virgin released an update to fix this. No idea what the update does but the overall graph looks better but it could simply be a case of the new firmware somehow simply hiding the issue?

My SH3 has this update applied and although for a while I did revert back to the 2ac the 3 now appears to work fine.

[ik9000]

That was back in 2018. Think we established the fact that there is still an issue for SOME people. Patches have worked for some and not others, so there we go. Usual story.

this may be due to there being different hub 3s. IIRC there are two different configurations both called the Hub3 with subtle differences inside, but core configuration is the same. Don't quote me on that however as I can't now find the link to back it up.

also

Separately, we're told a firmware update for the Puma 6 issue, developed by Intel and Arris, has been sent out to some customers, however it is not a full fix and is considered by affected punters to be incomplete.

https://www.theregister.com/2017/04/..._puma_6_arris/

[Jonj1611]

Yes I see that story from early 2017, however there have been further fixes/patches since then, I wouldn't have any problems recommending a hub 3 right now, its not a great hub in its own right by any stretch but it certainly doesn't have the issues FOR ME that I used to have, for others I can't comment on.

[ik9000]

Yes I see that story from early 2017, however there have been further fixes/patches since then, I wouldn't have any problems recommending a hub 3 right now, its not a great hub in its own right by any stretch but it certainly doesn't have the issues FOR ME that I used to have, for others I can't comment on.

which other fixes? sources please. there is only 1 intel patch and it took Virgin 2 years to release it. AFAIK there is not any other fix than this one.

[Jonj1611]

I'm sorry I don't have a list of sources, didn't realise I needed one. My firmware revision has been increasing, do you have Virgin? Have you been checking your firmware revisions? Latest hub firmware was .401 updated around August 2019.

[ik9000]

firmware revision <> new fix. They frequently do firmware updates for a variety of things, wifi stability, hotspot updates etc. Just because you've seen the firmware number change doesn't mean it is "fixing" the inherent processor flaws further anymore than a mobo BIOS update "fixes" meltdown vulnerabilities unless it is specifically written to deal with that specific problem. What do the firmware release notes say?

You are the person who keeps saying they have fixed the problem, and respectfully it would appear that you cannot actually corroborate that beyond "I've not noticed a problem myself" which is anecdotal and not the same thing. I would be delighted to find that the patch has actually genuinely fixed the issue as I could then go back onto my hub3 and get the speed I am actually paying for instead of being limited to the 200Mbps the hub2.5 can achieve. However all the articles I have read suggest that it is only mitigated in part, and problems do still persist.

[Jonj1611]

But I clearly told you that I had serious latency issues before the patch of a year or so ago and now I have none at all. I would hardly call that anecdotal and a lot of people on the Virgin forums also saying that the majority of issues have been fixed a long time ago, in fact seems to minority whining about latency issues now. So you haven't used your hub 3 in a while but your saying there are still issues.

I give up with this, we have 2 different views, you keep yours and I will keep mine

[ik9000]

No, I'm saying that my hub3 was so full of issues I had to ditch it and I'm not willing to go through the hassle of getting VM to switch it back until I hear it is actually fixed in a technical paper, in depth article or something substantive beyond some people saying "mine seems ok" as when I was having hub3 issues before other people said even then "mine's ok". That is not evidence, it is hearsay. There are still enough people complaining that I am still concerned, and I have not found a single authoritative source that says the problem is satisfactorily fixed. Disagree if you want, but I think it unfair to tell people the problem is fixed without evidence to back it up that they will have the same fortuitous experience as you.

[Jonj1611]

Lets get something straight, every single one of my posts said the fix fixed it for me, I never said it was fixed for everyone, not once.

[jimbouk]

And breathe. A forum is a good place for individuals to talk about their experiences, technical deep dives are more the realm of the front pages of tech sites. Maybe Virgin Media would be the best people to ask if you want details about what's in their firmware updates?