is Cisco EPC3925 older modem than the Thompson, Im Fuming

kamin99

Well for me , 3 engineers and 7 phone calls , the last one was tonight speed package is 150 Mb my current speed range is from 25 - 70 Mb , in the final call they told me there is segmentation in the area , meaning work in the area apparently , and that might explain the fluctuations and low speed, technical support wrote a complaint email to the loyalty dept on my behalf and said they will be able to contact the area manager and come back to me tomorrow , promises, promises , the saga continues

kamin99

well , it has been a while , but I'm happy to report that my speed is now 155Mb and stable, I got sorted as finally a good man from the second line support contacted customer loyalty dept on my behave, who contacted me next day and contacted the area manger who explained that my node is undergoing work and should be up and running in 2 days and he was right

Thanks to all who advised me regarding the number of active downstream channels , now i have all 8 working as opposed to only 4 and this is despite numerous calls to UPC first line support advising them of same and the answer was Downstream channels are only for wireless!.

it is obvious that the main weakness in UPC infrastructure is its First line teche support , A clueless crowd that ended up having a crash course in Networking , and at the end of the day they sound like automated answering machine asking you to reboot your router and restart you computer ,if they only listen and escalate unsolved problems to the second line quickly so things can get sorted

the Loyalty Dep. offered me back a month subscription for my trouble and were very nice to deal with , so thanks agin for all the help i got over the forum

DECEiFER

That's fantastic! Awesome stuff and it's really cool that they compensated you.

Enjoy!

TheDoc

Dont know if I posted here or another thread. I had my Thompson router replaced with the Cisco one two weeks ago due to the Thompson acting up. An inbound call would cause the itnernet to disconnect for a short period. So the Cisco one was provided and instantly we started getting poor speeds, poor pings, useless wifi and just bad service(from the connection)

In summary, 4 phone calls to front line support. Two technicians ( one who identified the downstream channel HAS to be a positive number). This resulted in another team arriving to place a dedicated broadband line, seperate to the phone and TV. I freaked, I could only imagine that would be amazing. Well the problem persisted and I was at my wits end.

I called again where a supervisor ( intervened without prompt and I was in no way aggressive etc) advised me that I would need to call back from home, as providing results from speedtests and ping cmd's was not accurate through remote access and the agent took back over.

I was quick to point out how incorrect that statement was, and my remote access was a mirror of what was happening on the screen. Thankfully the agent understood and he went through troubleshooting with me. He quickly, and I mean, instantly found the problem.

When I had originally called, my diagnosis was that bandwidth was not being allocated to the two main ethernet connected machines properly. Downloads or uploads werent happening, but it looked like the line was being starved. This opened up all this messing about power being provided to the line etc.

But this helpful agent, Darren, identified the issue was a connection downloading at 22MB/s and uploading at 3MB/s. I was gobsmacked, and he himself said hes only ever seen 14MB/s as the highest download. He monitored it for a few minutes while I double chekced the PC's, and it was downloading like mad. But nothing in the house was actively downloading, nor passively.

I immediately suggested ( since he was remotely logged into my router) to identify the MAC of the connection downloading, and block it, which he duely did. And presto, my speeds resumed back to what I was used to.

I always had top notch speeds. And its back to that now. Never drops below 125mb DL, or 5MB upload and ping is always below 20ms. But it raised the question of what this rogue connection was. I was expecting to go home and find a sibling or parent complaining their hardware couldnt connect to the internet but everything appeared connected .

I've never heard of a residential BB allowing a download speed of 22mbs. I'm pretty confident there wasn't someone jacking in on the Wifi, and having a device download at 22mbs through wifi, when I cant break 8mbs on ethernet.

Thankfully the issue has been resolved but there is this really weird worry about what it was and what was doing it. While he blocked the MAC address, we arn't 100% if that actually stopped it. He notified me that the downloading was still occuring, (we decided this was the MAC in questions since I didnt recognise the rest) but it would appear the downloading just stopped, conveniently when he had found it.

I'm keeping an eye on it, but for anyone having major issues with the new Cisco router, its something to look into. The agent I was dealing with mentioned he would escalated the issue upward, as he had never experienced speeds that fast, and to have it investigated. The Cisco router has no built in logging etc, but it might be worth looking into a third party application. I just through a little script on the main house PC that monitors packets out and in and sends a notification when downloading gets above 10MB/s, which is what I've never seen in the house.

TheDoc

LiutenantDan wrote: »

3- phoned UPC tech suport (again). This time they put me through to the home installation guys. They said that they had heard of gaming issues with latency. The guy said he would send me out a thompson modem to replace my EPC3925..

I requested that the Thompson they took from me be repaired(it was just replaced, no attempt at forcing firmware upgrade) or send me a new Thompson, as the Cisco seemed to be part of the problem ( which it appears wasnt but still unclear really)

Advised me they had no more stock of the THompson and it was discontinued.

So annoying when they muddle information like that, I was a happy camper since I got the Thompson router put in AGES ago, and woul've liked it to just be replaced.

TheDoc

TheDoc wrote: »

I requested that the Thompson they took from me be repaired(it was just replaced, no attempt at forcing firmware upgrade) or send me a new Thompson, as the Cisco seemed to be part of the problem ( which it appears wasnt but still unclear really)

Advised me they had no more stock of the THompson and it was discontinued.

So annoying when they muddle information like that, I was a happy camper since I got the Thompson router put in AGES ago, and woul've liked it to just be replaced.

Great to hear you got sorted. Were you using wep, wpa or wpa2 encryption on the wifi network? Would any of your neighbours have had physical access to the router to see the wifi passphrase?
Sounds like someone was torrenting wirelessly, that will completely choke the connection. But sustained downloading at that speed for how many days?? strange one...

TheDoc

Deleted User wrote: »

Great to hear you got sorted. Were you using wep, wpa or wpa2 encryption on the wifi network? Would any of your neighbours have had physical access to the router to see the wifi passphrase?
Sounds like someone was torrenting wirelessly, that will completely choke the connection. But sustained downloading at that speed for how many days?? strange one...

I normally change the key when I get a new router, but it just seemed weird that there was such a high download speed that seemed to be happening for so long

DECEiFER

TheDoc wrote: »

I normally change the key when I get a new router, but it just seemed weird that there was such a high download speed that seemed to be happening for so long

You might be safer if you consider restricting Wireless clients to allowed MAC addresses only (I think it's phrased MAC filter in the Cisco?).

TheDoc

DECEiFER wrote: »

You might be safer if you consider restricting Wireless clients to allowed MAC addresses only (I think it's phrased MAC filter in the Cisco?).

Doesnt that mean specifying the MAC address' for each device?

No major effort I suppose, and it definitely hasn't happened since Friday when UPC Hero identified the issue, its just a weird one.

I'm still dumbfounded as to how or what could download at that speed, over wifi. Never mind the fact I'm pretty sure my encryption is safe as houses.

DECEiFER

TheDoc wrote: »

Doesnt that mean specifying the MAC address' for each device?

No major effort I suppose, and it definitely hasn't happened since Friday when UPC Hero identified the issue, its just a weird one.

I'm still dumbfounded as to how or what could download at that speed, over wifi. Never mind the fact I'm pretty sure my encryption is safe as houses.

Yeah that's the one. It can be a pain in the ass, especially if you have guests who often hop on with their portable devices and you're not aware of their MAC addresses. Maybe just keep this method in mind if the problem re-occurs...

TheDoc

Will do, cheers

I'll post an update if it happens again

TheDoc

Issue back again,

2 Hour call with customer support ended with them insisting the issue was something downloading and uploading on my network, and cannot assist. Ended speaking to a supervisor advising that I've been three weeks with disrupted service, and to advise me that the issue is something downloading, when I'm 100% confident that nothing downloading can cause this much interference, and what else, considering I'm fully confident nothing on my PC is downloading/uploading without my knowledge

So I looked mroe and some interesting issues.

1) When I ping google.ie it frequently hits 100,200,300ms +
2) When I ping my router, it frequently hits 100ms +

Point two seems a concern

TheDoc

Have raised a thread on Talk to UPc

On reflection I'm not happy to wait till Tuesday for resolution, and suffer more ****e internet over the weekend.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056802753

vibe666

turn off your wireless, if it stops then it is someone outside of your residence doing it and you can change your wifi keys etc. and implement some more security measures like mac filtering etc.

if it keeps going then you can at least track it down inside your house. install network monitors on anything connected to the router and take it from there.

a ping to your router shouldn't be more than 1-2ms.

TheDoc

vibe666 wrote: »

turn off your wireless, if it stops then it is someone outside of your residence doing it and you can change your wifi keys etc. and implement some more security measures like mac filtering etc.

if it keeps going then you can at least track it down inside your house. install network monitors on anything connected to the router and take it from there.

a ping to your router shouldn't be more than 1-2ms.

The download speed of the file was reported as 28mb/s by the UPC tech, surely nothing can do that over Wifi.

And considering I can barely get a wifi signal from my room, I dont see how anyone can be getting better from another house.

I'll check it anyway to rule it out, the router has had the default password changed when it was installed, if someones piggybacking, UPC has a big problem

28 megabits is certainly doable over wireless (though it's at the higher end of what G can do). 28 megabytes wouldn't be... if that were the case I'd be suspecting someone spoofing your cable modem's MAC to get free internet via an uncapped modem. It's unlikely, but you're in an unusual situation.

Alun

Karsini wrote: »

...if that were the case I'd be suspecting someone spoofing your cable modem's MAC to get free internet via an uncapped modem. It's unlikely, but you're in an unusual situation.

That's one of my theories too.

Alun

TheDoc wrote: »

I'll check it anyway to rule it out, the router has had the default password changed when it was installed, if someones piggybacking, UPC has a big problem

ISTR that a while ago, one version of the firmware had an unsecured guest access SSID that couldn't be turned off, but that was removed in an update. Might be worth checking with inssider or something like that.

zippyddog

Hi Guys,

I'm also experiencing speed issues with my UPC 150MB/Cisco EPC3925 Setup.
Long Story Short Was on 100MB with UPC from the Start - Speeds were fine. I Was upgraded to 120MB for free during the Summer - Speeds were testing at 120+ All good

However I upgraded to 150MB about 2 months ago and have been noticing a persistent drop in speeds ever since. Average is now around 85mbps, and it rises to around the 100mbps mark in early morning tests.

I called UPS First Line and deflected their fob-offs as I was able to test directly wired across three different Laptops and a PC all running 1G interfaces, the speeds were the same across all four. Thy agreed to send out a Tech.

So a month later I have had 3 UPC Technicians Call out on separate occasions to try and diagnose the issue and they are baffled. Ethernet Cables, UPC Terminal Box and the Modem have been replaced to no effect. They are now looking to run a diagnostic package remotely over the next couple of days to see if "something" can be identified, but I'm not holding out for much success. Note: all 3 Techs were equipped with Laptops only capable of 100mb for their own testing, which doesn't instil much confidence!?

Here is some DOCSIS WAN Info from the Modem

Model: Cisco EPC3925
Firmware Build Time: Jul 27 21:06:28 2012
Cable Modem Status: Operational
Wireless Network: Enable

Downstream Channels
Power Level: Signal to Noise Ratio:
Channel 1: 9.0 dBmV 37.9 dB
Channel 2: 8.8 dBmV 38.3 dB
Channel 3: 8.4 dBmV 37.9 dB
Channel 4: 8.1 dBmV 37.8 dB
Channel 5: 9.9 dBmV 37.8 dB
Channel 6: 9.4 dBmV 37.8 dB
Channel 7: 9.0 dBmV 37.4 dB
Channel 8: 8.5 dBmV 37.2 dB

Upstream Channels
Power Level:
Channel 1: 35.7 dBmV
Channel 2: 0.0 dBmV
Channel 3: 0.0 dBmV
Channel 4: 0.0 dBmV

Any suggestions, greatly appreciated?

Cheers

ED E

Things gone to sh1t.

Started about 6wks ago. Intermittent dropouts. Appears to be getting worse. Went from DMZ to proper bridge last week, no improvement.

Everything past the 3925 functions flawlessly, as one would expect. But every day or two it locks up entirely or speeds go to hell. Power cycles fix this. But it always comes back.

Tonight:





Edit: Update, happened again just there.

duckndive

Getting the exact same problems over a similar timeline so you are not alone. I also noticed after a drop of service the router also has a problem with it's DHCP allocation and some wired devices come back online where others are left in limbo.

The latest update although dated July seems to be bug filled even though it now allows a GUI bridge mode. I think it's about time we hear something from a UPC rep in regards to these constant drop outs/ synch issues. And yes, I have already gone down the route of contacting UPC directly, engineers called out, router swapped three times, cable checked, DB loss verified, etc etc. So I have exhausted all avenues, from a service that promised so much and worked so well, how has it come back full circle to match it's competitors level of service to which it supposedly surpassed?

And yet we never see a UPC representative on these threads, which in itself speaks volumes. Roll on LTE or a more reliable service.

ED E

I've been in touch with them, the boards reps wont be back in till 9AM monday but hopefully we'll hear something then.

gerr80

Lads I didn't need to read all this thread but I will. I had a Thompson router for my 100mb connect n all was fine only for the wifi signal was
crap on it! Anyway I got UPC too install the TV, Phone line n I already had BB from them 100mb n was working PERFECT only for the wifi signal in my house 4rm it was crap! So I asked the engineer would he swap the Thompson for a newer modem, the Cisco one he said no problem OMG what a mistake. Sometime for like a hr at most il get up to 80% of my 100mb but the rest of the time I am stuck at speeds that seem too be capped at 1.1mb/s like wtf UPC. I will be calling them again Monday morning n if they do not fix this I will cancel my direct debit and they wont c a penny from me. Im so so pi$$ed.

mark17j

gerr80 wrote: »

Lads I didn't need to read all this thread but I will. I had a Thompson router for my 100mb connect n all was fine only for the wifi signal was
crap on it! Anyway I got UPC too install the TV, Phone line n I already had BB from them 100mb n was working PERFECT only for the wifi signal in my house 4rm it was crap! So I asked the engineer would he swap the Thompson for a newer modem, the Cisco one he said no problem OMG what a mistake. Sometime for like a hr at most il get up to 80% of my 100mb but the rest of the time I am stuck at speeds that seem too be capped at 1.1mb/s like wtf UPC. I will be calling them again Monday morning n if they do not fix this I will cancel my direct debit and they wont c a penny from me. Im so so pi$$ed.

The 3925 has terrible wireless from the posts i read here, I have the Cisco 2425 and although it's wireless g, I find the reception pretty good, always get a good to excellent signal upstairs. I won't be any rush to change it either.

DECEiFER

ED E wrote: »

Things gone to sh1t.

Started about 6wks ago. Intermittent dropouts. Appears to be getting worse. Went from DMZ to proper bridge last week, no improvement.

I've been noticing some packet loss lately (though not much, say 4 to 10 packets out of 1000, sometimes but rarely more). While my speeds have been steady, it sometimes causes pages to time out and I'd need to reload them, and they load perfectly. Even though I had rebooted my modem last Sunday (I think) it was still happening every so often. While not a major problem, earlier this evening I spoofed my MAC so I'd be given a new IP address and a new gateway. Things have improved.

Have you tried that? If not, try to make sure you get a new gateway, outside of your current subnet.