Virgin Media: EPC2425/3925 Modem/Router and Speed Issues - POST HERE ONLY

ED E · 27-07-2015 1:58pm

With wifi NOTHING is guaranteed. Thats the nature of open spectrum.

If you want guaranteed performance ethernet is the way to go...

joe_99 · 17-09-2015 11:27am

Currently what is the best modem UPC supply? I need to get on to them re poor wifi and i want to be armed with some info so i get sent out the best modem they have.

ED E · 17-09-2015 11:50am

joe_99 wrote: »

Currently what is the best modem UPC supply? I need to get on to them re poor wifi and i want to be armed with some info so i get sent out the best modem they have.

They're all kinda dire, and they refuse to ship you a model you want. Techs say theyve a load of Ciscos left in the warehouse, but when you call they'll deny they exist.

sgarvan · 23-09-2015 1:53pm

ED E wrote: »

They're all kinda dire, and they refuse to ship you a model you want. Techs say theyve a load of Ciscos left in the warehouse, but when you call they'll deny they exist.

I got my white Thompson replaced by the Cisco EPC3925 within the last couple of weeks. WiFi is brutal in comparison to the Thompson. Also makes a whining noise every now and then which only a power off a socket rectifies. And connection drops with it.

UPC's answer on twitter was to change the channel

ED E · 23-09-2015 3:04pm

The reason you get the Cisco is to bridge it, not to use it as a router

rdosemyfeet · 01-11-2015 7:56pm

Well lads,

There was an outage during the week in the waterford area , after a few hours when the upstream and downstream regained connectivity , pages etc still were not loading

Long story short - On my Cisco 3925, it is bridged into an Asus NT66U , a secondary un-managed switch connected to the NT66U for tree spanning, anything that can be CAT5'd is.

Since that outage occurred , the Cisco modem/router reset itself back into router mode, so I naturally changed it back to bridge, but it does a bootloop and then forces itself back into router mode

Has anyone had this issue lately?

bealtine · 01-11-2015 8:01pm

rdosemyfeet wrote: »

Well lads,

Has anyone had this issue lately?

This issue is all over boards and there's a thread in the talk to virgin forum...
http://www.boards.ie/ttfthread/2057514734/10

It's some kind of update they shipped that disables bridge mode like you describe

laugh · 08-02-2016 8:52pm

Where is the wan connection speed on the epc2425?

ED E · 09-02-2016 7:22am

laugh wrote: »

Where is the wan connection speed on the epc2425?

There isnt, its controlled by the CMTS not the client (or you could give yourself "Free speed")

fredotf2 · 15-05-2016 5:08pm

Hi there,

So my cisco keeps dropping connection to extremely slow speeds (around 1 mbps) maybe once or even a couple of times a day now. I usually get 240mb no problem but now it suddenly just drops. I find if I turn the modem off and back on again the US light keeps blinking for eternity on connection, however if I leave it off for 15-30 minutes and turn it back on again the speeds are back to normal (for a couple of hours at least). Nowadays I may have to do this a couple of times a day. Obviously this is not ideal, does this sound like a bad modem issue or a line issue?

Thanks,
Fredo

ED E · 15-05-2016 6:20pm

The Ciscos overheat, attach a small fan and the problem will disappear.

fredotf2 · 15-05-2016 6:39pm

ED E wrote: »

The Ciscos overheat, attach a small fan and the problem will disappear.

Do you know if the newer virgin media modems have the same overheating problems?

ED E · 15-05-2016 7:32pm

fredotf2 wrote: »

Do you know if the newer virgin media modems have the same overheating problems?

No sign of no, but unless you upgrade to 360Mb for a Compal the others aren't easy to bridge if thats something you want.

fredotf2 · 15-05-2016 7:45pm

ED E wrote: »

No sign of no, but unless you upgrade to 360Mb for a Compal the others aren't easy to bridge if thats something you want.

Yes so I've heard... Anyways thanks for the help and I'll consider my options.

Dair76 · 15-05-2016 7:46pm

Are the 3925s bridgeable again (might be old news that they sorted this out, but I haven't looked into it recently)?

degsie · 16-05-2016 6:08pm

Dair76 wrote: »

Are the 3925s bridgeable again (might be old news that they sorted this out, but I haven't looked into it recently)?

Yes, they are

Dair76 · 16-05-2016 6:21pm

Great, thanks! That's a little project for me now over the weekend.

Red Alert · 25-05-2016 3:12pm

Is bridge mode surviving reboots, and has anyone's disappeared randomly? The reason I ask is I'm going to bridge the parent's one but I don't live there so wouldn't be on hand if it did go wrong.

ED E · 25-05-2016 3:59pm

Red Alert wrote: »

Is bridge mode surviving reboots, and has anyone's disappeared randomly? The reason I ask is I'm going to bridge the parent's one but I don't live there so wouldn't be on hand if it did go wrong.

Mines been rebooted maybe half a dozen times /yr, no issues. DSLite migrations happen spontaneously and *might* break your bridge though.

srsly78 · 25-05-2016 6:57pm

Why do your parents need bridging tho? Sure sure "power users" want to reduce their latency and host stuff etc... but your parents?

You can use your own gear without bridging, no need to overcomplicate things.

Gadgetman496 · 25-05-2016 7:15pm

srsly78 wrote: »

Why do your parents need bridging tho? Sure sure "power users" want to reduce their latency and host stuff etc... but your parents?

You can use your own gear without bridging, no need to overcomplicate things.

How condescending is that reply?

Parents can have the need for bridging too you know.

What if the had CCTV and needed to access it remotely from their mobiles? Or, are parents not allowed mobiles either?

srsly78 · 25-05-2016 7:34pm

As stated, hosting was one valid reason. Most people don't need it tho. There seems to be a misconception that you need bridging to use your own equipment.

06-06-2016 12:47pm

VM have throttled this modem? it rarely gets full speeds- drops to 80-100mb compared to a TC7200 which gets full speed 99% of the time.with only.a 10-20 mb drop to 220-230 on.a 240mb connection. Plus, does anyone know why it gets lower ping times over all of the the modems

ItHurtsWhenIP · 06-06-2016 1:00pm

Deleted User wrote: »

VM have throttled this modem? it rarely gets full speeds- drops to 80-100mb compared to a TC7200 which gets full speed 99% of the time.with only.a 10-20 mb drop to 220-230 on.a 240mb connection. Plus, does anyone know why it gets lower ping times over all of the the modems

Are you testing over wireless or wired direct into the modem?

You can only get a proper result when wired.

06-06-2016 1:32pm

MMFITWGDV wrote: »

Are you testing over wireless or wired direct into the modem?

You can only get a proper result when wired.

Yep, ofc

ED E · 06-06-2016 4:30pm

Deleted User wrote: »

VM have throttled this modem? it rarely gets full speeds- drops to 80-100mb compared to a TC7200 which gets full speed 99% of the time.with only.a 10-20 mb drop to 220-230 on.a 240mb connection. Plus, does anyone know why it gets lower ping times over all of the the modems

Chances are your cable is falling back to 10/100 instead of GigE. Different switch units can be better able to manage crap cables, test with a shorter run to diagnose.

weiland79 · 07-06-2016 12:21pm

Hi all I've just gotten off the phone with virgin after insisting that I'm not going through all their testing again. I've told them that i want a new router, I'm currently using the technicolor TC7200 and cannot get a decent wireless signal, wired is fine but wirelessly i can't play spotify or youtube etc.

I had an old cisco router and have plugged that in and everything connects and plays fine now but I don't think thats capable of giving me the speed i pay for, or so I've been told by Virgin.

Through the cisco I'm getting a wired test speed of
Down 9865 kbps and up of 1018

They told me that I'll be liable to pay for the technician to come out if there is no fault to be found with the device.

ED E · 07-06-2016 1:53pm

Wireless isnt guaranteed and isnt a fault. Don't call a tech. Only wired tests are of consequence.

Better wireless:
A. Upgrade to 360Mb without Horizon - Get COMPAL which has a high end pair of wifi chips.
B. Buy your own AC/MIMO wireless AP for about €60 or so.

The_Conductor · 07-06-2016 3:43pm

People seem to love the Compal unit- personally I think its tat.
I've disabled wireless on mine altogether- and put a Netgear Nighthawk that I picked up secondhand for $200 on ebay- on it in bridge mode.

Probably the biggest issue with wireless solutions supplied by the ISPs- is they all seem to be pre-configured to use the same default channels (Channels 1, 11 and 4 are almost ubiquitous). Simply taking a tick out of the autoselect channel box- and instead specifying a non-standard channel- a fairly simply step- can make a massive difference.

Another big step- if you don't want to buy your own a/c box- is to try to use the 5Ghz band whenever possible- its range may not be as good as the 2.4Ghz band- but the speed is far better- plus there are 10 times fewer conflicting devices on the 5Ghz bands than on the legacy 2.4Ghz bands.

I've had 2 Compal boxes at this stage- and find them flakey- as in they drop signals and insist on reauthenticating for no good reason. One of the Virgin Techies told me that's just the way they are.

My own reason for getting a good a/c box- was because I wanted beam forming capabilities alongside the ability to vary transmit levels etc- which you don't get on entry level devices (though the R8000 is getting long in the tooth at this stage).

ED E · 07-06-2016 5:40pm

The COMPAL is a best of a bad lot, still not good gear though. Really the F2000 stands out as a decent all rounder while all other ISPs supply ISP grade gear, aka junk. The problem just shows up more with Virgin as their average downstream is far higher.

Remember, the device they'll sell you for €49.99 probably costs them €5-10 before VAT.

J0hnick · 05-07-2016 12:19am

Their turning off DSLite and switching me to IPV4 tomorrow so I can put the not so "super" hub3 into modem mode and use my own router. I was on 120mb previously but now on 240mb, Just realized something though, my old router isn't gigabit :eek: (here's me assuming the modem/router Virgin gave me would actually work :rolleyes: ).

Its a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 flashed with Tomato firmware 1.27. Will a 10/100 router work even if its only at 100mb until I can order a gigabit router off Amazon ?, my local stores are charging crazy money for total crap. My cooling off period is next Wednesday so I want to be sure this all works in case I need to cancel and jump ship to Eir.

ED E · 05-07-2016 11:13am

J0hnick wrote: »

Their turning off DSLite and switching me to IPV4 tomorrow so I can put the not so "super" hub3 into modem mode and use my own router. I was on 120mb previously but now on 240mb, Just realized something though, my old router isn't gigabit :eek: (here's me assuming the modem/router Virgin gave me would actually work :rolleyes: ).

Its a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 flashed with Tomato firmware 1.27. Will a 10/100 router work even if its only at 100mb until I can order a gigabit router off Amazon ?, my local stores are charging crazy money for total crap. My cooling off period is next Wednesday so I want to be sure this all works in case I need to cancel and jump ship to Eir.

It will work, but only expect 30-60Mb as the WAN to LAN processing just isnt there.

TerrorFirmer · 12-07-2016 3:14pm

What router would anyone recommend for use with UPC? The wifi is just so dreadful on the stock one (the new white one) and is constantly stopping and starting even with a strong connection. Totally oblivious to all things network. I use homeplugs at the moment but due to the wiring the speed tops out at 30mb, plugged directly into the router get pretty much the full 360. Figured going Wifi would give me a better return but the stock modem is hopeless.

edit: budget probably around 100-150 or so...maybe more if it's very worth it.

degsie · 12-07-2016 3:19pm

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

What router would anyone recommend for use with UPC? The wifi is just so dreadful on the stock one (the new white one) and is constantly stopping and starting even with a strong connection. Totally oblivious to all things network. I use homeplugs at the moment but due to the wiring the speed tops out at 30mb, plugged directly into the router get pretty much the full 360. Figured going Wifi would give me a better return but the stock modem is hopeless.

edit: budget probably around 100-150 or so...maybe more if it's very worth it.

Wrong forum? This thread is discussing EPC2425/3925 routers.

ED E · 12-07-2016 4:12pm

degsie wrote: »

Wrong forum? This thread is discussing EPC2425/3925 routers.

Ahh this threads remit has long been larger than that. 3925s are rare enough now (still got mine

).

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

What router would anyone recommend for use with UPC? The wifi is just so dreadful on the stock one (the new white one) and is constantly stopping and starting even with a strong connection. Totally oblivious to all things network. I use homeplugs at the moment but due to the wiring the speed tops out at 30mb, plugged directly into the router get pretty much the full 360. Figured going Wifi would give me a better return but the stock modem is hopeless.

edit: budget probably around 100-150 or so...maybe more if it's very worth it.

TF outside B&U? Madness!

I suspect your household may be a pretty enthusiast level one, if you pushing a lot of simultaneous connections then I'd go for bridging so the new unit does routing + wifi. If its a light usage and you just need the higher throughput then you can use the same devices as an access point.

C7/C8/C9 are popular choices, along with Netgears higher end set or Dlinks AC3200. Look today for Prime Day deals.

If you shove a PCI-E AC adapter in your box with an external antenna mount(so you can keep it somewhere that isnt shielded by you case) you could easily hit >200Mb.

TerrorFirmer · 13-07-2016 8:07pm

Sorry, was browsing two threads at once and got mixed up!

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I have an Asus AC68 so I think I'm pretty solid on my end, just the Virgin Hub isn't great.

Will look into a few of those suggestions but may have to pair down the budget a bit. Realistically it just needs to be a solid improvement on the Virgin Hub, don't need cutting edge....as much as I would love it, my other housemates aren't quite as passionate about it as I am.

Cavey · 16-07-2016 11:54am

Hi Guys,

Question regarding my Cisco EPC3925.

I do not use Wi-Fi at home so I have it disabled in the router settings. However, a WiFi signal is still broadcast. The signal in question is the "Wi-Fi Free Horizon" wireless network.

In the settings of the router, there is an option to disable/enable this wireless broadcast. However, when I click the box for disable and then click Save Settings, the selection defaults back over to enable.

Is it possible to disable this?

I have looked in my virgin media account now and I can't find anything there that would allow me to disable this or find any reasoning as to why its defaulting to enabled...

*Edit: Ok, so I just found this LINK on virgin media website. Under my account, this is already disabled. However I never signed up to it. So it seems I need to sign up to it, disable it, then wait 72 hours for them to deactivate the Wi-Fi network on my modem. Stupid. I'll report back anyway in 72 hours & see what happens.

ED E · 16-07-2016 1:13pm

Yep, youve got it in one.

Cavey · 23-07-2016 1:51pm

ED E wrote: »

Yep, youve got it in one.

I'm not sure I have... it is still enabled in my router settings and I am unable to disable it.

Signal is definetely being broadcast too. I'm going to have to phone them aren't I

degsie · 23-07-2016 2:00pm

Cavey wrote: »

I'm not sure I have... it is still enabled in my router settings and I am unable to disable it.

Signal is definetely being broadcast too. I'm going to have to phone them aren't I

Or contact them on the Talk To.. forum.

LionelNashe · 25-07-2016 2:49am

Hi folks,

I'm getting a lot of issues with wifi dropping when playing online poker. A few comments online suggest that the particular poker software doesn't work well over wifi. My laptop doesn't have a port for a network cable and I don't have a docking station.

Here's the question: Can I hook the laptop up to the USB port in the Cisco 3925 and have a solid connection that way? Is that what the USB port on the router is for?

dub45 · 25-07-2016 3:03am

LionelNashe wrote: »

Hi folks,

I'm getting a lot of issues with wifi dropping when playing online poker. A few comments online suggest that the particular poker software doesn't work well over wifi. My laptop doesn't have a port for a network cable and I don't have a docking station.

Here's the question: Can I hook the laptop up to the USB port in the Cisco 3925 and have a solid connection that way? Is that what the USB port on the router is for?

Have you thought about getting a usb to ethernet adapter? Example

LionelNashe · 25-07-2016 3:06am

dub45 wrote: »

Have you thought about getting a usb to ethernet adapter? Example

I didn't know about them. That looks like an option - would that be better than connecting the router to the laptop with an ordinary USB cable?

dub45 · 25-07-2016 3:19am

Afaik the usb on the 3925 is not configured for a network connection

Uriel. · 25-07-2016 7:28pm

Folks,

I have the 360mb broadband and I am getting in our our around 100mb wireless on my HTC One M8 and around the same on my iphone. However, I regularly only get between 4 and 40mb wireless on my laptop, mostly averaging out around 18mb. It is a reasonably new laptop (bought January 2015) which has a Realtek RTL8723BE wireless LAN 802.11N PCI-E NIC.

I am getting 320mb or so when connected via ethernet.

I have deleted and reinstalled the drivers to see if this would help, but to no avail. Does anyone know if I could do anything else or am I at capacity in terms of WIFI speeds with this laptop? Speeds remain more or less constant irrespective of how close I am to the router.

ItHurtsWhenIP · 25-07-2016 7:37pm

Uriel. wrote: »

Folks,

I have the 360mb broadband and I am getting in our our around 100mb wireless on my HTC One M8 and around the same on my iphone. However, I regularly only get between 4 and 40mb wireless on my laptop, mostly averaging out around 18mb. It is a reasonably new laptop (bought January 2015) which has a Realtek RTL8723BE wireless LAN 802.11N PCI-E NIC.

I am getting 320mb or so when connected via ethernet.

I have deleted and reinstalled the drivers to see if this would help, but to no avail. Does anyone know if I could do anything else or am I at capacity in terms of WIFI speeds with this laptop? Speeds remain more or less constant irrespective of how close I am to the router.

That card would get a max of 54Mbps, but only in a lab environment.

You could try something like this.

There is a faster 5GHz version, but I'm not sure whether your router has that capability.

Uriel. · 25-07-2016 7:40pm

MMFITWGDV wrote: »

That card would get a max of 54Mbps, but only in a lab environment.

You could try something like this.

There is a faster 5GHz version, but I'm not sure whether your router has that capability.

Thanks for that... the router is the standard Virgin Media Hub 3.0 that now comes with the 360 package..

The_Conductor · 25-07-2016 8:01pm

Uriel. wrote: »

Thanks for that... the router is the standard Virgin Media Hub 3.0 that now comes with the 360 package..

Thats a dual band A/C router- does the laptop support a different card by any chance? You can pick up good a/c cards for about 20-25 quid.

Uriel. · 26-07-2016 12:23pm

The_Conductor wrote: »

Thats a dual band A/C router- does the laptop support a different card by any chance? You can pick up good a/c cards for about 20-25 quid.

I am not sure to be honest, I will check tonight.

Looks like I am going to have to by a separate router now anyway - getting a Nest thermostat installed at the moment and it seems the VM Hub 3.0 doesn't play well with Nest... :mad:

dub45 · 26-07-2016 1:44pm

Uriel. wrote: »

I am not sure to be honest, I will check tonight.

Looks like I am going to have to by a separate router now anyway - getting a Nest thermostat installed at the moment and it seems the VM Hub 3.0 doesn't play well with Nest... :mad:

You should be able to disable your laptop wifi card via the device manager and use something like this.

Just an example there are plenty of options.

Virgin Media: EPC2425/3925 Modem/Router and Speed Issues - POST HERE ONLY

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