VirginMedia@360M - Compal Modem / Hub 3.0

Rokta

I have 2 max 3 devices over wifi, tablet and phones and a WII U on at the same time, so far I have no issues. My PC is wired so all is good on my side.

paulboland

Is anyone having problems with Sony Bravia KDL-43W807C connecting to the Wifi 5ghz from the Virgin Hub
The Connection to 2.4ghz work fine its just the 5ghz having issues

Sometime it sees the 5ghz SSID and connects and creates an ip address but no Bravia TV apps or internet browser page loads

It worked no problem connecting to 5ghz when Horizon was the router and TV is in the same position as before

All other 5ghz devices connect to the 5ghz from the Virgin Hub with no issues both wireless N and AC devices except the Sony BRAVIA TV

I'm wondering Was the Horizon 5ghz N connection better than the Virgin Hub 3 5ghz N

Strange that its only the Sony KDL-43W807C 5ghz having issues
I wonder is anyone else with Sony Bravia TV's having issues with the 5ghz Wifi from the Virgin Hub

Overall the Virgin Hub wireless is ok and better speeds in some areas of the house compared to the Horizon while other areas the same

I do have some black spots in the house like the kitchen but I expected that due to all the Equipment in a Kitchen that affects a wifi signal


I'm thinking of getting the either the TP Link Archer C9 or Asus AC3200 wireless router considering we have the ability to make the Virgin Hub modem only mode

I have noticed one other thing if you have Horizon and the Virgin Hub I suggest you don't have them both connected to a splitter as the power signal quality drops to the Virgin Hub if both connected using a splitter

I have the Horizon now connected to a different TV point from the Virgin Hub as I noticed lot of timeouts if both connected to the same TV point

dublinercheese

Preliminary Observations

Virgin Media service:

Virgin Media was excellent at delivering the new device. I ordered the new service on their website on Jan. 13th in the late afternoon and I received the box at my office the next morning. Oddly enough, the box was shrink wrapped but contained no networking cables. It did take about one day for the new 360Mbit service to start flowing after I connected the Compal modem. My 240Mbit service was active until then. When you first connect it, it's going to download updates and reboot. It took about 15mins or so. Be patient unlike me!

Compal CH7465LG-VM (VMDG500):

The device looks great and is a huge improvement over my previous Technicolor 7200. It's larger and the power brick is disappointingly large. Oh well. I wish the LAN port lights were on the front instead of the back.

Firmware:

I'm not interested in using the wifi, so I immediately put the device into modem/bridge (kudos to VM for allowing this where UPC did not) so I can use my much more powerful Asus RT-AC66U router. I did do some looking around in the firmware, but it's extremely basic. You can't tweak any settings and the security is bare minimum. Only a single password protects the admin panel. There isn't even a user name. Pick strong passwords as this modem would be susceptible to brute force attempts from within the local network (view the source of the login page to see the regular expression they're matching for passwords to make your dictionary file . You can't force SSL or ports. The features of the device are also entry-level. There is a multi-login security feature. If you login to the box and try again from another browser, you'll get permission denied error messages.

There's no QoS, network resource management, remote logging, multi-guest network access, traffic shaping or any settings for firewalls, etc. This is a basic, entry-level consumer device. I recommend not using the wifi at all if you have a nice router already. I didn't even use the wifi for testing purposes. When using router mode, access the admin panel from 192.168.0.1 but in modem/bridge mode, you'll use 192.168.100.1.

Modem/bridge Mode:

Again, nothing fancy here. The only thing you can change is MTU (1500) size and admin password. The modem shows 0 connected ethernet devices despite being plugged into the WAN port of my router. So, either the UI isn't taking that into account on purpose (e.g. the table is for NAT ethernet clients only) or there's a bug. It's a bit misleading anyway because I spent 5-10 minutes power-cycling everything and re-checking my cables because I thought there was a problem. Also, the base light changes from white to red when in modem mode. This is also misleading because the Virgin Media guide in the box says that red means something is wrong. Ultimately, I'm glad that the modem is so simple. Less stuff to go wrong

Speed testing:

Laptop plugged directly into Compal box in modem mode. I was never really able to exceed these speeds no matter which speed testing service I used or what endpoints I tested from. Overall, I'm very pleased.


Wired connection from my Asus RT-AC66U router:


AC from Asus RT-AC66U to Macbook Pro retina late 2013 (Broadcom based Airport Extreme):


AC from Asus RT-AC66U to iPhone 6 Plus. I was never able to exceed these speeds with speedtest.net app. I think it's because the test completes too fast before saturating the connection. The payload is only around 70megabytes.


---

Overall, I'm extremely happy with the new service. For 60 EUR/mo, I think it's a killer deal. If you're a new customer, you can get 30-40/mo for the first four months or so before the regular price kicks. I'm sure if you argue with their loyalty department, you can stretch this out farther. I've been waiting for a bridge/modem device from UPC for a long time. Let's hope Virgin Media continues this trend of increasing speeds!

Happy downloading!

ED E

Thanks for the detailed post. Annoying that I can't find what kind of microprocessor is powering it.

dublinercheese

After playing around a bit more, I'm finding that the ping latency jumps around a lot. I've seen everything from sustained averages of 8ms all the way up to 30ms. It doesn't seem to matter what endpoints I test from. There definitely is some packet loss. I haven't tried doing any high-speed gaming yet, but you may want to take this into account or ensure the servers you connect to have low latency. More testing needs to be done. Next on the list is to test jumbo frame support on the lan ports to see if there's any noticeable differences.

Just ordered the 360Mb package last night so I should be getting one of these to replace my TC7200. Can you change the default subnet on it or are you stuck to 192.168.0.0/24? Since this has AC WiFi (and my Fritz 7390 does not) I may try replacing the Fritz altogether and see how I get on, but I don't fancy reconfiguring the rest of my network.

ED E

Karsini wrote: »

Just ordered the 360Mb package last night so I should be getting one of these to replace my TC7200. Can you change the default subnet on it or are you stuck to 192.168.0.0/24? Since this has AC WiFi (and my Fritz 7390 does not) I may try replacing the Fritz altogether and see how I get on, but I don't fancy reconfiguring the rest of my network.

Unlikely considering how the GUI looks:
https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/548354/373825.jpg
[From OP]

Its possible that if you got telnet or SSH the commands exist.

ED E

ED E wrote: »

Unlikely considering how the GUI looks:
https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/548354/373825.jpg
[From OP]

Its possible that if you got telnet or SSH the commands exist.

Yeah I saw that one alright, which is what had me curious in the first place - would have just assumed it could. But I have seen some routers where the DHCP field is pre-populated like this but if you change the IP of the gateway itself, the DHCP page updates accordingly. Sure I'll find out in a few days time anyway.

Fiddlex

Can I put this into modem (bridge) mode straight as soon as I get the box or do I need to wait until they switch my plan over to the 360mb? Does this only connect to the horizon box? as I have an epc modem at another location in my house that controls my Internet so I am assuming I can just replace that with this hub right?

Fiddlex

Fiddlex wrote: »

Can I put this into modem (bridge) mode straight as soon as I get the box or do I need to wait until they switch my plan over to the 360mb? Does this only connect to the horizon box? as I have an epc modem at another location in my house that controls my Internet so I am assuming I can just replace that with this hub right?

Can't see why you couldn't bridge right away. You can just swap the Cisco with it, doesn't have to be anywhere in particular if the signal to that point is good enough.

dam099

dublinercheese wrote: »

Preliminary Observations

Modem/bridge Mode:
Also, the base light changes from white to red when in modem mode. This is also misleading because the Virgin Media guide in the box says that red means something is wrong. Ultimately, I'm glad that the modem is so simple. Less stuff to go wrong

Mine is actually purple in modem mode, I also had it go red at one point when I was resetting things. Agree its confusing though as it was only a while after the purple light that I saw the true red.

dublinercheese

Karsini wrote: »

Yeah I saw that one alright, which is what had me curious in the first place - would have just assumed it could. But I have seen some routers where the DHCP field is pre-populated like this but if you change the IP of the gateway itself, the DHCP page updates accordingly. Sure I'll find out in a few days time anyway.

The firmware is extremely basic. No subnet editing. Do yourself a favor and invest in a high-quality AC router. You won't regret it. Preferably one that supports DD-WRT or OpenWRT if you want even more power. I've had my Asus AC RT-66U router since 2012 and it's still going strong. Firmware updates continue to be released and the *WRT projects enhance it even further. There is also a tweaked Asus firmware called Merlin that adds even more features.

dublinercheese

dam099 wrote: »

Mine is actually purple in modem mode, I also had it go red at one point when I was resetting things. Agree its confusing though as it was only a while after the purple light that I saw the true red.

I guess it does look more purple than red. My eyes aren't what they used to be

BigCon

Not too shabby for a wireless connection (Nexus 9)...

dublinercheese

dublinercheese wrote: »

The firmware is extremely basic. No subnet editing. Do yourself a favor and invest in a high-quality AC router. You won't regret it. Preferably one that supports DD-WRT or OpenWRT if you want even more power. I've had my Asus AC RT-66U router since 2012 and it's still going strong. Firmware updates continue to be released and the *WRT projects enhance it even further. There is also a tweaked Asus firmware called Merlin that adds even more features.

I have a pretty decent router bridged to my TC7200 at the moment, but it's wireless N only. I'm surprised that the subnet is fixed because even the TC7200 allows it to be changed when in router mode.

I'll consider my options when I get everything in place, thanks for the confirmation.

dublinercheese

Karsini wrote: »

I have a pretty decent router bridged to my TC7200 at the moment, but it's wireless N only. I'm surprised that the subnet is fixed because even the TC7200 allows it to be changed when in router mode.

I'll consider my options when I get everything in place, thanks for the confirmation.

Yeah, the Technicolor has more options. I had this box before the new Compal arrived.

Upgraded to 360Mb online on Thursday and had the new modem on Tuesday, no hassles there.

After reading about the limited configuration of the Compal i just put it straight in modem mode and continued to use my Netgear R7000.

Took 24 hours for the new speed config to apply. Its now holding steady over 360Mb testing over 5Ghz.

Not too sure about the performance here, might need to get VM involved. I seem to get full speed around lunchtime but I'm getting almost no benefit compared to my 120Mb package at the moment.

dublinercheese

Karsini wrote: »

Not too sure about the performance here, might need to get VM involved. I seem to get full speed around lunchtime but I'm getting almost no benefit compared to my 120Mb package at the moment.

Interesting. I have noticed some speed fluctuations at certain times, but I imagine it's mostly due to early roll-out and congestion. It generally doesn't last for long. If you ring VM, please let us know what you find out.

dublindog

dublinercheese wrote: »

Preliminary Observations

Modem/bridge Mode:

Again, nothing fancy here. The only thing you can change is MTU (1500) size and admin password. The modem shows 0 connected ethernet devices despite being plugged into the WAN port of my router. So, either the UI isn't taking that into account on purpose (e.g. the table is for NAT ethernet clients only) or there's a bug. It's a bit misleading anyway because I spent 5-10 minutes power-cycling everything and re-checking my cables because I thought there was a problem. Also, the base light changes from white to red when in modem mode. This is also misleading because the Virgin Media guide in the box says that red means something is wrong. Ultimately, I'm glad that the modem is so simple. Less stuff to go wrong

After reading your post I upgraded my package with VM straight away. The modem only mode was the clincher for me as I have my own router, a D-Link AC3200. But after a couple of extremely painful support calls with VM I am unable to get the bridge mode working properly. After enabling modem only I can only browse a couple of sites like Google, Youtube, FB etc but pretty much nothing else. The problem is behaving like a DNS issue so I tried using Googles DNS amongst others with no success.
So can you tell me if you needed to make any further configuration changes to either your Virgin or personal router in order to make it work? Thanks..

dublindog

dublindog wrote: »

After reading your post I upgraded my package with VM straight away. The modem only mode was the clincher for me as I have my own router, a D-Link AC3200. But after a couple of extremely painful support calls with VM I am unable to get the bridge mode working properly. After enabling modem only I can only browse a couple of sites like Google, Youtube, FB etc but pretty much nothing else. The problem is behaving like a DNS issue so I tried using Googles DNS amongst others with no success.
So can you tell me if you needed to make any further configuration changes to either your Virgin or personal router in order to make it work? Thanks..

Sounds like you're on IPv6/DS-Lite. When you bridge in this mode, you can only access IPv6 sites unless you can configure the router to use the correct DS-Lite AFTR address.

If you are on DS-Lite, PM the VM reps and they'll put you back on IPv4.

sonofenoch

I take it their 30 euro pm for 4months doesn't apply to existing customers upgrading?

dublindog

I reckon you're right there. When I ping anything I get an IPv6 response. I do have DS-Lite function on my modem I'll give that try before getting back onto VM. Would going back to IPv4 have any effect on achieving the higher speeds do you reckon ?

Thanks for the tip..

dublindog

sonofenoch wrote: »

I take it their 30 euro pm for 4months doesn't apply to existing customers upgrading?

Yea they won't give you the special offer unless you add an extra service when your upgrading. Like TV or a phone. They tried to charge me for the modem too until I complained and they backed down. Bloody chancers !

dublindog

dublindog wrote: »

I reckon you're right there. When I ping anything I get an IPv6 response. I do have DS-Lite function on my modem I'll give that try before getting back onto VM. Would going back to IPv4 have any effect on achieving the higher speeds do you reckon ?

Thanks for the tip..

Definitely not. I'm on an IPv4 stack and still get full speed.

Edit: If you want to try bridging without changing to IPv4, set the AFTR address in your D-Link router to aftr01.upc.ie or 2001:730:2000:2::353 if the option is supported. This should allow you to access IPv4 sites the same way as before. But you probably won't get much benefit from doing it this way.

The Ayatolla

I got the TP-LinK Archer C9 this morning.

Connected it up straight to the WAN port. Worked perfectly.

Logged into the Virgin router to put it into "modem mode". When I did, I waited about 20mins. Did a reboot. But now I've no internet connection on the TP Link?

Also when I wire ethernet direct to the Virgin router, I can't access the net or the Virgin login page.

Any ideas here what could be going wrong?

The Ayatolla

I got the TP-LinK Archer C9 this morning.

Connected it up straight to the WAN port. Worked perfectly.

Logged into the Virgin router to put it into "modem mode". When I did, I waited about 20mins. Did a reboot. But now I've no internet connection on the TP Link?

Also when I wire ethernet direct to the Virgin router, I can't access the net or the Virgin login page.

Any ideas here what could be going wrong?

What IP address is the C9 getting on the WAN side? Also, what colour is the power light on the Virgin router?

The Ayatolla

Karsini wrote: »

What IP address is the C9 getting on the WAN side? Also, what colour is the power light on the Virgin router?

I had to leave it to run to work, but it went red on the Compal.

The IP of the Compal was 192.168.0.1.

What should the TPLink be set to ?

The Ayatolla

The Ayatolla wrote: »

I had to leave it to run to work, but it went red on the Compal.

The IP of the Compal was 192.168.0.1.

What should the TPLink be set to ?

No, that's the LAN side IP. What does the C9 show as the IP it's getting on the WAN port?

Red sounds like a problem, it normally goes purple when properly bridged.