Last week it emerged that cable broadband ISP Virgin Media UK had begun deploying a new firmware update v9.1.116.603 for their Hub 3.0 (SuperHub v3) wireless router in order to fix the long running latency bug (here) on the Intel Puma 6 chipset. Today we wanted to share a quick update.
As a quick recap. The CPU (processor) inside the modem component of the Hub 3.0 router was taking on too much work while processing network packets, which caused the chipset to run a high-priority maintenance task every few seconds. Owners noticed that this task was occupying the CPU a bit too much and causing momentary latency spikes (increases of 200 milliseconds+), including a little packet loss.
The problem was disruptive enough that it could affect some time sensitive internet applications, such as fast paced multiplayer games. After a painfully long wait Virgin Media finally appeared to be rolling out a fix for the problem last week, which among other things shifted some of the load away from the CPU (we think the AR9382 comms chip takes it on) and did a few other things to improve the situation.
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Since then we’ve been trying to get a solid line from Virgin Media on the firmware and now have a bit more information. Firstly, the operator has confirmed that the firmware is effectively a short trial and not everybody has received it because testing is still underway. Based on the pace of past updates we believe they should be able to complete the rollout to everybody by the end of April 2018, at the latest, but this is not confirmed.
A Spokesperson for Virgin Media told ISPreview.co.uk:
“New firmware for the Hub 3.0 is being deployed amongst a trial base. Further rollout will commence soon after further testing has taken place to address any unforeseen issues.”
At this stage it’s still unclear whether the new firmware only resolves part of the latency issue, such as with DNS lookups (a big chunk of these were lost with the current bug), which would mean that the spike could still be present in TCP/UDP, albeit now hidden from certain common tests (ICMP / Ping / BQM testing graphs etc.).
Feedback from those who have received the update appears to be mixed. Some report a much smoother experience in their multiplayer games, while others have found that the spikes are still occurring (games that shift bigger packets of data may be more affected); albeit still a bit improved from before the update.
Ultimately the Puma 6 is a fairly weak single-core CPU and there may be little that either Intel, ARRIS (Hub manufacturer) or Liberty Global can do to completely resolve the problem. A faster or multi-core CPU would have been better able to cope with the underlying issue but we won’t see that until a future Hub 4.0 launches (possibly something like the ARRIS TG3442). In the meantime Virgin’s partial fix will have to suffice.
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We should point out that this bug is not unique to Virgin Media, it affects a variety of other routers with the Intel Puma 6 inside. Parent company Liberty Global chose the kit.
UPDATE 4th June 2018
Some of you have been asking for an update. So far the new firmware (e.g. v9.1.116.603 and .608) is supposed to have been deployed to both trial users and owners of the Hub 3.0 on Virgin Media’s top broadband tier (currently 350Mbps or 300Mbps before that), although Hub 3.0 owners on slower tiers have been left to wait.
A spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk, “Further firmware updates are being worked on and we’re hoping to roll these out as soon as possible (testing permitted).” Sadly they couldn’t give a clearer indication than that.
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UPDATE 14th August 2018
Intel seems to have finally coughed up to the related security flaw (here).
UPDATE 22nd August 2018
After much prompting we’ve finally heard back from Virgin Media on the status of their Hub 3.0 latency fix. The operator notes that their .608 firmware code has now been rolled out to around 90% of their base and they’ll push the upgrade to the remaining units in the “coming weeks“.
Virgin added that there have been no major performance issues identified in trials and pilot, although a small volume of post-rollout issues have been reported to their CPE (router) team and are being assessed at present.
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