Cordless Phone Stops Sure Signal 3 from working

[tonyvcarter]

I have had my Sure Signal 3 for 5 weeks. When it works, it is fine, but after much diagnosis and testing I have proved that when I use my cordless (not mobile) phone, the Sure Signal fails and then resets itself.

Has anyone else experienced this issue, and if so is there a solution?

This is an example of what happens:

1)    The Sure Signal is working fine.

2)    I use the cordless phone (Panasonic Dect KSTG8421E , two handsets one base station)

3)    I notice that during the call the Sure Signal lights are as follows:

1. Power – Flashing Red
2. Internet – off
3. Service – solid orange
4. Users – solid orange

4)    On hanging up my call the Sure Signal shows the lights

1. Power – Red Flashing
2. Internet – flashing
3. Service – off
4. Users – off

5)    After a few minutes the Sure Signal shows the normal lights and is fully working

1. Power – Red solid on
2. Internet – white on
3. Service – white on
4. Users – off (not being used

 Whilst trying to diagnose the problem I have tried the following, none of which make any difference:

• Changed the location of the Sure Signal, from one end of the room to the other.
• Changed the Channel of my mail wireless router.
• Changed the location of the Router.
• Used a different Ethernet Patch Lead

Should have said I already spent 45 minutes on Chat to Vodafone, before I proved it was the Cordless phone.

Any ideas?

Thank you

Tony

[Retired-Dave]

Hi tonyvcarter,

Strange. I'm glad it seems to be working now though. :smileyhappy:

Do let us know if it recurs. If you can see anything that's changed or that changes about the time it happens again then let us know that too - it may be a clue to the cause.

In answer to your previous question, we don't offer a more powerful Sure Signal, just the one box.

Dave

[tonyvcarter]

After the Sure Signal has been working for 5 days I'm now less certain that the cordless phone is the cause of the problem.

I just noticed that the Sure SIgnal lights are showing a malfunction but don't know how long it has been like that.

At 20:30 tonight I noticed that the Power light was flashing and the Internet light was solid Orange. This appears to be the most common lamp display when the unit fails. 

I waited for 10 minutes to see if it sorted itself out - which it sometimes does and then cycled the power, which caused it to come back on correctly in about 2 minutes.

I now need to have another go at finding the cause of the problem.

Three or four times it has failed between 20:00 and 21:00 - at least that is when I noticed may be coincidence. Starting at 20:00 I run an automated backup to a network drive, using gigabit connection via my router, also shared with the Sure Signal. It obviously does not cause it to fail every time, but could it be something to do with that.

So far I have:

• Changed the wireless channel of the main router ( Have two a 2.4 Ghz and 5.0Ghz)
• Changed the location of the Sure signal in relation to the wireless router, now at least 4m away.
• Changed patch leads.
• Have just changed the backup schedule so that only one backup runs at a time to reduce network load.

I notice that the unit runs very hot 52C but gather from other posts that this is normal?

Any fresh ideas.

I switch from Orange to Vodafone at quite high cost, just to get a SureSignal so I could use my phone reliably, but so far its not been reliable. 10 recorded failures in 16 days.

Regards

Tony

[Retired-Andy]

Hi Tony,

The first light sequence you were seeing show that the IP connection to our servers has been successfully established but the Sure Signal can’t connect.

The curious thing is that once the power is cycled, it then works.

The Sure Signal needs minimum speeds of 1Mbps download and 0.3Mbps upload to keep the connection open.

Do you run the automated back up daily and are there other devices using your internet connection? If so, can you stop the backup for a few days and also remove any other devices from your router to see if the Sure Signal then works normally?

If it does, it may show that the backup and other devices are taking your available bandwidth below the limit needed by the Sure Signal to keep a stable connection to our servers open. In this case, you’d need to speak with Zen about increasing your line speed.

The Sure Signal will let you know if it detects that it’s running too hot by flashing all 4 lights simultaneously.

Let me know how you go on.

Thanks

Andrew

[tonyvcarter]

Thank you Andrew

I'm afraid I really was grasping at straws when I mentioned the automated backup.

As I type this the sure signal has not been working for a while. I first noticed it at 13:30 today. At this time nothing else was running at all.

This time the power light was flashing and all other lights were off.

After cycling the power and pressing re-set, the power light is on solid and the Internet light is white but very slowly dimming and brightening again. Its so slow that if you stare at it for a few seconds it looks as though it is off. Actualy now it is flashing a bit faster.

I was not sure if you were still looking at this post so I raised another one asking if I could by any chance exchange the unit or take it back for a refund (then buy another).  http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Vodafone-Sure-Signal/Can-I-get-a-replacement-Sure-Signal-3-I-ve-tried...

Its all very odd. I've used these before (models 1 and 2 ) in a business environment and never had any problems.

I've now spent rather too long on this. - So have you !

Tony

[tonyvcarter]

My Sure Signal stopped working, for the umteenth time, around midday yesterday and normally a power cycle solves the problem, but 20 hours later this time its still not working.

Red power light on solid, Internet light flashing white, slowly.

I've tried:

• Pressing reset and unplugging and plugging the thing in again.
• Tested the Ethernet cable using a laptop – OK
• Plugged the Ethernet cable into another port on the router – No change
• Restarted the Router – No change
• Check that the router “sees” the Sure Signal. It does and has granted it an IP address.
• Pinged the Sure Signal – instant response. 

My Internet connection is  6048 down and 448 up. Your ping test 28ms latency, 0 jitter, packet loss 1%. ISP is Zen.

Is there some sort of remote reset you can or need to do?

I’ve now got two postings on the forum, should I close one to save duplication? I’ve posted this on both.

I really have reached the end of my tether with this and would like a new unit.

I propose taking the unit back the shop and requesting a refund.

After a month I’m looking forward to moving this forward.

Regards Tony

[tonyvcarter]

tracert 212.183.133.177

Tracing route to cluster4.vap.vodafone.co.uk [212.183.133.177]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  home.gateway.home.gateway [192.168.1.254]

  2    27 ms    27 ms    26 ms  no-dns-yet-62-3-84-19.zen.co.uk [62.3.84.19]

  3    27 ms    27 ms    27 ms  ge-2-1-0-121.cr2.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.84.213]

  4    31 ms    31 ms    29 ms  lndgw2.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.124]

  5    28 ms    29 ms    28 ms  85.205.116.6

  6     *        *        *     Request timed out.

  7     *        *        *     Request timed out.

  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.

  9  ^C

tracert 212.183.133.177

Tracing route to cluster4.vap.vodafone.co.uk [212.183.133.177]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  home.gateway.home.gateway [192.168.1.254]

  2    27 ms    27 ms    27 ms  no-dns-yet-62-3-84-19.zen.co.uk [62.3.84.19]

  3    27 ms    28 ms    26 ms  ge-2-1-0-121.cr2.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.84.213]

  4    31 ms    27 ms    31 ms  lndgw2.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.124]

  5    29 ms    28 ms    28 ms  85.205.116.6

  6     *        *        *     Request timed out.

  7     *        *        *     Request timed out.

  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.

  9     *        *

[Retired-Andy]

Hi Tony,

Your traceroute looks fine. Once it hits our servers (85.205.116.6) the traceroute will always show no information for security purposes.

I’ve checked your serial number and can see that your Sure Signal connected to our servers yesterday at 11:35, are you still facing the same issue?

To make sure it’s as up to date as possible, I’ve just resynced your Sure Signal for you.

To make sure it completes, can you do a factory reset for me:-

• Find the button on the base of the unit next to the Ethernet ports
• Press and hold the button for approximately 30 seconds
• Once the lights come back on, release the button
• The Sure Signal will come online in around one hour

If this doesn’t solve things for you, can you try the Sure Signal on a different internet connection, that of a friend or family member?

If it works on this other connection, it would indicate that there’s something in your current setup that’s preventing the Sure Signal from maintaining a stable connection to our servers.

If it doesn’t work in the new location, the Sure Signal may be faulty and would need to be sent for repair.

Let me know how you go on.

Thanks

Andrew

[tonyvcarter]

Hello Andrew

Thank you for re-syncing my Sure Signal, that together with the reset at my end appear to have made it come to life again - this first time in about 30 hours.

Also thanks for the explanation about the tracert, I understand.

What should I do next time it drops off the twig? Most times cycling the power gets it working again but that's no good if it fails, on average, once every day or two.

I can try it on another broadband connection, but as it has been known to stay up for a few days or fail and re-start on its own, I'm not confident that that would prove much.

Regards

Tony

[tonyvcarter · Accepted solution]

Dissapointed with the Sure Signal 3 reliability. My problem has not been resolved, but I'm closing this posting.

[tonyvcarter]

I've had my sure signal 3 for a few weeks and it has never worked properly and fails in random ways with no discernable pattern to either lights or circumstances.

Can I simply take it back to the shop and get a refund - I've only had it a month, or get them to swap it for another. In the absence of any other suggestion and having tried everything, Its obviously not fit for purpose or faulty.

I have previously used Sure Signals (1 and 2) at work with 20+ regisered users on each and they have been no problem at all.

Variously I have found:

• Flashing Power, solid orange Internet, others off. Cycle power fixed it.
• Power on, Internet on, Service On, Users off. No 3g Cycle power and reset OK
• Power On, Internet Flashing, others Off. After a few minutes the units started working on its own.
• All lights went off. Cycled power then all OK after a couple of minutes.
• Power flashing, Internet off, Service Orange, Users Orange.  No 3g

I have had 12 logged failures since the 8th July but there were probably more as I have seen it reset on its own ore than once.

At present, after cycling the power, the Power light is solid and the Internet light is white and dimming and brightening very slowly.

So - How can I get it replaced!

Tony

I have tried:

• Moving the sure signal
• Changing the ethernet cable.
• Changing the WiFi channel of my router.
• Extensive session on "Chat" to someone at Vodafone.
• Completed Ping and Speed diagnostics and given them to Vodafone.

At one point I was convinced my cordless phone was teh cause of the problem, but I think that was a red herring.