Vodafone Sure Signal

[George]

This issue presents the following symptoms: 

For version 1 Sure Signal (the one with four lights on the front):

• Lights one, two and four are solid, indicating that the Sure Signal is connected and is giving a 3G signal.
• Your registered phones don’t pick up a 3G signal.

For version 2 Sure Signal (the one with 3 lights on the front): 

• The power and system lights are both solid, indicating that the Sure Signal is giving a 3G signal.
• Your registered phones don’t pick up a 3G signal.

For version 3 Sure Signal (the plug in version): 

• Power, internet and service lights are solid and the ‘in use’ light is either solid or flashing
• Your registered phones don’t pick up a 3G signal

Troubleshooting steps:

Check that the phone you’re using works on 3G. 

You can check this by searching for the make and model over at GSM Arena which will show the specifications of your phone.

Check that the number you’re using has been added to your Sure Signal by logging to My Account and click on the ‘My Sure Signal’ tab. The numbers you’re trying to use must appear here as either an Owner or a User.

If the number you're trying to use doesn't appear here, you need to click the ‘Add User’ button and enter the new mobile number. This can only be done if you’re the Owner or Administrator of the Sure Signal.

Test your SIM in another 3G phone.

Put your SIM into a different 3G phone and see if you can connect to the Sure Signal. If your SIM then picks up a 3G signal, check if your original phone can pick up 3G signal in other areas, or if it has ever picked up a 3G signal.

If your phone has never picked up a 3G Signal, but is confirmed as being a 3G handset, please visit the Help Centre, select your device from the list and go to Network > Use phone for both GSM and 3G.

If your phone is already set to 2G and 3G but has still never picked up a 3G signal, this indicates a phone fault. You’ll need to follow the instructions in the repairs section of our eForum FAQs to resolve this.

Has Your SIM recently been replaced?
When a SIM is changed it can take up to 2 hours for the Sure Signal to recognise this and during this period, you won't be able to pick up any signal from the Sure Signal.

If you still experience issues after this time, you'll need to remove the affected number from your Sure Signal and then add it back on via My Account. 

If the affected number is the owner of the Sure Signal, you'll need to temporarily transfer the ownership to another number and then remove and re-add the affected number. This can be done by clicking ‘Change Owner’ on the Sure Signal Dashboard.

The new owner will then need to log in to their My Account profile and accept the ownership request, before removing and re-adding the number. Once this has been completed then the ownership can be transferred back to the original number.

If you’ve completed all the troubleshooting steps above and not identified the cause of the issue, your Sure Signal may be faulty. Please post in this thread and we can look into it further.

Thanks,

Jenny

[George]

Hi guys,

As this thread was originally intended to be a troubleshooting thread, I'm currently in the process of reviewing all of the content contained within the original thread in order to make it easier to read and manage.

As with the previous thread, please feel free to ask for help regarding these specific symptoms within this thread. If you're having issues with your Sure Signal but are experiencing other symptoms then please see our Sure Signal Troubleshooting thread first. If none of these apply then please start a new thread.

George
eForum Team

[mikebradbury32]

Lights 1,2 & 4 are steady green, but phone still has a lousy signal. How can I fix this?

[Reidar]

Hello Mike and thanks for your post.

If the Sure signal is definitely active and broadcasting then the 3G signal should be better, other factors may be the actual speed of your fixed line broadband, or the positioning of the Sure Signal itself.

Try performing a battery pull on the mobile phone, (pull battery without switching off phone, this will force a shut down), re-insert battery and try again, by doing this we are trying to force a fresh network search, it should pic up your Sure signal.

Thanks

Reidar

eForum Team

[steven cavanagh]

I've been directed to this thread as the camping on issue - namely lights 1,2 & 4 on steady.

Have 2 phones capable of 3G (9700 *2) and have had a 3G signal for months without problem.

Now both phones will not pick up 3G

Currently one of them is indicating 3G but I cannot make / receive calls nor is data working.

Nothing has changed at my end

[steven cavanagh]

All came back on its own.

What was the problem at Vodafone's end?

[steven cavanagh]

Here we go again. It's just gone off once more.

Lights 1,2 & 4 are on steady and phones showing 3G but unable to make/receive calls or use data.

Someone by now must be able to tell us something

[martyngibbs]

Afternoon all.

I have the same 'camping on issue' the VSS worked fine on both my wife's phone (samsung S8300) and my phone (Nokia N8), the nokia is new to me only 2 weeks, but worked fine during the first week. Both phones are not working on the VSS over the last day or 2.

I have tried the battery pull mentioned earlier on the samsung with no change, how do you do this on the nokia with a battery that can't be removed?

Cheers.
Gibbs.

[kewfriend]

I am 're-posting', following the advice received.

I have had 'useful' discussions with the '191' tech folk. Many thanks in advance to them. They acknowledge that the inability of my VSS to work is almost certainly 'all at the Vodafone end'. I am still 'activationPending' which just seems bizarre after 48 hours, and I am still awaiting feedback from the '191' teams. I am told there is a 5 day SLA response time on tech failures for VSS.

As an 'innocent abroad' I simply cannot understand 'what the Vodafone problem is??!' This is a large 'communications company which seems (oddly) not to be able to communicate either with its customers nor with its own technology. I have interrogated my own tech, can see that on my network the DHCP works fine and that the MAC address is active. The lights 1,2 and 4 shows that Vodafone at least knows 'I exist'.

So what I'd like to ask for:

a) a simple explanation why my box is not activated - serial number 21229660283
b) a committment to 'communicate with the customer'

Strangely I know that tech sometimes has problems and I can 'live with delays' if there is a plausible reason. What as a businessman I find completely unacceptable is the dumping of customers in blackholes.
Do please respond ...

[BenJ]

Hi Guys

If you have followed all the advice from George's post, and still having issues. You really should follow the contact us section from his post to email in and we can raise these issues for you.

I've attached the process here to help out:


Please copy the template below, and paste it into our Contact Us form
Please use the subject line "EFT135 Sure Signal Camping On" and fill out all questions as completely as possible.

– Your mobile number or account number:
– Your alternative contact number:
– Full Name:
– The second and fourth digit of your security code:
– Address including post code:
– Date of Birth:

- Mobile Number(s) Affected
- Router Make & Model
- Sure Signal Serial Number
- Status of Lights on Sure Signal (Please specify if light is solid of flashing in Description)
- Are the Lights on the Ethernet Port (Where the internet cable plugs into the Sure Signal) on or flashing?
- Is there access to the internet via the modem? (via a pc)
- Have you attempted to use an alternative ethernet (internet) cable?
- Have you tried the Ethernet (internet) cable in another port on the modem?
- Has the router been reset?
- is it a 3G phone?
- Have you attempted to set your handset to Dual Mode (for help with this go to our Help Centre > select your device > Network > use phone for both GSM and 3G)
- Were other phones / USB modems active on the Sure Signal at the same time?




I will keep an eye out for these emails and pass them to our sure signal team as soon as they come in.

Thanks
BenJ
eForum Team

[kewfriend]

Hi Guys

If you have followed all the advice from George's post, and still having issues. You really should follow the contact us section from his post to email in and we can raise these issues for you.

I've attached the process here to help out:

Please copy the template below, and paste it into our Contact Us form. Please use the subject line "EFT135 Sure Signal Camping On" and fill out all questions as completely as possible. I will keep an eye out for these emails and pass them to our sure signal team as soon as they come in.

Thanks
BenJ
eForum Team

I actually did a VodaTecChat session and had it confirmed as 'still pendingActivation' with a potential 72 hr response. Nightmare. Everyone is studiously polite but no one takes ownership or explains what the issue is. Anyway, I'm back from Scotland on the Tuesday and I live in hope, but if the truth be told, I have close to zero confidence in a resolution. I'd love Vodafone to rent part of my backgarden for a mast of their own.

[enigma2u]

Spent the past few days back and forth on the phone to technical jumping through hoops trying to get this "simple" device working.

Still not working!

Bored of phoning and bored of technical...who incidentally accused me of not doing it right when i insisted i had already done what they had said last time i called them.

Cheeky sod!

If anyone on here can help i am all ears.

SKY router.

3 lights on sure signal 1,2 & 4

Had sim and battery out.

Cheers

[George]

Hi enigma2u,

Thanks for posting, I can appreciate your frustration here.

If you've already followed the troubleshooting guide in my original post, please use the instructions at the bottom to contact us, we'll then ensure that your details are passed onto our Sure Signal support team.

Kind Regards,

George

eForum Team

[barrieduke]

I have submitted all the information requested two days ago. As there has been no response I rang Vodaphone by landline - I was put through twice and then each time disconnected befrore technical support replied. Third time I was told I shouldn't be using the 08700 number and was given this one 0845 440 2104.

My Sure Signal was tested and I was told to open several ports , 50 TCP, 500 UDP, 4500 UDP, 123 UDP and 8 UDP on my router and all would be well. I wonder why when I've had no trouble for the last 10 months but there you go. I was told that this would cure the problem. No change.

I've done a > tracert  212.183.131.177 and get request time out on a run of 30 at line 13 and following.

Like others I am trying to run a business in rural Devon where any mobile phone signal is rare. 

It appears that the'update' has broken our boxes and no-one can be bothered to tell us anything from Vodaphone.

Do we have to go to a small claims court to get some sort of customer service? 

Why on earth don't you test your updates before thrwoing them at your customers without warning.

Vodaphone service has sunk to a new low.

[barrieduke]

I have the 3 steady light problem - after more than a month rthere is still no solution.

I have followed three lots of Support phone remedies: adding tcp/udp ports to the router, reinserting battery, going back to factory defaults. No iphone connection. 3G is working fine on the phone.

I have emailed using the information required on the Troubleshooting giving all the details required. No reply has come back after a month.

It appears that the only solution that hasn't been tried is de-registering the SS box and re-re3gistering. But of course I cannot do that and there is no guidance in the forums on how to achive this..

Please somebody reply I am getting desperate - there have been 14000 posts on this issue, surely there must be a remedy.

Sorry to keep on.

[Lee]

Hi there barrieduke,

Many thanks for your post.

I've had a look through all our email queues for anything that's been sent to us from your registered eForum address and we don't appear to have received anything at all.

Did you use this registered address or an alternative?

Did you receive an auto response with an email tracking number?

If not then I suspect we never received it.

From your description of the symptoms I'm assuming you have the original Sure Signal.

As you've been through the troubleshooting steps, and you've asked how to de-register and re-register your unit, I'll advise this first.

Please access your online account by following this link MyAccount

Go to My Sure Signal

Click 'de-register'

Complete the registration process once again.

If after 24 hours beyond re-registration the unit still fails to work, then please reply to the email I've just sent to your registered eForum address and we'll be in touch.

Cheers,

Lee

eForum Team

[barrieduke]

Hi Thanks for the prompt reply

I emailed from the Contact page but never mind -I've found you!

When I go to My Sure Signal the page only offers Register another Sure Signal. There is nothing on that page about de-registering.

[This is a business account - it made a difference when registering to begin with].

I'm just stuck. Sorry

[BenJ]

Hi barrieduke

I believe I am currently speaking to you in our email queue about this issue.  I have sent you an email about this today and am currently waiting on this issue to be resolved.

Thanks
BenJ
eForum Team 

[D-Mac]

Hello,

Just spent over 30 minutes trying to send two emails via the contact us page, as given in the link in the instructions above, and both times the send failed.

So here goes again.

4 devices registered to SS box. The most recently registered one does not pick up any signal from SS box. All other devices receive 3G without fault. Lights on box work perfectly. Router and internet connection have no faults. Affected phone receives 3G signal elsewhere (towns and cities) but not near SS box. Swapped sims between registered devices: known working sim receives 3G in affected phone, affected sim does not receive 3G in known working phone (but does in the city). Sim has been replaced and re-registered - no improvement. Vodafone 2nd Line Tech Dept (3 separate calls) have played with the phone settings - no improvement.

Believe this problem is not a sim or phone issue but that the recent registration of the affected phone number has simply not been relayed to the SS box, which is why it is not sending 3G to the sim/phone. Please confirm if this is likely.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated. Wrinkles getting deeper, hair getting whiter trying to sort this out!