Sure Signal 2 keeps dropping during calls

[horatiog]

This problem is driving me crazy.

First off I live in the North of Scotland and its mostly 2G signal around here; nearest 3G is Inverness, ~30 miles away.

The signal is just about usuable out and about in my area - however, I have litlle or no signal in my house and call quality is terrible - Hence the need for a SureSignal. 

I have a v2 Suresignal and, in Standby, and at the start of calls it is fine. (my Samsung Galaxy S4 shows 4-5 bar reception.)  

I have a reasonably stable Broadband connection delivering 7mbs down & 0.25mbs up. (Can stream BBC iplayer in HD without buffering.) 

All calls star out fine, whether inboung or outbound. However, about 5 to 10 minutes into each call, the SS drops the call and it reverts seamlessly to the very poor 2G external signal. The first I know of this is when the voice quality of my caller/callee suddenly plummets and I can only hear about one or two words per sentence.

This happening more and more frequently. I have logged several calls with the chatline, the lastest a couple of days ago. To start with the support guy (Dipti) reset my SS, then got me to reboot my S4 and verfied all OK with its connection.

(Which is what all the other support guys did with me when I logged such calls before - however, problem always came back within one or two calls.)

This time though Dipti then told me to switch my phone's band support  to "WCDMA ONLY", presumably to stop it reverting back to my external GSM(2G) signal. I told him that wasn't a longterm solution, becuase as soon as I walk out of the house I wouldn't be able to send or receive calls! (Since I am in a 2G only area.)

Dipti replied,no worries and that I only need to keep the phone in this mode for a minimum of a couple of hours, then set it back to "LTE/GSM/WCDMA (AUTO CONNECT)".

I actually forgot and left phone on "WCDMA ONLY" for around 18 hours, only finding out when I noticed I had zero reception yesterday, at my Mum's in town. (Usually a good 2G signal here.) Switched phone back to "LTE/GSM/WCDMA (AUTO CONNECT)" at this point. However, today, I had an incoming call at home and, again, after ~5 mins, the call dropped back from the SS to the external 2G and my caller became unitelligible!

Has anyone got any ideas at all about how I can resolve this before I throw the SS in the bin and ditch Vodafone for good! Here, below, is the transcript of my last chat session with the Vodafone support (certain items redacted with "x" for privacy/security):

 
(By the Way - with regard to the attached chat session transcript - Dipti never did call me  back!!!!) 

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi

This may / may not help. 

It maybe worth trying a different power supply with the SureSignal (Version 1 & 2 ), as there have been some reports of replacement power supplies solving the issues. Even if lights / power are showing. They are available on eBay for around £10.

From member cineriv "But firstly, have a look around for a suitable unit with a 12 Volt output @ around 1.5Amp capacity that you could 'borrow' to prove the fault. Suitable units can be found on external hard drives, monitors, printers, routers etc.etc.

[horatiog]

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the suggestion. Just checked out the power supply adaptor (that came with the SS, when I purchased it 2nd-hand.) Its an Alcatel-Lucent Home Cell 9361. It says its output is 12v, 1.0A. So a bit less than the max power output than cineriv is suggesting. Noticed, when I pulled it, that it was warm (not hot) to the touch, so suggesting it is working reasonably hard.

Checked my other 12v adaptors at home (mostly from old routers), and these all seem to push out a max of 1.0A (rather than 1.5A) Trying with one of these, just in case it is the Alcatel adaptor that is on the way out. (Rather than it being the wrong, underpowered adaptor?) Any advice on whether the SS needs to draw 1.5A, or will a 1.0A adaptor suffice?

Cheers,

Harry.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi

I'm Not an electrician so I don't want to miss advise. 

Please stick to what ampage is needed as pwr the information with the SS and with what the other member advises. 

[horatiog]

Hi Lee,

The swap of the power supply might be working! Just tested it phoning some recorded information service for 10 mins+ a couple of times without a problem followed by a 30 min conversation with my sister - and no drop-outs!

Will confirm or otherwise after a week or so of hassle-free service.

Cheers,

Harry.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hey @horatiog

Awesome news and fingers crossed all remains good.