Sure Signal / Plusnet Fibre / Apple Time Capsule

[Hairsy]

I have just bought a Sure Signal V3 but cannot get it to work. I have done a lot of online searching and tried many things but still no success.

My ISP is Plusnet and I have fibre broadband. I connect via a BT Openread ECI FOCuS VDSL FTTC Fibre Modem

I use an Apple Time Capsule as a router and this assigns IP addresses.

I have set a static IP address for the Sure Signal and it is assigned correctly.

I have set up port forwarding in accordance with the list posted many times by Vodafone.

The light sequence on the Sure Signal from left to right is flashing red, off, amber on, amber on

My speed test results are : Ping = 29ms, Download = 58.04Mbps, Upload = 18.81Mbps

My external IP address is 80.229.13.175
 

My Sure Signal serial number is 42153627437

My traceroute results are :

traceroute to 212.183.133.177 (212.183.133.177), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets

 1  192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1)  0.671 ms  0.372 ms  0.328 ms

 2  lo0.10.central12.pcl-bng03.plus.net (195.166.130.166)  8.629 ms  8.556 ms  8.411 ms

 3  irb.12.pcl-cr01.plus.net (84.93.249.113)  8.561 ms  8.822 ms

    irb.12.pcl-cr02.plus.net (84.93.249.114)  8.307 ms

 4  195.99.126.96 (195.99.126.96)  9.962 ms  9.771 ms  9.878 ms

 5  core4-te0-10-0-26.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.255.197)  9.415 ms

    core4-te0-0-0-27.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.185)  9.747 ms

    core3-te0-10-0-26.faraday.ukcore.bt.net (109.159.249.53)  10.169 ms

 6  peer6-hu0-18-0-1.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net (213.121.193.177)  10.398 ms  10.681 ms

    host213-121-193-183.ukcore.bt.net (213.121.193.183)  10.812 ms

 7  t2c3-et-3-1-0-0.uk-lon1.eu.bt.net (166.49.211.236)  10.108 ms

    t2c3-et-8-3-0-0.uk-lon1.eu.bt.net (166.49.211.242)  11.347 ms

    166-49-211-228.eu.bt.net (166.49.211.228)  9.731 ms

 8  166-49-211-254.eu.bt.net (166.49.211.254)  11.129 ms  10.482 ms  10.186 ms

 9  * * *

10  * * *

Could you please let me know how to resolve this?

Thank you.

Dave

[DaveCD]

@Hairsy

The light sequence shows that the unit failed to authenticate onto our network.

Please reset the Sure Signal by pressing and holding the reset button for 10 seconds to factory reset the device. This will trigger the software reload and profile sync again.

If the result after six hours is still the same, please try this at another location such as a freind or family members (preferably with a different ISP).

[gsmsecure]

Hi Dave

I am on PlusNet here and more than likely your issue is incompatibly of the SureSignal with the modem /router that PlusNet supplied.

I had similar issues and Vodafone were not in anyway helpful 3 years ago and ended up purchasing a DrayTek 2850 Fibre router at a cost of £180 which worked first and continues to work today.

I doubt nothing has since changed as I warned Vodafone many times welll over 2 years ago that this issue with BT Fibre and Virgin Broadband connections was imminent and going to become a common problem.

I was assured it would be fed back to Alcatel who designed the SureSignal and as usual, nothing was done or changed!!

You will find the problem is that the PlusNet router MTU setting is fixed at 1492 and needs to be changed to 1500. The problem is that many ISP routers are fixed and cannot be changed.

Vodafone could have preempted and avoided this issue a long time ago..

It is also beyong frustration that Vodafone tech make no mention of this common cause of connection failure (which should be the first response) and must sit at thier desks laughing at your frustration knowing they are sending you around the houses while they refuse to engage and tell you the "real reason" for failing to connect.

"works with most internet providers" is a strange claim to make on a Network and IP connected products these days.. How many other networkable devices are you aware of having a similar claim?

The only thing you could try is that after a number of days trying to connect it and having to spend £180 on a router, they actually refunded the SureSignal cost and let me keep it, but unfortunatly, that blew itself up in May and that's another story!!

[Hairsy]

Thank you for the additional info. My research and experience to date suggested that it would be as you describe!

Does tthe Draytek router introduce any other benefits? And does it operate just as a modem or does it need to be the primary router as well?

Many thanks

Dave

[gsmsecure]

Business class firewall

Stable

3 year warranty

VPN and many other features.

Just annoying that the BT and PlusNet box are sat in a cupboard as 'waste' for the sake of a firmware update on the SureSignal. They only get used when PN technical require it..

There are now cheaper alternatives if you look around..

[Hairsy]

Do you think this would be suitable?  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00F9E5LQA/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

My only concern is that in the manual (section 3.1.3) it suggests a maximum MTU setting of 1492. Is this going to be a problem when you recommend setting to 1500? http://www.i-lan.net.au/downloads/Vigor130/Documents/UG-Vigor130-V1.0.pdf

Thanks for your advice - its much appreciated.

[Hairsy]

Hi @gsmsecure

Are you able to help with this?

Many thanks.

Dave