Sure Signal not transmitting a 3G signal

[Retired-George]

This issue presents the following symptoms:

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

• Lights one and two are solid which indicates the Sure Signal is connected, but isn't giving a 3G signal.
• Light four doesn’t light up or lights occasionally and then goes out at certain times of day.

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 your broadband connection meets our minimum requirements.
Please run the broadband speed checker.

If your connection fails any part of the test, this indicates an issue with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and you’ll need to contact them to discuss this.

Your connection speed will vary throughout the day, so we recommend running it at various times to get an accurate reading.

To ensure the Sure Signal broadcasts at the correct frequency, it sends and receives small amounts of data to a Network Time Protocol Server hosted by ourselves. If these packets of data take longer than 240ms to make a round-trip, the accuracy can no longer be ensured and so the Sure Signal will automatically stop broadcasting and light four will go out.

Check for planned maintenance.

Planned maintenance can cause periods of downtime, so check the forum for any planned maintenance. If there is, this will be announced at the top of the Sure Signal forum.

Reset your Sure Signal:

1. Hold in the reset button until all lights go solid
2. Pull the power lead out with the reset button still pushed in
3. Continue to hold down the reset button and reconnect the power lead
4. Wait for all lights to come on and then release the reset button

The Sure Signal will be back online in around 1 hour.

Configure your Router Firewall.
The IP address and ports used for NTP (Network Time Protocol) synchronisation are listed below. You may need these to configure the correct firewall settings on your router.

This step isn’t usually necessary, but it may help if you’re using a complex network (such as a corporate or office LAN), or a complex router.

We recommend contacting your ISP or router manufacturer directly for detailed instructions on exactly how to change your router settings. Alternatively, select your router make and model over at http://portforward.com and follow the default guide there.

Destination IP addresses:

• 212.183.133.181
• 212.183.133.182
• 212.183.131.128/26

• Protocol = UDP
• Port = 123

Please note that in the list of IP addresses above, the notation "212.183.131.128/26"means the entire range of IP addresses between 212.183.131.128 and 212.183.131.191

Perform a PathPing to our server.

In order to check if the Sure Signal's able to communicate with our NTP server, a PathPing can be performed as a test. In order to do this, you'll need to open the command prompt in Windows as follows:

• For XP just click Start > Run and type cmd then hit enter
• For Vista/Windows 7, press Start and type 'cmd' into the search bar
• Right click the result and click ‘Run As Administrator’

Once you're in the command prompt, type in PathPing 212.183.133.181. This will perform a trace route to the NTP server and will show you the route it took to get there. One of the columns will display packet loss, if this occurs before hitting our server, you'll need to contact your ISP for further assistance.

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

[MartynRowlands]

Hi Laura,

I have reset again as not working and still not working!

Lights 1 and 2 on full. Light 4 flashing. Unit has been working well for a long time with no issues.

Thanks for your help.

Martyn

[Retired-Simon]

Hi parr72,

Your checks all look fine.

A resync is only needed when there’s a change made on your Sure Signal account.

More info on the symptoms you’re describing can be found here – Light one on, light two flashing

Hi Martyn,

Please can you follow the instructions here – Sure Signal not transmitting a 3G signal

Thanks,

Simon

[MartynRowlands]

Hi Simon

I have gone through this and still no signal. Any other ideas?

Many Thanks

Martyn

[Retired-Kay]

Hi MartynRowlands, 

Please supply the information Laura asked parr72 for here, so that we can help further. 

Thanks, 

Kay

[parr72]

My issue now resolved ... sad conclusion was to condem suresgnal v1 . Installed suresignal v3 now and back to full signal strength (although range not so good).

Getting this answer wasn't so easy ... several calls to tech team. Very helpful guy once my call was escalated (Thanks Rob!)

[MartynRowlands]

17 Mbps down, 0.98 up

Ping 32ms Jitter 5ms Grade B *

Ip. 217.196.9.198

Serial. 21196998385

SS still not working. Will send trace route shortly.

[MartynRowlands]

When running tracert 212.183.133.177 Each hop just times out.

[redsquirrel]

Sadly, I spot a trend here.  Several people with SS devices that have been rock solid for ages suddenly unable to get a 3G signal - well you can add me to the list too

Gathering all the information you seem to want gives the following

Speed Test Results

Download      75.22 Mbps

Upload          16.06 Mbps

Ping              11ms

Ping Test Results

Packet Loss         0%

Ping                    14ms

Jitter                   1ms

Grade                  A

External IP Address

BT Infinity         86.134.134.246

Traceroute

[C:\Windows\system32]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  netgear.redsquirrel.thetford-gardens.net [192.168.1.254]
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  4    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  31.55.187.228
  5    11 ms    35 ms    10 ms  195.99.127.52
  6    12 ms    12 ms    11 ms  peer1-xe8-3-1.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net [213.121.193.109]
  7    15 ms    16 ms    15 ms  lndgw2.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.124]
  8    13 ms    13 ms    39 ms  85.205.0.86
  9     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 10     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 11     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 12     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 13     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 14     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 15     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 16     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 17     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 18     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 19     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 20     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 21     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 22     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 23     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 24     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 25     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 26     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 27     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 28     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 29     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 30     *        *        *     Request timed out.

Trace complete.

PathPing

[C:\Windows\system32]PathPing 212.183.133.181

Tracing route to 212.183.133.181 over a maximum of 30 hops

  0  imhotep.redsquirrel.thetford-gardens.net [192.168.1.224]
  1  netgear.redsquirrel.thetford-gardens.net [192.168.1.254]
  2     *        *        *
Computing statistics for 25 seconds...
            Source to Here   This Node/Link
Hop  RTT    Lost/Sent = Pct  Lost/Sent = Pct  Address
  0                                           imhotep.redsquirrel.thetford-gardens.net [192.168.1.224]
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  1    6ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  netgear.redsquirrel.thetford-gardens.net [192.168.1.254]

Trace complete.

Plain Old PING

[C:\Windows\system32]ping 212.183.133.181

Pinging 212.183.133.181 with 32 bytes of data&colon;
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 212.183.133.181:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

Serial Number

40112437260

Router Ports

Open

[ocorton]

Hi,

Im having a problem with my SS. The box seems to be working fine (all lights OK), but my phone doesnt seem to pick up a 3G signal for more than a couple of minutes each time, without dropping again. Some days I dont pick up any signal at all. I have tried many resets, factory resets, removing & re-adding user etc but still have the same problem.

Serial Number: 40131004430

IP: 62.254.119.12

Ping: 22ms

Download: 19.28mbps

Upload: 18.35mbps

Tracert results:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601] Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. C:\Users\Craig>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 my.router [172.17.8.1]

2 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms 10.0.4.1 3 4 ms

3 ms 3 ms 9.119-254-62.static.virginmediabusiness.co.uk [6 2.254.119.9]

4 10 ms 10 ms 9 ms glfd-lam-4-tenge84-1150.network.virginmedia.net [213.105.158.26]

5 22 ms 18 ms 23 ms glfd-core-2a-xe-010-0.network.virginmedia.net [1 95.182.182.121]

6 16 ms 12 ms 12 ms brnt-bb-1a-ae17-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.25 3.174.89]

7 11 ms 11 ms 11 ms brnt-bb-2a-ae2-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.254 .42.97]

8 19 ms 47 ms 45 ms brhm-bb-2b-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.254 .42.58]

9 15 ms 15 ms 15 ms brhm-bb-1c-ae1-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.254 .42.210]

10 19 ms 19 ms 32 ms tcl5-ic-2-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [212.250 .15.210]

11 20 ms 21 ms 18 ms lndgw2.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.124]

12 19 ms 20 ms 19 ms 85.205.0.86

13 * * * Request timed out.

14 * * * Request timed out.

15 * * * Request timed out.

16 * * * Request timed out.

17 * * * Request timed out.

18 * * * Request timed out.

19 * * * Request timed out.

20 * * * Request timed out.

21 * * * Request timed out.

22 * * * Request timed out.

23 * * * Request timed out.

24 * * * Request timed out.

25 * * * Request timed out.

26 * * * Request timed out.

27 * * * Request timed out.

28 * * * Request timed out.

29 * * * Request timed out.

30 * * * Request timed out. Trace complete. C:\Users\Craig>

Thanks

[Retired-Simon]

Hi ocorton,

All of your tests look fine and your IP is on our whitelist.

In this instance, it can often be caused by the Ethernet cable.

Can you try connecting your Sure Signal using a different Ethernet cable?

Thanks,

Simon