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Solution

Sure Signal not transmitting a 3G signal

Retired-George
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

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

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Hello

 

serial number 21224717989 version 1

 

the sure signal stopped working a few days ago after a lont internet outage (2 hours), presented with only light 1 flashing.

 

I have done a little troubleshooting and have now manged to get to light 1 and 2 solid.

 

how is it looking from your end?

 

 

Internet speed >5 Mbps ping normally <55ms.

 

pathping 

C:\WINDOWS\system32>pathping 212.183.133.181

Tracing route to 212.183.133.181 over a maximum of 30 hops

0 XPS-M133064BIT.int.hillblock.com [192.168.1.104]
1 WRT54GL [192.168.1.251]
2 192.168.1.250
3 losubs.subs.dsl5.wh-man.zen.net.uk [62.3.83.10]
4 no-dns-yet-62-3-86-29.zen.co.uk [62.3.86.29]
5 ge-2-0-0-0.cr1.wh-man.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.49]
6 ge-3-0-0-0.cr2.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.45]
7 ldngw1.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.209]
8 85.205.116.14
9 * * *
Computing statistics for 200 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 XPS-M133064BIT.int.hillblock.com [192.168.1.104]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 1ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% WRT54GL [192.168.1.251]
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 1ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 192.168.1.250
1/ 100 = 1% |
3 44ms 2/ 100 = 2% 1/ 100 = 1% losubs.subs.dsl5.wh-man.zen.net.uk [62.3.83.10]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 45ms 1/ 100 = 1% 0/ 100 = 0% no-dns-yet-62-3-86-29.zen.co.uk [62.3.86.29]
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 46ms 1/ 100 = 1% 0/ 100 = 0% ge-2-0-0-0.cr1.wh-man.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.49]
1/ 100 = 1% |
6 54ms 2/ 100 = 2% 0/ 100 = 0% ge-3-0-0-0.cr2.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.45]
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 54ms 2/ 100 = 2% 0/ 100 = 0% ldngw1.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.209]
98/ 100 = 98% |
8 --- 100/ 100 =100% 0/ 100 = 0% 85.205.116.14

Trace complete.

 

Can you see the sure signal from your end?

 

Thanks in advance

IAn

 

 

FIXED

 

Came back about an hour later and it is working OK

 

Don't you just hate it when that happens

 

Ian

View solution in original position

501 REPLIES 501

dee30
Not applicable
I have made some comments below in Italics. Any help would be appreciated. I never find customer support helpful when I phone as they get stuck on questions that indicates a definite misunderstanding of the problem I am phoning about. I have given up on phone customer support a long time ago. So I tried e-mail support and like others have found an error that would not let me proceed. I am close to being disheartened. I will indicate what I have tried below.


This thread has been created to discuss, and troubleshoot a specific issue that may affect some Sure Signal users.

This issue presents the following symptoms:

  • The Sure Signal lights 1 and 2 are on solid, indicating that the Sure Signal is connected, but is not broadcasting a 3G signal.
Sure Signal lights 1 and 2 are solid, not 4th light.
  • Light 4 does not light up - or lights occassionally but keeps going out at certain times of day.


Troubleshooting steps:

Confirm that your Broadband connection meets our minimum requirements.
Confirmed it.
Please run our Broadband Speed Checker whenever you experience this issue.
If your connection fails any aspect of the test, this indicates an issue with your Internet Service Provider, and you will need to contact them to discuss the issue. Your connection speed will vary throughout the day, so we recommend running it at various times to get an accurate reading.

In order to ensure that the Sure Signal broadcasts at the correct frequency, it needs to keep accurate time by sending and receiving 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 4 will extinguish.

Check for planned maintanence Checked it.
Sometimes we need to make changes to the Sure Signal service which can cause it to become unavailable for periods of time. Please check our Planned Maintenance thread to see if this is currently the case. If there has been Planned Maintenance, which has now ended, but your Sure Signal has still not come back on its own, please reset the unit.

Reset your Sure Signal: Did a few times.
Press the reset button on the back of the Sure Signal. Light 1 should flash, then turn solid. Light 2 should flash, then turn solid. Finally, light 4 should come on. If it does not, please try a Factory Reset.

Configure your Router Firewall Unfortunately Netgear wants to charge me for a 6 month support subscription (£60) before helping me with firewall configuration and I am not prepared to pay that as I have not guarantee that it would make any difference.
The IP address and ports used for NTP synchronisation are listed below. You may need these to configure the correct firewall settings on your router. This step is not normally necessary, but may help if you are 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 - or alternatively, select your router make and model over at http://portforward.com and follow the Default Guide there for instructions.

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 Tried it and whatever happened means nothing to me. I am not sure if there is any sensitive information
in what was given to me so I would rather not copy and past it here. There are four rows in the table of which only the last row has a 2% Lost/Sent if that's what you're after...? I'm not sure if I need to contact an ISP for further assistance - if I do I wouldn't know what an ISP was.

In order to establish whether the Sure Signal is able to communicate with our NTP server, a pathping can be performed as a test. In order to do this, you'll firstly 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 also show you the route it took to get there. One of the column will display packet loss, if this occurs before hitting our server then you'll need to contact your ISP for further assistance. If it doesn't then please see below.

If you have completed all the troubleshooting steps above and have not identified the cause of the issue, your Sure Signal may be faulty.
Please contact us by following the instructions below:
I've tried this as well - got an error message after the hassle of trying to shorten this little form that I had to copy and paste as it contains too many words for the amount allowed in an online e-mail on your website. Something has me thinking the idea is to try and dissuade me from contacting vodafone ... but I will persist. I will not fill in this form on the forum, in short I have tried everything I needed to try and no luck.

Please copy the template below, and paste it into our Contact Us form
Please use the subject line "EFT135 Sure Signal Issue" 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?

Any other questions or details you'd like to make us aware of, please post in this thread :) What would be the next step. It would be much appreciated if I can get to the point advice without the tedious questions of the call center in a way that I can understand it. Computer literate to the degree that I can use it quite well - but know hardly anything about its technicalities.


George
eForum Team

andybarnes
Not applicable

Hi George

I now know that the Sure Signal is not a plug and play device. I have studied your thread posted on the 6th October and followed the instructions. I have also looked at a thread created by a user of the same ISP service and box: Orange Livebox (Inventel).

Is it necessary to set up every combination of IP and Port as per your listing?

Is the range 212.183.131.128 to 191 continuous or a subset of addresses? I am not a network specialist as you can tell.

Also…the other user suggested setting up two NAT entries, one for TCP Port 8, 212.183.133.181 and one for UDP Port 123, 212.183.133.182. The box seems to only allow one entry? It is however UPnP enabled, which I thought would resolve address translation issues?

At the moment things aren’t yet working, but power and internet lights are slowly flashing. If you can help further please reply with some advice.

Andy

glidesteve
Not applicable
My UNsure signal box just stopped working last night. Ive been backwards & forwards between vodafone help people & my sky broadband people. Vodafone say its the broadband settings, Having come home from work tonite & spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone I lost the will to live.
Its still stuck on the two top lights. Vodafone are passing the buck and they delibarately cut me off twice after waiting on the line for over twenty minutes., eaqch time This is not fair. Get your act together vodafone!!

koontx
2: Seeker
2: Seeker
Hi all,

I have been away for a week and returned to have the same problem as the poster above. Only lights 1 and 2 on, if i reboot i get a signal for a minute or so then loose it. Is this a problem with the suresignal system?

Thanks in advance

andybarnes
Not applicable
I have now takent the box back and retrieved my money. A complete waste of time....

Retired-Wayne
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)
Hi roadking and koontx

Thanks for your posts here. I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with this. I can appreciate how frustrating this must be for you.

First things first, have you tried reseting the Sure signal unit (using the reset button on the back)?

If you have and things still arent working, you can have a quick run through our troubleshooting thread found here - Sure Signal Troubleshooting

Please let us know how you get on and if you have any more questions we'll be happy to help you

Thanks

Wayne

eForum Team

dfbell
Not applicable
Hi

We've had our VSS for a few weeks and originally had it on a BT broadband router, after some messing about I got it working well.

However, since then we've switched from broadband to a BT 2Mb fixed line on their BTnet network and so the router is just that with no config options. Our firewall deals with all the forwarding, VPN etc.

So... I've plugged the VSS into the network, here it does appear to have picked up a DHCP issued IP address and with some tweaks to the firewall based on information on these forums and a couple of hard resets of the VSS I do now have a solid light 1 + 2 but no light 4 (even after leaving it for about 24 hours).

The firewall was set up with these settings (from this forum) by our tech support company (who REALLY know what they're doing):

Source
Sure Signal

Destination IP Addresses:
212.183.133.177
212.183.133.178
212.183.133.179
212.183.131.128/26

Ports and Protocols:

Port 50 - TCP/IP
Port 4500 - UDP
Port 500 – UDP

I have also done pathping 212.183.133.181 tests with results between 0% and 5% losses to the vodafone server.

When doing a reset of the VSS the firewall logs some traffic flow, presumably while doing the update downloads and then light 2 comes on.

Any suggestions? I've been all over these VSS forums and there doesn't really seem to be an answer anywhere other than blaming the ISP which, as this is BT's core network and I get no data loss seems unlikely. Perhaps the firewall settings are wrong?

When it works the VSS is great but when it doesn't it's extremely frustrating that there's no direct user interface with the unit to see what's wrong!

Cheers.

Retired-Trev
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)
Hi dfbell

Welcome to the Vodafone eForum family. It's always nice to see new faces around here. :)

I have sent you an email to your eForum registered address, to enable us to forward your details to a VSS expert to assist with your query.

Let me know if you've any further questions.

Regards

Trev
eForum Team

sailor99
Not applicable
I am really struggling with setting up my new Sure signal. Lights 1 and 2 come on to solid, but not 4. I have tried reseting the unit. I have checked my ADSL Speed (1.8Mb). I have tried using the contact email at the beginning of this thread, but it keeps coming up with an error when I try and post (roll eyes). I have done a pathping:
Microsoft Windows XP
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\jknight>pathping 212.183.133.181

Tracing route to host212-183-133-181.uk.access.vodafone.net
over a maximum of 30 hops:
0 your-f23df9768c
1 your-f23df9768c.mshome.net
2 lo1.pcl-ag05.plus.net
3 gi1-18.pcl-gw01.plus.net
4 po4.pcl-gw02.plus.net
5 195.50.122.129
6 ae-1-51.edge3.London1.Level3.net
7 ge5-3-0-1000M.ar2.LON3.gblx.net
8 VODAFONE-LTD.TenGigabitEthernet7-1.ar6.LON3.gblx.net
9 * * *
Computing statistics for 225 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 your-f23df9768c
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 9ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% your-f23df9768c.mshome.net
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 30ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% lo1.pcl-ag05.plus.net
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 46ms 1/ 100 = 1% 1/ 100 = 1% gi1-18.pcl-gw01.plus.net
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 34ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% po4.pcl-gw02.plus.net
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 32ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% 195.50.122.129
0/ 100 = 0% |
6 67ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ae-1-51.edge3.London1.Level3.net
0/ 100 = 0% |
7 67ms 1/ 100 = 1% 1/ 100 = 1% ge5-3-0-1000M.ar2.LON3.gblx.net
0/ 100 = 0% |
8 60ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% VODAFONE-LTD.TenGigabitEthernet7-1
.ar6.LON3.gblx.net
100/ 100 =100% |
9 --- 100/ 100 =100% 0/ 100 = 0% your-f23df9768c

Trace complete.

C:\Documents and Settings\jknight>

Retired-Dave
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)
Hi Sailor99, welcome to the eForum!

I'm popping you an email so that we can get your details and get this looked into for you - please reply back with the requested details.

I'm sure we can get this sorted for you.

DaveN

eForum Team

PS Just a reminder, the forum will be read only from 10pm Tuesday until we launch our all new platform at the beginning of December. For more information, see this link