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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

Hi Wayne

We had a power cut and the IP address is now 2.103.144.67

Cheers

Brian

Hi briantea,

 

That looks like quite an IP jump. Can you just confirm that is correct for me?

 

Dave

Hi Dave,

I am pleased to confirm the new SS box started working this morning without me doing anything. That's four days it has sat plugged in doing nothing until bursting into life today. It must have liked the power cut !!!!

Thanks for your help

Brian

I'm also having problems with my SureSignal not transmitting a 3G signal. It used to work fine but for some reason it has stopped. All ports are being forwarded correctly to it, and my internet connection is stable and fast enough for it's use. Below is a pathping to the IP address provided in the original post:

 

Tracing route to 212.183.133.181 over a maximum of 30 hops

0 xx [10.10.10.3]
1 xx.internal [10.10.10.1]
2 losubs.subs.dsl4.wh-man.zen.net.uk [62.3.83.6]
3 no-dns-yet-62-3-86-9.zen.co.uk [62.3.86.9]
4 ge-2-0-0-0.cr1.wh-man.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.49]
5 ge-3-0-0-0.cr2.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.45]
6 LDNGW1.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.209]
7 85.205.116.6
8 * * *
Computing statistics for 175 seconds...
Source to Here This Node/Link
Hop RTT Lost/Sent = Pct Lost/Sent = Pct Address
0 xx [10.10.10.3]
0/ 100 = 0% |
1 0ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% xx.internal [10.10.10.1]
0/ 100 = 0% |
2 25ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% losubs.subs.dsl4.wh-man.zen.net.uk [62.3.83.6]
0/ 100 = 0% |
3 28ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% no-dns-yet-62-3-86-9.zen.co.uk [62.3.86.9]
0/ 100 = 0% |
4 29ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ge-2-0-0-0.cr1.wh-man.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.49]
0/ 100 = 0% |
5 34ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% ge-3-0-0-0.cr2.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.45]
0/ 100 = 0% |
6 37ms 0/ 100 = 0% 0/ 100 = 0% LDNGW1.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.209]
100/ 100 =100% |
7 --- 100/ 100 =100% 0/ 100 = 0% 85.205.116.6

Trace complete.

 

Any clues?

Is it just not transmitting to your phone? is ther vss actually configured and working? meaning , are the lights flashing on the vss or is there just one solid white light?, I would suggest a full factory reset, and rstarting your router without the vss plugged into it, when your internet is back up and running, plug vss back in, there was a major issue that got resolved last night, loads of customers vss boxes sprung to life, so i would suggest doing this and go from there if you get no joy after 24 hours.After doing the reset etc, please leave alone, dont do anymore resets or turn off the router or anything that can interfere with the configuration, if its configuring of course, check the lights on the back of the vss to see if ones flashing constant, this will show its using bandwidth and configuring.

The power light and the network looking light next to it are illuminated permanently, the phone one isn't lit up as that happens when you make a call.

 

I did try holding down the reset button for like 20 seconds earlier until the lights flashed and it restarted, but that didn't change anything.

 

It's like the booster is ready and supposed to be broadcasting but just isn't...

Not getting 3G here either with Sure Signal on any of my devices.  iPhone 4S or new iPad.  Is there a problem??

 

I am getting 5 bars as if I have full 3G but no 3G symbol popping up.

 

I have the same problem here in Glasgow. Lights 1, 2 and 4 lit up on Sure signal box, Flashing orange light at ethernet connection and 5 bars of signal that fluctualtes occasionally on iPhone but no 3G icon

Looks like its a national problem then Alan Todd.  I am in Cumbria - was getting 3G all day at work, but only really noticed there was no 3G via the VSS box at home when I quickly tried to access twitter from my iPhone.

 

I too have lights 1, 2 and 4 and the flashing orange light on the rear of the VSS box

 

Come on Vodafone!  Get your finger out and let us know if there is a problem before we all go trotting off and resetting phones and VSS boxes!

 

 

try switching to wcdma only and switch your phones off for a few mins to try and refresh your sim or network, its worth a try, your sim might not of updated or refreshed.