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Solution

Version 3 VSS Lights (Power - flashing, Internet - off, In Service - orange, In Use - orange)

Retired-Lee
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

This thread has been created to discuss and troubleshoot the version 3 Sure Signal when the light sequence is as follows:

 

  • Power: Flashing
  • Internet: Off
  • In Service: Solid Orange
  • In Use: Solid Orange

 

Cause

 

This light sequence indicates the Sure Signal's not active and it has been unable to authenticate on the Vodafone network

 

Troubleshooting

 

Please restart your Sure Signal. If the symptoms continue please add the following details to this thread:

 

  • Your speed test results from here
  • Your ping test results from here
  • Your external IP address from here
  • Your Sure Signal serial number
  • The results of a traceroute

 

Traceroute command:

On a PC:

  1. Click on Start and select Run
  2. Type CMD into the Run box and press enter/click ok
  3. A black box will appear
  4. In this box type tracert 212.183.133.177 press Enter
  5. Paste the output of this command into your reply

 

On a Mac:

  1. Open Terminal (Applications, Utilities)
  2. Type 'traceroute 212.183.133.177'
  3. Press Enter

 

This will help us get the quickest possible resolution for you.

Thanks

LeeH

2,480 REPLIES 2,480

As you are using a basic broadband set up one thing you could try is to make sue that your ISP DNS IP addresses are entered on the basic set up screen and don't use the "Automatically supplied by ISP" button, I've found with my set up that it doesn't work unless you do this. It may take several hours for the VSS to sync with the servers. You should be able to get the DNS IP addresses from your ISP help desk.

Phil

Hi Machotspur

As you are using a basic broadband set up one thing you could try is to make sure that your ISP DNS IP addresses are entered on the basic set up screen and don't use the "Automatically supplied by ISP" button, I've found with my set up that it doesn't work unless you do this. It may take several hours for the VSS to sync with the servers. You should be able to get the DNS IP addresses from your ISP help desk.

Phil

machotspur:

 

I've no experience of Zen Internet, but I do hear favorable things about them from others.

 

As I have a VSS working at home for the moment, on a Netgear N150, it should be possible to get it running on your N600.

 

Do you know how to get into the routers administration pages?   If so, we'll walk you through checking some things.   Try reviewing the information here:-

http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1148

 

Else, on whatever paperwork you have from Zen, else you'll need to call them and explain why you need to get in there, and can they let you have the login details for your routers admin pages.   Even if just for a few days before they lock it again.   Most ISP's will comply to such requests.

 

If you get in there yourself.  Don't tweak anything just yet, until Vodafone have come back and said you are "Whitelisted" at least.   But it would be good if you can get a look at the "Firewall Rules", and see if there are any restrictions or blockages already applied.

 

heycrofts comments re the default DNS settings are a good tip to check.  The paperwork should have coppies of such settings documented, else as he says a call to their helpline will be needed.

 

I see from earlier, you have done the speed test and tracert tests, but it may be worth doing them again, as over the weekend the "Internet" as a whole was seriously stuffed for some reason, until Monday Lunchtime.  (Maybe someone in the US got into a data center in the morning and kicked something that was misbehaving, after which it all came back up to full speed.)

 

The other thing, is for the Vodafone guys to check your public IP address is in their "Whitelist" range.  Else nothing we or you can do will make it work.

 

Hopefully the Vodafone types will advse re your public IP address soon (62.3.101.142 from your earlier post) so when you come back with the news that you can login to the router's admin page, we can get the ball rolling.

 

Just done a reverse IP search on the above, and get:-

 

62.3.101.142 IP:

62.3.101.142

server location:

United Kingdom

ISP:

Zen Internet Ltd

 

So, at least it agrees with your details as to ISP and location, reporting you are in the UK, so Vodafone if it's not already in the whitelisted range, should be able to get it in the list just fine...

 

Best Regards 'till then.

 

Dave Baxter.

 

 

Dear Dave

 

Even though I am certainly not in any way technically minded I have some familiarity with the Netgear router manager.

Through this I have been able to identify that the MAC address for the Sure Signal is showing in the  'Attached Devices' list, along with our PC's, Ipad's, iPhones etc.

 

I have not followed the 'port forwarding' part of the post from Vodafone Tach Support as it is way beyond what I consider to be reasonable, or indeed within my capabilities..

 

Like the majority I am a non techy person and I own a popular mainstream,router that has not been messed with one bit. Why then does Sure Signal not work with such an unexeptional home set up that probably exists in many thousands of homes across the country. 

 

I have yet to get the SS thing off of first base !

 

If the Vodafone support people, or indeed you or other kind people on here could offer any further simple solutions then that would be good.

 

Otherwiise I feel I have absolute justification in returning the product as being not fit for purpose and reverting to my previous provider. As somone said a few days ago, 70+ pages of problems on this forum cant be wrong !

 

Thank you to you & anyone who can provide any simple solution to this.

 

Kind regards 

 

 

 

machotspur:

Morning.

I can't help but agree with you, "appliances" like these VSS things should be as near plug it in, cable it up,

turn it on as you could possibly get.   However some of the technology and networking protocols used, can

prevent that sadly, needing some "manual input", to say the least, to get things going.

Anyway.  Good you can get into the settings pages of your router, and see the VSS has connected to it.

I know you say you are "non technical", so I guess you didn't poke about and work out how to assign it an IP

address on your LAN, that will never change.   (So called "stattic IP")

Vodafone did say that the public IP address you listed is OK in their whitelist, so that's good.

Just to confirm, did you successfully use the SureSignal registration page, to tell Vodafone you were going to

deploy it, and associate it with one or more mobile phones.   I'm sure you must have, but we have to ask.   If

not, you do need to go there and do that.  Instructions are in the pamphlet in the VSS box.

Back to your router.

Before we mess with things, it's best to make a backup of it's existing settings.

Login to your routers adminstration pages, and find under the "Maintenance" heading "Backup Settings".

The top item, "Save a copy of current settings" has a "backup" button.   Hit that, and follow the prompts to

save a file to somewhere on your PC, that you will remember.   The desktop for now, but archive it later in a

safe place (on a memory stick for example.)

You can use that file to restore it to the settings it has now, as it is before any changes you make.

You might want to change the file's name, to reflect the current state of the router, and date.

Also under "Maintenance."  Go to Attached Devices", so long as you can see the VSS's MAC address showing, it

should work.   However, it is useful to get it to always have the same LAN based IP address whenever it is re-

attached.   Make a note of the MAC address of the VSS, either from that dialog, or the VSS's own lable.

Power OFF the VSS.   (Do this now, as it gives Vodafone's servers time to forget any partial connection it may

have got, while we mess with your router.)

Make a note of the "range" of addresses shown.  (Lowest and highest)

Now go to "Advanced / LAN setup".

In the section "Use Router as DHCP server", change the "Ending IP address" to something like 127.  So long as it

is way above the range noted earlier, there should be no problems.    In essance, you are creating an address

space that the router will never assign to anything via DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) when a device

is connected.

Under "Address Reservation", you probably have nothing set.    Hit the "Add" button.

Enter the last "octet" (decimal value in the blank part of the partial IP address shown) of the IP address you

want to associate to the VSS.   It should be uniqe and not used by anything currently connected, and outside the

range that DHCP will use.

For example, I tend to put things like this up in the 200's.   But use one that is outside the DHCP range you

just set above.   That way, even if the VSS is not connected or powered up when the router restarts, it's

"reserved" address will not be stomped on by something else.

Enter the VSS's MAC address noted from earlier, and give it a descriptive name "VSS3" for example.

(This makes it MUCH easier, if we do have to apply some firewall rules later.)

Hit the "Add" button again, and then go back to the "Advanced" "LAN setup" page, where you should see the

reservation now set, and the new upper limit of the routers own DHCP offerings.

Hit the "Apply" button.

Now go to "Security / Firewall rules", and make sure that there is nothing other than:

"Any(all)    Allow   always    Any    Any    Never".

Set as an outbound rule, and the "Enable" checkbox is ticked.     (The Default in fact.)

If not (Highly unlikley!) then report back here before we go any further.   Get a screenshot if possible showing

the settings you have by default, save them as an image file, that you can attach to your message if needed.

At this stage, it is likely that there are no inbound rules either.   Leave that as is for now.   Again, if

there are, get a screen shot, and come back here.

If you have made no changes to that page,  Back out of the settings pages and logout of the routers management

system.

Power down the VSS3.   (If not done earlier, and wait a few minutes, make yourself a cuppa or something.)

Tell others who may be using the internet, you are going to reset the router.   (They will loose connection.)

Reset (power off/wait a few seconds/power on) the router.

Wait untill that has finished counting attoms in the universe, and then check you (and others) have connectivity

to the outside again.    What that is all OK.   Power up the VSS.   AND WAIT!   This is important.

If all is well, you should see it eventually with a steady Red light, and a slow pulsing left most White light.  

  The one I have stayed like that for ages, while there was an awful lot of network traffic (blinking lights on

the router) while it did I guess, a huge firmware update.

Eventually, and it can be a LONG time, after at least two restarts of it's own, it settled to steady Red light,

and two steady white lights, but it took over an hour the first time!

If however, it just bounces back to the blinking red, and two steady orange lights, come back here.

From what I've discovered and learnt about these things with my Netgear N150 router, it should work now.

Once you get the Steady RED and the two left Steady White lights, you should see a good 3G signal on your phone.

Try making a call, or sending a text etc.   Hopefully all will be well now.

Regards.

Dave Baxter.

Hi Dave

 

Again - thank you very much indeed for your useful suggestions. I will give it a go over the weekend and let you know how I get on.

 

In the meantime a few comments & questions if I may.

 

The only thing I have tried changing so far in the Netgear router manager is to deselect the getting of the DNS address automatically from the ISP, and selecting the static addresses that exist in the Primary/Secondary boxes. I waiting a couple of hours but the status of the VSS didn’t change.

 

I did set up the Vodafone registration before I plugged the VSS in and I received email confirmation. I also called Vodafone support who suggested waiting 24 hours before beginning the initialisation of the VSS, which I complied with.

 

Regarding the router back up. I’ve saved the configuration to my PC and I’m assuming that in the event of this all going horribly wrong then I just select this file from the ‘Restore’ box on the same page on the Netgear router manager ?

 

I’m  due to move house in a few weeks. Other than changing the location details on the Vodafone system, is anything likely to happen as a result of the move that will mean I have to go through this stuff all over again ?

 

Finally I have set up on my router :-

2 x PC’s

2 x iPads

2 x iPhones

3 x Bower & Wilkins wireless speakers

 

Are the changes we are about to make likely to have any effect on these ?

 

That’s it for now – thanks again.

machotspur:

 

Hi again.

 

I don't think anything you've done is bad.  However, after changing the routers default DNS settings, from "get from ISP", to a couple of manuall selected addresses (where did you get those DNS addresses from?)  may need the VSS to be powered off, wait, powered back on again to get the new addresses, rather than wait for it's DHCP assigned values (from your router) to be refreshed when it's DHCP lease runs out.

 

I too have manually set DNS addresses in my home router, I use 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 Google's main and alternative public DNS servers.  (I know, I know. the big G is not everyone's favorite, but they do work reliably.)

 

 

I know little about Apple products (other than Domestic Management hates her new iPhone5s, but loves her iPad) but is there any posibility they may be using UPnP in the router to setup things for themselves that may be upsetting the VSS?   I'm thinking some secure tunnel back to Apple HQ or something?

 

I know nothing about the B&W wireless speakers.  But from a quick look on their website (nice products by the look of them) there is mention of Firmware Updates.   It might be worth a close look in the user manual, to see if there is any mention of that sort of thing happening automatically, so "May" also involve another secure tunnel back to B&W at some point.   Unless, you can only do such things via a USB lead or similar.

 

Try turning disabling UPnP in the Router (if not already done) and restarting it (again!)

 

As to devices connected...

I have (what I remember so far) a FreeBSD server (hosting a small website) a NAS4Free server, a JetDirect print server.  All those are powered on and active 24/7.   4 PC's (2 active 24/7) one LG TV, one iPad, one iPhone, one Android phone, an Android tablet, one 8 port switch, two 4 port Hubs, and some IP to RS232 devices, on my "Home" LAN.   Plus for now, the VSS (plugged into the Netgear N150 router directly.)

 

It all works fine (much to my continued amazement.)    I have the router powered via a "Power over Ethernet" device too, that in turn gets its power from a UPS in the room with the two servers..   (Yes, the electric bill is getting "interesting" these days.  I may be reviewing my activities soon or moving the "waste" heat arround the house.)

 

I used to have full and secure remote access to all that, but with the changes I had to make in the router (to free up the ports the VSS needs) I only have limited remote access for now, but I can still get to most things from "outside" securely when I want, even reconfigure my own router if needed, and not using the WAN side remote admin facility.  But I can't securely stream audio or video for now.  Or reliably reset one of the 24/7 PC's when it burps.

 

As to moving house, will you be changing ISP, or is your existing ISP going to migrate you to a new line?   Either way, I wouldnt hold your breath re the VSS working first hit after the move, even if we get it working for you now.  By rights, you should go back to the SureSignal registration page, and update the postcode where it's new home will be, when you move.

 

As a last resourt, it might be worth doing a hard reset of the VSS, by pressing/holding the reset button for (now, the jury is out on this) 10, 20 or 30 seconds, then cycling the power to it.   Of course, only when you know your router is powered up and is fully happy with its life.

 

It seems, that may do a "Factory Reset" on it, wiping any stored settings, forcing it to start afresh, and do the initial monster firmware update from Vodafone, including several automatic restarts.    I'd give it some time (up to a day perhaps?) with it powered down, so Vodafone's servers can "forget" about any partial conneciton it may have setup.

 

Though I tried that several times here in the office (before I started researching the issues) I've not needed to touch that button while it's been "on trial" at home.   It just (eventually) worked.   But it did take a few hours to sort itself out the first time.    Now, if I power cycle it, it returns to service after about 10 minutes, even after a 4 hour break.

 

The only other things left to try, is the infamous "Port Forwarding" setup.    Are you up to try that later?

 

Scroll down to the various screenshots, showing how to configure the "services" etc.   Feel free to play (you have a saved router setup file if it goes bad.)   The only thing I'd suggest, is in the long term (if doing all that makes the VSS work) disable the forwarding of port 123 to the VSS.   It should work without that, while forwarding that to the VSS can prevent any of your other PC's etc, keeping their internal date/time systems synch'd with the ouside world.

 

It's a crying shame the VSS's dont have some sort of status page or logfile we the users can get to, to find out what they are upset about in detail.  I.e.  What part of the startup failed and why.   Even if we can't change any settings, just seeing such info would be Soooooo useful.

 

Best Regards.

 

Dave Baxter.

 

Machotspur:

 

I have something else to test out at home wrt these things, and specific to Netgear routers such as ours.

 

I'll report back here when I've confirmed what I propose works (or not.)   But it's entirely based on the needed settings, and IP addresses posted here the other day.

 

Regards All.

 

Dave Baxter.

 

OK All.

 

"Attached", is a pdf, describing how I set my Netgear DGN1000, for the Vodafone SureSignal v3.   Withg some screen scrapes of the routers settings dialogs as examples.

 

I provide this in good faith, it works for me, I hope it helps others.   It is all based on the information posted here on this list, and other places, re the needed ports/services and Vodafone's published server cluster public IP address's.

 

If anyone spots a real howler of a mistkoe...   Let me know.

 

The usual caviates/disclamers.   If you try this, and it breaks something.  It's not my fault.

Remember to make those router settings backups!   Hopefully you will not need them.  But if you do, and you havent', you're in a world of pain!

 

As above, I give this to the community in good faith.  It worked for me in late August 2014.

 

Best Regards.

 

Dave Baxter.

 

Jenny
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

Hi machotspur,

 

There’s been some great suggestions above – cheers guys! :Smiling:

 

Your IP address is fine and everything looks good with your traceroute.

 

Please try the following:

 

Check that your Sure Signal's been assigned an internal IP address by your router.

The Sure Signal must be assigned an internal IP address by your router. If your router supports DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), this must be enabled as doing so will enable the router to assign an IP address to your Sure Signal automatically.


For more instructions on how to do this, please check your router manual or contact your ISP or router manufacturer.

 

If your router or network configuration doesn’t allow DHCP, you’ll need to assign a static IP address to your Sure Signal's MAC Address by using your router's configuration panel. Please contact your ISP or router manufacturer for instructions on how to do this. The MAC address can be found on the sticker at the back of the Sure Signal.

 

Manually configure your router to allow port-forwarding.
In most cases, routers support a system called Universal Plug-n-Play (UPnP), which sets up port-forwarding for you automatically. If you’ve got a complicated network setup, or a complex router, you may need to enter these settings manually.

Please see the following for a list of IP addresses and port numbers that need to be forwarded to your Sure Signal's internal IP address. For instructions on how to do this, we recommend you contact your ISP or Router Manufacturer, or refer to the default guide for your particular make and model, over at http://portforward.com.

 

Destination IP Addresses:

  •          212.183.133.177
  •          212.183.133.178
  •          212.183.133.179
  •          212.183.133.181
  •          212.183.133.182
  •          212.183.131.128/26


Ports and Protocols:

  •          8 – TCP/UDP                 (All routers)
  •          50 – TCP/UDP               (All routers)
  •          53 – TCP/UDP               (Virgin Super Hubs)
  •          67 – UDP                      (Virgin Super Hubs)                                                    
  •          68 – UDP                      (Virgin Super Hubs)                                        
  •          123 – UDP                    (All routers)     
  •          500 – UDP                    (All routers)     
  •          1723 – TCP/UDP           (BT Home Hubs)          
  •          4500 – UDP                   (All routers)     
  •          33434 – 33445 – UDP    (Virgin Super Hubs)

 

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

Your router also needs to assign the Sure Signal with a DNS (Domain Name Server) address via DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol).

 

 

Thanks,

 

Jenny