My Sure Signal unit was suspended due to lack of use some time ago, but for signal strength reasons I wanted to re-activate it. As added complications, I wanted to use it with a BT Infinity broadband service, on a router running DD-WRT firmware. The Sure Signal unit is now working absolutely fine with 3G throughout the house. In case anybody else requires such a convoluted setup, this is how I did it.............
To re-activate the box (as outlined in some FAQs I read) I had a 'chat' with Live Help, who called me back; they put me through to the Tech Team who re-activated my Sure Signal whilst I was on the phone. Total time - 5 minutes tops from starting the chat to ending the call to the Tech Team guru. I was told it may take at least 2 hours, but up to 24.before the unit would be registered and work on the network.
For the actual home set up itself, I made the required connections with power and network cable. The steps I took with regard to using the Sure Signal unit with my DD-WRT router were as follows (please forgive me if anybody reading this is a techie God - I made it simple so that I could do it!):
1. Give the Sure Signal unit a Static IP. DD-WRT Settings -> Services/Services (left hand tab); scroll down and 'Add' a Static Lease. Fill in the MAC address of the Sure Signal unit (on the back of the unit - MAC@ on mine. You must put a colon ':' between each pair of letters and numbers, eg: 12:AA:34:BB:56:CC - these are not shown in the MAC number on the back of the unit. Fill in the 'Hostname' in the Static Lease table with anything you like - I used VodafoneSS. Complete the IP Address with any address outside your DHCP range (found in Setup/Basic Setup). Press the 'Save' button and then the 'Apply Settings' button.
2. Port Forwarding. NAT/QoS -> Port Forwarding (left hand tab). 'Add', Fill in the Application with anything (I used VodafoneSS again), Protocol I left as 'Both', and Source Net I completed with '0.0.0.0/0' (though it is debateable if this is necessary.) Then the 'Port from' is 8, the IP Address is the Static IP applied from step 1 above, and the 'Port to' is also '8'. Tick Enable, then Save, followed by Apply Settings. Follow this procedure again for the following ports (do not forget to 'Save' and 'Apply Settings' between each number!😞 50, 53, 123, 500, 1723, 4500. As a note, I had no need to place the Static IP address in to the DMZ tab.
3. Reboot the router. Administration -> (scroll down to bottom of page) Reboot Router.
4. Patience! Remember that 'it may take at least 2 hours, but up to 24.before the unit would be registered and work on the network.'? Well, after an evening of re-starting, re-setting and general frustration trying to make the Sure Signal unit work with my phone (lots of flashing lights, but always ending with just a steady red power light on my V2 Sure Signal unit - no steady system light or phone light when using the phone), I left it to its own devices powered on overnight. Blow me down - in the morning, still a steady red power light, but also a steady white sytem light and a 5 bar 3G signal on my phone - result!
Cheers,
Mark
