All appears to be ok, but is it working?

[dannyyoung]

Hi everyone, my v2 was recently replaced with a v3 under warranty, I have registered it and all appears ok, all of the lights are lit but the phones that are linked to it don't have a full signal.  One is an iPhone 5 with 4/5 bars, and the other is a Nokia Lumia 1020 that is registering 4 bars with H.

My question is - if the SS is working properly, should the handsets that are linked with it show a full 5 bars?  Should that also show 3G or 4G?

Thanks for reading.

[dannyyoung]

Hi

I haven't had time to take this to a friends house to try it out (I work full time and have two young kids so this isn't an ideal option).  If there is any other way you can test to see if this unit is faulty or not I would like to try that option.

Yesterday I was on a call and the signal dropped completely, cutting me off.  It took me 2-3 minutes to reconnect the call, my iPhone kept saying Call Failed.

When I checked my VSS, the red power light was solid, the first white light was slowly flashing.  Once I was able to connect a call from my phone, I watched the VSS and no additional lights came on when the call connected.

Please advise what needs to happen next - I really just want to get this sorted so I can use my Vodafone handsets at home.

Thanks.

[Retired-Dave]

Hi dannyyoung,

There isn't really an equivalent test. If it works on a different connection, we know the box is fine and something in the set-up is the issue. That's something we can't distinguish between from this end 

I've tried a resync, so reset the Sure Signal following these steps:

• Unplug the Ethernet cable from the Sure Signal.
• Locate the button on the base of the box next to the Ethernet ports.
• Press and hold the button for approximately 30 seconds.
• Once the lights come back on, release the button.
• Plug the cable back in.
• The Sure Signal will come online in around 1 hour.

If that fails, I'd like to check that the speeds aren't dropping too low.  Post the following for me:

•  Your speed test results from here.
•  Your ping test results from here.

Also, run a traceroute and paste the results here:

On a PC

- Click on Start and select Run.

- Type CMD into the Run box and press enter/click ok.

- A black box will appear.

- In this box type tracert 212.183.133.177 and press Enter.

On a Mac

- Open Terminal (Applications, Utilities).

- Type traceroute 212.183.133.177 and press Enter.

Dave

[psychopomp1]

Dave @ Vodafone,

The OP is not the only one experiencing this issue, this is a common issue experienced by many V3 users. The fact that i've tried four (yes FOUR!!!) brand new V3 Sure Signals and every one of them gives me intermittent disconnections proves the V3 has a design fault somewhere...yet my old rusty V2 works flawlessly. I really think you need to look deeper into this. As i said in a different post, not everyone using a V3 is going to report this as the disconnections can happen a few times each day or once every few days. so some people will just shrug this off and accept them. The V3 needs to be taken to a laboratory and dissected and see which of its innards are at fault.

[dannyyoung]

Right, here is the latest instalment, as the VSS has stopped working again.  I now have the following issue:

Power: Flashing

Internet: Off

In Service: Solid Orange

In Use: Solid Orange

Cause

This light sequence indicates the VSS is not active and it has been unable to authenticate on the Vodafone network

I have restarted the VSS and the same light pattern is showing again.

I will try and find time to run the tests suggested, I have my two young sons here so it isn't that straightforward.

To say I am losing my patience with this is an understatement, the support on these units is poor, it takes far too long to get issues resolved.  I just want to be able to use my mobile phone at home!

[dannyyoung]

OK here are the results:

Speedtest results - ping 61ms, download speed 9.71Mbps, upload speed 0.79 Mbps

Ping test - packet loss 0%, ping 40ms, jitter 1ms, line grade A

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600]
(c) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\danny>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  192.168.2.1
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3    46 ms    39 ms    45 ms  ip-84-38-37-52.easynet.co.uk [84.38.37.52]
  4    89 ms    82 ms   128 ms  ae99.edge3.London2.Level3.net [212.187.201.57]
  5   247 ms     *       40 ms  ae-0-11.edge4.London2.Level3.net [4.69.200.126]

  6    40 ms    39 ms    40 ms  ae-3-3.ebr1.London1.Level3.net [4.69.141.189]
  7    40 ms    58 ms    40 ms  ae-44-44.ebr1.London1.Level3.net [4.69.167.30]
  8    39 ms    40 ms    41 ms  ae-58-113.csw1.London1.Level3.net [4.69.153.122]

  9    40 ms    44 ms    72 ms  ae-120-3506.edge4.London1.Level3.net [4.69.166.5
]
 10    43 ms    41 ms    43 ms  195.50.122.66
 11    45 ms    41 ms    44 ms  85.205.116.14
 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.

C:\Users\danny>

[dannyyoung]

I have powered down and powered up the VSS again and I am still getting the same light sequence as before, power led flashing, the last two lights on orange.  This is the worst it has been since this whole saga started.

[Retired-Andy]

Hi dannyyoung,

Everything is fine with your speed test and ping test.

Hop 5 on your traceroute is a cause for concern. There’s a high reading (247ms) and a timeout on the same line.

Can you rerun the test when it’s convenient and see if it changes?

Also, check to make sure you have the following ports open on your router:-

Port Number

8          TCP      UDP    

50         TCP      UDP    

53         TCP      UDP      

67                     UDP    

68                     UDP                                        

123                   UDP    

500                   UDP    

1723     TCP      UDP    

4500                 UDP    

33434 - 33445    UDP    

The other thing to try would be a different Ethernet cable to see if this helps.

Let me know how you go on.

Cheers,

Andrew

[dannyyoung]

Hi Andrew

Thanks for the reply.  Here are the tracert results again:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600]
(c) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\danny>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     3 ms  192.168.2.1
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3    41 ms    38 ms    46 ms  ip-84-38-37-52.easynet.co.uk [84.38.37.52]
  4    42 ms    41 ms    54 ms  ae99.edge3.London2.Level3.net [212.187.201.57]
  5    39 ms    40 ms    40 ms  ae-0-11.edge4.London2.Level3.net [4.69.200.126]

  6    39 ms    39 ms    39 ms  ae-3-3.ebr1.London1.Level3.net [4.69.141.189]
  7    40 ms    41 ms    39 ms  ae-44-44.ebr1.London1.Level3.net [4.69.167.30]
  8    40 ms    39 ms    39 ms  ae-56-111.csw1.London1.Level3.net [4.69.153.114]

  9    42 ms    42 ms    40 ms  ae-120-3506.edge4.London1.Level3.net [4.69.166.5
]
 10    61 ms    60 ms    62 ms  195.50.122.66
 11    60 ms    56 ms    60 ms  85.205.116.6
 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.

C:\Users\danny>

Can you please let me know how I check the ports on my Netgear router?  I can access the router setup through the IP address but I can't find where to check specific ports.

I'm using the ethernet cable that came with the VSS, I have another one and will try that, if it makes any difference I will post up a reply.

Cheers

Danny

[Retired-Andy]

Hi Danny,

That traceroute looks fine.

You can find out how to check the ports on your router here.

Let me know how you get on.

Cheers,

Andrew

[dannyyoung]

Hi

I have opened up 20 ports on my router, but I am only allowed 20 and the total number listed is 21, so the last port (33445) cannot be opened unless I cancel one of the other ones.

Is this going to be a problem?

I can post a screen shot of the settings on my router if this helps.

I will try the VSS again now and post results. I really need to get this sorted out ASAP, as I am getting poor mobile signal at home, as is my wife.

Thanks