‘Call Failed’ error when making calls

[Retired-George]

This issue has the following symptoms:

For version 1 Sure Signal (the one with four lights on the front):

• Lights one, two and four are all solid
• Incoming calls, texts and internet all work correctly
• When making a call on a registered phone, the error ‘Call Failed’ or similar is displayed

For version 2 Sure Signal (the one with 3 lights on the front):

• The power and system lights are both solid
• Incoming calls, texts and internet all work correctly
• When making a call on a registered phone, the error ‘Call Failed’ or similar is displayed 

For version 3 Sure Signal (the plug in version):

• The power, internet and service lights are all solid and the in use light is either solid or flashing
• Incoming calls, texts and internet all work correctly
• When making a call on a registered phone, the error ‘Call Failed’ or similar is displayed

Troubleshooting steps:

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:

For versions 1 and 2:

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

For version 3:

1. Locate the button on the base of the box next to the Ethernet ports.
2. Press and hold the button for approximately 30 seconds.
3. Once the lights come back on, release the button.

The Sure Signal will be back online in around 1 hour.

If you’re still unable to make calls, there may be a compatibility issue with your Sure Signal and your location information (also known as SAC/LAC compatibility).

A SAC (Service Area Code) connects to a mast and is used to determine the rough location of where a call’s made. It's needed for the emergency services to know where a call was made from.

As a Sure Signal can be used anywhere in the country, it doesn't automatically come with a SAC. The SAC is generated based on the postcode you enter when registering your Sure Signal and it's created based on the nearest cell to your location.

In order for calls to be made, they must go over an MSC (Mobile Switching Centre). If the MSC doesn't hold the SAC for your area on its database, the call will fail.

The MSCs should now hold all SACs for Sure Signal calls. For anyone who is still affected please post in this thread and we can look into it further.

Thanks,

Jenny

[Retired-Laura]

Hi MattP,

Looking at this, it appears that the Vodafone Sure Signal is not registered.

Please register this on My Vodafone.

Cheers,

Laura

[MattP]

Hi Laura

That is somewhat confusing as I have had this Sure Signal at this address for several years, does a new Broadband hub usually require re-registering?  The only other thing that has changed recently is that I have ported my number from a personal account to my new company's corporate account, could this have changed something?

I have just registered as you suggested, when I get home I will check to see if it is now working correctly.

In the meantime, thanks for the progress.

Regards

MattP

[SimonDoherty]

Dear Vodafone,

I've been using a SureSignal v1 with my iPhone 5c without any problems whatsoever until the last week or so... I can receive calls and can send and receive text messages, iMessages (through wireless?) and emails (through wireless?) when in the house... but I cannot MAKE calls without 'call failed' appearing after a few seconds.

I've tried rebooting my SureSignal as suggested in this thread but I still can't make any calls.

Nothing else has changed - have been living in this house all the time I've had the SureSignal, phone upgrade was ages ago, no change in ISP (have been with Sky for a several years), etc.

Any ideas?

Simon D

[Gemma]

Hi everyone,

Mattp – I can see your Sure Signal made contact with the network at 5.31pm yesterday.

Let us know if you need any further help.

Simon D – If you’re able to make calls away from home, then please let us know:

Your speed test results from here.

Your ping test results from here.

Your external IP address from here.

The results of a traceroute.

Your Sure Signal serial number:

VSS Traceroute command

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 press Enter

Paste the output of this command into your reply.

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

Thanks,

Gemma

[SimonDoherty]

Hi Gemma,

Yes, I am able to make calls away from home.

I have a mac - is there any other way to provide the Traceroute info?

Ping: 30ms

Download: 26.59Mbps

Upload: 6.81Mbps

Ping Test:

  Ping: 34ms

  Jitter: 2ms

  Line Quality: B*

  Packet loss: unable to test

IP address: 151.227.139.11

IPV6: ::ffff:97e3:8b0b

SureSignal serial number: 21197036862

[Retired-Laura]

Hi @SimonDoherty,

Thanks for the information.

We’ll need to check the details, please see below for how to perform a trace route on a Mac, once we have this information.

• Double-click the Macintosh hard drive.
• Double-click the Applications folder.
• Double-click the Utilities folder.
• Double-click the Network Utility icon to open the Network Utility window.
• Click the Traceroute tab.

Cheers,

Laura

[joannemc]

Hi folks,

I recently have began having problems with my suresignal - the same issue as frequently described above. All seems to working correctly, strong phone signal, all lights on as normal but "call failed" message with all outgoing calls. Has been working perfectly for 3+ years. The calls fail almost instantly. I have no issue making calls from elsewhere, only when connected ot my ss.

Serial number: 21196823310

Thanks

[DaveCD]

Hi joannemc,

Please take a look at our Sure Signal Troubleshooting thread. If this doesn’t resolve your query, please post your reply either below, or in the relevant thread, together with the details requested, including the following information.

Your speed test results from here.

Your ping test results from here.

Your external IP address from here.

The results of a traceroute.

VSS Traceroute command

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 press Enter

Paste the output of this command into your reply.

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

Thanks

DaveCD

[joannemc]

Results as follows:

ping: 29ms 5ms jitter

speedtest: 15mb/s download 13mb/s uploadv(via wireless)

IP: 86.174.200.195

Traceroute:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\ronan>tracert 212.183.133.177

Tracing route to cluster4.vap.vodafone.co.uk [212.183.133.177]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms BThomehub.home [192.168.1.254]
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 21 ms 21 ms 20 ms 31.55.185.197
4 21 ms 21 ms 22 ms 31.55.185.204
5 28 ms 23 ms 23 ms 195.99.127.60
6 23 ms 23 ms 21 ms peer1-xe2-1-0.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net [109.159.2
54.136]
7 23 ms 25 ms 23 ms lndgw2.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.124]
8 23 ms 23 ms 24 ms 85.205.0.86
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
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\ronan>

Thank you

[craigeady]

Hello,

I have a sure signal version 2 that I have had for several years. Nothing has changed recently accept that I’m now getting called failed when either my wife or I use our phones. We can receive calls at home and appear to be able to send and receive text messages. I’ve tried the reset procedure several times. My problem is that the sure signal was set-up using the account I had for a pay as you go number that is no longer in use. I was issued with a company phone that was registered on the sure signal thus the pay as you go was no longer required. As a result I cannot log into my account to contact the help team direct. Could someone possibly suggest who I could talk with to get help on this please? The only thing I’m aware of is that BT have been doing lots of work in the area getting ready for fibre optics.

Many thanks

Craig