‘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-BenJ]

Hi psychopomp1


Turning of WiFi will affect your bandwidth a little but it won’t affect the Sure Signal in any way. 

I don’t suspect your Sure Signal of being fault or your iPhone however it is something that is being looked at the moment.

Thanks
BenJ
eForum Team 

[psychopomp1]

Thanks for your super quick reply BenJ. Do you think my router (Billion BiPAC 7800N) could be dropping packets and perhaps i should force it to forward ports 50,123,500, 4500?

http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Billion/BiPAC-7800N/Vodafone_Sure_Signal.htm

[Retired-BenJ]

Hi psychopomp1

it’s possible that this is the cause, I would also recommend making sure the router has the correct configuration in terms of port forwarding.

I would have to agree with your earlier post about the transmission dropping radio signal, this is what is currently being investigated.

Thanks
BenJ
eForum Team 

[psychopomp1]

Hi BenJ
I'm afraid even after setting port forwarding on my router, i still get the "call failed" error so there's nothing wrong with my router. I've now gone back to the default settings on my router. Hope you can resolve this quickly!
Thanks

[Retired-BenJ]

Hi psychopomp1

I noticed on your account you have 2 phones are both these phones causing this issue?  Are you able to try this with another 3G enabled phone that isn’t an iPhone for testing reasons?

Thanks
BenJ
eForum Team

[psychopomp1]

Hi BenJ

Yes we have 2 vodafone sim only plans; i have an iphone 4 and my wife has a Google Nexus One. She's currently away and her phone hasn't been tested on the SS yet but when she returns home this weekend, i'll definitely see if the problem exists on her handset...at least this will tell us if the problem is at my end or at vodafone's end. If she doesn't experience the same issue, i assume that means my iphone 4 is faulty? It was purchased sim-free from Apple UK directly approx 8 months ago so obviously still in warranty. In your opinion do you think Apple would repair or replace my iphone 4?

In the meantime do you think its worthwhile just popping into my local Vodafone store and getting the micro-sim exchanged for a new one?

[ktsangy]

I'm having this intermittent problem too. I have the iphone 4 16gb. I've tried resetting my phone and the Sure I still get the "call failed" message, but when I dial the same number again it normally dials ok.
Looking forward to an update soon. Thanks.

[psychopomp1]

Thanks for your feedback Ktsangy. Do you have wifi switched on or off? I've noticed that if i switch off wifi on my iphone 4 16gb , then i get far fewer failed calls...around 1 in 10. But with both 3G and wifi enabled its around 1 in 3 :smileymad:

Looks like this is a SureSignal problem because if there was a fault with the 3G chip inside the iphone 4 16gb, then this would affect every call made over 3G, not just those via a SureSignal. Come on Vodafone, sort this out!

[ktsangy]

I normally have my wi-fi switched on although there are times when it is switched off and the call failed issue still occurs. This is definately not a problem with the iphone 4 because this issue only occured last month sometime, before that I didn't have this issue.

Saying that though previously there was an issue with the Sure Signal box where people's first calls after resetting the Sure signal were garbled up. Dialling the same number again dials through fine.

I'm guessing it's not an isolated incident and is happening to a lot of users it's just that we're the only ones taking time to report this, here's another couple of people with the same issues:

http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Vodafone-Sure-Signal/iPhone-4-calls-started-failing/td-p/760789

http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Apple-iPhone-4/call-fails-everytime/td-p/759387

[Retired-BenJ]

Hi Guys


If your an iPhone user with these symptoms, can you please let me know your serial number so  I can attach it to our investigation.

Thanks
BenJ
eForum Team