Flashing/steady power light, no other lights lit

[Retired-George]

We’ve created this thread to help with an issue that some people find during setup.

This issue has the following symptoms:

• The power light either constantly flashes or remains steady
• No other lights flash or light up

Please note that whether the power light is flashing or remains steady, this still points to the same issue - the Sure Signal hasn't established a connection to the internet.

The only difference is that if the light’s steady, then the Sure Signal has previously downloaded a profile from the server, if it's flashing then it hasn't.

Troubleshooting steps:

Check the physical connection between your Sure Signal and the router/modem.

In order to work, the Sure Signal needs to be connected to a spare Ethernet port on your router or modem, or a Hub/Switch that is connected to an internet gateway.

In some cases, it’s possible for an Ethernet cable to be faulty, in which case it may not allow your router and Sure Signal to talk to each other.

To verify that the Ethernet cable works, check the lights at the back of your Sure Signal where the cable is plugged in.

There should be a link light on permanently which indicates that an electrical circuit has been established through the cable.

There should also be a light which flashes whenever data is being passed through the cable. If either the data light or the link light do not come on, this could indicate a problem with the cable itself. Please try a spare cable, or plug the cable into a different port on your router/modem.

Check that you’ve got an active internet connection.
Make sure you can connect to the internet on another device, such as your PC or phone. If you can’t connect, this indicates a problem with your router or your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

We recommend rebooting the router to see if this then allows you to connect to the internet.

Reboot your router/modem:

1. Turn off your router or modem at the wall for 10 seconds and then turn it back on
2. Wait for the lights on your modem/router to indicate that an internet connection has been established
3. Press the reset button on the Sure Signal

Check that your Sure Signal has 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.

BT Infinity customers.

If you’re a BT Infinity customer, you’ll need to log into your router admin page and select port clamping.

Once this has been selected please restart your router and Sure Signal.

Check your MTU settings.

Log into your router admin page and find the location of the MTU field. This varies depending on the make and model so you’ll need to look for it.

Change the value of the MTU size to 1500.

Log out of the router, this will usually result in a reboot.

Perform a reset of the Sure Signal:

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

The Sure Signal will now try to contact the network and download its profile. This can take up to 6 hours.

Post your router/ISP details and Sure Signal serial number.

If you’ve done all of the above, or you’re struggling with configuring your router, please post your router's make and model number below. Please also include your Sure Signal serial number and the name of your ISP.

We find that other users of the same router will usually be able to share tips with you, to get things working.

We’ll also attempt to help with this, but due to the number of different manufacturers and models, it is not always possible. We don’t officially support any form of router configuration, so we’ll always recommend contacting your router manufacturer or ISP for assistance first.

Thanks,

Jenny

[JReynolds]

Thanks Woody, much appreciated

[travelbug74]

This problem has occured for me also. I have done all the troubleshooting tips as detailed above.

I was on a BT Homehub but changed to a Sky router at Christmas. The SS worked perfectly until 48 hours ago when it went to steady power light and no other lights. 

Serial: 21197200336

Router: D-Link

I get no signal in my home and I need the sure start to have a functioning business. Help needed Urgently.

[Retired-George]

Hi travelbug74, simonlowden,

Thank you both for posting. So that we can look into this further for you, I've sent you both emails. If you reply with all the details, then we'll be in touch as soon as we can.

George

eForum Team

[gaytona]

Hi folks, Im having the flashing light syndrome on my sure signal box issue and when I connect it to the Dlink router it crashes the internet. Is there an easy way to get a  Dlink DSL 2640_R on a talk talk broadband line to work with a sure signal box? I would really appreciate your help as its really challenge to get it configured, Thanks,

[ianrhw]

Came back after 3 weeks away.  Had this problem and after much reading around the forum, also opened TCP port 8.  Reset and started up, working after 30 mins. Don't know why.

[trickster]

VSS Serial #: 21818507077

Router: Netgear DGN1000, firmware V1.1.00.35_ww

ISP: Orange (was BT)

Since moving over to Orange from BT my VSS has not worked at all, other than the flashing/steady power light, except during the reboot sequence.

I have contacted Orange but they were unable to help, beyond pointing me to Google and saying "it'll be there somewhere..". They say they do not block anything.

I have spoken to a number of people at the VSS team who have been very helpful, but ultimately unable to solve my problem.

I have configured a static IP address for my VSS.

I have configured 5 Services for TCP & UDP traffic on ports 8, 50, 123, 500 & 4500.

I have configured 5 Firewall Rules for Inbound Services to always allow traffic on the above ports from any WAN address to my VSS' static IP address.

I have configured 5 Firewall Rules for Outbound Services to always allow traffic on the above ports from any internal LAN address to any WAN address.

I have enabled "Respond to Ping on Internet WAN Port

UPnP is enabled, but no active portmaps are showing.

I have rebooted my router, then powered off my VSS. I have rebooted my router, then reset my VSS.

I have left the VSS for 24 hours at a time to see if anything makes any difference.

The only traffic I can detect in the Router's Firewall logs is that the VSS is communicating outward on port 500 to 212.183.133.179 (host212-183-133-179.uk.access.vodafone.net).

I have used the PFPortChecker to test whether the ports are open correctly and the tests register in the Router's Firewall logs, so I know it should be detecting and recording any traffic on these ports when the VSS is reset or power cycled.

The odd thing is that I had no issues at all with my VSS whilst BT was my ISP, including making no changes to the original router to get it working perfectly. I did try and go back to that, but that didn't work either, including making all the necessary port forwarding changes.

Can anyone suggest where I go from here, please?

Richard

[dovado_user]

VSS Serial #: 21231309879

Router: Dovado 3GN, firmware V4.2.5-3.2543 official, date 2010-07-27

ISP: T-Mobile, connected with a ZTE 3G 

All items correct and verified according to the checklist given as the very first post of this thread.

VSS's power light is flickering steadily, no other status lights on the VSS side showing any sign of life.  ETH port on the back side shows green and orange, Dovado 3GN is working well otherwise for both WLAN and WAN users.  DCHP is enabled, the router has recognised the MAC address of the VSS and has assigned it a valid IP address (192.168.0.161).  Vodafone myAccount page states that the VSS is active.  Have ran speedtest.net several times to check thruput and am getting upload stats of between 0.65 and 1.40 Mbps.  Download stats of 0.7 - 1.7 Mbps.  Is this sufficient for the VSS?

Any other ideas?

[trickster]

eForum Team,

to follow on from my earlier post, having performed a factory reset on my VSS, after 24 hours it is still only showing the single, flashing power light.

Please advise.

[trickster]

VSS eforum team.

I have now swapped over my father-in-laws working VSS from his BT broadband connection to my Orange broadband, and connected my new VSS to his BT broadband. After reseting my new VSS and no portforwarding nonsense on his router, after 24 hours my VSS was working fine with all lights correctly lit.

His VSS however, which I connected to my Orange connection, after resetting, still only shows the single power light.

I had altered my router to pick up the new VSS MAC address and assign it to the same IP address so the portforwarding rules didn't change, but the only traffic I can see is requests from the VSS towards the Vodafone servers. Nothing ever returns to the VSS on the opened ports according to my firewall logs.

So, my conclusion is that the combination of VSS + Orange broadband SIMPLY DOES NOT WORK, and at this point I am getting ready to throw both Orange and my VSS out of the window.

Is there no-one from the Vodafone VSS support team that can test if they can communicate with an individual VSS, given it's serial number, routers external IP address, to check that there is nothing being blocked by my ISP, despite their claims to the contrary?

Arggggh!

[Retired-Lee]

Hi trickster,

Thanks for your post here. I'm afraid we have no way of remote accessing your unit. The tests you've performed pretty much prove that there's nothing wrong with your Sure Signal and at this point, I recommend you speak with your ISP.

Cheers,

Lee

eForum Team