I would like to pass on my experiences in the hope that it will be of help to others. I bought a used, de-registered, Sure Signal 2 on eBay, (Note: only the original owner can de-register Sure Signal, so make sure first if buying). Registered Sure Signal with Vodaphone and tried to set it up with my BT Home Hub 2 - unsuccessful. Found out online that BT Hub 2 is not compatible with Sure Signal software, so upgraded to BT Home Hub 4 which Vodaphone say is compatible - still could not connect. Contacted Vodaphone customer services several times, tried all sorts of resets, battery pulls, SIM removal, etc., all to no avail. Then a Vodaphone Techie told me about the required Port Forwarding with my BT Hub 4 router, 6 ports have to be opened on the router, Ports 8,50,123,500,4500,1723. This proved less easy than I thought. No support for this available from Vodaphone, so phoned BT techies. No problem - they will remotely open the ports for a fixed fee of £30, or you can try to DIY at
www.portforward.com, for free. They also said that Hub 2 should have been perfectly usable with Sure Signal, if Port Forwarding was configured correctly, (bit late for that now!). I tried the free route first, but the step by step instructions didn't actually work for me, so I bought the Portforward program for $29.95, (about £19), as it would have additional applications with games programs. No problem at all now with opening the required ports on the BT router, but Sure Signal would still not connect. Much time was then spent trawling through the forums, gleaning hints and info and the final solution to my connection problems was this: (1) Open the required ports on router - I would expect the same would apply to most other brands of routers. (2) De-register your Sure Signal and any other users. (3) Wait 24 hours for de-registration to complete. (4) Disconnect Sure Signal from router and power supply. (5) Re-register Sure Signal, but don't add other users at this point, (or they may not work - as I found out). (6) Wait 24 hours for registration to complete. (7) Connect ethernet cable between Sure Signal and router. (8) Depress reset button on Sure Signal with paper clip or pencil and hold depressed as you plug in the Sure Signal power lead - continue to hold reset button depressed until lights blink once, then release. (9) Wait a few hours whilst Sure Signal sets itself up fully and BINGO! the owners phone should connect, (mine did) (10) Now go on line and add additional user or users - wait a few hours for them to set up and they too should now function. (Note: receiving the activation text does not mean that a new user is instantly set up - it takes several hours for Sure Signal to activate the update., as I found out). Fortunately,I am retired and could spare the time, but it has been a long slow process - though eventually successful - I just hate to be beaten. I hope this will be of help to the many others who have setup problems - it has been a bit like returning to the early days of modems, when they never worked until you had spent many hours and many pounds on the phone to tech support guys, getting the settings right. Nowadays you can just press two WPS buttons and units talk to each other and exchange the necessary information, and set themselves up in just a few seconds. Perhaps the mighty Vodaphone should consider joining this century with a better designed unit and perhaps less support staff would be required.
