New Sure Signal - poor signal strength

[sbailey]

Hi. The signal strength shown on our phones is mostly at full strength when not making a call. However, when a call is in progress the number of bars frequently falls, often to one or zero, and the call quality becomes so bad that neither side can hear the other. It occurs even when we are in the same room as the SS.

It doesn't occur every time, but happens very frequently. It happens with all three of our phones.

The SS is not near the router. The light on the SS comes on as it should when a call is in progress.

Thanks.

[Retired-AndyD]

Hi sbailey,

Can you take a look at our Sure Signal Troubleshooting thread, and then post back your results if you’re not directed to an existing thread?

Thanks

Andy
Moderator

[sbailey]

Hi. The signal strength shown on our phones is mostly at full strength when not making a call. However, when a call is in progress the number of bars frequently falls, often to one or zero, and the call quality becomes so bad that neither side can hear the other. It occurs even when we are in the same room as the SS.

It doesn't occur every time, but happens very frequently. It happens with all three of our phones.

The SS is not near the router. The light on the SS comes on as it should when a call is in progress.

Speed test is probably not relevant, but is very good, eg 11.38M down, 1.00M up.

I couldn't find anything relevant in your troubleshooting section.

Serial no 40120230277.

Thanks.

[Retired-James]

Hi sbailey,

Many thanks for your posts here.

When it comes to poor audio quality it is usually down to either the broadband connection or the router configuration.

As the speed test and the registration both show excellent results the first thing to check is the MTU setting in your router’s admin panel.

If you log into the router admin panel please can you check that the MTU field is set to 1500.

Also please can you confirm what handsets you are using with the Sure Signal and also who your ISP is and we can advise you further.

James

[sbailey]

Thanks James. I will do that and come back, but that shouldn't affect the signal strength shown on the phones should it? The main phones we are using are a Samsung Galaxy Mini and a Samsung Galaxy Ace.

[Retired-James]

Hi sbailey,

To be honest it shouldn’t affect the signal strength on the phones however if it is failing to provide a call connection through the VSS then it will drop to the normal GSM network which would give the change in signal strength that you are seeing.

If you can let me know how you get on I can look into this further for you.

James

[chrise]

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@sbailey wrote:

Hi. The signal strength shown on our phones is mostly at full strength when not making a call. However, when a call is in progress the number of bars frequently falls, often to one or zero, and the call quality becomes so bad that neither side can hear the other. 

Is that similar to the situation if the SS is unplugged ?  

If so, it sounds like the phone is loosing the SS signal, and handing over to the public network (as James suggests).

Does this always happen right at the start of the call, or somewhere random during the call ?

[sbailey]

>Is that similar to the situation if the SS is unplugged ? No, if the SS is unplugged, the signal is always low and less variable. >Does this always happen right at the start of the call, or somewhere random during the call ? Somewhere random during the call. A lot of the time it's OK for the whole call. Thanks.

[Retired-Wayne]

Hi sbailey,

It definitely sounds like there is an issue with the broadband connection. It sounds as though the broadband connection can’t handle the load of the call and as such, is cutting out and dropping you to the normal (weaker) 2G network.

Can you perform a traceroute and copy and paste the results?

To do this, you'll firstly need to open the command prompt in Windows as follows:

-For XP just click Start > Run and type cmd then hit enter
-For Vista/Windows 7, press Start and type cmd into the search bar
-Right click the result and click "Run As Administrator

Once you're in the command prompt type in pathping 212.183.133.181, this will perform a trace route to the NTP server and will also show you the route it took to get there.

Thanks

Wayne

[sbailey]

Thanks Wayne.

Pathping and tracert attached. I guess that doesn't look good?

My ISP is BE.

Stephen