Sure Signal 1 and BT Home Hub 5

[Caedels]

Hi
Hope you can sort this out. Living in an area where there is no available VodaFone signal, the SureSignal v1(SS1) is an essential bit of kit which I have had for years and was working fine, but has now decided to give up the ghost. The issue is as follows:- Mobile phone signal los, so checked SS1 and found it sitting there with lights 1 and 2 glowing green, then light 4 flashes for a while and then the thing reboots and we go through the process again. The specified ports are open on the router as per prevous posts. I have tried everything, resetting, different leads, different locations in the property, de-registered and then re-registered and as a last resort I even tried with a BT Home Hub 3 - always the same result. Fault diagnosis results are as follows: 

External IP: 86.181.75.50

Speed Test:  Down: 62.61 Mbps,  Up: 16.41Mbps

Ping 29ms Jitter 19ms, Line Quality B*

SS1 Serial No: 21197033026

Tracert Results:

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

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  BThomehub.home [192.168.1.160]
  2     4 ms     4 ms     4 ms  172.16.14.141
  3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  4     9 ms     8 ms     8 ms  217.41.216.29
  5    11 ms    11 ms    10 ms  213.120.176.26
  6    28 ms    29 ms    25 ms  217.41.168.147
  7    27 ms    26 ms    28 ms  217.41.168.109
  8    14 ms    15 ms    15 ms  109.159.249.236
  9    11 ms    15 ms    15 ms  core-te0-7-0-6.faraday.ukcore.bt.net [109.159.249.147]
 10    33 ms    36 ms    25 ms  host213-121-193-109.ukcore.bt.net [213.121.193.109]
 11    38 ms    35 ms    19 ms  lndgw2.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.124]
 12    11 ms    11 ms    11 ms  85.205.116.2
 13     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 14     *        *        *     Request timed out.

and continues.....

 30     *        *        *     Request timed out.

Trace complete.

Any help,ideas will be greatfully received 

[Caedels]

Getting somewhere now

Discovered hidden in this forum somewhere a "hidden" page within the Home Hub menus allowing you to set the Broadband Operating Mode. On my BT Home Hub this is found at http://192.168.1.1/thd_setup. Swap the 192.168.1.1 with whatever your Hub is set at. I believe this URL is valid for BT Home Hubs v3, v4 and v5 (certainly worked on my v3 and v5). I set this to Ethernet as I connecting through the OpenReach modem connected through the red WAN port.User name was bthomehub@btbroadband.com with the password field left empty, but I believe you can put bt in here if you wish

As per previous tests, the ping buffer would still fail at anything above 1464, which means the MTU was set at 1492 (28bits above the max buffer size)

Ping results: 13ms

Speed: 65.4Mbps/17.5Mbps

Tracert: similar to previously stated results

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

1    14 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  BThomehub.home [192.168.1.1] 
2     5 ms     4 ms     4 ms  172.16.14.141 
3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
4    10 ms     9 ms     9 ms  217.41.216.29 
5    10 ms    10 ms     9 ms  213.120.176.42 
6    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  217.41.168.197 
7    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  217.41.168.109 
8    11 ms    11 ms    10 ms  acc2-10GigE-0-7-0-4.l-far.21cn-ipp.bt.net [109.159.249.202] 
9    11 ms    15 ms    15 ms  core2-te0-7-0-15.faraday.ukcore.bt.net [109.159.249.143]
10   10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  host213-121-193-137.ukcore.bt.net [213.121.193.137]
11   13 ms    11 ms    11 ms  lndgw2.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.124]
12   12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  85.205.116.2
13    *        *        *     Request timed out.
14    *        *        *     Request timed out.

etc

Current External IP: 86.181.75.239

Using a borrowed Vodafone SureSignal v3 (VSS3) with a Ser No: 40124220993.  Connecting through my old BT Home Hub 3 (HH3) after registration of the VSS3 it managed to connect after 20-30 minutes without issue.

I then set the HH3 back to normal i.e. no Port forwarding, Firewall on, DMZ off, Port clamping ON and with a static IP for the VSS3, leaving the Broadband Operating Mode set to Ethernet as described above. Rebooted the HH3 and reset the VSS3. Again all worked fine 🙂

So the next test was to swap the HH3 with my newer HH5. I setup the HH5 in completely the same way as I had the HH3 and then rebooted/restarted everything and lo and behold, it all connected ! All registered phones have 5 bars, fourth light on the VSS3 comes on when a phone is in use - Lovely Jubbly as they say in Mandela House.

Last test was to swap the VSS3 with the original VSS1 with ser No: 21197033026. It failed, sits there cycling through the light sequences as stated previously in this thread.

This leads me to believe that the original VSS1 is kaput, it has died and is now a No Signal.

VF team: Would you concur?

So.... Mr Vodafone, how do I go about swapping the duff VSS1 for a new VSS3, especially as you GAVE me the VSS1 in the first place because we have such a poor signal at our location. Without it, my wife and I would have ditched our contracts years ago

Time spent to resolve - EVERY DAY for two weeks with numerous phone calls to BT and Vodafone - each blaming the other

George

[Retired-Andy]

Hi George,  

After all the checks you’ve run, and the switching back to the VSS1, did you reregister it?

I ask since it’s currently showing as deregistered which is why it may not be working.

If you reregister it and still see the same issues, I’d agree that it may be faulty.

The VSS1 can be repaired but, as it’s out of warranty, it would be chargeable.

You may wish to consider getting a v3 Sure Signal in its place.

Let me know how you get on.

Cheers,

Andy

[Caedels]

Hi Andy

Yes, the VSS1 was registered when I tested. Both the VSS1 and the VSS3 were registered when I was testing.

It is currently de-registered and unplugged, however will register it before testing on a friends broadband just to confirm the diagnosis.

Question: Why do I have to spend a £100 purchasing a new VSS3, just because Vodafone are unable to deliver a signal in my location? Your signal coverage map has a grey area (outside only) with my location bang in the middle  and the reality is that it only gets a signal at the top of the garden ... current climate makes the decision to make a call on the mobile VERY easy.

Regards

George

[Retired-Andy]

Hi George,

Once you’ve reregistered the VSS1 and tested it, let me know how you go on.

A Sure Signal will guarantee that you get a 3G signal at home where otherwise you wouldn’t.

We are currently spending over £2.5M per day on maintaining and improving the network.

You can check here to see your future coverage.

This page is updated regularly so keep checking back.

Cheers,

Andy

[Caedels]

Any et al

Tested the VSS1 (Serial No: 21197033026) this morning on a friends BT broadband (NOT BT Infinity) connecting through a BT Home Hub 3. After 20-30 minutes, it connected fine - 5 bars on mobile phone (zero bars, before connection made). I am sure that you can confirm that this unit made a connection sometime between 11:30 and 12:30 on 21st Feb 2014.

Brought the unit home and tested again, no joy - continues to cycle through the light sequence as per previous posts. The time, 13:15 - 14:15 on 21st Feb 2014

So it seems to me that my VSS1, whilst being a working unit, it doesn't work on BT Infinity. It can't be the Hub, becuase I get the same resulst using a BT Home Hub 5,( with or without the OpenReach modem), a Home Hub 3 and a brand new TP-LINK N750 Gigabit router (Model No: TL-WDR4300) both requiring the OpenReach modem.

I have a borrowed VSS3  (Serial No: 40124220993)  currently working on my HH5 with no issues (Hub settings are straight out of the box - no Port forwarding etc ) and have had no issues at all.

Can you do a swap out - my working VSS1 for a VSS3 (can be a re-furbished unit, just so long as it works)

Kind Regards

George

[Sukhi]

Hi Caedels

Thanks for coming back to us.

I'm afraid we would not be able to offer an exchange. While the Sure Signal is available for lots of different router setups, I'm afraid we can't guarantee it as compatible for all third party devices. 

Thanks

Sukhi