Sure Signal - Call Audio Quality Issues

[Retired-George]

This issue has the following symptoms:

• Poor audio quality on both outbound and inbound calls
• Particularly affects customers using a Virgin Media cable connection

If you’re only experiencing poor audio quality one-way (for example, the call sounds fine to you, but the person you are calling reports poor quality), then this is most likely due to insufficient bandwidth on your broadband connection and is not an issue with your Sure Signal.

Troubleshooting:

If the person you are calling can’t hear you, this is usually caused by low upload speeds.

If you can't hear the person you've called, this is due to low download speeds.

Check if your broadband connection meets the minimum requirements.

Please run the broadband speed checker.

If your connection fails any part of the test, this indicates an issue with your Internet Service Provider and you’ll need to contact them to discuss this further.

Your connection speed will vary throughout the day, so we recommend running it at various times to get an accurate reading.

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:

Sure Signal version 1

• Connect device to internet and power supply

• Press and hold down the reset button (located near the internet port) until end of the process which will be indicated

• Remove the power cable at back of the unit and wait for five seconds

• Reconnect the power cable back to device

• Wait for the LED sequence to flash from top to bottom and back to top

• Wait for five seconds

• Release the reset button

• Within 10 minutes, all the 4 LEDs will start to flash in sequence – 1^st & 3^rd then 2^nd & 4^th then 1^st & 3^rd – with the sequence repeated. This sequence indicates the start of the factory reset procedure.

Sure Signal version 2

• • Connect device to internet and power supply
  • Press and hold down reset button – located near the internet port
  • Wait for all the LED (power + 2 white LED) to light up for few seconds (power LED will always remain lit)
  • Wait for five seconds
  • Release the reset button
    
    
  • Within 10 minutes, 2 white LEDs will start flashing continuously – power LED will always remain constant in addition (unless there is an issue with local connectivity)

Sure Signal version 3

• • Connect device to internet and power supply
  • Press and hold down reset button – located near the internet port
  • Wait for 20 seconds
  • Release the reset button
    
    
  • All the LEDs will temporarily switch off for about 10 seconds. The power LED will then light up and remain constant whilst white internet LED flashes continuously.

The Sure Signal will be back online in around 1 hour.

Move Your Sure Signal Away from the Router
Sometimes the Wi-Fi signal from the router can interfere with the 3G signal from the Sure Signal and this could result in poor audio quality.

In order to prevent this from happening, please ensure that your Sure Signal is moved away from the router as far as the cable will allow.

If you’re still experiencing poor audio quality, post in this thread and we can look into it further.

Thanks,

Jenny

[bilgeon]

Hi James, thanks for the response.

I have been using the mobile at home with no audio issues today, the first time in a while, so the reset may have worked.

However I can say that the process you describe doesn't follow when I do the same.... ie press and hold then all lights come on in seqeuence (top to bottom) one at a time after about 20 seconds....   then they do the same again after every 20 seconds. After holding for a few minutes all lights do not come on at once. So I removed/replaced power and then waited for reset. Hopefully this has cured matters.

Let's see how this goes now.

Bill

[chewy]

Hi there,

I too (like previous posters) am experiencing issues with my Sure Signal now that it is connected to a Virgin Media SuperHub.. Whilst I can always hear callers fine they often struggle to hear me. It appears to be intermittent and across two handsets today. 

Latest example was today - one call was fine, got off the line, made another call from the same room on the same handset but the person couldn't understand me

I have the original Sure Signal.

Results from tests below:

Ping = 19ms, Download = 27.69Mbps Upload = 2.91 Mbps

Packet loss = 0%, Ping = 23ms, Jitter = 11ms

External IP = 77.103.111.45

Tracert = 

C:\Users\s>tracert 212.183.133.177

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

1 31 ms 15 ms 23 ms 10.86.112.1
2 28 ms 23 ms 13 ms croy-core-2a-ae7-628.network.virginmedia.net [81
.96.225.85]
3 130 ms 52 ms 20 ms brnt-bb-1a-ae9-0.network.virginmedia.net [81.96.
226.1]
4 180 ms * 97 ms brnt-bb-1c-ae0-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253
.174.30]
5 81 ms 16 ms 35 ms brhm-bb-1c-ae8-0.network.virginmedia.net [62.253
.174.126]
6 * * * Request timed out.
7 34 ms 36 ms 23 ms LNDGW2.arcor-ip.net [195.66.224.124]
8 39 ms 46 ms 26 ms 85.205.116.14
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 * * * Request timed out.
16 * * * Request timed out.
17 * * * Request timed out.
18 ^C
C:\Users\s>

What should I do?

[Retired-Andy]

Hi chewy,

Thanks for the traceroute, although there are a couple of high results, there’s nothing showing that would affect the call quality. So that we can investigate further, can you let us know your Sure Signal serial number please?

Thanks

Andrew

[chewy]

Thanks - my serial number is: 
21230699171 

[Retired-Dave]

Hi chewy,

I've taken a look and I can see that the system has picked up a location change a little while ago. I've done a resync to refresh everything, so can you do a factory reset for me?

For Sure Signal version 1 or 2:

• Hold down the reset button until all the lights show (about 30 seconds)
• Keeping the reset button held down, remove then re-insert the power lead.
• Once all lights display release the reset button.
• The Sure Signal will come online in around 1 hour.

For Sure Signal version 3 (The built-in plug version):

• Locate the button on the base of the box next to the Ethernet ports.
• Press and hold the button for approximately 30 seconds.
• Once the lights come back on, release the button.
• The Sure Signal will come online in around 1 hour.

If the issue continues, can you try checking the Maximum transmission Unit (MTU) for the router for me? This should be set to 1500 if possible. If it won't go this high, set it to the maximum possible.

Can you also just confirm for me if the speed tests and traceroute were done when the line was working as expected or when the call quality was low? If this was when you had a good line, can you retry them next time the line struggles for me and post the results so we can see if the available line speed and latency are getting worse?

Let us know if this helps.

Dave

[chewy]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the quick reply. 

Yes I kept getting lots of notices about a location change. But of course I've not actually moved it at all 🙂

I will go and do a hardware reset now and report how my evening conference calls go!

Stuart.

[chewy]

Hi,

Sadly this has not resolved the problem as a colleague phoned me today and was unable to hear me properly. 

What else can we try?

Thanks,

stuart 

[Retired-Lee]

Hi chewy,

Can you let me know the firmware version of the hub? Also; is there an upgrade available for your router/hub?

Thanks,

LeeH

[chewy]

Hi Lee,

Just checked the superhub and my firmware version is: V2.37.01 - according to the VM forums that is the latest public release.

Thanks,

Stuart

[Sukhi]

Hi chewy

As you're running the latest firmware this shouldn't be causing you a problem. Have you noticed an issue with the call quality at specific times in the day?

Having multiple devices (consoles, PC's & laptops) can affect the call quality, do you notice any patterns as such?

Thanks

Sukhi