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, I checked the IPSec Passthrough which was disabled.... now enabled. I looked for a means to open the ports you mention but the Super Hub only has Port Blocking, Forwarding and Triggering as options. The latter two relate to linking spcific applications with specific ports. The Port Blocking option says that all ports not blocked are subject to default rules which I could not find but can only assume they are all open.

Since making the IPSec change the modem has sparked into life (as far as the four LEDs go) with 1 on and 2 flashing, 1&2 on and 3 flashing and then various iterations with four flashing. After that cycle it went back to the start with I/O Led 1 on solid and has now stopped with lights 1&2 on solid. However neither of our iphones here have a signal from it. So maybe some progress?

Thanks,

Bill 

[Retired-James]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for getting back to me.

@ oracle1 – Looking at both of the registrations, I can see that they’re both showing location profile updates which could be causing a slight issue.

I’ve updated these and re-synced them both for you.

Can you also look for the IPSec Passthrough option to see if this is enabled or not?

@ bilgeon – It does sound like we’re making some progress on this one, which is great news.

From what I can see, it updated in the early hours of this morning so the iPhone’s should be picking up the 3G signal now.

If not, can you cycle aeroplane mode on them for a couple of seconds to see if this refreshes the connection?

James

[bilgeon]

Hi James, have tried on both phones switching airplane mode on and off a few times. After I have a weak signal and if I try calling (say 121) the 3rd light on the box doesn't activate which suggests it hasn't connected to SureSignal. Where next?

Thanks

Bill

[oracle1]

Hi James,

With regard to the location updates - I noticed that I had some spurious location change warnings/updates months ago. They were bogus, as these SureSignals have not moved since they were installed.

AFAIK IPsec passthrough is enabled. I use Cisco VPNs to work, on all three lines, including the one I'm using now connected to the L1 Suresignal (named SS1). I'm routinely using AnyConnect VPN from Ubuntu, and Cisco AnyConnect VPN client from Windows 7.

I have two lines here and for the last few months the SureSignal has been connected to the DSL2680 router and line.

I don't see any specific IPsec enable option on the router, though it does say that it supports VPN passthrough and stateful packet inspection, so I assume that IPsec is enabled by default.

I did notice a quality of service section, which allows me to prioritise VOIP traffic.

could this be used to prioritise Suresignal traffic? eg:

http://screenshots.portforward.com/routers/Dlink/DSL-2680/QoS_Setup.htm

There is also the option to create a custom QoS entry, but I need to specific start and end ports for that.

I will also check the Huawei HG533 that I have on the other line, but again, I can't see a specific IPsec passthrough selection. Again I use VPNs through this router too. I previously tried it with the SureSignal but it had the same issues.

Thanks

Jonathan

[Retired-Dave]

Hi guys,

bilgeon - That's frustrating, to say the least!

Can you try de-registering the Sure Signal for me? Wait an hour, then re-register it to refresh everything. It may be something is trapped from the original failures.

oracle1 - The QoS option may come in handy. Do you know which specific information you'd need to set that up? It doesn't come up often but we can see if we can get what you'd need.

Dave

[oracle1]

Hi Dave,

Thanks, I will look into the QoS config options this evening and then post back.

Managed 25 minutes on a call through suresignal today, then audio started degrading as usual, then it dropped the call.

My SpeedTest today: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3118020988 

Lights on the suresignal showed it was still in service, but my phone had zero bars from the Suresignal and it took a minute or so before it reconnected to SureSignal.

Q: Are there any known phone-specific issues with SureSignal? I still have an HTC Desire Z and have not tried any other phone with SureSignal. 

I will drop my SIM into another handset and see if things are any different.

[oracle1]

Hi Dave,

It seems that for my basic DSL2680 on TalkTalk Essentials, to add a QoS priority rule for SureSignal traffic, all I have to do is specify a new QoS rule with the IP of the router and the IP of the SureSignal, and set it as highest priority. I will try configuring this and see if it helps at all. I found that out from this gaming QoS example here:

http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=42011.0

I will also try to test an equivalent config on my Huawei HG533 (TalkTalk Plus).

Whether this wll help at all I have no idea, but its worth a try.

[Sukhi]

Hi oracle1

I'm not aware of there being any known issues.

Let us know how you get on with testing a different router.

Thanks

Sukhi

[oracle1]

Hi Sukhi,

I have already tried a total of four routers across my two SureSignal boxes.

Routers tested:

DLink DSL2680

DLink DSL2780

Netgear DG834GT

Huawei HG533

on a total of three separate landlines, at two addresses, on TalkTalk Essentials and TalkTalk Plus.

Same symptoms in all cases - Suresignal calls are OK for the first 10-20 minutes and then I detect degrading audio quality until the call becomes unusable or the call drops. Quite often if its a 1-1 call the other person asks if they can call me back on a landline, before I experience the poor quality.

Unlike some of the other posters on this thread my upload speed seems consistently above the minimum requirement, at 0.6 to 0.8 Mbps. At location L1, download speeds are 10-13 Mbps.

Q: Is the port forwarding config normally necessary for good operation? My Suresignals work without it, but I have now configured it on my DSL2680 just in case.

Q: Can you confirm the public IPs of the Vodafone servers that my SureSignal connects to? I can set a QoS rule to prioritise traffic from my SureSignal to the endpoint, in the DSL2680 rules, but I need to know the IP(s) of the servers that my SureSignals will connect to in order to create the QoS rule.

As mentioned earlier I have a SureSignal equivalent, from another mobile network, and this is working just fine through the same DSL2680 with no audio degradation or dropping of calls so far (1 hour call was just fine).

Cheers

Jonathan

[Jenny]

Hi oracle1,

It sounds like this may be faulty.

If it’s less than 2 years old then you can arrange a repair under your warranty.

Thanks,

Jenny