Sure Signal V3 suddenly stopped working

[jwinterton]

3 weeks ago my V3 SureSignal that had worked flawlessly for 9 months stopped. Power light flashing, Internet - Off, Service - Off, InUse - Solid Orange. I went through the usual rigmarole with Support but long story short they replaced it. Plug in the new one and it does exactly the same thing. After much fiddling with settings on my router I bought a new one for a few quid from ebay. Plugged that in and VSS immediately works. 

You would conclude that the problem must have been my old router but that doesn't make sense. Old router still works for everything else. The config and firmware are unchanged for months. I flushed the config back to defaults (even though it previously worked). All no joy. I am not specifically forwarding the required ports but nor am I blocking them. This has always worked fine (I have owned every model of SS).

My old router is an excellent Draytek 2830 with 3 WAN options - ADSL, Ethernet, USB. 

So in a bizarre test I plugged my old router into the new router via it's Ethernet WAN port, using the new router to connect to the ADSL. Bingo it works. Plug the ADSL directly into my old router and it does not. Same config. Same port forwarding\blocking configuration. So what could it be? I can't continue with the lashup of the two routers but I can't for the life of me work out why the VSS stopped working with the Draytek. Was there some sort of firmware update a few weeks back to the VSS so it now hates my old router? Any help appreciated.

John.

[Apple_Fanboy]

Hi Jwinterton

Hmm this is an odd one...only things i can think of is either a firmware update to the VSS (which i have not seen any evidence of) or the old router is developing an issue.

I wonder if you run a speedtest, ping test and trace route from your new router and then again from your old router if it will show any differences that may highlight what is causing the issue. I have pasted the steps below.

• Your speed test results from here.
• Your ping test results from here.
• The results of a traceroute.

VSS Traceroute command

On a PC:

1. Click on Start and select Run
2. Type CMD into the Run box and press enter/click ok
3. A black box will appear.
4. In this box type tracert 212.183.133.177 press Enter

[jwinterton]

Hi AFB - thanks for the reply. I have taken a couple of days to gather the details and double check them over a reasonable time period. So basically there is practically no difference between the two routers in any of the metrics. e.g.:

Old Draytek: Line Quality B* MOS 4.33 Ping 31ms Jitter 1ms

New Netgear: Line Quality B* MOS 4.32 Ping 38ms Jitter 2ms

Speeds were +/- 2% of the same values.

Tracert was also identical with the obvious exception of the additional hop in the two router configuration.

So good suggestion but still a mystery. I have noticed one odd thing though. I can get the Suresignal to work normally with the two router config - i.e. as mentioned before by connecting ADSL to the Netgear and then the Netgear to the Draytek (i.e. ignoring the Draytek's modem) but with the VSS still plugged into one of the Draytek's ports. All good. Then if I quickly move the ADSL to the Draytek, there is a line drop obviously but then the Draytek brings up the DSL line and the VSS doesn't complain and keeps on working. If I reboot the VSS though it won't come back up unless the DSL line is switched back to the Netgear.

Weird.

John.

[DaveCD]

@jwinterton 

This does seem odd.

If you could post the results of the tests suggested by @Apple_Fanboy and also the serial number of the Sure Signal we'll check at this end.

Please try the Sure Signal at another location such as a friend or family members, preferably with a different ISP and router so we can rule out any faults with the Sure Signal.

DaveCD

[jwinterton]

Hi DaveCD

I think the only stuff I left out in my replyto  @Apple_Fanboy were the speeds:

Draytek as Modem Down 16.7Mbps Up 0.488Mbps 31ms

Netgear as Modem Down 16.0Mbps Up 0.488Mbps 38ms

Serial No.: 42144433846

.. and the Tracerts:

Draytek as Modem.

tracert 212.183.133.177

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  Vigor.router [10.38.0.254]

  2    28 ms    27 ms    27 ms  194.159.169.245

  3    28 ms    29 ms    28 ms  anchor-access-4-s2018.router.demon.net [194.217.23.69]

  4    28 ms    28 ms    27 ms  gi4-0-0-dar3.lah.uk.cw.net [194.159.161.66]

  5    27 ms    27 ms    28 ms  xe-0-1-0-xur1.lns.uk.cw.net [193.195.25.70]

  6    27 ms    28 ms    28 ms  xe-0-3-0-xur1.lns.cw.net [194.70.97.66]

  7     *        *        *     Request timed out.

etc etc

 20     *        *        *     Request timed out.

Netgear as Modem.

C:\Users\john>tracert 212.183.133.177

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

1 <1 ms <1 ms 3 ms Vigor.router [10.38.0.254]
2 3 ms 2 ms 3 ms 10.39.0.254
3 35 ms 35 ms 33 ms 194.159.169.245
4 34 ms 35 ms 34 ms anchor-access-4-s2018.router.demon.net [194.217.
23.69]
5 34 ms 34 ms 35 ms gi4-0-0-dar3.lah.uk.cw.net [194.159.161.66]
6 40 ms 73 ms 40 ms xe-0-1-0-xur1.lns.uk.cw.net [193.195.25.70]
7 34 ms 35 ms 33 ms xe-0-3-0-xur1.lns.cw.net [194.70.97.66]
8 * * * Request timed out.
9 * * * Request timed out.
10 * ^C
etc etc

Regards plugging it in elsewhere to verify the VSS is OK.That will take me a day or so to arrange so I supply the above now in case it is of help in the meantime.

Oh and if it helps I have a couple of Wireshark captures of it working and then failing. The Draytek has a span port so packet captures are possible if required.

Cheers. 

[DaveCD]

@jwinterton 

Everything looks great and I can see from the serial number that it's connected and using the latest software.

Once you've tested this at another location, please post back here with your results.

DaveCD

[jwinterton]

Hi @DaveCD

I tested at an alternate location and the VSS was fine.Connected up within a couple of minutes.

Just brought it home and plugged it in here and it has failed with the usual flashing power; off, solid orange; solid orange light combo.

John.

[Retired-Rodney]

Hi @jwinterton,

Please contact your ISP and ensure that the following ports are open:

Ports to be opened for forwarding

• 8 (TCP & UDP)
• 50 (TCP & UDP)
• 53  (TCP & UDP)
• 67 (UDP)
• 68 (UDP) 
• 123 (UDP)
• 500 (UDP)
• 1723 (TCP & UDP)
• 4500 (UDP)
• 33434 - 33445 (UDP)

IP addresses to be allowed on the router & firewall

• 183.133.177-179
• 183.133.181-182
• 183.131.128-191

Once the above steps have been followed please perform a reset:

• Unplug the Ethernet cable from the Sure Signal
• 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
• Plug the cable back in
• Allow around one hour for the Sure Signal to come back online.

Thanks,

Rodney

[jwinterton]

Hi @Rodney

Sorry to question your suggestions but have you read the whole thread? I'm not sure there is much point in checking these ports with my ISP when it works fine on a different router (same ISP).
Likewise have already been through the reset.

John

[LeeJS]

Hi @jwinterton 

As the Sure Signal works at a different location, there must be something between your internet connection and router which is preventing it from working at your home address.

As this isn't something we can provide support for, you'll need to contact your ISP to discuss it further.

Thanks,

Lee