SureSignal keeps demanding location update

[Landshark2007]

Vodafone - in case you ever read this or respond to the tickets I have raised.

I have NOT moved house. I have NOT changed the position or use of my Sure Signal (it has remained in its place since I moved in over 3 years ago). I HAVE updated the network in my home which means that your device may have updated its IP address - this is a standard thing that happens when a device uses DHCP over which I have no control. I DO NOT need countless wretched texts and emails telling me to update it's location which I have done once. 

Lack of proper network knowledge on your part does not constitute a demand for action on mine.

Stop annoying me!

[drey_p]

Hi there

A change in IP address can trigger the SureSignal device to pick up your location as having changed.  Remember that sometimes when you get a new IP address it may be showing in a different area.  I recently got an IP address from my ISP that showed my location as being in Scotland despite the fact that I am on the edge of London.

Make sure you have updated your address and the device should stop bugging you.

[Landshark2007]

Sorry - you did not correctly understand my posting.

My wide area IP address NEVER changes. My internal IP address does. All my servers are on static IP addresses as are routers and other network-critical elements. The SureSignal would qualify for this if it was possible, but Vodafone locked us all out of the Sagem device so it basically sits on the network and uses DHCP requests to put it on our network. The internal network's security policy is to refresh the DHCP pool once every three hours. This means that any device on the network that is NOT assigned a static IP address may well end up with a different IP address on its internal port. Since the SureSignal is a DHCP user, it has to follow this policy and as such it keeps on screaming for attention despite the network topology not changing, nor its location changing. 

If (as just about everyone in the networking profession would tell them) we could assign a static IP address for it on our internal LAN, it would not keep on demanding updates that are (a) wholly unnecessary and (b) VERY annoying when you are working nights and trying to get some sleep.

[Retired-James]

Hi Landshark2007,

The sure Signal is designed to look for several things that will prompt these messages which include IP range changes.

As the IP address is changing on the network due to the setup that you have it will keep prompting you to update the location when this is detected.

Unfortunately there is no way to turn this feature off as it is there to make sure that you can be located by the emergency services.

The only thing that you can do is change the post code to something different and them back to your location which will update the location profile until another change is detected.

James

[Landshark2007]

Is there no way I can assign a static IP address - even if I ask you to do it?

[grolschuk]

That is a request you can make to your ISP, they may do it for free, or there may be a charge.

I know PlusNet will fix your IP for a one off activation charge of £5

I still have a 'feature request' for the alert SMS and emails, and that is to include the serial number, or friendly name of the sure signal in question... If you have more than one box, it is impossible to know which one needs updating.

[Landshark2007]

Please can people STOP telling me about fixing my WAN IP address. It IS static and has been for years. It is the ability to out a static IP address in the SureSignal that is causing the pain.

[garichd]

Landshark2007 - You seems to be quite a knowledgeable IT person. Can you not reserve the DHCP IP Address against Sure Signal MAC address in your network?

I have done the same for my sure signal in VM Super Duper HUB.!

[Landshark2007]

I would dearly love to be able to reserve the address, but it is simply not possible. The DHCP pool is reserved for occasional use and as such is kept to a small number of internal addresses. The security policy is quite simple. Every 3 hours, the DHCP pool is refreshed ensuring that only devices we expect are on the grey side of our LAN. All the routers, servers and services that are required are held outside the DHCP pool on static IP addresses. The RED side has no visibility to the BLACK side of the network, but the GREY has limited access to the Internet and certain services which are non-sensitive.

This network is modeled for all our home-based field personnel and the Vodafone SureSignal gives us a single mobile phone provider regardless of coverage. What it also gives us is a first class pain in the rectal cavity as we get inundated with SureSignal bleats where we have higher-than-normal GREY network usage.

As the SureSignal is a router (although an argument could be made for a bridge), it SHOULD be able to be managed at least as far as its network point is concerned so that a static IP address can be assigned internally. That way, it would be able to operate within a "protected" environment as opposed to the semi-public place in which it currently resides.

With just one or two devices, we could manage, but with thirty, we keep having to hold our field people's hands to walk them through the re-registration process and this is becoming a serious cost overhead.

[grolschuk]

The system isn't going to complain about the internal IP changing.

So if the devices are sat on a static WAN, that isn't what is triggering the location change.