SureSignal won't work.

[AdrianMontagu]

I have been using a sure signal box for 18 months. A pig to get it to register and work but it does work. I had a need to have a second SureSignal box for a conversion cottage.  I have found out the following:-

1.  The error messages that are given by VodaFone bear no resemblance to the problem whatsoever.

2.  That support staff are not well informed and do not have sufficient skills to cope with the problems.

3.  That the version 3 SureSignal box (the one with the power pass through) suffers incompatibility with other devices such as switches.

If you are like me and need to communicate via your mobile and your mobile does not work at the remote location - which is the reason why you want a second SureSignal box, you will NOT be able to check the lights  on the new box whilst still on the phone that is going to get disconnected from the old box as you go out of range.

I decided to start from scratch after VodaFone failed me. I walked to my cottage and found that the sureSignal ethernet lights were not coming on where it was plugged into the Netgear switch I use.  The PC was working, The Franking machine ethernet connection was working etc.  I swapped the switch and found that the system came up and a DHCP ip address was issued to the SureSignal box.  As the other devices worked irrespective of the switch, it must be an incompatibility with the Suresignal box.  I suspect the auto-negotiation of duplex caused the problem. I am not going to sniff the port with ethereal or the like but I am sure that it will indicate the problem.  This may be the problem that the SureSignal is having with BT's latest Wireless Router. I would suggest putting a switch in between to see if that fixes the problem.

Overall, I am NOT impressed with VodaFone. They are one of the richest companies in the world and very poor in the support area. 

[AdrianMontagu]

One thing that I have not mentioned, in case anyone gets confused over this.

You don't need to register your phone on the SureSignal if you are the account holder.

It seems to be added by default.  They don't tell you this - well I could not find any information about it.

You won't see it displayed either.

[Retired-Dave]

Hi AdrianMontagu,

I am sorry that you feel that you're not getting the support you'd expect. Whilst most of the advisors you speak to may only be able to check basic details, they are able to pass more complex issues to our trained technical team once these have been covered.

These basic tests cover most of the common reasons for failure of the Sure Signal, which is why we'll always cover these first.

The Sure Signal v3 has no specific incompatibility issues, but we can't guarantee to have covered every possible router/switch/connection combination available.

With that in mind, can I just check if you had tested with the Sure Signal plugged into an alternate port on the Netgear switch? Swapping socket with the PC, for example, would have helped show if there was a socket issue rather than an incompatibility.

Rest assured that, even if we do need to raise a case for further investigation, we'll do everything we can to address any issues which come up.

Dave

[AdrianMontagu]

Regretfully Dave, this is not the first problem I have had. When I was trying to register users with the first SureSignal, I had windows of Java displayed.  I thought I would be helpful and copied and pasted all the errors and code to an email which I sent in. It was ignored. I did it again and heard no more.  It has always given problems. The coding is far from being correct. The annoying thing is that VodaFone is not short of money and the contempt for their users is evident in the lack of true support - this is not a criticism of you but the organisation as a whole. I will probably write to the CEO in due course.

I work in IT. I am CCNP trained and I did check lots of switchports. The ethernet cable is my next thing to replace. It is very poor and probably picks up strange induced signals. It is a £100 box with a 1p cable -  hmmm!

I was speaking with a support guy today in connection with these problems and he told me that you do have problems with BT's latest box and the V3 Sure Signal.  There has been some work on this and I believe that there are some firmware upgrades being carried out; maybe software too.  I think they are telling you a different story.

I work for a government department and I know some of the appalling things that happen there too. It is not good at all but they are not a highly profitable organisation! 

Thank you.

Kind regards

Adrian 

[Retired-James]

Hi Adrian,

We are aware of an issue with BT that it’s being investigated with them directly.

More information about this issue has been outlined by another one of our users here.

James