Suresignal V3 stopped working (*not* due to maintenance reported)

[husky99]

I have 3 Suresignals. 1 (V2) is working perfectly while 2 (V3) have stopped working on 15th Jan 2018, both more or less at the same time. Nothing has changed on my side between the time the 2 SSs were working and not working. Vodafone technical support advised me on a number of occasions to:

1. Reset the Suresignals. Done (several times).

2. They "rescynched" the Suresignals and asked me to wait up to 6 hours. Done (several times).

3. Turn the devices off, wait 20 mins and turn it back on. Done (several times).

4. They remotely reset the devices and asked me to wait up to 6 hours. (This option is apparently only available to "senior technicians"). They did it (twice).

The above requests were randomly interspersed with requests to power-cycle the two iPhones used through Suresignals.

Today they "resynched" the two non-working Suresignals again and told me to take the Suresignals to a Vodafone shop to have them checked if the "resynching" did not work. "Resynching" did not cure the problem and 1 Suresignal still works perfectly (so the problem is not due to the recent maintenance reported by various people). Something tells me that 2 V3 Suresignals failing almost at the same time does not point to a Suresignal hardware problem. There were no power cuts and no other IT equipment failed when the 2 Suresignals stopped working.

The diagnostics:

The issue: 2 V3 SS cannot make calls or receive calls any more. 1 V2 SS can. Problem started 15th Jan 2018.

The lights: 1 steady red LED, 2 steady white lights.

Speeds/ping: 4ms, 199 Mbps download, 171 Mbps upload.

External IP address: 185.82.159.243

Suresignal serial numbers (of the two faulty units): 42152121937, 43163738354 (first number was wrong in the original post, now correct)

MTU on the router: 1472

tracert 212.183.133.177:

Tracing route to 212.183.133.177 over a maximum of 30 hops

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms router.domain_not_set.invalid [192.168.1.254]
2 1 ms <1 ms 1 ms 185-82-159-254.customer.gigaclear.net [185.82.159.254]
3 3 ms 2 ms 2 ms 5.158.213.114
4 3 ms 3 ms 3 ms 5.158.213.113
5 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms ae-0.vodafone.londen03.uk.bb.gin.ntt.net [129.250.66.46]
6 4 ms 3 ms 3 ms ae22-xcr1.lns.cw.net [195.2.30.61]
7 * * * Request timed out.
8 * * * Request timed out.
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 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.

Trace complete.

Could please somebody from Vodafone who is competent with Suresignal debugging look into this? I will lose the will to live if I have to speak to another Vodafone 1st line technical support specialist.

Many thanks.

[husky99]

One of the 2 non-functioning SS3s sprung to life overnight and is now working faultlessly. That leaves 42152121937 as non-functioning. Oh ye Vodafone wizards, can you resurrect this one as well? Please?

[JohnJ]

@husky99 That's great that one is now working  

I've checked the Vodafone Sure Signal with reference number: 42152121937

I can see that this was resynchronised to our network yesterday, which was successful.

Please try resetting the Sure Signal and that one should also spring to life. 

Please let us know how you get on 

[husky99]

Victory declared too soon. 43163738354 worked perfectly for 24 hours and then went u/s. Same symptoms as before: red LED, two steady lights, but no calls can be made or received. 42152121937 still does not work after resetting. I have now switched off two wireless access points which were about 1m from the Suresignals to eliminate the possibility of RF interference: no effect.

What next?

[JohnJ]

@husky99  Heavy internet usage such as online gaming or downloading large files can impact the Vodafone Sure Signal’s (VSS) performance as it relies on your broadband speed.
We've checked your VSS and can see that there's been no traffic since August 2017. If you haven't used your VSS for 3 months, we may have put a bar on it.

You can call us on 191 free from your Vodafone phone or contact our Live Chat team and we'll remove it.
If you haven't used your Sure Signal for 12 months we will automatically de-register your device. After this point it will not be possible to re activate this on our network.

Please try this with both of your VSS's and let us know how you get on 

[husky99]

There is no heavy traffic on the broadband line (checked on the router) and in any case the bandwith is >150Mbps both upstream and downstream. I checked with your live chat people and there are no bars on any of the 3 Suresignals. 43163738354 is now working while 42152121937 is working intermittently, but the phone signal goes to no bars as soon as one tries to make a call. What do I try next?

Incidentally, what constitutes "traffic" for the purpose of not barring a Suresignal after 3 months / 12 months? The device merely connected to the internet? Any calls made or received through the Suresignal?

[Tash]

@husky99 Thanks for keeping us updated with your Sure Signal. 

As you've mentioned that your phone now briefly connects, we'd advise changing your bandwidth priorities to the Sure Signal in your router settings. Should you need any assistance with this, please contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

If you're still experiencing issues and your light sequence remains the same, please let us know if you've recently completed a SIM swap and if you've enabled port-forwarding on your router with your ISP.