VSS v.1 still no joy

[DeanUK]

Hi everyone

Have had a VSS v.1 from the start.  Have always had trouble with it and yet again I am trying to give it the benefit of the doubt.

The VSS had been unplugged for some months (or even longer possibly) whilst some renovation work was carried out.  Last night I plugged it in, directly to the router, and sat back and watched.

Light 1 - check

Light 2 - check

Light 4 - check

When I log into the dashboard I have four number registered, none of which is my mobile number.  When I try to add my number I get an error saying that as I am the owner my number is automatically included.  The only registered item that I can get to connect is an old iPad (original version) that has a 3G data plan.  Now I know that using 3G over my home WiFi is counter productive because I am using my VF data allowance but it is useful to be able to see if the 3G is being broadcast.

No other handsets will recognise the VSS at all - an iPhone 4S, an iPhone 5, a newer iPad 4 and another 3G mobile.

What gives?

I have telephoned tech support but it was the usual 'hold the button' and replug and I will reset from this end.  Oh, and the insulting 'have you got 3G turned on in the phone settings?'.

Is this thing EVER going to work?

I have the following stats:

Download speed (BTWholesale Speed tester) - 11.21Mbps

Upload speed - 0.7 Mbps

Pings to 212.183.133.177:

Ping has started…

PING 212.183.133.177 (212.183.133.177): 56 data bytes

Request timeout for icmp_seq 0

Request timeout for icmp_seq 1

Request timeout for icmp_seq 2

Request timeout for icmp_seq 3

Request timeout for icmp_seq 4

Request timeout for icmp_seq 5

Request timeout for icmp_seq 6

Request timeout for icmp_seq 7

Request timeout for icmp_seq 8

--- 212.183.133.177 ping statistics ---

10 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss

That tells us something I am sure...

Traceroute to 212.183.133.177:

Traceroute has started…

traceroute to 212.183.133.177 (212.183.133.177), 64 hops max, 72 byte packets

 1  192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1)  10.567 ms  5.233 ms  2.817 ms

 2  lo0-central10.pcl-ag01.plus.net (195.166.128.182)  65.594 ms  38.229 ms  34.621 ms

 3  link9-central10.pcl-gw01.plus.net (84.93.249.16)  34.033 ms  34.868 ms  34.519 ms

 4  xe-0-2-0.pcl-cr01.plus.net (212.159.1.0)  33.538 ms  34.247 ms  33.670 ms

 5  ae2.pcl-cr02.plus.net (195.166.129.7)  33.537 ms  39.366 ms  33.236 ms

 6  ae1.ptw-cr02.plus.net (195.166.129.2)  52.773 ms  34.513 ms  35.073 ms

 7  ae2.ptw-cr01.plus.net (195.166.129.4)  37.690 ms  33.454 ms  34.221 ms

 8  ldngw1.arcor-ip.net (195.66.224.209)  34.933 ms  35.508 ms  35.786 ms

but does not complete.

Can somebody please help me with this over-priced plastic ornament?

[Ben_H]

Hi DeanUK,

Thanks for posting. Apologies if you found some of the first line support questions a little obvious. You'd be surprised at the number of times the most basic things end up being the cause so we ask all customers as a matter of routine so that we only escalate necessary cases to a technician.

If your unit goes unused for 6 months, it will go into a dormant state. Unfortunately, there is no way of recovering a dormant Sure Signal so the unit you have will no longer work. Can you supply me with your Serial Number as per the troubleshooting guide so I can check to see if this is the reason you can't connect? 

Cheers, Ben

[DeanUK]

Hi Ben
I have PM'd you with serial number
Am looking forward to your reply
Kind regards
Dean

[DeanUK]

In case anyone else is looking...
SS serial number is 21196795989
Thanks

[DeanUK]

Hi  everyone

Right!  Still trying to get this SS v1 going.

Have come home this evening to the following disco...

Lights 1, 2 and 3 all come on together.  Light 4 stays off.

Lights 1 and 3 then go out leaving only light 2 on (still no light 4)

Then 1 and 3 come on as simultaneously light 2 goes out (still no light 4)

Funny thing... just went to double check this because thought might be other way around i.e 1,2 and 3 then 1 and 3 only, then only 2 then 1, 2 and 3 again and I have a different pattern again

The lights are now doing this:  1 and 2 together.  Then light 2 on it's own.  The light 1 on its own.  Then the cycle repeats

Any idea what is happening?

[DeanUK]

Already done that... Please see

http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Vodafone-Sure-Signal/VSS-v-1-still-no-joy/td-p/1418292

[Retired-Andy]

Hi DeanUK,

I’ve checked your serial number on our systems and can see it’s not connected to our servers since June 9^th last year. Are you able to try the Sure Signal on a different internet connection? This will identify where the issue lies.

If the Sure Signal works in a different location, it would indicate an issue with your current set up. If, however, it doesn’t work, it means you may have a faulty unit and it would need sending for repair.

As your Sure Signal is now out of warranty, any repair will be chargeable, so you may wish to consider purchasing a new Sure Signal in store.

Thanks

Andrew

[MartinBaines67]

THis is exactly the sequence of lights I had on my SS1. I am pretty sure some time ago I found a page that listed these codes - I think it is flashing ocral error codes - but I cannot find it now so am kicking myself for not book marking the page.

My SS1 went back and was replaced by a VSS3 which not working in a way suprisingly similar to yours. I did take my VSS3 elsewhere, it did not work there but a day later it came back to life on my own network. THen my router was rebooted and back to non functioning hell.

Before anyone from Vodafone tells me off for posting on multiple threads, this is not meant to be responded to for my outstanding issues you can do that on my thread. I am posting to call out that it really looks like there is something systemic going on here so that you can do some comparison and cross diagnotics.

[DeanUK]

I shall try to keep things together from now on having had my wrist slapped!

RIght, I have tried everything with the SS v1.  I am still getting the same disco light pattern.  What I dont understand is before a 're-sync' the other day, I had lights 1, 2 and 4 on.  After the re-sync - disco.  In addition, I have tried everything:

1.  Ports have been forwarded to the SS v1 but this made no difference.  In fact the logs reveal no port forwarded packets.

2.  Yes, it is in a well ventilated area and in a cool room in the house so it is unlikely to be overheating.

3.  I am assuming that since Ben H attempted a resynch the other day that he was under the impression that the SS v1 had not been barred/deactivated/banned or whatever it is called.

Onto my new SS v3.  Turns out that the version 3 that I bought was a DOA.  I could NOT get the red light to come on which the chap in the VF store found slightly impossible to believe but no end of cajoling would get it to work.  The red power light would NOT come on - not a flicker.  So he did eventually exchange it for another one which I plugged in last night.  I immediately got a red flashing light and a service light.  No surprise there then I thought - its never easy is it.  Reading my router logs revealed that the v3 was making DHCP requests every 30 seconds non stop.  I then found a thread from another poster concerning the v3 and the same router (Netgear DGND3700 v2) and he had noticed the sefl same thing.  So I changed a few things...

I turned the DHCP server off in the router.  I then activated the DHCP server (but not NAT - I left this on in the router) on an Apple Airport Extreme on the network to give out IP address and reserved two addresses for both the SS v1 and the SS v3.  I gave my ISP DNS servers as the setup for the DHCP in the Airport Express.

The SS v3 was placed in the DMZ but I cancelled all port forwarding and port triggering.

As soon as everything was rebooted the red light on the SS v3 stopped flashing and glowed a solid red and has stayed solid red since.  the internet light has pulsed ever since.  It is not quite 24 hours yet so am waiting patiently.  The ethernet port lights are flashing like crazy so I hope something is going on but the router logs also reveal lots of incoming access to the DMZ but none of them from VF servers so I cannot be sure what the ethernet port light activity has been triggered by.

One member of the tech team has suggested that once port forwarding is set up in the router then that would suffice for two SS on the same network but surely this cannot be the case.  Port forwarding clearly forwards ports to a specific IP address on the LAN so how can setting up port forwarding to one IP address work with two SS?  In the post I referred to earlier re. finding  out the DHCP allocation not 'sticking' it was also found that no external access was made to the internal network by VF servers and that any inbound packets were responses to packets sent by the SS from the LAN to the VF servers.  This then ensures that the packets are allowed through by the firewall.  I am also told that SS are uPnP but there are never any entries in the uPnP mapping table.

Regardless, I have found that even with only one SS on the LAN, port forwarding has made no difference at all.

Whilst the SS is a marvellous idea and I would love for it to be plug and play, I am under the impression that not all routers are created equal and there are so many variables that VF have got a real task on their hands.  My router was pretty much left as standard settings and I should imagine that most peoples are.

What I find most infuriating is the lack of feedback from the device.  I would be much better if I could at least log in to an interface and see what the SS is doing so I could perhaps address an issue without having to either ring someone on the VF helpline who just seems to run through a script or leave a message here and wait for a response which normally arrives whilst I am work and which I have to action when I get home in the evening.  It is all a little slow and unsatisfying really.

I am by no means thick and am quite competent re. home networking etc etc yet this things really does frustrate me to say the least.

There, I said it!

I shall update when I get to the 24 hour mark and see if the v3 is working.

[DeanUK]

Well, it is now well over 24 hours and heading for 48 hours after registering the v3 and connecting things up as per previous message.  Power light is still on solid but the internet light is still pulsing white.  Nothing has changed.

As previously there are lots of packets being sent to the DMZ but none of them are originating from VF servers.

Could someone please check if it has logged on to the VF servers - serial number 40123622272

I shall post up to date stats in another message when I have compiled them.