Version 3 Sure Signal (Power - flashing, Internet - solid orange, In Service - off, In Use - off)

[Retired-Lee]

This thread's been created to discuss and troubleshoot the version 3 Sure Signal when the light sequence is as follows:

• Power: Flashing
• Internet: Solid Orange
• In Service: Off
• In Use: Off

Cause

This light sequence indicates the Sure Signal's not active and it has been unable to authenticate on the Vodafone network

Troubleshooting

Please restart your Sure Signal. If the symptoms continue please add the following details to this thread:

• Your speed test results from here
  
• Your ping test results from here
  
• Your external IP address from here
  
• Your Sure Signal serial number
• The results of a traceroute

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
5. Paste the output of this command into your reply

On a Mac:

1. Open Terminal (Applications, Utilities)
2. Type 'traceroute 212.183.133.177'
3. Press Enter

This will help us get the quickest possible resolution for you.

Thanks

LeeH

[Retired-James]

Hi Aidan,

All of the setup and tests look fine.

However, the drop outs could be down to your upload speed.

I would speak to your internet provider about getting this increased as it is close to the minimum requirements.

@ djmaitla – What happens when you try to boot the Sure Signal up?

If you’ve done a reset, it can take up to 24 hours to fully activate.

James

[djmaitla]

Hi James.

About 2:00 pm on the 31st Dec i had to try about 5 times before I got a stable connection.  On all the previous occassions it went straight back to the error state.

I am pleased to say that a connection was made about 2:20 pm and it has been stable ever since.  Fingers crossed that it remains so.

Derek

[Retired-Dave]

Hi all,

djmaitla - That's great news! Let us know if you have any further issues.

denis_karklins - Things look OK there. Even though the traceroute seems to time out at the first step, it's going on to reach our servers.

I've given yours a resync, so you'll need to reset the box:

• 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.

gleith - I've given your Sure Signal a resync as well to clear any glitches. Follow the steps above to reset it.

Also, your traceroute shows you're using a sky router, so check that these ports are open for fowarding on your router for me:

 - 8

 - 50

 - 123

 - 500

 - 1723

 - 4500

bobin - There could be a number of reasons for any issues. It's best we go over these checks first to clear anything other than a faulty box.

Dave

[denis_karklins]

All fine Dave.thank you

[djmaitla]

After the problems encountered on the 31st December 2013, I am pleased to report (touch wood etc) that I have had a stable connection for two weeks using VSSv3 with BT Infinity 2 and Homehub5.   It would appear that the switch from Homehub3 to Homehub5 has been worthwhile.

[Retired-James]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your posts.

@ chrisparf – There’s no need to apologise, it sounds like it just needed a bit of time to reconfigure itself.

@ amh65 – Can you speak with BT about getting a Home Hub 5 as there is known issues with the Home Hub 3 authenticating the connection?

This seems to have resolved the issue for “djmaitla”.

@ djmaitla – That’s great news, thanks for the update.

James

[MarkGee]

Hi All,

I've been fighting to get my SSv3 to work for over nine months and had tried everything that had been suggested to get it working to no avail. My problem was always reliability. When it worked I could make a call for a maximum of one hour before it dropped. Other times it would randomly reboot or completely stop working to the point that I had to remove it from the mains. I tried replacing the ethernet cables, router, enabling prioritisation on the traffic, port forwarding, device resets, re-syncs, a replacement SSv3 device, alternate power points and even more ventilated positions. Nothing seemed to make a difference. Finally, I gave up and just accepted that it would never work reliably on my Sky connection.

But, I've finally found a way of making it reliable. In fact it's now been rock solid for over two weeks and I've managed to make calls for over two hours. Although, my "fix" probably isn't suitable for everyone that's experienced these long term issues. I thought I'd share anyway.

My Sky router doesn't support traffic prioritisation. So, I'd swapped it for a Billion 7800 around 6 months ago. Which gets good reviews and does support prioritisation. This made no difference to my reliability. But, I've recently switched back to the Sky router and I had an old Cisco ASA 5505 kicking around. The 5505 is more of a professional device than the Billion and supports traffic shaping and prioritisation. Once I'd installed the device, routed all of my home traffic through it, enabled traffic shaping and prioritisation for the SSv3 it's been rock solid. My home network has 20+ devices that connect to the internet including iPhones, iPads, digital boxes, games consoles, etc. I assume that these devices were randomly consuming my outbound bandwidth to the point where the traffic from the SSv3 was timing out. The SS are very sensitive to delays especially for the NTP calls. My network connection also isn't that good (4 Mbps down and 0.78 Mbps up).

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Mark

[djmaitla]

Dear Mark.  I found your posting fascinating and most informative.  The CISCO device is not cheap and use of it is clearly not for amateurs, but it does give Vodafone an interesting insight into why customers may have problems with the SureSignal devices. It also offers those customers, who may be at their wits end as to how to get a SureSignal device working reliably, a possible, if expensive, way forward.  Are their domestic devices that allow traffic prioritisation available at a reasonable price; say less than £100?  Thank you for your posting.  One which I will remember.

[djmaitla]

Hi. Fingers, still crossed.  I am pleased to advise users that I have now had a stable connection for 3 weeks now, using VSSv3, BT Infinity 2 with BT HomeHub 5.  Much better than BT Homehub 3.  You can order the HomeHub 5 online if you are an BT Infinity 2 user and you only pay the postage cost.

[djmaitla]

I am pleased to report that the switch from BT Infinity 2 and BT HomeHub3 to BT HomeHub5 appears to have resolved my VSSv3 connectivity problems referred to in my earlier posts,

I have now had a stable connection for a full month; fingers crossed.  So if you are having connectivity problems with BT Infinity 2, BT HomeHub3 and VSSv3, I suggest you switch to the recently released BT HomeHub5 unit.