Vodafone Sure Signal v2 with BT Home Hub 5

[adrianforrester]

Hi,

I have been using my Sure Signal for the last 18 months with very little issue and now I have managed to get a  Home Hub 5 to replace my BT Openreach Modem and Technicolor Router, which I thought would be a step up. It should have been a straight swap from what I have seen on some forums, however I have found that the Sure Signal wouldn't connect when I got the new router in place. I subsequently completed a hard reset of the Sure Signal with no improvement. Digging a little deeper I have found that there may have been ports that needed to be opened, so I opened the requesit ports, reset the Sure Signal and still no good. In both of these cases the Sure Signal lights flash, for a period of about 20 minutes, then only the Power light remains on. As I assume that there are many users with Home Hub 5's that also use Sure Signals I can only assume that they should function together, but I am having no luck. I swapped the Home Hub back for the Openreach Modem and Technicolor Router, hard reset the Sure Signal again and within an hour I had signal again.

I really want to be able to use the Home Hub, however I am not sure what else I can do as I need the Sure Signal to get ANY level of coverage in my house. It appears to be a multi-network black hole (when I moved in we had SIMs from all networks to try and find out what we could do and none seem to get indoor coverage unless I put a phone in the window, in which case Vodafone's was 'better') which is not great as it stands, hence the Sure Signal.

I would be very appreciative of any input regarding this matter.

Kind regards

[Rahim]

@cgblyth Sorry to hear about your trouble. 

If you've returned the Sure Signal and would like to look into cancelling your contract, please check out our Delivery and returns policy. 

If you'd like us to help your version 1 Sure Signal, please take a look at our Sure Signal Troubleshooting thread, and then post back your results if you’re not directed to an existing thread?

[IanBowyer]

@cgblyth I had loads of trouble getting the SureSignal working.

In the end I had to update by router to allow certain ports through and when that didnt work I ended up returning the suresignal box and getting a replacement.

After another couple of hours of chatting to a decent technical support it finally worked.

Hope that helps

[adrianforrester]

Hi,

Unfortunately I have had to revert to my old setup until the weekend as I need mobile signal during the week for work.

Kind regards

[adrianforrester]

Right, well as its near enough Friday I have swapped the Homehub 5 back in and reset everything. I will leave it all connected overnight in the hope that the magical Internet varies make it work by morning. I don't hold much hope as the lights stopped blinking after around half hour. But what else can I do 😞 BT say there is nothing wrong with the Homehub and Plus net say there is nothing that needs changing with them for it to function....

Any help would be grand!

[adrianforrester]

Okay, it's now Friday morning and with little surprise I have no signal and my Sure Signal continues to only have the power light on.

Is it possible that a re sync might help? Or de registering and re registering the unit might help?

Starting to get a bit fed up that this isn't plug and play as expected.

The sooner Vodafone develops a WiFi solution similar to the ones O2 and Three have rolled out and EE are developing the better!

[Retired-Kay]

Hi adrianforrester, 

There was a failed location change showing which I've now updated (you may have received a text about this). 

I've done a resync for you, please do a reset to complete the process;

1. Hold in the reset button until all lights go solid
2. Pull the power lead out with the reset button still pushed in
3. Continue to hold down the reset button and reconnect the power lead
4. Wait for all lights to come on and then release the reset button

If it's still not working, please make sure you've followed all steps here. 

Thanks, 

Kay

[adrianforrester]

I will try this when I can, unfortunately day job precludes me from doing this much earlier than 17:30.

Thanks

[adrianforrester]

Tried a reset and there is no change to the sure signal. I get two white flashing lights for about 20 minutes, then just the power light....

[Sukhi]

Hi adrianforrester,

Please test the Sure Signal at a different location to see if the issues still persist.

Thanks,

Sukhi

[adrianforrester]

In a different location? I'm not quite sure what you mean.

I don't have anyone else with FTTC to test against. Additionally if I test the device via another ISP using a different product it won't answer the question of what is wrong it would simply mask the issue.

Also changing the physical location won't change the network connection, I have changed the position and cable several times to confirm there is no issue there. The Sure Signal works if I use an old and much slower Technicolor router but not the Home Hub 5.

Now as there is no supplied compatibility list, I purchased equipment to resolve an issue (slow WiFi and Ethernet but had to be compatible with YouView) I have within a budget. As there is nothing wrong with the Home Hub, it connects and all other devices work I cannot rightly return it, an RMA would get kicked out as not a fault with device.

The issue is now this, there is no signal in my property without the Sure Signal and I have had to pay money just for the pleasure of having signal to use my own broadband to use my mobile telephones that I pay a reasonable amount for each month. This service needs to be made compatible with all fibre routes (especially those supplied by ISPs) or an alternative solution needs to be made available. Either that or I will need to investigate the solutions provided by other networks as there systems appear less dependant on femto cell technology.

Your input and advice would be appreciated.