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

[Retired-Matt_B]

Hi adrianforrester,

Using the Sure Signal in a different location will rule out any hardware issue.

If you use a different set up and it's still not working, it suggests an issue with the Sure Signal itself.

Thanks,

Matt B

[adrianforrester]

I am not sure people check the previous post history, as I have said previously that the Sure Signal appears to work with a different router at it's present location. And as there is no way to test the Sure Signal whilst connected Home Hub on another FTTC connection I am unsure what testing it at another location will prove. It seems that there is a fundemental issue relating how the Sure Signal communicates with the Home Hub 5, which just isn't good enough given that there are over 1.5 million BT FTTC users in the UK. It has to be more than just me experiencing these issues!

[Retired-Kay]

Hi adrianforrester, 

We've previously experienced issues with the earlier BT Home Hubs, however the version you have should work fine. 

I'd recommend speaking to BT as they should be able to help further. Apart from advising you on how to set up port-forwarding, we can't actually give advice on individual router settings. 

Let us know how you get on. 

Kay

[adrianforrester]

I have spoken to BT and they have advised that the issue is with the way your hardware communicates with your servers. It is not an issue with port forwarding, as other services appears to work fine. I can run a web server that has other services on non-standard ports without issue. Therefore I am assuming that the strict MTU value that your device expects is part of the problem given the logs on the HomeHub. VPN connections like the one the Sure Signal creates should be auto negotiating, instead of depending on jumbo packets which would address the issue.

Thanks

[djmaitla]

I suspect that your best way forward is to switch your SSv2 device to a SSv3.  Since I switched to SSv3 and BT Homehub5 I have a rock stable connection.  ssv3 and BTHomeHub3 was a total disaster.

[adrianforrester]

I tend to agree with your idea, however it's another £100 on a chance. I wouldn't mind so much but after the cost of the Sure Signal I already have, I am a little reluctant....

[Ben_H]

Hi adrianforrester,

As with our phones, Vodafone Sure Signal has a 14 day cooling off period.

If you purchase one and need to send it back, you can take it back to store it was purchased from or arrange a return on 191.

Thanks, 

Ben

[adrianforrester]

I am sure you would agree that this is not helpful. As you have clearly not read the post at all, I have been using my Sure Signal 2 for over 18 Months, so there is no way a 14 day period is of any use. If you were in turn referring to me paying £100 on the off chance that it would work and returning if it does not, then I am sorry. That just isn't going to happen. I have already paid once to subsidise the poor network coverage in my area, to be prompted to pay again because the device I purchased doesn't work with a particular, incredibly popular, router is just offensive.

I am requesting that someone properly investigates the situation relating to the problem originally described and advise accordingly, as this doesn't appear to be an isolated case. If this cannot be resolved I will have to investigate the possibility of migrating both my two personal mobile contracts and my business mobile contract (another 8 lines) to another suitable supplier. Considering that with other networks providing seamless performance without additional hardware or cost, using WiFi to allow calls to be made, it makes sense. For reference see Three's InTouch here and O2's Tu-Go. And EE have additionally announced their intention to offer a similar application in coming months. It's not difficult to see that with this in mind you are probably developing your own application, which would be fantastic! However I won't be buying a £100 device to cover this shortfall in the meantime. It doesn't make financial sense.

I would therefore request a suitable solution to this issue.

Kind regards

[Retired-Matt_B]

Hi Adrian,

Ben is referring to the 14 day return period you'd get with any new purchase.

I'd recommend setting up the Sure Signal with your other router. We can't guarantee that they'll work with every router on the market, if you've got one that you know it works with, the best way forward would be to use that router.

Thanks, 

Matt B

[adrianforrester]

To All Concerned,

This situation has gone beyond farcical at this stage. The only reason I had replaced my Router was to upgrade my home network, add a bit more throughput, gain some advantage from my 80Mbps FTTC and add dual band wireless on a non-existent budget. To be fair to you, I work in IT, I spend my day providing software and hardware technical support to our customers on a daily basis, I also provide networking solutions and configurations to customers and remote workers (including VPN configuration). So I understand that there are many different manufacturer routers available but with the overall requirement, price point and features the Home Hub 5 was an ideal option and once I had made all the usual checks to make sure there wasn't a glaring issue that would befall me, I thought 'Bingo' it fits the bill.

Once the new hardware was install and the issue with the Sure Signal was brought to my and in turn your attention, there has been minimal support or advice offered to try and resolve the problem. There was the usual suggestions of check port forwarding, check port clamping, that's it. Every post here has that at Step 1, and I am sure that that's fine, you have to start somewhere.  However there is obviously a lot more investigatory work that could be completed to identify the problem, or maybe in turn a suitable solution.

Unfortunately it appears that no-one cares or no-one has the qualifications or skill set to approach this problem. This day in age it shouldn't be a case of 'Oh no, if it doesn't work you need to throw more money at it'. People should be able to discuss and resolve something as trivial as a network device not communicating correctly. Can someone here explain to me what the problem is in the connection process? Can you see that my device is returning data? Is the data being sent by your servers being picked up or rejected my end? In the event of the data being rejected, what is the reason?

If this is truly a case of the device is 100% incompatible, I would ask that you provide a list of certified to function Modems and Routers (including and not limited to combined Modem and Router) that will function with the Alcatel Lucent 9361 Home Cell V2-V (Sure Signal 2). If you cannot provide such documentation I would ask you either provide a software solution (Firmware Update resolving the communication issue.) for the Sure Signal 2 or provide a later model unit to test on the basis of Sale or Return. As I refuse, currently, to give Vodafone any more money than I am obliged under contract until a solution can be found.

Regards