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Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

MavAV
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎28-07-2008

Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

Hi, can anyone help as I am at my wits end now. After successfully using Sure Signal for the last couple of months, it suddenly stopped working last week, all of the lights were correct, but my handset couldn't now connect to Sure Signal. There was no change to the router configuration to cause this change. I have tried power cycling, and factory re-set and re-registering of the Sure Signal box, all to no avail. All I have now is the power light on and the second light flashing which means that Vodafone is trying to create a VPN connection.
I am using a Draytek Vigor2600X router which has been configured for port forwarding on ports 50 (TCP), 123 (UDP), 500 (UDP) and 4500 (UDP) to the Sure Signal IP address. As far as I can see there is no option to forward IP addresses to the Sure Signal IP address. The router has also been configured for UPnP. I have even placed the Sure Signal into the DMZ of the router, but still no success. Vodafone are still stating that it is a problem with my router even though everything was working two weeks ago. Has there been any change in the way Plusnet deals with this traffic? Is any one still using Sure Signal successfully? Any help would be very much appreciated.
9 REPLIES 9
jojopillo
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 9,786
Registered: ‎16-06-2010

Re: Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

Hi MavAV,
It seems that some other Vodafone users have had a similar issue lately. See here. The also have a troubleshooting guide for this very issue. I appreciate you may have already tried these channels, but there have been no changes at our end that we are aware of.
Jojo Smiley
MavAV
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎28-07-2008

Re: Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

Hello Jo,
Thanks for getting back to me, yes I am on the Vodafone board as well, but just wanted to check with Plusnet that nothing strange has been going on at your end. I will pursue the issue with Vodafone.
xpcomputers
Grafter
Posts: 461
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

Hi,
When your SureSignal was working correctly, what was the sound quality like for the person at the other end? Did you ever get any complaints?
Does anyone know which traffic queue the Sure Signal traffic gets prioritised as (or not as the case might be) across Plusnet's network?
The reason I ask is that I just changed to Vodafone and got a Sure Signal (pretty much no signal inside our "bunker" of a house!). I plugged it into my router and it worked first time (Billion Bipac 7404VGO router). I don't have any port forwarding setup, or even uPNP. I just plugged it in, and it worked first time. (First connected 1st July 2010)
I get full signal strength on the phone in the house (through the SS box) and I can hear callers perfectly, however, some of them have complained that I am breaking up to them. I am assuming that this is a traffic flow problem.
So if anyone else has similar problems on Plusnet, or knows whether the Sure Signal gets its traffic correctly prioritised by Plusnet, I'd be grateful to hear. (I'm guessing it should be classed as Platinum, like VOIP traffic is).
Thanks
Mike
BenTrimble
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 2,106
Registered: ‎06-02-2008

Re: Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

I'm checking on the Ellacoya profile for the Sure Signal boxes, I'll get back to you...
Edit: It's identified as Cisco VPN = gold
xpcomputers
Grafter
Posts: 461
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎13-04-2007

Re: Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

Are there any rate limits on it though, or is it "line speed Gold"? (particularly of interest to me is the upload speed)
And does the Sure Signal use a variety of ports depending on config? i.e does it does use specific ports if configured for it, but fall back to a "get you working" mode say on port 80 or something (which might not get detected as "Cisco VPN" and therefore get a lower speed profile)?
Clearly my Sure Signal appears to be working without any port forwarding having been set... so I haven't attempted any... but if that could be the reason for less than optimal performance, then I maybe ought to try setting it up manually instead.
Is there an easy way to check what ports it is currently running on without playing with port forwarding stuff?
As I say, since it all sounds crystal clear to me all the time, I wondered if it was a upload speed problem (scrambling my voice being sent to others)... but the download speed is fine (hence I hear them fine, without any break up).
Vodafone say it is fine on 1Mb speed connections (and above). I get 3500kbs down on a BT speed test and sync at 448 for upload (see speed test for tonight), so it shouldn't be that.
Download speed achieved during the test was - 3543 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 600-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :4768 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 4000 Kbps

Not that this tests the ACTUAL upload speed.
Mike
BenTrimble
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 2,106
Registered: ‎06-02-2008

Re: Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

Quote
Are there any rate limits on it though, or is it "line speed Gold"? (particularly of interest to me is the upload speed)

VPN is rate limited on a per-product basis, you can check yours here.
Quote
Is there an easy way to check what ports it is currently running on without playing with port forwarding stuff?

Yes, Wireshark
Quote
I wondered if it was a upload speed problem

Very unlikely, as 448kbps is the standard upload speed for most ADSL Max / ADSL2+ products. We apply no prioritisation on upstream.
As to your other questions, they'll need to be directed to Vodafone support, unless anyone on here happens to know them.
MavAV
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎28-07-2008

Re: Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

My sure signal is now back up and running and I can confirm that I have not experienced any call problems (using video). I don't know if it is relevant, but I am on the plusnet pro package, so presumably as my traffic is prioritised any contention is less of an issue for me.
MisterW
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 14,581
Thanks: 5,412
Fixes: 385
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

Quote
My sure signal is now back up and running

Out of interest, what was the fault  ?

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

MavAV
Newbie
Posts: 9
Registered: ‎28-07-2008

Re: Vodafone Sure Signal suddenly stopped working

Quote from: MisterW
Out of interest, what was the fault  ?

I have no idea, it had been working well since April and then all of a sudden it stopped working at the end of June, the suspicion is that Vodafone have been tinkering with the firmware in the Sure Signal box, but they haven't admited to anything. So after two weeks of messing around with the router, resetting and re-registering the Sure Signal box everything is working again.