[Ben]

Had a play with the online admin for Sure Signal for the first time this evening, and I'm pleased to say that it's pretty good! Now it's easy to add and remove numbers, and you can see a great little status page that tells you how much data has been transferred and whether enough bandwidth is available.

Range on mine continues to be great, penetrating walls a foot thick and giving a wider coverage area than WiFi. Call quality is great, though because I've only got 300k running to my communications black hole too much other use on either the router or the Sure Signal does cause degradation.

Erm, there's a cat totally staring at me, and I don't own a cat, so I'm gunna go.

[Hands0n]

My elder daughter lives in an area of outstanding crappy Vodafone signal in London SE. She is surrounded by four Vodafone transmitter masts that are all shielded by trees. Voda have been trying to get the council to trim them for years, nothing much happens [no surprise there] and the locals all suffer. So she has ordered up a Suresignal which is due here next week. If other reports on the technology bear fruit for her she will have, for the first time, a usable signal in her house. Although the next impact is likely to be that her broadband usage triggers Sky's usage monitoring system and causes her an automatic upgrade to the next package up from where she is today :D

All of her friends are also on Vodafone so she'll be Miss Popular when they visit, so long as she sets up their mobile phone numbers on the Suresignal.

I think that, in time, Vodafone will give these out free to people who live in areas where they know the signal is of poor quality. Although what really surprises me is the negativeness from critics of the technology. It seems you can't do right by some people, ever.

[The Mullet of G]

Touching on the latter part of your post HandsOn, I'm actually surprised networks aren't already giving these out free to people in poor signal areas, as it seems almost backwards making you pay to rectify their poor signal issues. I know personally that if T Mobile sent me one of these free of charge, then I wouldn't have such a negative view of them. I get full 3G signal in my house, but only if I don't use the phone, the minute I try to use it the signal drops like a lead balloon, leading to crackly phone calls and regular disconnects. SureSignal means that you will always have a great signal in your home, and for people in poor signal areas this is a massive incentive to sign up with Vodafone, if only they could include it free in the package.

[Hands0n]

I wonder if, in time, the main networks will indeed supply Femtocell free of charge. It must be cheaper to give these out than go through all of the cost that is incurred in establishing a new 3G cell tower. Of course, it would be folly of the networks to think of this technology as some kind of savior to performing continued build out of their network. Femtocell is only really good for home or SOHO use.

Interesting that Vodafone will also supply the SureSignal for £5/month which isn't a bad proposition at all.

[3GScottishUser]

Bugger it......

I like the Sure Signal thing but I've got a full Vodafone signal where I live!!

I'm gutted I can't have my own little femtocell :(

[miffed]

Anyone here interested in buying a bridge ? , PM me !

[DBMandrake]

I get full 3G signal in my house, but only if I don't use the phone, the minute I try to use it the signal drops like a lead balloon, leading to crackly phone calls and regular disconnects.
Interesting, I had exactly the same problem with my iPhone 3GS on Virgin (T-Mobile network) - 5 bar 3G signal indoors that was ok for data use, but as soon as I'd make a call and put the phone to my head it would always drop to GPRS within a few seconds, and roughly about 1 call out of every 5 calls I would get extremely loud crackle over the other persons voice to the point that I couldn't understand what they were saying - despite a 5 bar GPRS signal. They could never hear any crackle on my voice, it was always one way. Hang up and redial and it would be ok, usually.

I've never had that problem on any of the other UK networks, (and have tried them all) nor on Vodafone New Zealand (where I was on GPRS a lot) so I think it's a flaw in T-Mobile's network, not so much a weak signal. It was the last straw for me with Virgin and one reason I left them. So far I'm pleased to report no crackle on 3, even when roaming on Orange's 2G coverage.

[Ben]

Orange used to boot me to 2G for calls but that was some time ago, I doubt they do that anymore.

@Mullét - Tbh I think they will be freebies eventually, where other diagnostics fail to improve the situation. The problem right now is that production levels of femtocells is low, which makes them expensive. Once they become a little more commonplace we might well get what, right now, seems like the obvious solution to many peoples problems. Sure Signal has already dropped in price significantly, which is a start!

[The Mullet of G]

Anyone here interested in buying a bridge ? , PM me !

Are there any trolls under it? Oh come on, surely you all knew I was gonna say something daft like that. :D


Interesting, I had exactly the same problem with my iPhone 3GS on Virgin (T-Mobile network) - 5 bar 3G signal indoors that was ok for data use, but as soon as I'd make a call and put the phone to my head it would always drop to GPRS within a few seconds, and roughly about 1 call out of every 5 calls I would get extremely loud crackle over the other persons voice to the point that I couldn't understand what they were saying - despite a 5 bar GPRS signal. They could never hear any crackle on my voice, it was always one way. Hang up and redial and it would be ok, usually.

I've never had that problem on any of the other UK networks, (and have tried them all) nor on Vodafone New Zealand (where I was on GPRS a lot) so I think it's a flaw in T-Mobile's network, not so much a weak signal. It was the last straw for me with Virgin and one reason I left them. So far I'm pleased to report no crackle on 3, even when roaming on Orange's 2G coverage.

Thats pretty much the problem I get with the crackly calls, its really annoying, but like you say hanging up and calling back seems to sort it. Poor signal is a major issue too, as I either have full 3G signal which falls to zero when I try to use it, or I have absolutely no signal at all, its like T Mobiles signal is being blown about on the wind, and sometimes I'm lucky and the wind blows this way. To be honest if I reverted back to using smoke signals I'd probably be better off, least that way I'd actually be able to contact people some of the time. T Mobiles network really does suck something awful, its that bad I cancelled my direct debit and don't pay my bill until they personally phone me and ask for it, then sometimes I make them call back a few times, I figure if they wont give me the service I'm paying for, then I'll get my moneys worth by making them jump through hoops to get paid.


Orange used to boot me to 2G for calls but that was some time ago, I doubt they do that anymore.

@Mullét - Tbh I think they will be freebies eventually, where other diagnostics fail to improve the situation. The problem right now is that production levels of femtocells is low, which makes them expensive. Once they become a little more commonplace we might well get what, right now, seems like the obvious solution to many peoples problems. Sure Signal has already dropped in price significantly, which is a start!

I guess everything is like that to start with, then once they sell enough of them the price will start to drop making it possible to give them away as part of a package. Hopefully it doesn't take too long, as far too many people simply aren't getting the service they paid for due to shoddy network coverage, it wouldn't be so bad but its not exactly Australia or the USA we're living in, we live on an island about the size of a large boulder.

[Ben]

we live on an island about the size of a large boulder.
That's what really pisses me off re: mobile coverage in the UK. We're a small, sophisticated, densely populated island, and yet in today's economics that still doesn't allow for 100% geographic coverage?

[The Mullet of G]

That's what really pisses me off re: mobile coverage in the UK. We're a small, sophisticated, densely populated island, and yet in today's economics that still doesn't allow for 100% geographic coverage?

Absolutely, and its not like the networks aren't constantly boasting about record profits, so why don't they use some of it to give us the service we deserve. It really can't be that difficult to bring coverage to the entire UK, but having said that there are still a lot of people who can't even get digital tv reception, at times it seems like we've came so far in the last 30 years, and at others it seems we've been standing still.

[3g-g]

In theory I like the Voda SS solution.... however, I do take exception to their advertising of it. The only network to guarantee you coverage at home... as long as you've broadband AND with a minimum speed of 1Mbps AND a router, not one of those USB modems.

It's a solution for the technically minded I think... and I don't see any of the requirements I've mentioned for Vodafone being the only network to "guarantee mobile signal in your home" on the big shouty billboards!

http://www.thinkfemtocell.com/images/stories/femto/Vodafone-Sure-Signal-Advert.jpg