Sure Signal on cable network

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NickBarrett

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#115676 3-Apr-2013 12:22

Hi all,

We have been long time TelstraClear customers with their cable broadband products. I was very excited with the idea of Vodafone being our ISP as I have forever had trouble with my Vodafone reception.

I rang (0508 88 88 00) and got our package changed over to the Vodafone WarpSpeed 150G (which was very easy to do and great that it's so much cheaper). While on the phone I asked the CSR if I would finally be able to get Sure Signal. Unfortunately I was told no, but in another thread I found the following post by johnr.

johnr: ...Sure Signal works over cable as well

If it is possible to get Sure Signal now, can someone please advise what I need to do to make this happen?

Cheers,

Nick Barrett

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19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#792251 3-Apr-2013 12:25

Visit Vodafone store get a Sure Signal unit plug into modem wait approx 15 minutes and away you go not much more to it

NickBarrett

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#792264 3-Apr-2013 12:41

Thanks johnr. I'll give it a go this afternoon.

johnr

19282 posts

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#792268 3-Apr-2013 12:46

Call store in advance to make sure they have one in stock if not you can order one on the Vodafone NZ site

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/services/femtocell/

johnr

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#792297 3-Apr-2013 13:11

Just a FYI Sure Signal is still in trial phase for the HFC Cable network and xDSL

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#792305 3-Apr-2013 13:20

I've got one at home now on cable to play with. It's simply a matter of plugging it it and waiting for it to provison itself which can take 10 or so minutes. Once this is complete your phone(s) will be able to connect to it.

Demeter

709 posts

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One NZ

#792987 4-Apr-2013 10:35

sbiddle: I've got one at home now on cable to play with. It's simply a matter of plugging it it and waiting for it to provison itself which can take 10 or so minutes. Once this is complete your phone(s) will be able to connect to it.

Just wanted to add, it can take a bit longer to do its thing than 10 minutes. Sometimes the device takes a while to download and install the updates. I'd say half an hour or so is about the median experience, but I've seen it take up to 3 hours before...

sbiddle

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#793021 4-Apr-2013 11:14

While I wanted a device mainly just to play with (as I do have coverage at home) one small issue that does arise is the Google CellID database.

Since my sure signal wasn't a brand new device Google's CellID database thinks I'm in Takapuna which means anything that uses location based services is instantly a problem!

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

NickBarrett

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#794956 8-Apr-2013 12:52

I just wanted to quickly report back that I have my unit up and running. I ended up having to order it from Vodafone's web site as suggested. Took about just under an hour to configure itself but seems to be working fine now.

I have only had it running for half an hour but I have received a call through it and it seems to work well. I'll try to remember to post an update after we've tried it for a few months.

Thanks again for your input johnr.

sbiddle

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#795019 8-Apr-2013 14:22

The only issue I noticed was slow speeds. Any comments on this?

johnr

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#795029 8-Apr-2013 14:32

1 comment still under trial for some work

NickBarrett

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#795047 8-Apr-2013 14:44

sbiddle: The only issue I noticed was slow speeds. Any comments on this?

Do you mean data speeds? I haven't noticed any difference between having WiFi on or off on my phone (Lumia 800). I'll try it with my wife's iPhone later tonight (she has a lot more apps than I do)

elmesg

18 posts

Geek

#795832 9-Apr-2013 20:39

One more thing to be aware of with regards the officially unsupported, not commercially released, sure signal on Wellington and Christchurch cable (can't say TelstraClear any more...) - the sure signal usage on the cable network isn't currently zero-rated. So all your neighbours that now have a much better Vodafone signal will be consuming your broadband data. Not so bad if they are just making calls, but if they are using data, that may be another matter.

Based on a non scientific test (listening to the Radio Sport app during the cricket test while driving away from home before the signal dropped) I still get my Sure Signal coverage 80m away from home, that covers about 25 properties.

Having said all that - it's pretty cool, and my phone no longer goes flat in 6 hrs from hunting between the Makara and Wadestown cellsites....

johnr

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#795839 9-Apr-2013 20:56

I have been advised SS traffic on the cable network is now zero rated, I got this from a very reliable person in Vodafone

elmesg

18 posts

Geek

#795844 9-Apr-2013 21:00

Thanks JohnR - I stand corrected. Must have changed in the last week or so.

NickBarrett

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#798533 12-Apr-2013 17:20

NickBarrett: Do you mean data speeds? I haven't noticed any difference between having WiFi on or off on my phone (Lumia 800). I'll try it with my wife's iPhone later tonight (she has a lot more apps than I do)

Sorry for the delay. I installed speedtest.net's iPhone app on my wife's phone and here are the results
Ping: 96ms
Down: 6.19Mbps
Up: 1.27 Mbps

That's when the phone was within 3 meters of the Sure Signal device but with a floor between them.

I thought the limit for 3G down was 7.4Mbps so 6.19Mps is not bad.

Hope that's useful to someone.

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