Using a Sure Signal on an alternative ADSL provider

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nate

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#85564 21-Jun-2011 12:47

Would it not be in Vodafone's best interests to offer the Sure Signal to people on alternative ADSL providers, and charge a premium? Surely there's a market of people who want one, but are more than happy with their current provider.

I can see the business case for enforcing Vodafone broadband (I have a Sure Signal with Vodafone NDSL) but wouldn't the market for them be much greater if they could be used with anyone?

freitasm

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#483618 21-Jun-2011 13:14

It would. Except that it's a full 3G cell site, and if your neighbours connects to it then they have all 3G services, including mobile data. And if they have a smartphone with a 3GB plan/freebie then that traffic will go through YOUR broadband connection, which is not zero rated unless it's a Vodafone broadband connection.

The obvious way of doing it would be to whitelist certain mobile numbers to use your Sure Signal, but it seems this wasn't implemented by Vodafone (I was told by Alcatel-Lucent this can be done - your conspiracy theories in the comments).

nakedmolerat

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#484059 21-Jun-2011 23:42

not just businesses, even i will pay for premium price.

it is really really really horrible if you dont have good reception at home when mobile is the ONLY way for others to contact you.

Fraktul

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#484063 21-Jun-2011 23:59

freitasm: It would. Except that it's a full 3G cell site, and if your neighbours connects to it then they have all 3G services, including mobile data. And if they have a smartphone with a 3GB plan/freebie then that traffic will go through YOUR broadband connection, which is not zero rated unless it's a Vodafone broadband connection.

The obvious way of doing it would be to whitelist certain mobile numbers to use your Sure Signal, but it seems this wasn't implemented by Vodafone (I was told by Alcatel-Lucent this can be done - your conspiracy theories in the comments).

Whitelisting is implemented in the VF UK Alcatel Lucent boxes.

codyc1515

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#484087 22-Jun-2011 01:02

Fraktul:
freitasm: It would. Except that it's a full 3G cell site, and if your neighbours connects to it then they have all 3G services, including mobile data. And if they have a smartphone with a 3GB plan/freebie then that traffic will go through YOUR broadband connection, which is not zero rated unless it's a Vodafone broadband connection.

The obvious way of doing it would be to whitelist certain mobile numbers to use your Sure Signal, but it seems this wasn't implemented by Vodafone (I was told by Alcatel-Lucent this can be done - your conspiracy theories in the comments).

Whitelisting is implemented in the VF UK Alcatel Lucent boxes.

I'm pretty sure that the firmware is open-source, so you are probably free to add it in if you like.

DjShadow

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#484113 22-Jun-2011 07:19

nate: Would it not be in Vodafone's best interests to offer the Sure Signal to people on alternative ADSL providers, and charge a premium? Surely there's a market of people who want one, but are more than happy with their current provider.

I can see the business case for enforcing Vodafone broadband (I have a Sure Signal with Vodafone NDSL) but wouldn't the market for them be much greater if they could be used with anyone?

Hell Yes!
If it was possible I'd be onto my work's IT dept asking if I could hook one up to the network

Edit: If telecom had a similar device on the market I'd do the same thing

jjnz1

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#484135 22-Jun-2011 08:21

Whats a premium price? $55 per month?

Suresignal costs $55 per month as a sole product.

Kyanar

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#484180 22-Jun-2011 09:34

jjnz1: Whats a premium price? $55 per month?

Suresignal costs $55 per month as a sole product.

Uh, what? Near as I can tell, Suresignal costs $0 per month, with a $349 setup fee? Where are you getting this $55 from?

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

Behodar

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#484222 22-Jun-2011 10:21

In order to use Suresignal you need a Vodafone broadband connection, and the cheapest one is $55/month.

nate

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#484287 22-Jun-2011 11:40

Behodar: In order to use Suresignal you need a Vodafone broadband connection, and the cheapest one is $55/month.

Not really a fair statement, as if you use them for internet (as I do) the actual cost is $0 (excluding power use which is minimal)

Behodar

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#484289 22-Jun-2011 11:43

I can't speak for jjnz1 but he did say "as a sole product", plus the whole thread's about using it when with another ISP. Currently to do that you'd need to pay Vodafone $55 (I'm assuming that you could get it running on a second line).

But all I was doing was explaining where the $55 figure likely came from :)

nate

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#484305 22-Jun-2011 12:06

Behodar: I can't speak for jjnz1 but he did say "as a sole product", plus the whole thread's about using it when with another ISP. Currently to do that you'd need to pay Vodafone $55 (I'm assuming that you could get it running on a second line).

But all I was doing was explaining where the $55 figure likely came from :)

Good point :)

Blindspot

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#484322 22-Jun-2011 12:34

Pretty sure Vodafone Group will move to a mixture of open (residential) and closed (enterprise) user groups. The closed user group model is far more complicated, in UK you cannot just purchase the suresignal UE as you can in NZ, there is a tonne of paperwork.

jjnz1

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#484513 22-Jun-2011 17:21

Behodar: I can't speak for jjnz1 but he did say "as a sole product", plus the whole thread's about using it when with another ISP. Currently to do that you'd need to pay Vodafone $55 (I'm assuming that you could get it running on a second line).

But all I was doing was explaining where the $55 figure likely came from :)

That's exactly where I was coming from. :) And yes, you can get more than one residential broadband service on the same premises.

I am really interested to know what the poster above meant when she/he said premium? To me, if I was willing to spend $25 extra per month on an important service, then $55 is not that much different, if you really need/want it.

Can anyone with a Suresignal open up its settings page and determine which Vodafone servers it connects to? Maybe these servers are available from the outside, but like a good corporate entity, they state otherwise in order to steer customers away from using it.

Because we all know what will happen... The data link/connection between Vodafone and the device will be beyond Vodafone's control, and when calls and texts start failing, who would you call?

[777]
"Ah hello, I'd like to report a crap Vodafone mobile service...." Which would simply not be the case...

Food for thought.

oxnsox

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#484541 22-Jun-2011 18:01

Blindspot: Pretty sure Vodafone Group will move to a mixture of open (residential) and closed (enterprise) user groups. The closed user group model is far more complicated, in UK you cannot just purchase the suresignal UE as you can in NZ, there is a tonne of paperwork.

I could see that happening here.
Right now VF are first on the block with the technology, so they may as well use it as some sort of leverage to get customers.

If 2deg were to offer a box thru your current connection how would that improve their customer base?
How would it impact on their Customer support service/experience.

Opening it up will cut both ways. But I agree that there are users who are competent enough to accept that, its up to VF to find a way to work with them if they want to get the most out of the advantage suresignal offers.

BarTender

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#485460 24-Jun-2011 13:30

codyc1515:
Fraktul: Whitelisting is implemented in the VF UK Alcatel Lucent boxes.

I'm pretty sure that the firmware is open-source, so you are probably free to add it in if you like.

Doubt it... They are a black box which can't be modified by the end-user without invalidating their connection back into the core.

It would be up to VF to implement the feature. And I don't see a good reason why they would want to IMHO.