A look at Vodafone's Femtocell/Sure Signal Review

[jkpirie]

I'm guessing you all realise that this unit uses your Broadband Bandwidth, which you pay for, to make and recieve calls and SMS etc which Vodafone then go on to charge you full price for!

Bit of a rip off really if you think about it.

Great unit if you require your mobile coverage at home though!! Personally, I have a landline for that sort of thing ;)

[budgen95]

I have never had full signal on vodafone in my life.

[duncanevs]

Anybody actually bought one from Vodafone ?

I haggled a bit today with them, and actually was offered it for £35 inc VAT and P&P for the v2 version.

My contract isn't due for another 12 months, so couldn't use this to haggle with them.

Anybody had a better deal ?

Also does anyone know the benifits of v2 over the original Sure Signal ?

Cheers

Duncan

[94mcliam]

@duncanevs Ebay and I guess slightly faster speeds/less of a negative impact on broadband speed :)

[alnagham]

the indication that the sure signal is connected to your phone is when you're actually making a voice call, you will have the 3rd light flashing

[vientorio]

Can you get text messaging and 3g data service from this device?

[skullfcuk]

I've had one for a few months now, bought 2nd hand for £20. Bargain! I was worried that the 3rd light only activated during calls, and then only blinked. I was also worried that I wasn't getting a 3G signal on my handset (Rooted and flashed Orange San Francisco with Vodafone PAYG Sim). Apparently it's because I'm not in a 3G area. This must just tap into the Vodafone network as it exists locally. I'm still happy with the SSignal tho.

And finally, thanks for the excellent and demonstrative vid,

[thomasclarke]

@skullfcuk I'm surprised you don't get a 3G signal when connected to the SureSignal. I did, and I thought that's how it communicated with the phone.

[skakky]

there something wrong with my sure signal. i can only get the top two lights lit up. using it with a netgear DG843PN

[thomasclarke]

@skakky How long have you had it? When you first register it online it takes a few hours before it works.

[skakky]

@thomasclarke ive had it for like 4 days, but i activated it today about 4 and a half hours ago. The top lights always on and the 2nd light is mostly always on but sometimes flashes. The other two are just always off. Please hlep mate

karl

[xn0ddyx]

i been thinking on geting one and the vodafone vid well its crap your vid sold me so im gona talk to the wife show her this vid and we will be geting this thanks alot :D

[zanderzone21]

Hi mate liked your video as explained alot of things and sure does work as we can all see so for that reason you muxt be happy ? i called vodafone today 24/11/10 and explained im not getting a signal in my house but outside its great and he said hold the line for 2 mins and ill go speak to the tech dept , when he returned he said we will send you out a SURE SIGNAL box for FREE as usually costs £50 , so im really happy with vodafone as they have been really good with me , SO GREAT REVIEW MATE

[xn0ddyx]

@zanderzone21 thanks for the heads up on this im going to try and do the same as when im in the house the only place i get a sig is by the windows hope i get the same as i been with vodafone for over 10 years with the same number

[flick07051986]

@zanderzone21 Haha I had one free 2 :)

[upanddown1975]

Vodafone's femtocell "sure signal" only uses 3G thats why u dont get any RF chatter on ur radio, nothing to do with ur phone using less power.

[elixier22]

@upanddown1975 I was bout to say that but you already said it lol.

[martina7553]

dose it work on o2

[thomasclarke]

@martina7553 This one is only for Vodafone but I expect O2 now do a similar thing.

[killgroup]

Can you use it with other networks? I'm the only one in the house with vodafone, and I wouldn't buy it just for myself, but if it'd work with other networks I'd consider it.

[thomasclarke]

@killgroup Well this one is specifically for Vodafone. Other networks are now doing a similar thing, but again only for one network. There are boosters that supposedly do any network, but I have no experience of these (like cellantenna . co . uk)

[liverpoolatnight]

This vodafone sure signal just takes the signal from the phone and channels it down the broadband line such as cable and ADSL, Vodafone will still charge you for your calls from your handset when is taking your broadband connection, im sure ISP are going to say something about this as of the network traffic.

[iqubal]

Thanks for the video. It was quite informative. I wonder if the Femtocell will work when connected to the internet outside of UK. (Then one can use it as an economical alternative for international roaming)

[thomasclarke]

@iqubal This is something I want to try sometime, but it involves taking it to a different country while not annoying everyone else who would otherwise be using it! I do hope to try it out though, and I will let you know when I have.

[thomasclarke]

@iqubal I have taken it to Belgium and it did not work. The Femtocell didn't establish the connection to Vodafone, so I guess they have prevented using it from outside the UK, which is a shame.

[DeathToTheseWalls]

I wish you could learn accents like this and whip them out as needed. Life would be fantastic.

[protrex]

Its a very cool device and demo, but the interference in your radio is not due to power levels, but the time division nature of the GSM/EDGE air interface. The femtocell uses 3G (HSDPA), which is a code division air interface. Code division does not interfere with radios, speakers, etc.

There is some really good information online about the differences in how these air interfaces differ. Its very cool stuff.

[thomasclarke]

@protrex Ah, interesting. I did not realise that. I'll have to look it up, thanks.

[LaurentPerche]

Great VDO. Really like the effort you made into testing some of the features and the very relevant comments you made.

What about handover with Macro cell? Any test?

[thomasclarke]

@LaurentPerche Thanks for the comment. I will do a test sometime soon with the handing over of a call from the Femtocell on to the normal mobile network.

[thomasclarke]

@LaurentPerche I have done a video about the handover now. See the video response to this video.