Signal Box on EE

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  • DevonBlokeDevonBloke Posts: 6,835
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    jcwacky wrote: »
    Woo! Just called EE business, and was advised Signal Boxes are available to purchase again, so I bought one! Along with a SIM-only contract.

    The guy also said that you can program in up to 5 numbers into the box, so shall be interesting to see if that ability is actually active yet.

    You won't be disappointed. The Nokia Femtos are amazing. I just spent half a day trying to get a customers Vodafone Suresignal working properly. Bloody crap to be honest. Had to open ports and change the MTU setting and a load of other stuff to get it working.
    The EE Nokias just plug in and play. Tried mine on about 6 different routers and all were fine with no issues at all. Where I am at the moment I have a really really old D-Link DSL 604T router. Brought the customers Suresignal here to try and get it working and had one hell of a job. The Nokia just plugs in and works!
    The model I have is the FAPr-hsp 5000 which will allow 8 simultaneous calls. You don't program the numbers into the box itself. They are locked down. At the moment they are still unlocked so anyone in range with an EE, T-Mobile, Orange or Virgin handset can use them.
    Apparently EE will eventually lock them. You will then have to log into your EE account to enter the numbers your want to use it. I was told up to 32 numbers can be added much the same as Vodafone's system.
  • DevonBlokeDevonBloke Posts: 6,835
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    Anyone know why sometimes when connected to my signalbox, find my iphone shows me located in North Carolina?
    Wierd.
  • mooxmoox Posts: 18,880
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    DevonBloke wrote: »
    You won't be disappointed. The Nokia Femtos are amazing. I just spent half a day trying to get a customers Vodafone Suresignal working properly. Bloody crap to be honest. Had to open ports and change the MTU setting and a load of other stuff to get it working.
    The EE Nokias just plug in and play. Tried mine on about 6 different routers and all were fine with no issues at all. Where I am at the moment I have a really really old D-Link DSL 604T router. Brought the customers Suresignal here to try and get it working and had one hell of a job. The Nokia just plugs in and works!
    The model I have is the FAPr-hsp 5000 which will allow 8 simultaneous calls. You don't program the numbers into the box itself. They are locked down. At the moment they are still unlocked so anyone in range with an EE, T-Mobile, Orange or Virgin handset can use them.
    Apparently EE will eventually lock them. You will then have to log into your EE account to enter the numbers your want to use it. I was told up to 32 numbers can be added much the same as Vodafone's system.

    I have only ever used the first generation sure signal but I had no problems getting it working apart from Vodafone's system not processing my request properly so it wouldn't complete initialisation.

    This was with two networks with routers and network equipment at two different ends of the scale.
  • bluestrawbluestraw Posts: 2,015
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    Wow, Orange really are making this hard. They are 'totally unavailable' now (confirmed by their 2nd level team), despite it showing on the website. We just went through a whole raft of signal diagnostics for them to confirm to me that 'yes, you are in a bad signal area' (what a surprise!) but there is nothing at all they can do.

    Don't suppose anyone on EE / t-mobile wants to buy a spare one and re-sell it?
  • DevonBlokeDevonBloke Posts: 6,835
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    bluestraw wrote: »
    Wow, Orange really are making this hard. They are 'totally unavailable' now (confirmed by their 2nd level team), despite it showing on the website. We just went through a whole raft of signal diagnostics for them to confirm to me that 'yes, you are in a bad signal area' (what a surprise!) but there is nothing at all they can do.

    Don't suppose anyone on EE / t-mobile wants to buy a spare one and re-sell it?

    I have a feeling they register the Femtos SIM / IMEI number with the purchaser. It could be activated first and then be sold but then it would stop working if they ever left EE.
  • xtazxtaz Posts: 269
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    I've mentioned on this thread before about open-mode and closed-mode. I spoke to the project manager for these things this morning and he told me that the boxes will be in open-mode from here on out and it appears they have canned the idea of doing closed-mode with a whitelist of msisdns. Must have been too difficult to implement with the customer service systems or something so they just wanted to launch them regardless.
  • jon41jon41 Posts: 1,427
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    xtaz wrote: »
    I've mentioned on this thread before about open-mode and closed-mode. I spoke to the project manager for these things this morning and he told me that the boxes will be in open-mode from here on out and it appears they have canned the idea of doing closed-mode with a whitelist of msisdns. Must have been too difficult to implement with the customer service systems or something so they just wanted to launch them regardless.

    I wonder if that's to do with the fact they've not put the SIM's into the ones that have been sent out.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3
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    Have almost no reception on EE at my home. Phoned EE to request a signal box. Was told that because I have a sky wifi router that their is no need for one. They said it dose the same job as a router and therefore a waste of money. I thought it was something you plug int your router to improve the reception. Any advice will be gratefully received
  • bluestrawbluestraw Posts: 2,015
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    DevonBloke wrote: »
    I have a feeling they register the Femtos SIM / IMEI number with the purchaser. It could be activated first and then be sold but then it would stop working if they ever left EE.
    Yeah, maybe - more clutching at straws, fed up with my own signal issues! Considering a sim-only deal with T-Mob business perhaps...
  • Mystic EddyMystic Eddy Posts: 3,987
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    dgj66 wrote: »
    Have almost no reception on EE at my home. Phoned EE to request a signal box. Was told that because I have a sky wifi router that their is no need for one. They said it dose the same job as a router and therefore a waste of money. I thought it was something you plug int your router to improve the reception. Any advice will be gratefully received
    You're right, they're wrong. Phone up again and hopefully you'll get someone that knows a bit more:).
  • wrexham103.4wrexham103.4 Posts: 3,334
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    anyone else having an issue with handover from cell tower to femto? came in from outside before on the phone and it hung on to 1 bar with call breaking up, soon as i ended the call it connected to the femto with full bars!
  • Thine WonkThine Wonk Posts: 17,190
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    anyone else having an issue with handover from cell tower to femto? came in from outside before on the phone and it hung on to 1 bar with call breaking up, soon as i ended the call it connected to the femto with full bars!

    That was mentioned in the femto review by The Register, none of the femtos tested did a call handover from the cell tower to the femto. Cells have set neighbours and it seems to be quite common that they don't hand over well.
  • DevonBlokeDevonBloke Posts: 6,835
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    I had mine go from Femto to macro but not the other way. This was in a different location to my home where there was actually a 3G signal outside. At home there is only a weak 2G signal outside so it wouldn't work anyway as it takes the phone about 2 minutes to pick it up. I don't care, I have a full signal indoors and I love it.
  • DevonBlokeDevonBloke Posts: 6,835
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    dgj66 wrote: »
    Have almost no reception on EE at my home. Phoned EE to request a signal box. Was told that because I have a sky wifi router that their is no need for one. They said it dose the same job as a router and therefore a waste of money. I thought it was something you plug int your router to improve the reception. Any advice will be gratefully received

    Yeah, sometimes you have to call a few times until you get someone who knows what the hell they're talking about.
  • DevonBlokeDevonBloke Posts: 6,835
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    So is there two versions of the signal box then? The Orange site says theirs can do 4 simultaneous calls. Mine does 8.
    Anyone know? Thine, you made a reference to a business and domestic version. Is this the case?
  • wrexham103.4wrexham103.4 Posts: 3,334
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    DevonBloke wrote: »
    So is there two versions of the signal box then? The Orange site says theirs can do 4 simultaneous calls. Mine does 8.
    Anyone know? Thine, you made a reference to a business and domestic version. Is this the case?

    mine does 8 too, its always been advertised as 4 on the EE site all along.

    having had mine for nearly a month now its been fine, no dropped calls or issues (apart from the cell to femto )
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 742
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    With the box being open to everyone at the moment in reality that would be smart move for EE if they had large residential clusters of signal through out the country that other customers could use the indication of the beep that is being heard tells that the phone has roamed on to a femtocell.So customers either op in or out. so they would benefit from increased coverage just like the same way BT/fon WiFi is shared.Obviously the owner of the femtocell would have priority on the network by the phone numbers registered.
  • DevonBlokeDevonBloke Posts: 6,835
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    But currently no numbers are registered. So in theory people outside could swamp your Femto. Having said that I don't think the range is good enough for this to be a problem. The external walls in my house are so thick it doesn't work outside at all.
  • xtazxtaz Posts: 269
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    Mine works out into the street and right at the bottom of my back garden. But I have thin plasterboard stud walls. I have noticed before that the green light on it has been flashing slowly and my router had data transfer lights flashing away when I haven't been using it. Assume one of my neighbours were on it.

    I don't mind if that happens really, I have more than enough bandwidth and am unlimited on it too. The only thing I am concerned about really is when I am maxing out my bandwidth with a large download and my neighbour gets call breakup they won't realise what's going on and might go and moan that the network is rubbish.
  • paulkerpaulker Posts: 927
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    xtaz wrote: »
    Mine works out into the street and right at the bottom of my back garden. But I have thin plasterboard stud walls. I have noticed before that the green light on it has been flashing slowly and my router had data transfer lights flashing away when I haven't been using it. Assume one of my neighbours were on it.

    I don't mind if that happens really, I have more than enough bandwidth and am unlimited on it too. The only thing I am concerned about really is when I am maxing out my bandwidth with a large download and my neighbour gets call breakup they won't realise what's going on and might go and moan that the network is rubbish.

    When I had the femto in my house (its now being trialled by my friend who has just ordered one he thought it was so good) I noticed it flashing green on a couple of occasions too and I wasnt using it. I too have thin walls. I live in a semi and there is only one or two bricks between my neighbour and me.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 10
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    Can I ask, is everyone who has got or are getting a Signal Box, on a business contract with Orange?
    I'm getting nowhere fast trying to order one as I'm constantly told I need to be a business user to order one. :mad:
  • jcwackyjcwacky Posts: 37
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    Hmm, mine arrived today and I'm having a little trouble getting it working.

    I plugged it in, the green light started flashing, I called to get it activated, and 20 mins later the green light went solid, but I'm still only seeing 1-2 bars in my phone.

    I've tried rebooting the phone, rebooting the signal box, turning off LTE etc, but no joy.

    Any ideas?

    usualsuspect: Yep, I'm an EE Business customer I'm afraid.
  • jon41jon41 Posts: 1,427
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    jcwacky wrote: »
    Hmm, mine arrived today and I'm having a little trouble getting it working.

    I plugged it in, the green light started flashing, I called to get it activated, and 20 mins later the green light went solid, but I'm still only seeing 1-2 bars in my phone.

    I've tried rebooting the phone, rebooting the signal box, turning off LTE etc, but no joy.

    Any ideas?

    usualsuspect: Yep, I'm an EE Business customer I'm afraid.

    Don't reboot the cell, but do a manual search and then select the EE 3G version, it should then connect. Make a call to 150 and if you hear the tone then your connected.
  • jon41jon41 Posts: 1,427
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    DevonBloke wrote: »
    Anyone know why sometimes when connected to my signalbox, find my iphone shows me located in North Carolina?
    Wierd.

    I keep getting Madurai, India but as soon as I put wifi on it corrects.
  • jcwackyjcwacky Posts: 37
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    jon41 wrote: »
    Don't reboot the cell, but do a manual search and then select the EE 3G version, it should then connect. Make a call to 150 and if you hear the tone then your connected.

    Thanks just been having a play with that. To start with no matter what I tried, I couldn't get the phone to connect to the box in Automatic mode, it had to be in Manual, with "EE (3G)" selected. This wasn't ideal for me, as I'd presumably have to change it back to automatic each time I went out so that I could make use of 4G.

    However, somehow it appears to now be doing it, got the phone in automatic, and even after a reboot, it connected back up to the box! Let's hope it stays like this. Has the phone someone learnt that the box's signal should take preference?
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