Vodafone have started selling femtocells branded as "Sure Signal"s in the UK. They work by plugging into your home broadband and creating a small 3G cell to boost your mobile reception.

Has anyone got one? Is it any good?

Something I wondered as well - if you're on a pay for data contract, when you download data over the Sure Signal - do you pay for that data?

Can other people use your Sure Signal? Do they pay for data?


Thanks.

hmmmmm im a bit un-impressed with the Voda sure signal thing, we had Voda reps at cpw yapping about it and they seemed to not understand it them selves.

this is what the Voda reps said was its main points of interest.

1/ the device creates a mini tower in your home
2/ the phone auto connects via basic gsm signal switching - so no user interaction is needed
3/ the gsm signal is routed through your home broadband
4/ you will need a miniumum of 1MB home broadband connection
5/ its a perfect solution for people who want the internet in a low Vodafone coverage area

now my problem with all this is

1/ how strong is the signal it creates in the home i.e. SAR value, if towers within 1/2 a mile of a school are deemed dangerous, why would we put one in our kitchens?
2/ if there is no user interaction then anyone else on Voda could connect to your Sure Signal station and access your internet, just by standing outside.
3 & 4/ fair enough
5/ wait a minute?? if you have low vodafone signal where you live, WHY would you buy a Sure Signal device thats uses your home broadband to access Vodafone's mobile internet services, just use your original internet connection.

We gave the Voda reps a real hard time with their pitch about this, especially their comment that Sure Signal 'guarantees' a minimum 3.6mb internet connection, we asked what if your home internet connection is only say 1.5mb/2mb? hes answer was 'its like magic' it boosts the signal to 3.6mb - which is rubbish how can a Sure Signal device boost a internet connection whos max speed is 2mb to 3.6mb?

hahahah so, no I will not be getting this

FYI if your interested the price is gonna be about £50 from what the Voda reps said

Let me do it for you: http://tinyurl.com/y8n9c7h

Sure Signal and the concept behind it is good, as it provides a good way to patch up shoddy 3g signal in cases where you want 3g rather than wlan for whatever reason, the problem with this is just the glaring massive gaping flaw that is it's pricing.

Yes, you have to pay Vodafone for a device that makes up for their own dodgy 3g network rather than them giving it to you, and yes both data charges and calls using it are charged at your normal rate, meaning you're paying for the same data twice (once to your broadband supplier and once to vodafone) despite the fact that Vodafone's cost to supply you with the data connection is reduced by 99% when using the SureSignal (their only cost is the very cheap backend systems to pass your connection out to the net, the cell infrastructure to get the signal to your phone is gone, thanks to a box *you paid for*).

As a result at the moment these devices may be handy in some cases, but the principal of their pricing is just laughable, and seriously needs an overhaul.

Just an addition to address a few points in the above posts...

You can add additional devices - The suresignal box will handle 4 devices I believe (they need to be using Vodafone) and those devices will be charged for data transfer through it as normal.

The signal power output is very low (these devices only have a range of a few tens of feet) so in practical terms while no published SAR for the device exists to my knowledge, the actual output power is not realistically going to be any different to standing anywhere in the country that has reasonably decent HSDPA coverage.

The rep was probably a combination of clueless and confusing himself - The suresignal box will allow a 3.6mbit HSDPA connection (rather than a slower 1.8 rate or a full speed 7.2 or newer 14mbit), though obviously your actual throughput is still limited by the internet connection the box is attached to, the rep's figure simply relates to the 3g connection type the box provides.

Yes, I have a SureSignal at home. Considering I work from home, I am happy that a) the base station is close by now and so battery consumption on phone is less and b) that I am almost guaranteed not to lose signal like I used to with O2 from time to time when I am at home.

Yes I agree, Vodafone need to improve the pricing structure for this. However I never use the data when at home as I have wifi so I don't pay twice for my data.

Your tiny url isn't working spoonbuddy..

It seems the suresignal device would be useful for 2 reasons..

1/ if you really really need to boost phone signal level in your house

or

2/ 1 applies you don't know how (or your iphone refuses!) to connect your phone to your broadband..

All in all sounds like the latest marketing ploy (see latest adverts) from voda to increase market share and (cynically) get people to be routing data via their network rather than fixed broadband. Presumably the bandwidth drawn by the sure signal device does come off your monthly allowance from your provider?

yeah yeah yeah, touché my picky friend. I wanted to get some real responses and not just the marketing gumph from the vodafone website.

i wouldn't worry about radiation - as far as i can tell the radiation is less powerful than a normal wifi access point and it's about the same frequency (microwave). "antennas near schools" what absolute pseudo science bullsh1t. Mobile phones aint givin no kids no cancer.

love the bollocks you've been told about 3.6mb/s even on a 1mb/s internet connection - absolute typical salesperson crap.

thanks for the responses thus far anyway.

We are talking about phone salesmen here. Isn't it in their nature?

Just because you're getting 3.6mbps between the phone and the femtocell doesn't mean you're getting 3.6mbps to 'teh internet'.

I kind of like the idea, would be good if you're going abroad and want to use your phone on it's UK number without having to roam (whilst you are in one place). It would also be good if you got a £5 credit each month from voda if you have it installed at home, but that sure as hell ain't happening...

Also, is noone worried about the 3G signals being transmitted by the mini cell in your home or are we over that worry now?

Does not work. Vodafone are perfectly happy with the current arrangement of taking huge amounts of money from you in the form of roaming charges, which is why their femtocells will only work when hooked up to a UK net connection.