back to article Exploding femtocells: No need for a full recall, says Vodafone

Vodafone says that anxious customers of its home femtocell box are safe, despite experiencing continuing brownouts. Although Vodafone is replacing the Alcatel-made units on request, it has declined to carry out a full recall. Vodafone sells the Sure Signal V3 femtocell for £69 to help users with notspots in their home. But for …

  1. Your alien overlord - fear me

    killed the UPS and tripped it's fuse and took out his home's electrics? Sounds a tad excessive for a brownout. Sure he wasn't testing an EMP cannon?

    1. choleric

      It was only supposed to take the doors off.

    2. Sam Crawley

      It was me quoted, definitely not an EMP cannon although it did not feel like the "safe failure" that the CEO claims I experienced!

  2. AndrueC Silver badge
    Meh

    They are a bit power thirsty as well. Mine was always pretty warm to the touch and the power meter I own claimed it was consuming 40w (for whatever that's worth).

    I retired mine when I got my S7 because that supports 4G and will always use it in preference to 2/3G which is all that the SS3 supports. Since my house does have a 4G signal (albeit somewhat weak) the SS3 was being ignored. Luckily it turns out that one bar of 4G is good enough for voice calls (1 bar for 3G was not). My S7 also has wifi calling but so far hasn't used it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      You won't be making a voice call over 4G with Vodafone yet. Your phone will be doing down to 2G or 3G as soon as you initiate a call.

      1. Peter Curnow-Ford

        Its a pity the operators aren't a bit more honest, only EE will have voice (VoLTE) at the end of '17 because they are contractually bound to do so for the Emergency Services.

        Second is that greater than 50 or 60% of the handsets in use don't have VoLTE support. Yep good old 2G and 3G works well (still) when you can get it.

        We have 2 femto's in our house (EE) and are battling vodafone to get a 3rd so a work's supplied phone can make a call!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is it just me?

    Is it just me, or does there seem to be a seriously crap tat being pushed into peoples homes these days? Whether it's phone chargers, Vodafone Suresignals, washing machine or cookers. How does any of this stuff pass any safety tests? All electrical devices are supposed to be tested and certified by a qualified test house by the manufacturer or importer, but no-one seems to care.

    Even worse, much of this cheap tat is expected to be running unattended 24/7. Maybe it's just me, but I remember when folks were encouraged to make sure all electrical devices were unplugged overnight and when not in use.

    Wonder whether the CEO of Vodafone would be so non-chalant if one of these exploded in his childs face or started arcing when next to a pile of newspaper or dry clothes?

    1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      Re: Is it just me?

      How does any of this stuff pass any safety tests? All electrical devices are supposed to be tested and certified by a qualified test house by the manufacturer or importer

      In a word (or two): "self-certification".

      Not worth the paper it (isn't) written on.

      1. Peter2 Silver badge

        Re: Is it just me?

        Besides total lack of ability to fulfil the purpose of their existence, I really don't get why Trading Standards doesn't do random testing of stuff off of the shelf to see if it meets appropriate standards.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Is it just me?

          I really don't get why Trading Standards doesn't do random testing of stuff off of the shelf to see if it meets appropriate standards.

          Even the infamous Note 7 had only around 100 reported fires out of about 1.9 million made. If you're suggesting testing (as opposed to analysis) you'd need to test rather a lot of devices to have any statistical validity. If you're proposing teardown and risk analysis, can you really see any Trading Standards or contract lab having the skills to diagnose the specific risks that made the Note 7 dangerous and the Samsung S7 adequately safe?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Is it just me?

      Is it just me, or does there seem to be a seriously crap tat being pushed into peoples homes these days?

      'Twas ever thus. I think all that's changed is that we buy more electronic stuff, with a side order of wanting it cheap as chips as quickly as possible. It isn't limited to electronics - look at the real duffers of cars launched on an unsuspecting public going back many decades. Assorted tumble dryers have been a fire hazard for over a decade, one maker sold a range of fire-causing fridge freezers, a certain reputable German maker has a problem with self-igniting dishwashers.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Is it just me?

      A brownout isn't going to "explode in a child's face". Don't be such a drama whore.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fixed for pennies

    http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/transient-suppressor-metal-oxide-varistor-cp76h

    Voltage spikes on the mains should not be causing such impact.

    1. ilmari

      Re: Fixed for pennies

      Actually, from the article I get the impression that what the device had was exactly the above: A MOV.

      The thing is, they get more and more sensitive over time, and WILL become fully conductive during normal voltage, eventually.

      In a properly designed device you make sure that the resulting fire or explosion doesn't spread, and that there's a fuse that disconnects it when the short circuit does happen.

      That's what the "Protection OK" light on a surge protector is for, once the MOV shorts and causes the fuse to blow, the light no longer gets power and goes out.

  5. G R Goslin

    Vodafone? Nuff said

    I had one of these units, when I had an account with Voda. It replaced a version 2 unit that was prone to losing contact. The first thing I noted, was that the unit became very hot. far hotter than experience said was good for an electronics package. I got rid and went back to the less than ideal ver 2. Shortly after that I gave Voda the heave-ho. Not from the reason of the femtocell units. The ver 2, when it worked had excellent range. No, the reason I changed supplier was the absolutely horrendous customer support service. Not just on one or two issues, but on EVERY issue. It didn't seem to matter where the issue was handled, England, Scotland, Sub Asia, User Forums, the results, or lack of results was just the same. I'm now with Three, and never a moments problem with support. How Voda holds onto its customers is totally beyond me.

  6. Big_Boomer

    Kak kit to fix Kak network

    Voda signal at my house dropped dramatically about 5 years after I moved in. Contacted Voda and was offered a femtocell at a cost of £60. Told em to stuff it. Acquired a used one from a friend for free but they are locked to a particular contract or some such so never worked. Binned it as useless junk. A few years later after many more problems finally ditched Voda for Tesco. Half the cost and no more problems.So, not only do they ask you to pay for the fact that their network coverage is crap, but the kit they sell you to remedy their poor coverage is Kak too. Sounds just like them and their piss-poor attitude towards customers. My advice is vote with your feet.

    1. AndrueC Silver badge
      Meh

      Re: Kak kit to fix Kak network

      Acquired a used one from a friend for free but they are locked to a particular contract or some such so never worked.

      That's a little harsh. The SS3 will (sensibly in my opinion) only provide a service to registered devices so you have to be able to manage the device list. That is done through the Vodafone account portal which means registering the device to your account. That requires that you enter the SS3 serial number and wait 24 hours. Granted the s/no on the SS3 is very small writing it wasn't too onerous.

      But despite (or because of?) me being a Vodafone customer I cannot simply post a complementary message. As regards the SS3 I remember one occasion when the entire system was down for over a week. Vodafone's support was awful. Most of the team knew nothing about the fault (including some but not all forum staff). Those who did know could only acknowledge it and say that it was 'being worked on'. The rest just trotted out the standard troubleshooting steps often causing users unnecessary inconvenience in working through them. Some were even asked to send their SS3 back to get a replacement.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I got one for my mum once

    couldn't even get it to work. They tried to convince me I should be adding static routes to broadband router to make it work - which it didn't. gave it back as an expensive plastic room warmer...

  8. xeroks

    are these different from the femto cells Three supply?

    Three gave me a femto cell unit because of lack of reception at our flat. No idea what model it is, but it's a very different design, just plugs into your ethernet.

    Interesting Vodaphone charge so much for what seems a similar piece of teckery.

    1. G R Goslin

      Re: are these different from the femto cells Three supply?

      They're essentially just the same. Despite usually being called "booster", all they are are a low power mobile mast setup, but only receptive to registered 'phones. They use your modem router to send the signal to the supplier. The advantage of the Voda unit, was that it was of a much higher power. I could get a full power signal up to 30 metres away from the unit, and that through several thick walls. The Three unit by comparison is much less effective, the signal level notable dropping off in the next room. I changed simply because of the incredibly bad customer service. In my entire life, I've never come across such consistently bad service, which applied across the whole of the company.

  9. jahill

    I hate to burst Vodafone's PR bubble, but I'm not convinced that all the failures happen in the way they describe.

    I've had four units fail, each one with the lights remaining on. Each unit also burning hot to touch. When restarted, the lights *then* wouldn't appear, which suggests a more complex fault than just the MOV failing.

  10. Spamfast
    Facepalm

    Schmucks

    Subscribe to a network service.

    Find out that the service is sub-standard.

    Pay the network service provider for a gadget to alleviate the deficiency.

    Assuming it works, pay the network service provider to route calls over a channel that you're paying someone else to provide.

    Hope that the gadget doesn't burn your house down.

    Why?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Schmucks

      Plenty of sources to check coverage before you subscribe to anyone. And plenty of reasons why a loss of coverage might warrant one of these, or for those that live in a 400 year old building with thick stone walls but works from home. I wish people on this forum held a modicum of intelligence sometimes.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Hmmm

    Just had to replace one that went completely dead at my boss's house - no lights on it at all. IIRC it was installed in 2014 - Voda's response was it was out of warranty so we had to fork out for a new one. I use EE and wi-fi calling on my own handset -works perfectly without additional hardware like voda need.

  12. jahill

    WiFi calling works on some Vodafone tariffs too, the catch is you can't send or receive text messages while outside of their cellular signal, which can be a bit of an issue.

    1. Sam Crawley

      Doesn't work on corporate tariffs because <this is what we've been told by our account team> Vodagroan haven't worked out how to charge for the service on the corporate billing engine yet. Ignoring the point that you would only be using Wifi calling when their own network is insufficient in the first place.

  13. movinglight

    First I have heard

    Mine blew a few months ago, took it apart to see why - it must have been violent when it happened.

    If I had known this was a common problem I would have asked for replacement, as it was the thought of talking to Vodafone and trying to get it sorted made me feel depressed, its been easier to do without...

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