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Vodafone Sure Signal review

Boost your mobile phone’s reception at home

vodafone-sure-signal-boost-mobile-reception

In our tests the Vodafone Sure Signal was easy to setup and improved mobile reception

If you have poor mobile phone reception at home then the Vodafone Sure Signal can help. This device connects to your broadband router at home using an Ethernet cable. Once you've registered the phones you want to use with it on Vodafone's website, the Sure Signal then routes calls and text messages to and from your mobiles over your internet connection instead of your mobile connection. Your phones keep their numbers and work as normal. It also works with internet traffic, although there's no point in doing this at home when you have Wifi.

As with previous Sure Signals, it only works with Vodafone pay monthly or pay as you go mobiles. Unlike previous models which were the size of a router, this new version is around the size of a mug and plugs directly into a wall socket. It's still big enough to block adjacent power sockets, but it does have a pass through socket so at least you regain the use of the wall socket it's plugged into. There's also an extra Ethernet socket to compensate for the one used by the Sure Signal on your router.

Read more: Vodafone reviews | home network reviews

We tested the Sure Signal in a three storey north London house with poor to middling Vodafone reception. The Sure Signal was positioned on the second floor and proved to be effective at improving reception on the ground and third floors. Calls which would otherwise be missed or dropped mid-conversation were successfully received. Disappointingly call quality didn't improve –voices remained tinny and robotic sounding.

Annoyingly calls made from a Sure Signal-connected phone are still charged at the same rates as if you were using your mobile connection. If you wander out of range of the Sure Signal then your call can drop and you'll need to redial. The Sure Signal should also improve text message reception, but we weren't able to test this.

In our tests the Vodafone Sure Signal was easy to setup and improved mobile reception, but not call quality. At £100, the price can be hard to justify especially if you already have a landline phone at home that can be used instead of a mobile.

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Reader Comments

£100 is a rip-off

I had a problem with reception at home but I'm with 3 rather than with Vodafone. When I contacted them and asked if they had a similar booster to the one that I knew that Vodafone had. Customer services at 3 said that they had and sent me one by next day delivery FREE OF CHARGE. That's why I think that the Vodafone deal is a rip-off - if their signal is so poor that you can't receive it, they should supply you with the booster for free.

Posted by James Wheeldon, 24 Jan 2013

Vodafone is a rip off merchant

I have 3 pay monthly top of the range contracts with Vodafone and an I pad contract and 3 pay as you go all with Vodafone. My monthly bill is never less than £350 I can't get signal at w My office nor my home, where I actually need the phone Vodafone would not understand my point that if I am paying for a service I expect to have a service that works They wanted to charge me £100 to buy the sure signal that should make their system works Out of principals I refused to do that I have all new devices, I have their top notch tariff, why should I pay more to make it work? I will not be renewing any contract with Vodafone and will stick to a company that cares I am sure there are many providers out there who would be happy to bend over backwards to accommodate my £350+ a month Vodafone, you messed up. Hopefully more and more people would read this and would also take their business away from Vodafone

Posted by Walid el Taki, 26 Feb 2013

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Our verdict

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The Sure Signal works, but it has its limitations and it isn't cheap.

Good points

Can boost phone reception at home; Easy to set up; Pass through plug

Bad points

Can block adjacent sockets; Doesn't improve call quality; Calls still charged at normal rates

Manufacturer

Vodafone

Suggested retail price

£100

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