ATT MicroCell

Boris <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> [email protected] (Malcolm Hoar) wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> In article <[email protected]>, John Navas
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>Man, those AT&T executives must have a hard time walking down the
>>>>hallways without spontaneously breaking into giggles.
>>>
>>>If it's such a bad deal to you, then don't buy it.
>>>That's how the free market works.
>>
>> Yup, but for some folks (me included) it's a pretty decent
>> offering. I have a huge problem with reception at home and
>> my options were limited:
>>
>> 1. Switch carrier. Verizon and Sprint reception is just as
>> bad. T-Mobile is fine but I don't like other aspects of
>> their package.
>>
>> 2. Install a repeater. Something of a crap-shoot and a
>> decent one would have cost a *lot* more than the $150
>> I paid for the Microcell.
>>
>> For me, it solved my one and only serious problem -- for
>> a one-time payment of $150 and no additional monthly fees.
>>
>> That's something I can live with. And I'm no AT&T fan boy
>> either. I'd ditch 'em in a heartbeat if I could. Having
>> said, that I've found the wireless side of AT&T to be far
>> less obnoxious than the copper side.
>>
>>
>
> Yep. Pretty much my attitude. I can complain all I want, but that
> won't get me reception inside my home.
>
> After reading all the tech reviews, and this ng, I decided it was time
> to just buy the thing and try it out. I went to the ATT store and
> bought the microcell last night.
>
> Four days earlier, when I called ATT and they told me the solution was
> their microcell for $150, I balked at the price, and the rep said he'd
> note in my file that they'd credit my bill $50 if I bought the thing.
> We'll see.
>
> I haven't had time to set it up yet, but will report back in a few
> days.
>
> Thanks.
>

I set up the microcell. It took 5 hours for the GPS to go solid, and
another hour for the 3G light to go solid. The microcell is positioned
near a window, upstairs. While upstairs, I get between 4 and 5 bars, and
when I go downstairs I get between 3 and 4 bars.

I tried calling a friend in New Mexico, one that I had previously been
able to call from my house without the microcell (with 1 to 2 bars on my
phone). The call got dropped 5 times, and I finally gave up and used my
landline.

I wonder if my cell phone is first connecting with the microcell signal,
but then wants to hand the call off to the outside (weaker) signal, and
it gets dropped during the handoff, and not because the outside signal is
weaker.

I have read, and the ATT rep did tell me, that hand offs get dropped.

Wonder if I should try a different placement of the microcell. Something
tells me I'm going to end up returning the unit. I really do wish it
would work.

---

› See More: ATT MicroCell

In article <[email protected]>, Boris <[email protected]> wrote:
>I set up the microcell. It took 5 hours for the GPS to go solid, and
>another hour for the 3G light to go solid. The microcell is positioned
>near a window, upstairs. While upstairs, I get between 4 and 5 bars, and
>when I go downstairs I get between 3 and 4 bars.

I get 4 or 5 bars all over my house except for one dead spot
(a large oven and fridge are between the Microcell and that
spot so I assume all of the metal blocks that signal).

>I wonder if my cell phone is first connecting with the microcell signal,
>but then wants to hand the call off to the outside (weaker) signal, and
>it gets dropped during the handoff, and not because the outside signal is
>weaker.
>
>I have read, and the ATT rep did tell me, that hand offs get dropped.

Yes, handoffs suck. And my phone does (rarely) connect to a
regular tower although it's on the Microcell 98% of the time.

>Wonder if I should try a different placement of the microcell.

It's certainly worth a try. With all low power RF setups, minor
changes to the position and orientation of the antenna can make
a huge difference.

Sorry it hasn't worked out better for you so far.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| [email protected] Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In message <[email protected]>
Roy <[email protected]> was claimed to have wrote:

>Your understanding is wrong. As part od the setup you set to allow only
>certain wireless numbers to use the cell.

This is actually one of my biggest complaints about the whole thing. I
don't want to limit it to me, I want my visitors to have decent cell
service too.

On 6/1/2010 1:27 PM, DevilsPGD wrote:
> In message<[email protected]>
> Roy<[email protected]> was claimed to have wrote:
>
>> Your understanding is wrong. As part od the setup you set to allow only
>> certain wireless numbers to use the cell.
>
> This is actually one of my biggest complaints about the whole thing. I
> don't want to limit it to me, I want my visitors to have decent cell
> service too.

The Verizon microcell gives priority to the registered phones but allows
all Verizon subscribers to use the box. There is an upper limit to the
number of simultaneous calls (three I think).

In message <[email protected]> Todd Allcock
<[email protected]> was claimed to have wrote:

>At 01 Jun 2010 13:27:22 -0700 DevilsPGD wrote:
>> In message <[email protected]>
>> Roy <[email protected]> was claimed to have wrote:
>>
>> >Your understanding is wrong. As part od the setup you set to allow
>only
>> >certain wireless numbers to use the cell.
>>
>> This is actually one of my biggest complaints about the whole thing. I
>> don't want to limit it to me, I want my visitors to have decent cell
>> service too.
>
>
>I think that's probably just AT&T's way of "protecting" the owner- IIRC,
>the Microcell can only handle a few (five?) simultaneous connections, so
>a "whitelist" is an easy way to guarantee it's always available to your
>phone(s).

Making it a "Allow all phones" option would be sufficient in my books.

>Perhaps they're picturing a Microcell owner using it in an apartment
>building where a dozen AT&T phones might be in range at all times, and
>the owner might have a hard time getting a channel on his own cell!

Yeah, it's a risk. However, for the farm-out-in-the-boonies, it would
be a godsend.

>Having said that, there are certainly other, and perhaps better, ways to
>deal with it- e.g. an "open" Microcell with a "priority" whitelist that
>can bump other users, or dedicated channels for your phone(s), and first
>come-first served for the remainder.

All of those would be nice options.

[email protected] (Malcolm Hoar) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> In article <[email protected]>, Boris
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>I set up the microcell. It took 5 hours for the GPS to go solid, and
>>another hour for the 3G light to go solid. The microcell is
>>positioned near a window, upstairs. While upstairs, I get between 4
>>and 5 bars, and when I go downstairs I get between 3 and 4 bars.
>
> I get 4 or 5 bars all over my house except for one dead spot
> (a large oven and fridge are between the Microcell and that
> spot so I assume all of the metal blocks that signal).
>
>>I wonder if my cell phone is first connecting with the microcell
>>signal, but then wants to hand the call off to the outside (weaker)
>>signal, and it gets dropped during the handoff, and not because the
>>outside signal is weaker.
>>
>>I have read, and the ATT rep did tell me, that hand offs get dropped.
>
> Yes, handoffs suck. And my phone does (rarely) connect to a
> regular tower although it's on the Microcell 98% of the time.
>
>>Wonder if I should try a different placement of the microcell.
>
> It's certainly worth a try. With all low power RF setups, minor
> changes to the position and orientation of the antenna can make
> a huge difference.
>
> Sorry it hasn't worked out better for you so far.
>

Good news.

I looked for the next most convenient spot to locate the microcell,
somewhere that didn't require me to run any ethernet wiring from my
router, yet place near a window. I have a wired pc in the garage, but
about 10-15' from any garage windows. This hookup was a little different
in that the first time I connected the microcell directly to my router,
but this time, because the microcell would be 'sharing' an ethernet LAN
connection with a pc, I removed the ethernet cable from the pc, plugged
it into the microcell, and then used another ethernet cable to connect
the microcell to the pc. (Are the microcell and the pc are using the
same ip that's handed out by my router? Is there a switch in the
microcell?)

The garage is at street level, and the rest of the house is one level up.

The gps came up solid right away, no hunting. Actually, once it
established gps connection the first day, it never hunted again whenever
I'd reboot (to get 3G going).

The internet connection came up solid right away, and dropped a few
times, but stayed solid within minutes.


The 3G signal took about 15 minutes.

While away from home, I used my att cell phone and called in to family's
att cell phones to check the microcell home connection, and all stayed
connected. I had family move about the house, especially where
connections had dropped the week before using the microcell, and this
time the connections held.

The garage is at street level, and the rest of the house is one level up.
The microcell, so far, works well under the devices it needs to reach.
When the microcell was on the same floor, it wouldn't hold a connection.

I would like to place the microcell somewhere other than the garage, but
for now, I seem to have a place that works.

Boris <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> [email protected] (Malcolm Hoar) wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> In article <[email protected]>, Boris
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>I set up the microcell. It took 5 hours for the GPS to go solid, and
>>>another hour for the 3G light to go solid. The microcell is
>>>positioned near a window, upstairs. While upstairs, I get between 4
>>>and 5 bars, and when I go downstairs I get between 3 and 4 bars.
>>
>> I get 4 or 5 bars all over my house except for one dead spot
>> (a large oven and fridge are between the Microcell and that
>> spot so I assume all of the metal blocks that signal).
>>
>>>I wonder if my cell phone is first connecting with the microcell
>>>signal, but then wants to hand the call off to the outside (weaker)
>>>signal, and it gets dropped during the handoff, and not because the
>>>outside signal is weaker.
>>>
>>>I have read, and the ATT rep did tell me, that hand offs get dropped.
>>
>> Yes, handoffs suck. And my phone does (rarely) connect to a
>> regular tower although it's on the Microcell 98% of the time.
>>
>>>Wonder if I should try a different placement of the microcell.
>>
>> It's certainly worth a try. With all low power RF setups, minor
>> changes to the position and orientation of the antenna can make
>> a huge difference.
>>
>> Sorry it hasn't worked out better for you so far.
>>
>
> Good news.
>
> I looked for the next most convenient spot to locate the microcell,
> somewhere that didn't require me to run any ethernet wiring from my
> router, yet place near a window. I have a wired pc in the garage, but
> about 10-15' from any garage windows. This hookup was a little
> different in that the first time I connected the microcell directly to
> my router, but this time, because the microcell would be 'sharing' an
> ethernet LAN connection with a pc, I removed the ethernet cable from
> the pc, plugged it into the microcell, and then used another ethernet
> cable to connect the microcell to the pc. (Are the microcell and the
> pc are using the same ip that's handed out by my router? Is there a
> switch in the microcell?)
>
> The garage is at street level, and the rest of the house is one level
> up.
>
> The gps came up solid right away, no hunting. Actually, once it
> established gps connection the first day, it never hunted again
> whenever I'd reboot (to get 3G going).
>
> The internet connection came up solid right away, and dropped a few
> times, but stayed solid within minutes.
>
>
> The 3G signal took about 15 minutes.
>
> While away from home, I used my att cell phone and called in to
> family's att cell phones to check the microcell home connection, and
> all stayed connected. I had family move about the house, especially
> where connections had dropped the week before using the microcell, and
> this time the connections held.
>
> The garage is at street level, and the rest of the house is one level
> up. The microcell, so far, works well under the devices it needs to
> reach. When the microcell was on the same floor, it wouldn't hold a
> connection.
>
> I would like to place the microcell somewhere other than the garage,
> but for now, I seem to have a place that works.

Well, it didn't work for long. Keeps dropping calls. Works better
without it. Going back.