Comments on: Review Update: AT&T 3G MicroCell

By: James

James — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 02:59:40 +0000

I laugh that you think Verizon will be any better then AT&T and I can tell you that they are no better or worse then any other of the big 3 companies, each has thier down falls it’s just which ones are you willing to live with……I’ve had both if not all three verizon was kicked to the curb over 7 years ago, customer survice sucks and I will not go back, I admit they have some neat phones but do not care for customer support or being tied to a cdma phone for two years.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:38:21 +0000

For many reasons – 1, when I bought the original version of the iPhone, there was nothing else like it for reading email and all of the other things it did! NOTHING compared to it (have you ever tried reading email on a 2007 Blackberry Pearl?). And, AT&T has been promising all of these upgrades, and that they covered “97%” of all Americans”, etc., etc. AT&T has seen their subscribership explode due to the monopoly they have, and are not investing in their infrastructure at the same pace. Verizon’s “There’s a map for that” commercials are accurate, which is why they have been allowed to run them.

What seems stupid to me is that people aren’t complaining more about the fact that we in the US, where the iPhone was invented, are locked into a sole provider. Even our border countries Mexico and Canada can now buy an unlocked iPhone!

And do you think I am the only one with bad reception? Have you not been listening to the problems around the country?

What seems stupid to me is there isn’t enough of an outcry yet to find a problem with AT&T having such a monopoly in the US.

By: Grady

Grady — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:21:08 +0000

Why would you buy a phone or service that doesn’t work in the areas that you use it??? If the provider is so bad, why didn’t you take advantage of the 30-day return? It just seems stupid now that you are complaining about it.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:02:45 +0000

“My advice to those who are irritated is to try the re-configuration and if ATT&T doesn’t work for you, move on….its all about choices”

Actually, it’s NOT. AT&T has a monopoly on the iPhone here in the US. It is about choices just about everywhere else in the world. I switched to AT&T for the iPhone with the 1st generation, and the network has not improved in my area – it is still the “edge” network. And I’m not alone – look at how many people have discussed how bad AT&T’s network is. However, I don’t have a choice if I want to keep the iPhone.

I will switch to Verizon when it happens, which I expect will occur sometime between November 2010 and February 2011. I don’t care if I have to pay a cancellation fee. And, I will switch everyone else within our company who are using it as well – I am that dissatisfied with AT&T as a provider.

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:50:39 +0000

Charles, thank you for your post regarding the Microcell from last fall! My husband and I live in a remote area of SW Missouri and had just purchased the M-cell from ATT&T a couple days ago. After severeal attempts to get activated by relocating the cell and rebooting as well as a couple of phone calls to the techies, we were starting to think it just wasn’t going to work. I started looking around at various blogs and ran across yours with your most helpful diagram and witty commentary! We changed our wiring using your priority mode configuration and within 10 min. we had 5 bars and were able to make and accept calls and text messages from our home. I just wanted to say “thanks” for your information and I needed to respond to your post because you seem to keep perspective and remain fairly non-judgmental. My advice to those who are irritated is to try the re-configuration and if ATT&T doesn’t work for you, move on….its all about choices….thanks again!

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:18:17 +0000

Ken,

Thanks for the insight.

By: Ken

Ken — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 03:20:07 +0000

No just the Internet. Somewhere it said to put it close to a window but that is just for GPS positioning so it can tell the location of the device. I do not have mine close to a window.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:42:19 +0000

Ken,

Thanks. I thought somewhere I had read that in order for it to work, you had to be able to place it where it would be within site of an AT&T signal? Is that incorrect? An internet connection is all that is required?

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:08:17 +0000

Steve the micro cell will work if you have a Internet connection.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:01:54 +0000

AT&T sucks! Coverage in Smithfield VA is horrible, and the 250 MB iPad coverage for $15 doesn’t last just reading basic RSS feeds.
They are selectively giving out Microcells, and by not doing that for everyone, alienate those who have to pay for them. If you haven’t heard of that, visit; http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/10/atandt-handing-out-free-3g-microcells-to-loyal-customers/

Anyhow, for those who have a working Microcell, do any of you only get an Edge signal? There is no 3G coverage where we live, and we barely get an Edge signal, and nothing inside the house – period. I’m wondering if the Microcell will even work in that environment.

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:53:16 +0000

Bought the micro cell against my better judgement, why pay extra to get good service. I now get the 5 bars even with the death grip on my iphone 4. I have a huge complaint though, when talking on the phone I get the delay action which causes you to talk over the other person. Very annoying and will have to return it if this continues.

By: Graham

Graham — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:45:42 +0000

I finally conquered the task of activating the Microcell for my office. I had sufficient problems getting the device to work, because all wiring connections labeled in the set-up/ user manual would not comply with our network server. I had to connect the Microcell to the modem port in my PC similar to option B in the manual. Instead of running our gray Category 5 Ethernet from the wall into the black port labeled “Computer” and the yellow Ethernet cable into the back of my PC, I had to run the yellow Ethernet cable from yellow “Ethernet” port on the Microcell to the port in the wall, and the gray Category 5 cable from the port labeled “Computer” to the back of my PC. AT&t states that the activation may take up to an hour via online (took 2 hours for my account) and that the Microcell should start working within 90 minutes. My Microcell would first light-up the “power” icon and the “computer” icon which shows data transfer. If you have it connected properly the “Ethernet” icon should stop blinking rapidly and become solid after about a minute. Between 5-10 minutes after the “Ethernet” icon becomes solid, the “GPS” icon and “3G” icon will begin blinking back and forth. My Microcell rebooted (all icons turn off except “power” icon for the device to restart) itself multiple times before it worked. I talked to an array of At&T technicians (many of them I found to know more about the device than they did) to see if maybe I needed to contact my IT Rep for firewall blocking issues. It took my Microcell hours to begin fully functioning. Once the Microcell is up and running the 5 bars of service on the Iphones is phenomenal. I hope this comment helps any stranded Microcell activators.

By: John

John — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:22:40 +0000

According to the Microcell site, it requires a signal to be able to work. However, I did not see any mention of what TYPE of AT&T signal - 3G only, or will an "Edge" signal work? All we get is the crappy Edge network here (and even that is iffy - so much for "97% of all Americans"), the nearest 3G signal is at least 10 miles away.

Does anyone know if it works with Edge?

By: ljh

ljh — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:15:53 +0000

I don't think verizon is good at all but this microcell has been a godsend for me and my family, I live in rural ky and all other providers except at&t have more trouble than they are worth. we have been with at&t for over 5 years now and while my brother in law has changed to everything but at&t during that time no one can ever get ahold of him and he complains of never having signal...

So my point is the quality of the company depends on where you are either living or working, and like my family we have service everywhere except at home, which was fixed with the 3g microcell....

By: wtf

wtf — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:54:24 +0000

AT$T selling you a microsell to fix AT$T service you already pay for??????

the fact your even testing this thing and giving a opinion makes you stupid..

By: Final Word on AT&T 3G MicroCell: Meh

Final Word on AT&T 3G MicroCell: Meh — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:24:19 +0000

[...] succeeds, but it’s frustrating, and it happens on both my iPhone and my wife’s iPhone. After six months of being a beta tester, replacing one problematic MicroCell, troubleshooting various problems with tech support and [...]