Explorer
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29 Messages
Is the MicroCell Service Down?
Around mid-morning on November 1, my MicroCell went offline and has not been able to connect since. Everything else on my network is behaving normally and I've had no interruption in my Internet service. So, I was wondering if someone might know if there's a problem with the service in general? Perhaps something weather-related? If not, is there a way I can verify that my device is ironies not malfunctioning?
Thanks!
Charlie
OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.3K Messages
11 years ago
First of all, I do not work for AT&T in any capacity whatsoever. I've just had a MicroCell for a very long time and, like you, had some connectivity issues at first that were very frustrating. I worked thru them, with practically no help from AT&T support, and from help with some of the folks here. I've been trying ever since to repay the kindness and support that I received here by helping out wherever I can. That resulted in AT&T awarding me the ACE for contributions made and some solutions to common problems.
It is true that support will initially blame the ISP for connection issues but sometimes they are correct. I firmly believe that while the MicroCell is a great idea, and it does work for most people, it is a poorly implemented device with poor support.
The "4G upgrade" or whatever it was did in fact break a lot of MicroCells. Whether it actually broke something physically in the MicroCell or altered the way it communicates with some ISPs remains unknown. And I doubt if AT&T will ever truly know what it going on let alone tell us.
I recommend port forwarding to a static MicroCell IP address because that is the only way I could get mine to work realiably thru power outages, updates, power cycleing, etc. My connection is a sustained 20Mbps DSL line (1.0Mbps upload) with a static IP address. The router is an Apple Extreme Base Station and the only ethernet connected device is the MicroCell. All three devices, router, DSL gateway, and MicroCell are connected to an APC Battery Backup (model #BE550G). The MicroCell sits about 18" away from an unobstructed window and about 2' feet away from the router.
You can go to the blue envelope in the upper right hand portion of this page, click on it to get to the personal message page, click on New Messages, and send your issues (including your setup detailed) to ATTCustomerSupport. That is something relatively new here and is supposed to go straight to support with a little more "personal" attention. I haven't used it yet so I can't tell you how effective it is. But it is another avenue to pursue.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.3K Messages
11 years ago
I'd like to correct that. I meant 1.5Mbps download speed. Sorry.
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MC_ISP
Teacher
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10 Messages
11 years ago
Hi, this is a tech from Charlie's ISP chiming in....
There is a specific block of IP addresses that the MicroCells supposedly communicate with. After digging around with some inspection tools we were able to see that traffic to that group of IPs on Nov 1- when our customer's MicroCell devices were still working- was ~23Mb on port 4500. Then suddenly something just choked off and that same port was only running ~1.5Mb on the same 4500 port by Nov 5 when our customers started reporting problems.
This traffic is not being blocked, as we can still see the tiny little trickle going through. It's just suddenly only a fraction of what it used to be. We're wondering if the MicroCell is attempting to establish a secure connection with the AT&T servers, but that process isn't completing like it should so the conversation never goes beyond 'hey, I'm here....'.
I just got off the phone with my escalated AT&T tech contact and right now I am still waiting for signs of life on that netblock and/or some communication from them re further trouble shooting or solutions they've arrived at. Hopefully I'll have some good news to report.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.3K Messages
11 years ago
This is very intersting and I'm glad you figured out as much as you did. Sounds to me like whatever update AT&T did screwed the port 4500 and it's ability to communicate properly either at the MicroCell end or AT&Ts server end. This must be regional because I haven't seen that here and we are a major market. You can send a pm (blue envelope in the upper right hand corner) to ATTCustomerSupport which circumvents a level or two.
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MC_ISP
Teacher
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10 Messages
11 years ago
Since I've already got an escalated contact working on this, I'm going to be following up with him rather than trying to make more noise from another angle. Possibilites that were raised during my previous conversation were routing issues with that netblock, server/software issues, or a device firmware update gone wrong.
I tried checking in w/ them last night and they didn't have an update yet. This morning I'm still not seeing more traffic to/from that netblock.
So... we're all still waiting for them to fix their stuff. Hopefully they'll be able to diagnose it and come up with a solution before the end of the week.
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CharlieSchorner
Explorer
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29 Messages
11 years ago
Thanks Megan! I'm eager to see their response!
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MC_ISP
Teacher
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10 Messages
11 years ago
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.3K Messages
11 years ago
That's great! Sounds like something was blocking port 4500 from either AT&Ts or the ISPs end.
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MC_ISP
Teacher
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10 Messages
11 years ago
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.3K Messages
11 years ago
I'm not surprised it was on AT&Ts end. That usually seems to be the case. At least your customer's are up and running and all is apparently well.
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