Comcast and MicroCell

Ok. We'll need a little more information about your setup, etc. Below is our "starter" questions:

MicroCell™ TroubleShooting Questions:

1. Do you have an active postpaid AT&T mobile account?
2. Do you have a combined modem/router or a separate modem and router? What are the model numbers?
3. Have you met the minimum requirements for router configuration as outlined in the Tech Guide?
4. What are your download and upload speeds?
5. What kind of internet service do you have (ADSL, cable, WiFi)?
6. Are you using the basic connection (modem -> router -> MicroCell) or the alternate connection (modem -> MicroCell -> router)?
7. What other equipment (computers, WiFi TV’s, Xboxes, Playstations, etc.) do you have connected to your network?
8. What does the light pattern look like on the MicroCell (power, ethernet, GPS, and 3G)? Are they all a solid green or is any of them blinking green or red, and if so, which one?
9. Does the ac adapter feel warmer than the top of the MicroCell where the vents are?
10. Are all of the cables firmly in place?
11. Have you checked your line speed (http://www.speedtest.net/)? If so, please post results.
12. Have you checked to see if you line is adequate for VoIP(http://www.voipqualitytest.com/)? If so, please post your results.
13. Have you looked at the Tech Guide?

Thanks for getting back to me. I have been racking my pea brain all evening trying to get this worked in while I ran around getting pharmacy stuff for my wife (she has breast cancer).

Most of the info you requested is included in my original post.

My seed test with the link you gave me said:

DL=23.66Mbps

UL=6.01Mbps

My VoIP speed test would not run. Using the link you gave me it just said Java failed to load. I made certain my Java was properly updated (I am running Mac OS 10.6.8) and tried it again with the same results. I tried another VoIP speed test service and it failed as well.

I connected my computer directly to my Motorola Surfboard SB5120 cable modem via Ethernet and tried the test again with both VoIP test services. The link you supplied gave the following details:

Missing Application Name: manifest attribute for: http://208.80.13.33/myspeed_s.jar

Missing Application Name: manifest attribute for: http://208.80.13.33/myspeed_s.jar

Java Plug-in 1.6.0_65

Using JRE version 1.6.0_65-b14-462-10M4609 Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM

User home directory = /Users/billcunninghamexception: JAR manifest requested to run in sandbox only: http://208.80.13.33/myspeed_s.jar.

java.lang.SecurityException: JAR manifest requested to run in sandbox only: http://208.80.13.33/myspeed_s.jar

            at com.sun.deploy.security.DeployManifestChecker.verify(DeployManifestChecker.java:106)

            at com.sun.deploy.security.DeployManifestChecker.verify(DeployManifestChecker.java:84)

            at com.sun.deploy.security.TrustDecider.isAllPermissionGranted(TrustDecider.java:319)

            at com.sun.deploy.security.TrustDecider.isAllPermissionGranted(TrustDecider.java:280)

            at com.sun.deploy.security.TrustDecider.isAllPermissionGranted(TrustDecider.java:270)

            at sun.plugin2.applet.Plugin2Manager.isAppletSigned(Plugin2Manager.java:3289)

            at sun.plugin2.applet.Plugin2Manager.createApplet(Plugin2Manager.java:3207)

            at sun.plugin2.applet.Plugin2Manager$AppletExecutionRunnable.run(Plugin2Manager.java:1536)

            at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:695)

Exception: java.lang.SecurityException: JAR manifest requested to run in sandbox only: http://208.80.13.33/myspeed_s.jar

The other service I used skipped three tests because a Firewall was detected. The skipped tests were: Firewall Check, Latency Test, and Packet Loss Test. The speed test on that service ran: DL=11.88Mbps and UL=4.91Mbps.

My Firewall on my Mac is off and the SB5120 does not have a built-in Firewall, so I'm stuck at this point.

I am still nearly convinced that Comcast is not reliably allowing VoIP service support for their Internet service. BTW, I am connected to Comcast through an apartment building internal wiring configuration. ????

Hmmm, that speed test works on my MB Air running 10.9.5 but I did have to update Java (again) before it would work.

Your speeds are fine (really, anything above a 3.0Mbps steady speed will work) but the quality of the line has to be  very good. Low jitter and lag (those are explained in my Tech Guide, link in my sig) are the key components to VoIP. The fact that you are connecting thru your apartment buildings wiring for cable could be the problem. The MicroCell needs as direct of a connection to the internet as possible. Connecting thru the buildings wiring, you don't know how many switches, if any, splitters, etc your line goes thru to the wiring box at where ever the central location is.

Connecting directly to the modem rules out the router (called the alternate connection) so it's probably not a router config setting. Have you checked to see if Comcast is blocking any of the necessary ports (listed in the Guide as well as the setup instructions for the MicroCell) or other router settings? Is the modem in bridge mode?

The thing that is so baffling is that the two phones lose M-Cell connection so randomly, with no rhyme or reason as to time of day, day of the week, and so forth. This morn at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday, my iPhone lost the signal. Five minutes later it showed up again. When either or both phones lose the signal, the lights on the M-Cell are still all showing fine. And both phones don’t necessarily lose the signal at the same time. The only other data usage is plain old Internet, and it never suffers.

I would thing that any issue, such as poor wiring, would not the cause unless there is a corroded connection somewhere, but even that should show up with other Internet usage. I have streamed the old Eye TV with my same router and ISP and there was never a problem with that.

When I had the old model MCell hooked up, a tech even turned off handoff and the problem persisted.

I also don’t get why the one VoIP check service showed a Firewall, when there clearly is none. Also, since the problem is randomly intermittent, I just don’t get it ???

Not all VoIP apps look at the same things so one may check for a firewall, and indicate that one is present, and the other one might not and just not work. Not a whole lot of help there. BTW, I meant VoIP test above in my response, not speed test.

If the lights on the MicroCell stay a solid green, (power, ethernet, GPS, and 3G) then you are connected to the AT&T mobility servers. Do you leave WiFi enabled on your phones? For the iPhone, I'd try Reset Network Connections and see if that helps. If you lose connection on your phones, but the light pattern on the MicroCell stays solid green, it may be the phones and how they are communicating with the MicroCell. You could also try a hard reset on the MicroCell. That forces the MicroCell back to default settings and it will go thru the Initial Activation process again, which one aspect is re-establishing transmission strength based on the local tower.

To review (and correct me for any misunderstanding):

• You have never had a Mcell work properly (all three of them).
• Previous 153's were connected directly to your modem and they didn't work properly.
• The Mcells showed all solid green lights when the phones drop their connections.
• Phones randomly drop and acquire the Mcell signal independently.
• Speed tests show adequate bandwidth for Mcell.
• Line quality is unknown.

Based on the facts as I know them, the problem isn't with your router.  The Mcell is connecting with the AT&T servers since all lights are solid green, so it isn't a Mcell problem and I doubt Comcast is blocking any ports because your Mcell wouldn't connect if they were.

I'm not a Java expert or a Mac OS expert so I can't speak to your problem with Java not playing the VOIP test window.  It would be nice to know the line quality but I don't think that is the problem either.

I'm curious as to what kind of signal strength you show on your phones in your house when they are not connected to the Mcell.  I'm wondering if you have enough signal strength coming from the nearest cell tower that the phones switch to the cell tower at times.  The Mcell adjusts it's power output based on the cell tower signal strength.  If the cell tower signal strength is very low in your house, when the Mcell is initialized it will boost it's signal strength accordingly.  Conversely, if the cell tower signal strength is higher, the Mcell will reduce its signal strength when it is initialized so as to not interfere with the cell tower.

Perhaps what you are seeing are the phones acquiring the cell tower signal in areas of your house where they are getting a stronger signal from the cell tower than they are from the Mcell.  I'm not sure what you can do to aleviate that if true.

I have really have been there and done it all, with respect to the things we have discussed. Three different M-Cells, cold reboots, hard resets, speed tests, and so forth. I’m just plain stumped. I've worked with several different AT&T techs and two “cases” have been made out of the problem, with no resolution. One tech is staying with me by way of email, so that is somewhat encouraging, however, he’s stumped as well.

Avedis53 - See above response. Also, to address your six bullet points: 1.) I have had all three work (properly), just not without dropping one or both phones frequently. 2.) The two previous M-Cells were connected directly to my modem as they had to be daisy-chained between my modem and my router 3.) Yes, all solid green lights 4.) Correct 5.) Correct 6.) Correct

Signal strength in house when M-Cell is showing is 4-5 “bars.” One AT&T tech disabled handoff, so that should rule out the problem with a nearby tower interfering. Problem—when it presents itself—does not change when phones are directly near M-Cell.

It's more important from a troubleshooting standpoint to know what your cellphones are showing for signal strength (# of bars) in your home when they are NOT connected to the Mcell.  How does it vary around your home if at all?