What is happening with 3G?
haunaben's profile

Tutor

 • 

4 Messages

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 2:01 PM

When will you acknowledge / fix battery drain issue?

There are now hundreds of posts across the internet confirming that the microcell causes rapid battery drain on many phones, and the only solution is to disable cellular data on the phone.

 

When will this be addressed?  

 

 

Teacher

 • 

23 Messages

12 years ago

I'm not sure I see how the base station can affect battery life on the cell side.  Do you have any real (i.e.engineering) references to this problem other than "100s of posts"?  I have almost no battery drain on the phones in the house connected to the Microcell.

 

Note that the weaker the cell signal, the more power a cell phone draws from the battery.  Check the bars of the Microcell connection to make sure you have a good connection.  It doesn't matter that it is a Microcell or real tower.  Weak signals drain the battery much faster.  Also make sure you are connected to the Microcell.  An actual, well documented problem in these forums is a sometimes delay in switching to the Microcell after you return home.

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

12 years ago


@haunaben wrote:

There are now hundreds of posts across the internet confirming that the microcell causes rapid battery drain on many phones, and the only solution is to disable cellular data on the phone.

 

When will this be addressed?  

 

 


We have 3 iPhones (3S,4S) a couple of 3G Samsungs plus various other family member 3G phones that use our MicroCell. Nobody has complained about an abnormal battery drain when connected to the MicroCell.

Tutor

 • 

4 Messages

12 years ago

Google "microcell battery drain".  There is a full page with scores of links to various forums, including some in these forums.  It is a well documented, widely experienced problem.  

 

It's great that some people don't have an issue.  Lots of us do and it's time for it to be fixed.

 

Tutor

 • 

4 Messages

12 years ago


@Kimen wrote:

 

 An actual, well documented problem in these forums is a sometimes delay in switching to the Microcell after you return home.


 

 

JUST att forums, not including 10+ other sites I have found the same problem posted on:

 

http://bit.ly/GNHvpE

 

 

Tutor

 • 

4 Messages

12 years ago

Ok, glad my contract is up.  Time to go with another carrier that has a 3g voip that actually works and provides customer service beyond att fanboys.

Scholar

 • 

191 Messages

12 years ago

Bye bye.  Assuming you don't go to T-Mobile have fun with Verizon and Sprint's extremely limited CDMA/EVDO technology  

Tutor

 • 

7 Messages

12 years ago

ATT,

 

Please add my name to the long list of users of the Microcell that has experienced the battery drain problem.  I had bad reception in my house but never had a battery problem before I got the microcell.  After installing the Microcell it provided great reception but I immediately noticed my battery would drain extremely fast while I was home.  Did some research on the web and found multiple posts on different forums from others who have this issue with the ATT Microcell.  I have seen it on my Samsung Focus i917 and now with my new Nokia Lumia 900.  The work-around I have implemented is to set a Geo Reminder on my phone that reminds me when I get home to turn off my data connection. If I fail to do so, the phone won't make it through the evening before it goes dead from battery drain.  Once again, I never had the problem before I got the Microcell and noticed immediately the problem once I installed the Microcell.  I can't believe, as others have stated, that you are ignoring the overwhelming evidence to the existence of the problem.  If you are unable to reproduce the issue in your labs and need to see this in person, I live in the Dallas area and would be glad to work with someone to show them the behavior.

 

Your help in looking into this problem would be greatly appeciated.

 

Tutor

 • 

10 Messages

12 years ago


@Kimen wrote:

I'm not sure I see how the base station can affect battery life on the cell side.  Do you have any real (i.e.engineering) references to this problem other than "100s of posts"?  I have almost no battery drain on the phones in the house connected to the Microcell.

 

Note that the weaker the cell signal, the more power a cell phone draws from the battery.  Check the bars of the Microcell connection to make sure you have a good connection.  It doesn't matter that it is a Microcell or real tower.  Weak signals drain the battery much faster.  Also make sure you are connected to the Microcell.  An actual, well documented problem in these forums is a sometimes delay in switching to the Microcell after you return home.


 

Yeah, this is a well documented problem on the internet.  I have 2 brand new Nokia 900's and they both die after 10 hours of stand-by, and they both have 4-5 bars at all times.

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

12 years ago

skier150 wrote

Yeah, this is a well documented problem on the internet.  I have 2 brand new Nokia 900's and they both die after 10 hours of stand-by, and they both have 4-5 bars at all times.



As I've previously stated myself, we have 3 iPhones and a couple of Samsungs (older models) and have never noticed an abnormal drain on the battery with 5 bars on our MicroCell. That's not to say the problem doesn't exist and shouldn't be fixed but anything that is a "well documented problem on the internet" needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

Teacher

 • 

10 Messages

12 years ago

I have had the same battery drain issue with my iPhone 4. AT&T tech support blamed it on my battery and convinced Apple support to exchange my iPhone for no fee. I received a brand new iPhone 4 (not reconditioned) last Monday and ran it through several charge/discharge cycles first. I purposely didn't restore my backup or reload my apps and didn't enable my wifi (all of which AT&T tech support blamed in part for some of my battery issues). My phone connected to the Microcell (no small miracle since there is an AT&T recognized problem with iOS 5.0 devices that dates back to November that has no resolution date). I started at 100% battery at 6:00am and without using my phone and it being in standby most of the time, it had dropped to 78% by 8:30 am. My phone was within 10 feet of the Microcell the entire time and had 5 bars. Now tell me there is no battery drain issue with the Microcell. Maybe not with a standard cell phone but I'm guessing that there is with just about any smartphone. Yes, I'm guessing. I don't have definitive proof. All I know is that there are plenty of postings on the AT&T forums that AT&T has yet to acknowledge and their tech support people will blame it on 1) your battery, 2) your phone, 3) how you're using your phone, 4) sun spots (just kidding). One thing they won't blame it on is their Microcell. The Microcell is the poor step child of AT&T sales and support. AT&T didn't want to invest in adding capacity to their network so they convinced Cisco to build them this nifty little box that would utilize the customer's existing broadband network to expand it for them while still charging thecustomer the same monthly rates for the privilege. Problem is, the phone's got a lot smarter, faster than the Microcell could keep up. Like I said there is a recognized problem with the iPhone that has been open since November. I used to work in firmware and software development. People got fired for letting things go for a lot less time. But to AT&T, time stands still.

Not finding what you're looking for?
New to AT&T Community?
New to the AT&T Community? Start by visiting the Community How-To.
New to the AT&T Community?
Visit the Community How-To.