Works on floor #2 but not floor #1 at home

[LS2304]

ISSUE #1 -

I installed the Microcell unit in my upstairs bedroom.  It is stationed 6 feet away from my SBC internet modem so as far as I can tell, there shouldn't be any interference issues.  As long as I stay upstairs on the second floor at home within 30 feet of the Microcell, I get "M-cell" coverage and excellent reception (5 bars) on my phone.  However, when I go downstairs to the first floor, I lose M-Cell coverage and it goes back to 3G. (NOTE:  THere is no cell coverage on the first floor, even though the phone shows 5 3G bars.  I am unable to dial or receive calls)

I called AT&T Customer service today and they suggested I take the unit back and exchange it.  I am not convinced that is the problem, nor do I want to go through the hassel of doing this since I've seen many posts online that exchanging the unit does not solve the problem.

Are there any known compatibility issues between an SBC 2Wire modem and the Microcell?  The Microcell is supposed to allow excellent cell service for up to 5000 meters according to the AT&T rep. Why can I only get service up to about 30 feet away?

How can I be sure the wireless router in the 2Wire modem is not causing my Microcell issue?

[nsayer]

The 5000 number is 5000 square feet. That's a 70x70 foot square. And it's "up to" 5000 square feet, but that's probably only in open air. Walls will cut down that number somewhat.

Our house is rather small (about 1200 sq ft), but it's on a nice size lot (about 5000 square feet). Our microcell is usable over almost 3 quarters of it (on the side of the garage and in the front yard it sort of peters out as there are too many walls for it to go through. But everywhere inside it's fine).

Your mileage will, of course, vary. But depending on the construction of your house, you may, in fact, be seeing what the microcell can deliver.

[LS2304]

Thanks nsayer.  You're right, I probably am seeing the microcell's full potential.  I'm in a condo unit building and I'm guessing that there are concrete floors between the 1st & 2nd levels of our unit that might be causing the issue. 

Too bad there isn't a practical solution to get the downstairs connected.

[biggnoggin · Accepted solution]

Get another M-Cell

[LS2304]

LOL, I was hoping for a free practical solution.   

[biggnoggin]

I figured you were going to say that, any way you can maybe position the M-Cell in the stairway in between the first and second floor? I actually have mine hidden in my skylight and it works great.

[nsayer]

Assuming you have two areas that you want to cover that have no propagation between them (floors 1 and 2 in this case), there are two ways to go, each with disadvantages:

1. Get a YX510 active repeater system. Place the "outdoor" antenna near (but not TOO near) the microcell. Run the RG-6 coax from there down to the 1st floor and place the amplifier in the center of where you want coverage. The advantage here is that you can move from one coverage area to the other without dropping a call. The disadvantage is that the YX510 probably has a much smaller footprint than the microcell, and is way, WAY more expensive. The YX510 works best when its outdoor and indoor antennas are as isolated from each other as possible, which isn't always easy to achieve. Lastly, using it as a microcell repeater isn't how it was designed to be used. There's no guarantee it will actually work that way (there's no reason I can see why it would not, however).

2. Get a 2nd microcell. Unfortunately, there's no mechanism (yet) to hand off calls from one microcell to another. So if you move from one coverage area to the other, the call will be dropped.

[Luckey]

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nsayer wrote:

The 5000 number is 5000 square feet. That's a 70x70 foot square. And it's "up to" 5000 square feet, but that's probably only in open air. Walls will cut down that number somewhat.

Our house is rather small (about 1200 sq ft), but it's on a nice size lot (about 5000 square feet). Our microcell is usable over almost 3 quarters of it (on the side of the garage and in the front yard it sort of peters out as there are too many walls for it to go through. But everywhere inside it's fine).

Your mileage will, of course, vary. But depending on the construction of your house, you may, in fact, be seeing what the microcell can deliver.

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nsayer is correct, depending on a variety of environmental factors the functional range of the MicroCell radio will vary.  Just to clarify the 5000 sq/ft covers a circular area rather than a square.  So you would use the radius of that circle to determine the maximum effective range of the MicroCell.  This means that 5000 sq/ft comes out to just about 40 feet from the unit. 

[biggnoggin]

I think if you want to go through all that just for ATT more power to you but I think a more simple solution would be trying to move around the M-Cell to a coupel of different spots to see if it works better in certain areas.