3G Microcell - 3G Red Light Flashing

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@Otto Pylot wrote:
I believe there's a little reset button (hole) on the back of the MicroCell. You might want to try that. I think you hold it in for 10 seconds but you may want to consult the instructions first just to make sure. For me, all I had to do was power cycle and the flashing red 3G light went back to green and has stayed there ever since. I think one of the reasons that VZs work better is that they are on a different technology which may make it more agreeable to signal booster/extenders than AT&T. Maybe less interference?

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Wasn't there a long discussion a few months back about how pushing the reset button would "brick" the device?

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@overclockedpc wrote:

I also have had the flashing 3g light problem for a while and I MAY have come up with some kind of fix but need someone to help me test it. 

 

So, if your microcell is flahing a red 3g light, please try the following and let me know what happens.

 

1) With the microcell flashing red, unplug the ethernet cable while leaving power plugged in.

2) Wait 2 mnutes, unplug power cable.(whileethernet is unplugged).

3) Wait 30 seconds, plug power cable in with ethernet cable unplugged.

4) Wait 2 minutes, plug in ethernet cable. (while microcell is powered on)

5) Wait 2 minutes, unplug power cable (leaving ethernet plugged in).

6) Wait 30 seconds, plug in power cable. (with ethernet cable plugged in).

 

This should clear the red 3g light.  If it does not, try power cycling again (unplug power, wait 30 seconds and plug back in).

 

If anyone is dealing with the red 3g light issue and can try this, please report back and let us know if it works or not.  AT&T support is clueless on this issue, but maybe we can help each other find a solution.

 

Thanks for everyone's help in testing this.

 

[Edited to comply with Guidelines]

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@E the P wrote:

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@Otto Pylot wrote:
I believe there's a little reset button (hole) on the back of the MicroCell. You might want to try that. I think you hold it in for 10 seconds but you may want to consult the instructions first just to make sure. For me, all I had to do was power cycle and the flashing red 3G light went back to green and has stayed there ever since. I think one of the reasons that VZs work better is that they are on a different technology which may make it more agreeable to signal booster/extenders than AT&T. Maybe less interference?

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Wasn't there a long discussion a few months back about how pushing the reset button would "brick" the device?

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I don't recal that discussion but I haven't read everything here. I've used the reset button a couple of times and never had any problems. Can't see why they would put a reset button on the back to only have it brick the MicroCell. It's not marked Service Only. It's marked reset.

Is what you are saying, that the flashing red light is caused by a failure to properly process a firmware update?  My first one went for a year without an issue.  Why do you suppose it would suddenly change?  I replaced it with a new one and I think the longest this one has gone, without flashing red, is a few days.  Are they really updating that often?

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@midget3376 wrote:

Is what you are saying, that the flashing red light is caused by a failure to properly process a firmware update?  My first one went for a year without an issue.  Why do you suppose it would suddenly change?  I replaced it with a new one and I think the longest this one has gone, without flashing red, is a few days.  Are they really updating that often?

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I don't know, or think, they are updating that often but it could be that whatever they did, the new chipset doesn't understand what the mother ship is sending and tries to reset itself. Purely conjecture on my part though. In my case, the blinking red light happned about  3 or 4 months ago and was noticed in the morning. Typically, AT&T does their updates at night when there is the least likelyhood of service interruption so if it doens't work, you'll see the blinking green or red 3G light. I had never seen a blinking red 3G light before which meant a hardware failure. A simple power cycle fixed mine and has been trouble-free since. The assumption then was an update that failed to reset properly making the MicroCell think there was a hardware failure. I am on my third MicroCell. All three were replaced under warranty well over a year ago but the third one, my current one, was a version 2. I don't know if that makes any difference but this one has been rock solid ever since even thru multiple power outages and the dreaded blinking red 3G light  "update". The version numbe BTW is on the bottom of the MicorCell on the serial number sticker in very small print (V2).