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Avedis53's profile

Professor

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2.2K Messages

Monday, February 18th, 2013 4:49 PM

Mcell requires power cycle every day to regain connection to iPhones

While I didn't encounter this problem initially when I started up my Mcell a few months ago, it has now become a daily ritual that I hope someone here can help me with.

 

My setup:

 

Motorola SB 6120 modem -> Netgear WNR3500L router -> Mcell

 

The Mcell is connected to the router with a pair of Netgear Powerline 200 Nano Adapters because my modem and router are located in the basement with no exposure to window for the Mcell to see a GPS satellite.  The connection is good.

 

My Charter ISP connection is 30 mbps down and 4 mbps and is rock solid.

 

What's happening and what I've done so far:

 

Usually once a day I will no longer see the AT&T Mcell indication at the top of my iPhone 5.  When I check my wife's iPhone 4S she has also lost the AT&T Mcell indication.

 

Turning the phones off and then on does not bring back the Mcell connection.  Switching Airplane Mode off and then on does not bring back the Mcell connection.

 

The Mcell has all solid green lights when I go to check it after seeing the lost connection.  If I power cycle the Mcell, the phones will then show an Mcell connection again until the next time they lose the connection which is usually once/day but not at any particular time.

 

I have the latest firmware on all devices.

 

When I check my router's admin page after a lost connection, the router indicates that the Mcell's IP address has not changed and it remains the same after power cycling the Mcell.

 

On the WAN page for my router, I have set the MTU size to 1492 and set the NAT Filtering to "Open" instead of "Secured".  No improvement after doing so.

 

Suspicious of the Powerline Adapters, I tried disconnecting and reconnecting the Ethernet cable from the Mcell to the Powerline Adapter to mimic a temporary loss of connection to the router to see if that affected the Mcell connection.  The Mcell connection was not lost.

 

I have not set any open ports or a static IP address for the Mcell yet.  Is what I'm experiencing indicative of this solution?  Does anyone have any other thoughts as to what try next?

 

I don't want to waste my time with an AT&T Level 1 tech support person because their suggestions are almost always worthless.  I have better luck contacting user forums and that is why I'm posting here.

 

Thank God I was able to convince AT&T to give me a Mcell for free because if I paid $200 for it, I'd be very upset right now.

 

Thanks In Advance!

 

Avedis53

 

 

___________________________________________________________

MicroCell Technical Guide by Otto Pylot


I am not an AT&T employee.

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

11 years ago

Thanks Leslie.Smiley Happy

Professor

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2.2K Messages

11 years ago

While off-topic, I found this to be very interesting.

 

Ubiquisys is a privately owned company in England that specializes in small cell technology, including femtocells. In fact, Ubiquisys residential femtocells have been selected by more mobile operators than any other.  Looking at their website, their line of products and the technology they use appear to be superior to what Cisco is currently offering by way of their AT&T Microcell product.

 

Cisco announced on April 3rd their intent to acquire Ubiquisys by the close of the fourth quarter of 2013.  It would appear to me that rather than reinvent the wheel, Cisco is buying the technology they will need to be a leader in femtocell products.  Assuming that AT&T continues to retain Cisco as their supplier of femtocells, hopefully we as consumers will see new and better femtocell products provided to those of us who use them. 

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

11 years ago

Very interesting. Nice find. It would be easier to modify their chipsets for the AT&T network than design their own. Hopefully Ubiquisys's femtocells are 4G/LTE compatible. Being in Europe I would think so but......

Explorer

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27 Messages

11 years ago


ATTCustomerCare wrote:

 

Hello Stephen,

 

I saw your post and wanted to follow up with you. A manager will reaching out to you shortly to assist you with the Microcell. Appreciate you and want to get this resolved for you. ^Leslie


Thank you. Mike did leave me a message and I will be replying -- I thought I'd keep the forum up on where things stand.

As suggested by Otto here, I did a hard reset. I also relocated the microcell to sit in the window instead of next to it. The phones connected and have maintained a connection for almost 48 hours now. Though I am hopeful, the connection has lasted for a few days previously only to go back to a state where daily or more often power cycles are required.

 

I will monitor connectivity through the weekend and contact Mike on Monday.

 

Professor

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2.2K Messages

11 years ago

Here's another half-baked thought. 

 

When I received my replacement Mcell, it would not establish a GPS lock in a location on a counter near a east-facing sliding glass door where the previous Mcell would.  I moved the replacement Mcell to a southern-facing window where it was able to gain a lock and complete the activation.  After many days of uninterrupted service, I moved it back to the previous location. It worked for a while but then I got another GPS flashing light and a red flashing 3G light.  In both cases, the face of the Mcell with the lights was facing south.  When it was sitting in the southern-facing window, the Mcell was oriented with its side facing south.  On a lark, I turned the Mcell 90 degrees with its side facing south in the original location and it connected and I haven't had a GPS problem since.

 

Is the GPS antenna in the Mcell truly omnidirectional or is its sensitivity somewhat dependent on its orientation to the GPS satellites?  Knowing at any given time, out of the 32 GPS satellites, one can receive a signal from 8-10 of them and it takes a minimum of 4 satellites to determine a location.  Perhaps the Mcell GPS antenna is low-gain antenna with some nodal sensitivity and if conditions are just right, it can lose enough satellites to lose lock.

 

This is all pretty far-fetched but it could be a reason for utilizing a high-gain external antenna with the Mcell.

 

 

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

11 years ago

@Avedis53 - a long time ago someone posted a question similar to yours about the orientation of the MicroCell. Some pics were posted of the interior of the MicroCell and if memory serves me correctly, the GPS transmitter/receiver is located towards the top end of the board. So, if the "flat" part of your MicroCell (the right side if you are facing the Microcell lights) is facing the sky (horizontal with the window), GPS lock was faster and stable. If your MicroCell is perpendicular to the window or the "left" side is facing the window, GPS lock could be troublesome. Of course this is all anecdotal but who knows?......

Professor

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2.2K Messages

11 years ago

Funny,,,,,it's the right side of mine that is facing out through the window....anecdotal indeed....

 

Looking at the circuit board picture in the Anandtech review, the Mcell uses a Cirocomm ceramic GPS antenna that is perpendicularly mounted on the top of the Mcell circuit board towards the rear of the unit.  Looking at the orientation of the antenna, one would think that it wouldn't matter as far as which side faced a window.  However, being in the rear of the Mcell, turning the Mcell so the antenna could "see" outside better might help with reception....who knows?

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

11 years ago

The MicroCell certainly seems to fall into the "magic black box" category. I think the orientation of the antenna, theoretically, wasn't an issue. But there are too many setup situations available that the "beta" testers, who ever they were, couldn't adequately cover all the bases or situations possible. Interesting fer sure.

Tutor

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6 Messages

11 years ago

For what it's worth, My replacement M-cell has been working flawlessly for over two weeks now.  My original unit was bad right out of the box. The replacement is working great. Thanks AT&T for taking care of this.

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

11 years ago

That's good to hear. Thanks for the update.

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