6 Messages
ATT Cell Booster - SOS only?
Praying I don't just have a dead paperweight now. I have an ATT Cell Booster (the 4G one, misleading name since it is ethernet and not a booster), and all of the sudden yesterday, my phone starts showing SOS only and zero bars as the signal. iPhone 12 Pro Max. My wife's phone, iPhone 14 Pro, is showing zero bars as the signal. When I unplug the booster, I get 1 bar in the house from a real tower. Plugging back in the booster, after everything reconnects again, I get 4 bars for about 30 seconds, and then it drops back down to zero bars and SOS only again. I tried plugging into a different port and a different router entirely, with no avail. Tried power cycling the whole network, modem, router, and booster, with the same effect. Also tried to follow the real time diagnostic online but it "encountered an error, come back later"
Accepted Solution
Official Solution
OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.3K Messages
22 days ago
@PhoneBoy123 Give it time. Apparently AT&T is starting to slowly roll out the fix for the Cell Booster users in certain areas and if the two issues are related, it may take time. Turn off WiFi-C (WiFi Calling), wait a few seconds, and then turn it back on. The Cell Booster users have to do that so that their phones can "re-register" to the Cell Booster and the same thing may be what has to be done with WiFi-C.
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Accepted Solution
OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.3K Messages
22 days ago
Apparently there was a misconfigured file on the Femtocell Gateway that caused links to go down for certain service areas. The fix has been put in place so the Cell Booster should be working now. You may have to power cycle your phones and then power them back up so they can re-register themselves to the Cell Booster. A power cycle of the Cell Booster may or may not be needed as well. I'd try the phone first.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.2K Messages
25 days ago
So AT&t cellular booster is not a cellular booster it is a 4G LTE MicroCell. It relies on your wired home internet service in order to provide a mini tower service inside your home.
If you have home internet service you do not need it. You can just turn on Wi-Fi calling, which is the technology that is the replacement for the microcell.
You mentioned you have iPhones, those iPhones are capable of Wi-Fi calling. Turn on and set up Wi-Fi calling with your emergency 911 address.
As for the MicroCell, it may be failing. Curiously the misnomered 'cell booster' has failed quite often compared to its predecessors
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Watchmaker
1 Message
25 days ago
Exact same problem here as mentioned by the OP, which just started 4/4/24. AT&T cell booster app shows everything is operational. When I power cycle the booster I get full signal and within 10-20 seconds it goes into SOS mode. No updates were performed to the cellphone, however iOS 17.5 released 4/5/24, which I installed in hopes to remedy the issue - it did not. WiFi calling has NEVER functioned properly for me. I get one bar (might as well be nothing) at work which is why I have the booster. I've had the booster for about 6 months and like the OP I'm wondering if it's paper weight now.
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ATTHelp
Community Support
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231.6K Messages
25 days ago
Hello @Watchmaker, we hear you and understand the importance of a Working Cell Booster.
Let's get the help you need!
The Community Forums are a public support option where other users, and AT&T, will try and assist with high level support needs. This means we won’t be able to look into account specific concerns. To get the help you need for your unique issue, please review our Contact Us page (https://www.att.com/support/contact-us/), and choose the best option to reach out to us. You can call, chat, or reach out via social media and we can review your specific issue and provide you support. If you feel your issue isn’t account specific, and can be answered generally, please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.
Thank you for contacting AT&T Community & Forums,
Ken, AT&T Community Specialist
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benjarrett
3 Messages
25 days ago
I have the exact same problem as of last night and into today 4/5. Reboot the device, I get full bars for 30 seconds and then back to SOS. Using 3 different phones to confirm. Internet is solid with no issues. AT&T booster shows everything is fine (all lights active). Cannot access the online diagnostic tool and the Cell Booster app no longer allows me to log in. This must not be an isolated issue with others reporting the same exact scenario.
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humphrjm
6 Messages
25 days ago
@Watchmaker so this tells me this is an AT&T issue, since we experienced the exact same problem around the exact same time.
@formerlyknownas Wi-Fi calling was my initial method, but this won't work for me, which was the purpose of the booster. I don't have enough service to get consistent MMS messages, and have a large group of friends that use Android devices, so can't participate in group chats.
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humphrjm
6 Messages
25 days ago
@ATTHelp can we have someone look at this? Three separate users with the exact same problem right around the exact same time. This seems like an ATT issue. Please advise
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.3K Messages
25 days ago
This does sound like a Mobility Server issue on AT&T's end. I can re-connect mine and test it but three reports of the same issue from around the same time is highly suspicious.
It would be helpful if @humphrjm @Watchmaker and @benjarrett could post their locations (no addresses, just location) so see if the issue is localized to a specific service area. I can send that info to AT&T and it might help get into gear and isolate/fix the issue.
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humphrjm
6 Messages
25 days ago
@OttoPylot Sure - Kingman, AZ
(edited)
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