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humphrjm's profile

6 Messages

Friday, April 5th, 2024 7:51 AM

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"

ACE - Expert

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24.4K Messages

1 month ago

Support hasn't a clue as to what is happening because AT&T is just starting to look into it on the backend and unfortunately , Support is the last to know what's going on. Be patient with them if you call. Don't expect a quick fix.

Contributor

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35 Messages

1 month ago

Past 2 days I haven’t seen bars showing up on our phones that were connected to booster. I have checked all lights are on app says it’s good. WiFi is great but the problem is our phones are bouncing from SOS to no bars and only connect to WiFi. I rebooted the our modem that doesn’t help. 

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled I used to have bars on my phone connected to booster

ACE - Expert

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24.4K Messages

@Mon8710  There is another post here about the same issue. Where are you located (city, state only)? There are quite a few complaints coming out of Arizona (mostly) and NM areas so it may be a service area related issue. I've notified AT&T of this and they are in contact with the CB Group. 

This is a new issue and until the engineers can isolate and fix the issue there is no ETA on a resolution.

___________________________________________________________

AT&T Cell Booster Technical Guide by OttoPylot

Cellular Booster Guide by OttoPylot

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Contributor

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35 Messages

I am in Arizona. Well I am somewhat happy it’s not just me. Sure hope they fix it soon.

Community Support

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232.1K Messages

Hi @Mon8710,

 

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, 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.

Veronica, AT&T Community Specialist.

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*I am an AT&T employee, and the postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent AT&T's position, strategies or opinions.

17 Messages

1 month ago

I live in Phoenix, AZ I have had to use a microcell for 8+ years due to the bad cell coverage AT&T has. I can step out my front door and get 2 bars inside the house no signal. Per the AT&T supervisor "I live in a limited area", WHAT? I live in the 5 largest city in the US in PHOENIX that is NOT "limited coverage". I do not want my cells running off wi-fi inside the house as the more items are on it the more latency happens and calls get dropped. I sat on the phone for 2-1/2 hours because my microcell won't connect to my cell phones any longer. Per AT&T they have "no microcells to give away" for a customer who has been with them 15 years and I spend over $300 per month on cell phones they cannot step up to take care of a customer. The "supervisor" I spoke with said she "has to get in her car and drive 2 miles to make a call" as if that is feasible to do, AT&T with the hack wants to give 5 bucks but outside of that they do nothing to try to keep loyal customers. Verizon & T-Mobile are more than willing to give a microcell they will get my business.

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Microcell

Employee

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39 Messages

Hey there @BRODEWALD 

I work at the sales & service CS center here in Mesa, AZ. I have lived here my entire life as well. where could you possibly live within the phoenix metro area where ATT does not give you a signal? Correct me if im wrong but it seems like you are in the outskirts of town possibly? Goodyear? surprise? El Mirage? STV?  QC?  Cave Creek?

Wanna help you for sure but a microcell should not be necessary for the phoenix metro...

Also, On microcell/ATT website Here it does state "MicroCells are no longer available for sale through AT&T, and only available to existing users" and that you can use Wi-Fi calling to help with call performance. 

Hope this helps,

Hunter

*I am an AT&T employee, and the postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent AT&T's position, strategies or opinions.

17 Messages

I live near Glendale just North of, I am not rural I live in a high residential area. Have had these same issues for the entire time I lived up here 13 years.  My current phones inside the house state SOS only, no bars. It's not a phone issue 2 of the 3 phones are iPhone 14 Plus. Like I said I can walk out front and get sketchy service possibly two bars inside I usually could get 1-2 bars upstairs and that was maximum. I shouldn't be told where I live is "limited area" by the AT&T supervisor nor should she tell me in TN where she lives she has to go 2 miles to make a call. In this day and age this shouldn't be the issue. They sell the Microcell but can't accommodate for their lack of cell area. I get being told No but when AT&T makes the accommodation years ago and nothings changed, make the accommodation again or lose a customer who's been loyal

17 Messages

also, It didn't state for sale only to current customer when I looked it up on the website, they sell as if anyone can buy it. My work cell phone has me locked out of wi-fi calling so I have to have a signal, and also I don't want Wi-fi calling as enough items use Wi-fi I cannot work from home, have my wife work from home we have experienced latency issues due to trying to use Wi-fi calling.

Employee

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39 Messages

@BRODEWALD 

Assuming North Glendale based on your description is 85304 (northern most zip code within Glendale) you should be getting great 4g, 5g and 5g+ cell reception. Kind of weird you are not as ATT has taken a serious effort to upgrade service in this area. 

Don't want to lose you as a customer but if you aren't getting cell service with us in your area for 13+ years and Wi-Fi calling is not working or an option for you...then I suggest you do what is best for yourself moving forward

Hope this helps,

Hunter

*I am an AT&T employee, and the postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent AT&T's position, strategies or opinions.

17 Messages

How is it you can show a map showing "great coverage" but the Supervisor at AT&T called it "limited area". Doesn't make sense to me. I shouldn't have to rely on Wi-fi calling inside my home given the market and area I am in, lower cell signal I can agree but not SOS only on my phones.

7 Messages

1 month ago

I am in Buckeye, AZ and have been having the same issue with my cell booster since 1pm 4/4. Called and chatted with AT&T. They see no issues on their side or mine. I was wondering if my cell booster had gone bad.   I get 1 or 2 bars with the booster unplugged. 

17 Messages

1 month ago

No it's not gone bad, alot of people with them in AZ having that same exact issue. Hopefully AT&T will figure it out so we don't have paperweights that they only want us to buy new ones now.

ACE - Expert

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24.4K Messages

1 month ago

@BRODEWALD  and @1miletogo  You can always check the ac adapter with a voltmeter with no load applied to see if it is pulling more than the minimum 12VDC. Sometimes when the adapter goes bad or is starting to go bad the Cell Booster will exhibit odd behavior. I kinda doubt it though because most of the complaints that we are seeing, and that I am forwarding to AT&T are in the Arizona area. It's highly unlikely that this many Cell Boosters are all going bad around the same time period and from the same area.

New Member

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16 Messages

1 month ago

@OttoPylot  Same problem 2 phones Durango, Colorado. Started yesterday 4/4/24..

(edited)

ACE - Expert

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24.4K Messages

1 month ago

Durango, CO. The issue seems to be spreading. I'll add your city to the list.

7 Messages

1 month ago

Will AT&T post an update here when more is known on the outage and timeframes of fixing?  

ACE - Expert

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24.4K Messages

1 month ago

@1miletogo  Probably not, other than a post that's saying all should be good to go. At least that's how they handled it in the past with the Cell Booster's predecessor, the MicroCell. It will just appear to start working again. I'll stay on top of this and post any information I can get but this is Friday, so don't get your hopes up that it will be fixed this weekend, unless it's a simple IT fix. However, if it's a switch or a relay......

WiFi-C (WiFi Calling) is your best bet.

(edited)

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