Tutor
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3 Messages
HELP - 3G light is flashing, microcell was previously working fine
Hello,
I figured it was worth posting here so I have yet to have success with anything else.
Background
I live in an area almost exactly inbetween three AT&T cell phone towers, so subsequently my phone is constantly switching singnals from one tower to the other giving me very inconsistent service. After diagnosing the problem with AT&T about six months ago they sent me a micro cell free of charge, and it worked absolutely fantastic until....
The Problem
About a week ago my microcell's 3g light started flashing, this had happened once or twice before so I performed a simple reset but it did not fix the problem like before.
- I tried resetting my modem, router, and microcell
- hard resetting my microcell for 30 seconds
- de-activing and re-activating my microcell twice
- checking my power cord to make sure it was the right voltage
- getting a replacement microcell sent to my house
- setting up my microcell in the alternate arrangement (modem-->microcell-->router)
- updating the firmware on my router
and none of these fixed the problems.
My current internet is about 30mbps DL and 10mbps upload so that isn't the problem
The ports on my router are all opened, and nothing has changed to effect that
After going extensively through the forums I am kind of at a loss of what to try next. Any suggestions from people on the forums?
I am currently located in the East Bay of California (Alameda, CA)
Thanks very much.
-Frogis
Avedis53
Professor
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2.2K Messages
9 years ago
I don't see the time posted anymore...like "31 minutes ago". The edit capability is gone. Can't send or reply to private messages. No autosave on posts.....
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Avedis53
Professor
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2.2K Messages
9 years ago
Now edit reply is back.....
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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20.7K Messages
9 years ago
Ok. Just checking.
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OkieSaytar
Mentor
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51 Messages
9 years ago
Short - Brief
MicroCell does not need DHCP server or Static IP set....only good Internet Connection with ISP.
This is if you have a Static IP on your Internet Connection as I do. If behind a Router, Use DMZ-forget about port forwarding for MicroCell.
With Static as mine (my interface box is in effect a router on fiber optic) A Good 4-5 port switch...preferably 1G. for adequate bandwith...Hook MCell on one port- It's true PnP needs no IP set or given by home users.
It has it own in firmware.
Router & Network on another, do what you will with it..
As long as your cable modem or dsl modem is set correctly (bridged, ie. just eliminate any NAT on your end and if behind a Router Use DMZ), and have a good connection and IP with them for access, you have just eliminated Home setup from troubleshooting. Assuming the switch is good.
This information per Tech Support and attempted activation with said Tech this P.M.
Mine still won't activate that way, still stage 4 fail.
Had there not been other still undetermined issue's Activation would have occured.
Chow
Edited for Clarity
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guitargain
Scholar
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187 Messages
9 years ago
I understand your post perfectly, but most people don't have a static IP at home. I would love to have one as it would save me $40 every two years because I wouldn't have to have dyndns to see my security cameras when I'm not home, but dyndns is cheaper than what the phone company to get me a static IP.
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guitargain
Scholar
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187 Messages
9 years ago
Just for the fun of it i did the voip test at my work. I am in the city while at work. Our county only has about 30,000 residents so you could consider the whole county as rural. I am behind a jerry rigged network that was built by three different network people so I am pleasantly surprised to find that the voip tests passed with flying colors. I guess that means it could be distance that is causing my consistency of service problems cause at home i am 17 road miles from the main office of the telephone company. The connection at work is also only 6 megs down and 1 meg up.
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guitargain
Scholar
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187 Messages
9 years ago
Nevermind, did another and it failed miserably. The jitter on the second one was crazy high and the packet loss was 9% too. That's actually worse than my results from home.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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20.7K Messages
9 years ago
A static IP address for your internet connection is not necessary. It's recommmended but not necessary. I had a dynamic address for a long time and then got my ISP to give me a static IP. No change in the MicroCell. In theory, the MicroCell shouldn't need port forwarding or the DMZ. In reality, either one of those will make your connection more stable especially if you lose connection for what ever reason, power outage, network hiccup, etc.
The reason I recommend port forwarding to a statically assigned IP address (using the MicroCell's MAC address) is for loss of connection. When there is a loss of connectivity for any reason, as soon as the router comes back up and it detects the MicroCell based on its MAC address, the router "knows" which IP address to assign to it (it doesn't have to find one via DHCP) and which ports have to be open for it to communicate with AT&T. I have my MicroCell permanently assigned to to the first or second available (I forget) IP address in my DHCP table.
@guitargain- if your home is 17 miles (not necessarily copper miles) from the CO that's a really long distance for DSL. I'm surprised you get a stable 6Mbps. There's got to be quite a few hops between and if any of them have an issue, your VoIP is going to suffer, which may be what's happening. And it appears that the jitter and packet loss is telling you that.
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guitargain
Scholar
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187 Messages
9 years ago
I can't totally disagree with you, but it's fiber up to less than 2/10s of a mile from my house and copper from there. So what would we attribute the high jitter here at work to is I am less than a mile from the CO?
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guitargain
Scholar
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187 Messages
9 years ago
Just got a message from my phone guy and he changed some settings. He says he checked and put it at 10 mbps and set it to fast buffer. He also said it was set on interleave which will cause slow reaction times and that ought to help. I won't be home til tomorrow to check it though.
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