Teacher
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17 Messages
Microcell not working
Hi Everyone,
I've used the white/orange ATT Microcell for almost a decade. Outside of the occasional restart, the device has performed well; without it, we have 1 bar of signal strength in our Wayne NJ home. A couple of weeks ago, we no longer had 4-5 bars of strength and the term "Microcell" was no longer visible on our iPhones. After recycling the unit, resetting it, cycling my router, etc., it still didn't work. However, it had all 4 lights solid green. Opened a ticket with ATT and they could find nothing wrong. So, thinking that my 10-year old MCell had given up the ghost, I bought a new one on Amazon - the black Cisco unit ($240). I transferred my family configuration to the new MCell on the website, got 4 green lights, email confirmation that my MCell was "activated and working", but no MCell service.
I use a pair of Linksys WRT-1900AC routers. Although I hadn't deliberately opened the ports outlined in the MCell manual before (the original unit worked anyway), I did so. Still no joy. Contacted ATT again. They told me to give them a couple of days, after which they let me know that "everything was working again". Indeed, I had MCell reception on my iPhone 7+, but neither my wife nor my daughter had MCell service. This situation happened in the evening; by the next morning, MCell was once again absent from my iPhone.
So, I contacted ATT again last night, updating my escalated support ticket. They told me that they could find nothing wrong, but will investigate "another aspect of the Microcell" and let me know.
I'm sorta at my wits end here.... ATT consistently recommends using WiFi calling, but that won't work in many areas where there is insufficient WiFi coverage. And that suggestion is nothing more than a band-aid, seemingly to get me to go away. My sister lives 8 miles from my home, has ATT and the same Cisco MCell unit and things are working fine for her.
Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? I've constantly had to follow-up with ATT - there is no communication coming from their end unless I initiate the conversation.
I don't know where to go next with this
OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.8K Messages
7 years ago
@MicroCellEarl - I agree with @Avedis53 about switching to WiFi-C. I've been trying to gently steer you in that direction. There are some MicroCell issues that can't be resolved, either due to carrier issues, ISP issues, phone issues, in-home location, the list goes on.
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MicroCellEarl
Teacher
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17 Messages
7 years ago
I'm just not very clear on why it stopped working; it had been stable for years. I'm still troubleshooting and will continue until I see no reason to continue.
Re WiFi-C, in reading the text that appears on my iPhone when I started the process to try it alarmed me; something to the effect that calls could be dropped as there is no hand-off. Have you had issues like these? Have you noticed ANY reliability or consistency-of-calls issues using WiFi-C? I'm interested in hearing your experience using it. By your comments, it seems positive.
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MicroCellEarl
Teacher
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17 Messages
7 years ago
Thanks for any information
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.8K Messages
7 years ago
@MicroCellEarl - there is a section in my Tech Guide about WiFi-C. Being as your call is using WiFi for a connection, it can not hand off to a cellular connection and maintain the call. Handing off is also covered in my Tech Guide and a lot of the principles there also relate to WiFi-C. That's how WiFi-C works. It is similar to the MicroCell in that it is meant to help in situations where cellular is not available or is very weak. Both WiFi-C and the MicroCell are not designed to be a total replacement for cellular nor be as robust as cellular. In-home works very well (depending on how good your WiFi connection is). I have not encountered a situation yet outside of the home where I've needed to use WiFi-C, at least in the areas that I travel.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.8K Messages
7 years ago
@MicroCellEarl - WiFi-C is really easy once you set it up. However, for it to be most effective, if you also have a MicroCell, is to totally disable the MicroCell (power it off). The reason being is that the phone will prefer to connect to a cellular signal instead of a WiFi signal so if your MicroCell is on, and your phone numbers are still registered to it, the phone will always try to connect and that can cause issues. I would suggest you read the section in my Tech Guide about WiFi-C. The fact that you need to use the MicroCell in-home indicates that the tower cellular signal is too weak for your phone to reliably connect to. There would be no interference with the tower cellular signal and your WiFi signal, which would be the stronger of the two.
Set it up this weekend and test it with your daughter to see how it goes. Depending on how your account is provisioned, you may or may not have to get a new SIM card. I know that I did when I upgraded from my 5 to an SE but I was attempting to use the same SIM and it would not allow me to provision my account for VoLTE. A simple fix.
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MicroCellEarl
Teacher
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17 Messages
7 years ago
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Avedis53
Professor
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2.2K Messages
7 years ago
Uh Chief.....
Need to correct you on the WiFi-C statement. As per AT&T's web page on WiFi-C:
"If you are using Wi-Fi Calling in the Domestic Coverage Area and HD Voice coverage is available, your call will switch to cellular and continue without a break when your Wi-Fi connection is lost. This does not apply to 911 calls.
If your Wi-Fi connection is lost, your call will drop in these cases: (1) You are not in HD Voice coverage (for example, you are in 3G or 4G coverage). (2) Your device is in airplane mode. (3) You are making a 911 call. (4) You are traveling outside the Domestic Coverage Area."
@ MicroCellEarl - Certainly give it some more troubleshooting if you have the time and inclination to do so but if it were my family and I wanted the most reliable alternative to a cellular connection in a weak cell tower signal location, I'd use WiFi-C...no question. This opinion is based on my years of using both the Mcell and WiFi Calling. You said you weren't in a rural location so I would imagine you have HD Voice coverage. AT&T can verify that for you if you call them. If they say you do, then WiFi-C calls will transfer to a cell tower if you move out of WiFi coverage.
Trust me, calls can be dropped by any technology, that's why they all have the same disclaimers tucked neatly away in the real fine print. I have deliberately initiated a call on WiFi-C in my home and walked outside and away from the house until my iPhone dropped the "AT&T WiFi" indicator at the top and showed an LTE indicator. I am in a HD Voice service area. The call transferred to the tower seamlessly.
As a side benefit of WiFi-Calling, it can be used anywhere there is an adequate WiFi signal (and you have access) and inadequate cell tower coverage. The Mcell is only good in your house. I have used WiFi-C elsewhere than in my home and it worked fine.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.8K Messages
7 years ago
@Avedis53 - correction is duly noted. However, I'm not sure if that applies to a call originated in-home and then one leaves the WiFi range if it will transfer to the local tower. I was told that it would not back when WiFi-C was first rolled-out as an alternate for the MicroCell. That sounds like it may have changed for the better since the roll-out. To be honest, that information came from one of our "meetings" with SMA's way back when so I probably should have taken that with a grain of salt. As I mentioned, I rarely, if ever, use WiFi-C outside of my home because I've never really had a need to go outside of the home so I have no first-hand experience.
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Avedis53
Professor
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2.2K Messages
7 years ago
Otto,
Don't you mean if your phone is connected to a tower, it won't transfer the call to WiFi-C when entering your home? I haven't tried that yet as I don't think it is any different than how a Mcell treats those type of calls. When your phone is on WiFi-C, it's simple for the nearest tower to pick up the cell signal and know what to do with it when the WiFi signal drops out. The reverse isn't that simple as your phone does not have WiFi Calling in use while it's connected to the cell tower. If you enter your home and the cell tower signal diminishes, the call would drop before the phone can establish a connection to the WiFi Calling servers. I'm thinking that and other hardware issues prompt AT&T to claim that the switching between tower and phone only goes one way. Heh....without a SME to query, I can only make that an educated guess.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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24.8K Messages
7 years ago
@Avedis53 - handing off from the MicroCell to the closet tower and vice versa has always been a gray area depending on whether it is a hard or soft hand over and how capable the phone is at making that transition. It may very well be that there aren't any of those issues with WiFi-C and the MicroCell but I haven't been able to prove or disprove what AT&T initially said. WiFi-C to cellular and vice versa outside of the MicroCell's range is something that I just don't have enough verifiable info. I was hoping you'd supply that now that you are "MicroCell free". Bottom line is I don't know what the OP's issue but I think he would be much better off with WiFi-C than trying to figure out.
BTW, we're back up in your neck of the woods late next week looking at properties again.
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