UNABLE TO CONNECT, CALL DROPS, POOR CONNECTION - WHILE ON WIFI

@mcs2015 WiFi-C uses your WiFi connection to access the AT&T Mobility Servers thru your internet connection. Much the same as the MicroCell worked, but the MicroCell actually broadcast a cellular 3G signal that your phone locked onto and then used your internet connection to access the AT&T Mobility Servers. WiFi-C is dependent upon the strength of your WiFi signal, not your cellular signal.  If WiFi-C works for you then you don't need a cellular booster.

A cellular booster has an antenna situated on your roof (usually) that actually detects the signal from the tower, amplifies (boosts) it, and then using a small cable transfers that signal to the inside of your home and then broadcasts the signal, via an indoor antenna to your house. For the booster to work adequately, it needs to be able to pick up a consistent signal which has to have a "strength" of one and preferably two bars of signal strength to be useable. So, if you have zero bars on your phone, a signal booster will probably not do you any good because the signal is not even reaching the outside of your house for the antenna to pick it up.

Read my Cellular Booster Guide or look for a carrier who offers better coverage in your area and switch.

All I know is the WiFi-C replaced the MicroCell some time back, but I had significant intermittent issues with the MicroCell as well, even with different carriers. WiFi-C seemed to be the panacea, until this year, and I do not understand how or why that is possible. When I have WiFi-C enabled, why would the service be intermittent?
There is always at least 1 bar showing, at most 2.  Got the weboost hooked up best I could attaching it to an exterior night lamp next to the garage door that is about 7 ' tall and pointing it in the approx. direction of the nearest tower. We'll see how it fares the next few days. I disabled WiFi-C as per the instructions. I assume to leave it that way for now to test this?

The Open Signal app still shows "no cell tower located".  No change in bar strength.

You need to have fairly decent LOS (Line Of Site) to the tower that is closest to you. You also need to know which bands and frequencies that the tower is transmitting. If it is a shared tower, it may be limited because of the shared carriers. That's why in some cases it's best to have it installed by someone who has the equipment to actually determine location, strength, and frequencies.

The MicroCell does, or did not, use the local tower to transfer your cellular signal. It used your internet connection. And if your internet connection was slow or spotty, reception would be a problem. The only time the MicroCell needed the local tower was for initial activation and occasional maintenance checks. 

I use WiFi-C exclusively now and our reception is always rock solid with excellent voice quality. I put my MicroCell on the shelf a couple of years ago but when we used it, it was very reliable. Can you explain a bit where you live (no address please)? Is it rural, mountainous, etc.?

@mcs2015 I know the area. Some areas just have poor coverage for various reasons. It looks like you're just in a "cellular hole" for AT&T services so it's not surprising that a cellular booster would have issues as well.

I'm surprised that WiFi-C doesn't work well for you. In our previous house, our provider used the old AT&T copper lines to bring DSL to our home. WiFi-C worked just fine. In our current home, we have cable internet, with about 40x the previous speed, and WiFi-C works just as well. Who is your internet provider and what are your speeds?

ISP: Cox Communications

On the Gigablast plan which right now gives me ~ 800mBPS download and 35mBPS upload. It too has had its share of outage issues but at least they are always temporary.

So far, I've been @ 2 hours of solid full bars. No dropped or failed calls. All calls connected, just notice it takes a little longer for the call to connect on some calls.

ISP: Cox Communications

On the Gigablast plan which right now gives me ~ 800mBPS download and 35mBPS upload. It too has had its share of outage issues but at least they are always temporary.

So far today, I've stayed steady for 2-3 hours of solid full bars. No dropped or failed calls. All calls connected, just notice it takes a little longer for the call to connect on some calls. I walked from the booster about a block and the bars then dropped to 1 bar. When I got back to my house, I got only 1 bar back. I made dozens of test calls for the next several hours and only had one call fail.

ISP: Cox Communications

On the Gigablast plan which right now gives me ~ 800mBPS download and 35mBPS upload. It too has had its share of outage issues but at least they are always temporary.

So far today, I've stayed steady for 2-3 hours of solid full bars. No dropped or failed calls. All calls connected, just notice it takes a little longer for the call to connect on some calls. I walked from the booster about a block and the bars then dropped to 1 bar. When I got back to my house, I got only 1 bar back. I made dozens of test calls for the next several hours and only had one call fail.

Then, without warning, the bars completely disappeared around midnight and I could not make or receive any calls unless I enabled WiFi-C.

@mcs2015 Ok. You have plenty of bandwidth so that's not a problem.

WiFi-C: I leave WiFi-C enabled all of the time. That way, my in-home coverage is always strong and usable and when I leave my home, once cellular is detected, our phones (iPhones of various flavors) kick in and we're fine. If your internet is not solid at home, then WiFi will have it's issues and so will WiFi-C. You could try to place your phone in Airplane Mode, which disables its cellular radio. That will force the phone to use WiFi-C only because that's the only connection it will have. If WiFi-C still doesn't work well in-home while in Airplane Mode, then either your WiFi at home is not stable or it is an issue with Cox transferring your signal to the AT&T Mobility Servers. Cox has a history of issues with the MicroCell, and being as AT&T's WiFi-C requires two of the same four ports that the MicroCell requires, it could be an issue on Cox's end with those ports. Cox will never admit that so if you try to get them to investigate that, they will just tell you it's AT&T's problem. You might have to get a more robust router for improved WiFi strength.

If WiFi-C works with Airplane Mode enabled, then it could be that the cellular signal is just strong enough as to not provide a reliable signal but will interfere with your WiFi signal in that your phone gets "confused" and doesn't know which signal to lock onto and stay locked onto. This is an issue in fringe areas, which sounds like that's what you are in.

Cellular Booster: you may have to consider a professional installation. The can determine the frequencies, strength, and propagation of your AT&T signals and at what height might produce the most stable results and install accordingly. Your location could be behind the directional beam of the antenna so your signal will vary. If the tower is shared, which a lot of them are, it could be a requirement of the shared tower, of which AT&T has no control over.

If none of this works, then you may have to consider switching to another carrier that offers better coverage in your area.

So, I can enable WiFi-C even though I'm using the cell booster? I thought it had to be one or the other. Unable to make calls when Airplane Mode is enabled so that doesn't work.

Back to 2 bars this morning, don't know why the service completely dropped out at night. Will see if that repeats again.
I have the Panoramic router that Cox supplied:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Q9O1e9aWE
My internet service has been stable, so.