What is happening with 3G?
jpenaflorida's profile

Tutor

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1 Message

Saturday, December 17th, 2011 3:32 AM

3G Microcell - 3G Red Light Flashing

My GPS, Ethernet, and power light are on with a solid green. My 3G light is a solid red that flashes every three seconds. I use a Netgear router/modem; honestly, I'm not sure what a modem or router looks like but I plugged the microcell's ethernet into the Netgear. I've tried disconnecting then reactivating the microcell. No luck.

 

Any advice on how to troubleshoot this issue would be awesome. I live in the countryside where cell phone reception is severely limited. Thanks!

Contributor

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3 Messages

7 years ago

Hello 

midget 3366 (
Teacher)
 
 - Thank you so much, it really helped fixing the Microcell..

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

7 years ago

@kalrakshay - it would be helpful to us to know what exactly fixed the flashing red 3G light. Typically a flashing red 3G light indicates location verification failure.

Contributor

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3 Messages

7 years ago

Yes , I had red light in the top signal bars and the solution mentioned below worked -

So, if your microcell is flahing a red 3g light, please try the following and let me know what happens.

1) With the microcell flashing red, unplug the ethernet cable while leaving power plugged in.
2) Wait 2 mnutes, unplug power cable.(whileethernet is unplugged).
3) Wait 30 seconds, plug power cable in with ethernet cable unplugged.
4) Wait 2 minutes, plug in ethernet cable. (while microcell is powered on)
5) Wait 2 minutes, unplug power cable (leaving ethernet plugged in).
6) Wait 30 seconds, plug in power cable. (with ethernet cable plugged in).

This should clear the red 3g light. If it does not, try power cycling again (unplug power, wait 30 seconds and plug back in).

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

7 years ago

@kalrakshay - I'm surprised that worked but I'm glad that it did in your case. We recommend either a complete power cycle of your system (router/modem/gateway first and then the MicroCell) with no unplugging of cables. The exception being the power cable for the MicroCell. If that doesn't work, then a hard reset (instructions are given in my Tech Guide). 

Contributor

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1 Message

7 years ago

This worked.  Thanks so much.  I tried a number of things and this was the only one that worked.

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

7 years ago

@Abdawson - what worked? The cable unplugging, power cycling, or a hard reset? 

Contributor

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3 Messages

7 years ago

 The cable unplugging, power cycling should work , Do exactly its mentioned..


1) With the microcell flashing red, unplug the ethernet cable while leaving power plugged in.
2) Wait 2 mnutes, unplug power cable.(whileethernet is unplugged).
3) Wait 30 seconds, plug power cable in with ethernet cable unplugged.
4) Wait 2 minutes, plug in ethernet cable. (while microcell is powered on)
5) Wait 2 minutes, unplug power cable (leaving ethernet plugged in).
6) Wait 30 seconds, plug in power cable. (with ethernet cable plugged in).

This should clear the red 3g light. If it does not, try power cycling again (unplug power, wait 30 seconds and plug back in).

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

7 years ago

Interesting fix for a location error. It would be nice to see how this holds up once maintenance is done by AT&T, part of which is verifying the location either by sent GPS coordinates or tower location. Glad it worked.

Contributor

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1 Message

7 years ago

This process, as originally posted by overclockedpc, works, thanks. It is not a permanent solution but it seems to keep the microcell alive for a couple of weeks or more at a time. The good news is that after doing this, at least in my case, the microcell is back and working within a few minutes of completing the sequence.

I agree with many others who have posted that clearly the design of this microcell is very poor, as these kind of problems should never occur and, if on occasion there are glitches, they should be auto-corrected.

Given the design of this Cisco produced Microcell and how it interacts with the AT&T network, it seems there are no permanent solutions.

Also don't waste your time calling AT&T unless you have really concluded your unit is dead and needs replaced.

A better solution for bad coverage areas, e.g. in homes of offices, is cellular over WiFi if your account and device supports this service. (It is not supported by AT&T's GoPhone accounts.)

ACE - Expert

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23.9K Messages

7 years ago

@pjmacl - there are few"fixes" we have seen over the years that do work on a temporary basis, some of which just don't make sense but they do seem to work for awhile. Correcting the root cause is what we try to do here.

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