What is happening with 3G?
chilangoboy's profile

Teacher

 • 

10 Messages

Sunday, June 30th, 2013 1:00 PM

3G Microcell should not handover to nearby tower

I'm now on my 3rd MicroCell device, where AT&T thinks that may be the issue. After reading a number of these posts, I can't believe the techs (tiers 1-4) seem to deny other people are reporting these issues in my neighborhood.

In in the epicenter of 3 towers, all within a mile of my home--with a 4th tier within 1.5 miles. It's a known gray area of no-to-weak signal from the towers 6-8 blocks east to west, and 2-4 blocks north to south).

I've fought with service here (metro Denver) for 8 years--and with my MicroCell(s) for 2 years and a month. I've tried a central home ("bad") location, 3 window 1st floor locations, and now 2 - 2nd floor locations. Randomly throughout the days and nights I lose M-Cell signal and acquire tower signal for about a minute--killing my connectivity.

Of I'm on a voice call, it goes silent, still counting down seconds of the call, while holding both call parties to each other for about 45 seconds--unable to hang up.

At night I listen to very quite music with my iPhone 4S docked next to my bed via my WiFi connection. Every time my signal switched and searches for the tower(s), I'm awakened by the much louder radio wave static running through my stereo speakers at sound level 7 or so. This goes on 5 -15 times a night. Gotta love that no?!

I've paid AT&T approximate $15,000 for two phones on the plan in eight years. I'd think for $15,000 this ought to be remedied. Do the imaginable math for all the rest of us poor suckers and, well . . . It's unfathomable how we're getting this kind of LACK of appropriate care and service.

AT&T needs to finally and fully make this right. As I said, I'm in the middle of Denver, Colorado. No buildings, power lines, or any other obstructions. Just a hole in the way they're pointing g their towers--and an entirely dysfunctional "fix" they call a MicroCell.

I am *terribly* unhappy. And I've spent truly countless hours going over this with countless techs of all tiers.

FIX IT AT&T.

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

11 years ago

First of all I made a mistake in one of my answers to you. Block Fragement Packets should be disabled, not enabled.

 

The only place you need to filter your DSL is for your voice line. If you have a direct connection from the MPOE (from the same terminals that the incoming voice line is on) to your modem, with nothing else connected to that line, then you don't need to filter it. I have my DSL filter for my voice line attached to the test line jack which connects the original house wiring to the MPOE. That way, all of my voice line RJ-11 jacks are filtered at the outside box so I don't have to have any dongles hanging off of my phone lines. I installed the DSL line to my computer room myself. It was not part of the original house wiring.

 

You seem to have three things going against you. One, the location of your house in proximity of three towers. Two, a two-story home, and three, your ISP. The fact that you are on your 4th MicroCell indicates to me that it's not the MicroCell per se but your location and ISP.

 

The three local towers could have varying output signals which are competing with the MicroCell's signal. That can create havoc with your phone not knowing which signal to lock onto, and stay locked onto. Keep WiFi on. You should be able to Message etc with no problems because it's not voice. I don't think the 4S's are LTE capable so you should keep that option off so as to not have your phone look for a protocol that it can't support.

 

Two story homes are problematic at times because of height differences which affects signal propagation, building materials, etc. That's why I suggested finding the sweetest spot you can and leaving it. You could try an external GPS antenna which would give you a little more flexibility in locating the MicroCell away from a window if a windowless wall seems to work better. Some have had success using PowerLIne Adapters so that you can have the MicroCell further away from the router and not have to mess with ethernet cables across the floors etc.

 

Your ISP could be the problem. I wouldn't bother with port 3052 because it's not needed for the MicroCell to connect to the AT&T servers. Putting the MicroCell into the DMZ and port forwarding is counter-productive so I wouldn't do that concurrently. Is your DSL line static (fixed IP address) or dynamic (as in PPoE)? PPoE lines seem to cause problems for some when AT&T needs to periodically check your MicroCell. It is possible that an upstream provider could have a faulty switch but that can only be determined by your ISP and possibly AT&T. This requires your ISP to go above and beyond to help you because they don't understand, or care about, the MicroCell. If you can get to the interent, that's all that matters to them.

 

To summarize:

 

1.The MicroCell needs to be within 18" of a window with an unobstructed view of the sky and at least 2' away from a WiFi device. External GPS antennas and PowerLine Adapters can be used to "customize" those requirements as need be. GPS connection must be maintained at all times because location is periodically checked by AT&T. Also make sure that the MicroCell is positioned horizontally to the window (the side of the unit is facing the window if you are looking at it straight on with the lights facing you).

 

2. DHCP needs to enabled as well as IPSec Pass-though. Block Fragmented Packets needs to be disabled.

 

3. Ports to forward to a static MicroCell IP address are, Public and Private;

   

123/UDP

443/TCP

4500/UDP

500/UDP

 

4. Only one device can be performing NAT, modem or router, not both. A double NAT will result in loss of connectivity.

 

5. Connect your MicroCell using the Ethernet port only, not the Computer port. Check the integrity of all of your cables.

 

6. Insure that you have uninterrupted power to the MicroCell (stable electical outlet and the ac adapter is not too hot to touch).

 

7. Leave WiFi on the phone and disable LTE. Reset Network Settings on the iPhone and hard reset the MicroCell.

 

8. Try Priority setup which is connecting the MicroCell directly to the modem, by-passing the router altogether. You should be able to connect quickly with a solid green Power, Internet (ethernet), GPS, and 3G. Once connected, leave it for a few days and see what happens. This is your 4th MicroCell, so if you lose connection to the AT&T servers (blinking green 3G), something is wrong with your connection thru your ISP to the AT&T side of things and probably not the MicroCell.

 

9. If your iPhone works as expected outside of your MicroCell range, then it's not your phone. Is your area already 4G/LTE or is AT&T upgrading the area (which requires tower maintenance)?

 

I know you've done all of those but that's the checklist to go over. Those are the minimum things that need to be in place for reliable MicroCell use and some of them will probably require a little extra help from your ISP in determining status. The most critical are points 2, 3, and 4. I have heard of AT&T "resetting" the iPhones from their end but I'm not sure what that means. They could just be tweaking your account settings but I know that has helped a couple of people. Whether it's no more than what you can do with your iPhone (Reset Network Settings ) or not, I don't know.

   

Let us know.

 

Teacher

 • 

10 Messages

11 years ago

Again, thanks Otto.

 

Today I spent about four hours on the phone bouncing back and forth between AT&T's techs (their "Case Management" team which handles MicroCell issues, and their "Enhanced Support for 3G MicroCell" team which is supposed to be the highest wisest batch of MicroCell techs, which is actuall a special division of Asurion Insurance responding on AT&T's part), Century Link (formerly Qwest Communications), ZyXEL (who makes the modem/router combo I have), attempted (and failed) conference calls with the "Enhanced Support for 3G MicroCell" team, Cisco Systems, and myself. Those atttempted conference calls, and even callback calls from the "Enhanced" team and myself all ended in dropped calls as the "Enhanced" team's phone system constantly dropped calls--from putting me on hold, attempting the conferencing, and/or even simply calling me back. There were somewhere around 20 to 30 calls at least that failed. Every other call I made (and these were all using my Century Link land lind) to others, and to AT&T's "actual" teams within the AT&T family of techs (and not the "Asurion" backup outsource team) were fine.

 

Finally, I convinced a tech at AT&T's "Case Management" team to try conferencing with Cisco. All he ever got (as well as the one time the "Enhanced" team tech got that almost connected us) was a voicemail greeting at Cisco's tech team's extension. A number of those attempts and the AT&T tech gave up--the Cisco techs will not speak with you (me) without an AT&T person conferencing us (told to me last week when I surprisingly caught one offguard, and who wanted to know just how I got through to him)--and this week they've made it impossible to make a conference call, even when AT&T calls, announcing who they are (a company that purchases literally millions of Cisco's MicroCells--even they don't have any clout).

 

In my one first call this afternoon to a Century Link (Qwest) tech (again, they handle my land line voice and internet via fiber optics where I am), their tech acknowledged (finally) that there is a known issue between the Cisco MicroCell and their supplied ZyXEL Q1000Z modem/router whereby the internet is randomly being dropped. Finally after two years and the last very intense three weeks of chasing this all around the place, they've admitted an issue with the modem's firmware.

 

The Century Link tech told me that their latest firmware update was supposed to have addressed this issue and fixed it.

 

We of course, again, verified that I actually have this most current firmware update installed--which I do, and did a couple weeks ago when we checked it the first time (before I was aware of the known issue they advised of today).

 

There are no more things I can try, or set, anywhere. It is a failed product and/or firmware.

 

Tomorrow I'm hoping that Century Link will replace my moden/router combo with a new alternative: the ActionTec C1000A, which (after also having a long online chat with an ActionTec chat operator) I understand has all the configuations available as does their earlier model, the Q1000 (which is referenced with setting instructions in the AT&T PDF Troubleshooting Guide you've linkded many of us to). The online chat operator insisted that it was compatible with the MicroCell (and had superior performance), and, it was one of the modems which was given to me by Century Link as being compatible with their system.

 

Otto . . . I'm tired. I've spent truly countless hours, days, with this. While I'm not an expert, I'm pretty astute. This is truly an awful lot of neglegence in a few different places. Of course--everyone is nice, pleasant and truly wants to help. And I'm polite and respectful of every single person I've ever spoken with--for it's not any individual agent's or tech's fault. But truly, I've been through absolute   h e l l   and back. . . . No--I'm not back.

 

Thank you Otto for bein' 'round here and helping everyone out.

Former Employee

 • 

1.1K Messages

11 years ago

chilangoboy, I'm sorry the root of the issue hasn't been identified. Thank you Otto Pylot for sticking with chilangoboy and trying to get this resolved. 

 

It's sounds like you've already engaged everyone within the company to help. You can always send us a Private Message and we can see if there's anything else we can do. 

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

11 years ago

I replied to your other post. Hopefully a different gateway/router combo will work. As I indicated in my other post, my DSL gateway is an older ZyXEL set to bridge mode and the router is an Apple Extreme Base Station (which was never one of the listed routers in the AT&T MicroCell setup instructions). I think it's a switch configuration somewhere within Century Link or the fact that you have three overlapping towers so close to you. This is definitely one of the more difficult situations I've encountered and am not quite willing to give up, yet. There's always someone somewhere who just can't get it to work for unknown reasons and you just may be that person. Not very encouraging I know but this has been very frustrating for me, and I can't even imagine how it's been for you.

 

@ATTJulieCS - thanks Smiley Happy

Contributor

 • 

3 Messages

7 years ago

 Why do you care about the windows?  That shouldn't make a difference.

 

Contributor

 • 

3 Messages

7 years ago

I live in Denve CO and have worked in Telcom for 25 years across the country.  Placing the micro cell next to the window should actuallly cause more of a problem than it solves.

 

Contributor

 • 

3 Messages

7 years ago

What I don't understand is just looked at an ATT Map with these dam mico cells on it and they are all over at least 100 in the DU Area.     When I went to the ATT store the person regertated a bunch of crap that the ATT engineers gave her.  The LTE Sucks and they only have one tower enabled with it and that is down by Broadway.  Shame ATT you are where the cable companies were 10 years ago.  

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

7 years ago

@Manatee2000 - You've replied to a 3 year old post. The MicroCell needs to be within 18" of a window with an unobstructed view of the sky for GPS lock and sync. The MicroCell does not and can not interfere with the closest local tower. The only time the tower ( macrocell if you will ) is needed is during the Initial Activation when the MicroCell will adjust its 3G output based on the detected output of the closest tower. Basically, the further away from the closest tower (up to a point) the stronger the MicroCell's output and vice versa. There are other uses for the local tower as well and they are covered in my Tech Guide. The MicroCell does not use the local tower for cellular calls. If you have hand off enabled on your myAT&T MicroCell Settings page, any call that you originate on the MicroCell will be, or should be, handed over to the local tower as you leave the MicroCell's range. That is a function of your phone looking for and locking on to the cellular signal of the tower. However, the opposite is not true. Calls originating from a tower usually can not be handed off to the MicroCell. Handing off is covered in my Tech Guide.

 

There are no maps that I am aware of that specifically mark the MicroCell Service Areas. One can assume that the AT&T cellular coverage areas are similar to the MicroCell Service Areas but they can be inaccurate as FCC licensing and rules change. 

 

Contributor

 • 

1 Message

7 years ago

I live west of Pensacola Florida directly between two towers no more than a mile to a mile and a quarter from each one and have a 3-g MicroCell which number one will never handoff a call number to when I turn the MicroCell off I cannot make a phone call from inside my house it's due due to the towers that evidently the antennas have been replaced transmitters replaced or something but AT&T can't seem to figure out what's going on in they say everything's fine but yet I keep getting dropped calls I have zero service inside my house without the MicroCell being turned on where is 2 months ago I had five bars inside my house now I have none

ACE - Expert

 • 

23.9K Messages

7 years ago

@Pilotpop - there is a section in my Tech Guide (see link in my sig line) about handing off. Without knowing more details of which MicroCell you (white or black model), your setup, etc it's difficult to troubleshoot your issue.

Not finding what you're looking for?
New to AT&T Community?
New to the AT&T Community? Start by visiting the Community How-To.
New to the AT&T Community?
Visit the Community How-To.